I'm not sure whether you want to hold up Rome (especially the decadent, Dionysian Rome-in-decline that was the epitome of people being "open about their emotions") as being the example of a time you would prefer. Not for nothing, but most of that sexual openness came at the same time as their downfall. They were always pretty kinky, but by the time they were into full debauchery mode, they were way on the downward slide. It may just be correlation, but I'm just saying.smokeybearsb said:
On the broader point, being human does not make us slaves to emotion, nor to desire. I'm not religious by any means, but just because something is a natural part of being human does not make it inherently good or desirable, much less good and desirable to have in the open. I'm a twenty-something American, so I've had sex. I like sex, but I don't like sex as part of the public vernacular. It's a private activity.
Okay, the whole "it's a natural..." argument is complete bullocks. Most of the things humans do (including killing, waste elimination, and for much of history rape) are "natural" insofar as they occur in humans without any particular impetus for them. Naturalness doesn't make everything good. I'd prefer not to discuss defecation in public, even though that happens far more often than sex. So, please don't use that path as your justification. I don't think performing the activity itself is sick or wrong (nor does the person to whom you responded, judging solely by his post), just the public nature of it. If two people want to do whatever they want behind closed doors, fine, I simply have no interest in hearing about it. I don't need to hear about your perfectly natural bowel movements, either.Iron Mal said:
You need to back up your statements about the origins of human society with some form of research. If the only reason we have society and technology is boredom, I'm curious why other animals aren't doing the same thing. Citation needed, dude, 'cause otherwise you're just pulling it out from thin air (and no evolutionary psychologist or biologist I've ever read, heard, or spoken to would agree that human society arose because we became "bored" with being happy). I don't believe humans are created by god in his image, but we aren't simply animals. We can learn more, create more, and do more than any other animal on this planet. So, get back to me when you've got some facts behind your boredom hypothesis.
I have to jump in because I find this argument bullocks. Making something accepted will not suddenly make kids not want to do it. Sexually permissive societies don't have significantly fewer teen pregnancies. Japan does, and talk about sexually repressed. Binge drinking is as high in Europe (where drinking is not at all "rebellious") as it is in America. Just... Stop, please, with the "if it's not a big deal, teens won't do it" stuff.AnnihilaSean said:
On the broader question:
I honestly can't bring myself to care what happens behind closed doors. If it's behind closed doors, I don't have to interact with it. If it's presented to me outside of that, I don't want to hear about it. I don't have a taboo about sex, and I (like most people I know) am perfectly comfortable talking about it with the people with whom I'm going to have sex. But the bawdy humor (not too different from bathroom humor) is simply uncouth. Keep it to yourself, and other people who enjoy that type of discussion, and everything's fine. Inflict it on me, and I have as much right to object as anyone could object to a dead baby joke.
