sex
It’s late and I’m up with me, me and me…
This shall be a rant… of epic proportions.
Today I met up with Annie, Emily (Downing) and Eva at the U Village Starbucks. We sipped some over priced yet wonderfully delicious beverages and chatted for a good while.
After we parted for the day, I wandered into Barnes & Noble to listen to some music and skim through some books. I wandered into the Current Issues section. Always a good time. There was one called The Porn Generation by Ben Shapiro.(he's a pretty extreme conservative, but this book got me thinking) Interesting. I’m really interested in the study of society, and the way people are influenced and from what sources and watching our culture evolve etc etc etc… It is quite saddening to sit and think about the major influences of our youth. I feel very fortunate to have other influences in my life, and the perspective and maturity to choose what I am going to let dictate my morals and views. So, what I’m getting about in my round a bout way is SEX. It is so prominent in the media. It is everywhere. You are forced to think about sex so much, if you watch tv, go online, or go to the store, or just interact with the outside world in any form. And this is separate from the frequency at which people think about sex just because they do. We’re basically sex obsessed (whether we choose to be or not). We, as humans, are programmed to have the desire to have sex, as a function of reproduction, but that natural desire has been so amplified it’s reached an almost hysterical level.
So, is this a problem? Why is it a problem?
There’s the obvious issues. We live in a world that is over populated. And we’re reproducing at an alarming rate. People are starving to death (while others consume more than their share of our resources, but that is a completely different issue). Very few of the young people having sex are prepared or even entirely capable of providing for another human being, financially or emotionally. And there’s the whole std thing, the spread of aids, etc.
But what is this doing to the psyche of our youth? I think this is an issue often overlooked. It’s not really evidenced like pregnancy or an std, in a way that you can see or easily put into a statistic. The time that children spend actually being children is diminishing. We’ve traded their innocence for this life. While the effects are not immediate, eventually we’ll have some regrets. Eventually these children will become adults faced with making weighty decisions. They’ll be able to vote in our nations leaders. They’ll be able to own weapons. They’ll be able to parent a new generation through an even more abbreviated childhood. If we don’t allow our children time to grow up, they won’t grow up right. They’ll always be awkwardly filling the shoes sizes too big that we’ve placed before them. Of course I’m exaggerating a bit here. But I think my point is a valid one.
Another thing that frustrates me is the manner that sex is portrayed in the media, not just the ridiculous frequency. So often it’s this lust driven act, devoid of meaning or beauty. Sex is a huge act. It’s the way life is created. We posses the ability to create life. That’s huge! And that’s also beautiful and profound. But discussing the beauty of sex doesn’t really sell, and it doesn’t go well in a movie with fast cars.
Also, consider how distracted we are by sex. We are forced to and/or choose to spend a fair amount of time thinking about sex. What about other very pressing issues? What do you think about more, sex or world hunger? In heavy circulation are magazines that advertise countless “how to” articles. How to cover your low self esteem with the right outfit, hair, and make up. How to this and that relating to sex. How often does Cosmo run articles on how women can contribute to something bigger than themselves? How to be educated in worldwide issues and affairs? How to combat pollution? And so on.
Why are we in such a hurry? We have our whole lives to have sex. Why rush it? My feelings here have nothing to do with religion. I’m not against pre-marital sex. I just personally want to understand what’s driving me in such matters. Are the influences from a culture inundated with sex behind these impulses? Lust? Love? And I think an understanding of those concepts come with maturity and experience, something you can’t rush.
But sexuality is a part of the human experience. It’s very much tied to compassion, and every other part of what makes us alive, and not just living. To live in a society stripped of sexuality would be criminal. Desire and passion drive us in other ways than sex. They drive us to do great things. I think we need to strike a balance. And I think we need to question our influences. I also think I need to go to bed…
This shall be a rant… of epic proportions.
Today I met up with Annie, Emily (Downing) and Eva at the U Village Starbucks. We sipped some over priced yet wonderfully delicious beverages and chatted for a good while.
After we parted for the day, I wandered into Barnes & Noble to listen to some music and skim through some books. I wandered into the Current Issues section. Always a good time. There was one called The Porn Generation by Ben Shapiro.(he's a pretty extreme conservative, but this book got me thinking) Interesting. I’m really interested in the study of society, and the way people are influenced and from what sources and watching our culture evolve etc etc etc… It is quite saddening to sit and think about the major influences of our youth. I feel very fortunate to have other influences in my life, and the perspective and maturity to choose what I am going to let dictate my morals and views. So, what I’m getting about in my round a bout way is SEX. It is so prominent in the media. It is everywhere. You are forced to think about sex so much, if you watch tv, go online, or go to the store, or just interact with the outside world in any form. And this is separate from the frequency at which people think about sex just because they do. We’re basically sex obsessed (whether we choose to be or not). We, as humans, are programmed to have the desire to have sex, as a function of reproduction, but that natural desire has been so amplified it’s reached an almost hysterical level.
So, is this a problem? Why is it a problem?
There’s the obvious issues. We live in a world that is over populated. And we’re reproducing at an alarming rate. People are starving to death (while others consume more than their share of our resources, but that is a completely different issue). Very few of the young people having sex are prepared or even entirely capable of providing for another human being, financially or emotionally. And there’s the whole std thing, the spread of aids, etc.
But what is this doing to the psyche of our youth? I think this is an issue often overlooked. It’s not really evidenced like pregnancy or an std, in a way that you can see or easily put into a statistic. The time that children spend actually being children is diminishing. We’ve traded their innocence for this life. While the effects are not immediate, eventually we’ll have some regrets. Eventually these children will become adults faced with making weighty decisions. They’ll be able to vote in our nations leaders. They’ll be able to own weapons. They’ll be able to parent a new generation through an even more abbreviated childhood. If we don’t allow our children time to grow up, they won’t grow up right. They’ll always be awkwardly filling the shoes sizes too big that we’ve placed before them. Of course I’m exaggerating a bit here. But I think my point is a valid one.
Another thing that frustrates me is the manner that sex is portrayed in the media, not just the ridiculous frequency. So often it’s this lust driven act, devoid of meaning or beauty. Sex is a huge act. It’s the way life is created. We posses the ability to create life. That’s huge! And that’s also beautiful and profound. But discussing the beauty of sex doesn’t really sell, and it doesn’t go well in a movie with fast cars.
Also, consider how distracted we are by sex. We are forced to and/or choose to spend a fair amount of time thinking about sex. What about other very pressing issues? What do you think about more, sex or world hunger? In heavy circulation are magazines that advertise countless “how to” articles. How to cover your low self esteem with the right outfit, hair, and make up. How to this and that relating to sex. How often does Cosmo run articles on how women can contribute to something bigger than themselves? How to be educated in worldwide issues and affairs? How to combat pollution? And so on.
Why are we in such a hurry? We have our whole lives to have sex. Why rush it? My feelings here have nothing to do with religion. I’m not against pre-marital sex. I just personally want to understand what’s driving me in such matters. Are the influences from a culture inundated with sex behind these impulses? Lust? Love? And I think an understanding of those concepts come with maturity and experience, something you can’t rush.
But sexuality is a part of the human experience. It’s very much tied to compassion, and every other part of what makes us alive, and not just living. To live in a society stripped of sexuality would be criminal. Desire and passion drive us in other ways than sex. They drive us to do great things. I think we need to strike a balance. And I think we need to question our influences. I also think I need to go to bed…