SEXUALITY -THE TABOO SUBJECT

Sexuality
The Taboo Subject

Societies function in a particular way based on the country’s history, norms and values; it is sometimes hard to escape from these roots that have influenced our cultural norms. Religious affiliations have played a major role into forming negative impressions of sexuality and sex work. Sexual activity and imagery are considered deviant , even in the modern society that we live; History proves that sex was considered holy , and not an evil activity that is barely tolerated in our modern times. Sexuality has evolved since ancient times , but still remains an enjoyable and necessary part of our lives. Evidence form all kinds of academic research has proven that around the world, and throughout the time, sexual activity has been diverse. (Attwood, 2012) Something natural that people do is considered a taboo; the society isn’t critical about our sexuality as long as we keep it private. Sexual freedom is an essential component of our lives, but it keeps being attacked by society and different feminist groups who will not allow full sexual freedom of women. Sexuality , was never driven by outside forces such as laws and regulations but only from the human sexual evolution and instinct. The human nature itself is sex positivist, as we all desire sexual satisfaction ; but sex positivism is a misunderstood feminist approach by many. Individuals who aren’t educated in different feminist approaches, consider sex positivism as the belief that women should be liberalized form the patriarchal society , who oppresses women’s sexuality and sexual choices; sex positivism, however, has been an approach much more influenced for the love of sex , and sexual freedom in our bedrooms . As I mentioned , our sexuality was never formed and shaped around laws; and since sex positivism supports public sex, sex shops and rejects heterosexual marriage , that doesn’t mean that people are suddenly going to act in this manner. As many people , don’t view sex as enjoyable and natural it is appropriate to not sexualize all women without their consent; there are as many reasons to not be interested in sex ,as there are many to be . The sex positive movement has been attacked by many people , which leaves no space for analyzing the basic principles of the movement , but rather defending it. The discourse used by the sex positive movement is wrong as it goes against to one of the biggest taboos, which is ‘’keeping sexuality private ‘’. Sex isn’t only the physical act but it goes deeper than that , which provides many benefits, but also harms. Sex positivism is an essential approach in order to liberalize sexuality and sexual expression, by allowing women to not feel as sexual subjects in their consent, but as human beings. Moreover, sex positivism allows women to feel pride on sexual satisfaction and express themselves , it de-criminalizes sex work and it will limit regulations around sex laws .
Western civilization presents many negative attitudes against sexual expression , and public discourse regards the risks of sex and abuse . Sexual expression has been absent , even tough it is a healthy activity that is part of our reproduction . Sex is fundamental to women , if they are being sexually marginalized they are not free in expressing themselves. ( Meulen , 2014) Women should not feel guilty about loving sex and celebrating their performance. The criminalization of sex doesn’t allow women to embrace their sexuality , and feminism , because they are raised to believe that sex is a private matter , solely ewith a heterosexual partner . Therefore sex positivism promotes sexuality as a matter without limits , that is pleasurable and fundamentally healthy . Being able to express pride on your sexuality is a stepping stone to make society recognize human sexuality. One of the biggest taboos of sexuality is sex work; based on socially constructed stereotypes and the media influence, most of us believe that sex workers are women raised in an abusive home and forced to prostitution . The author of ‘’Champagne , Strawberries and Truck Stop Motels’’ proves the opposite to socially constructed ideas and norms ; Coming form a fairly normal home , she was intrigued by advertisements on call girls , and obsessed with pages around fashion and dance, she needed ‘’ a more interesting and exciting life’’ ( Love, 2013) Many people would consider the author’s job as a shift because of oppression , abuse or forced; the truth though is that she put herself in that situation because she would earn money from something that she loved . The social stigma soon changed her sex positive beliefs and made her disgusted of her job; feminist movement approaches made her exit that field . Victoria Love , being an educated , middle class woman , has now returned to sex work and she is more proud than ever for her job stating that she gets satisfaction from sharing her body . Sex positivism allows women to embrace their femininity and enjoy life by being grateful , appreciated and feeling beautiful .Public perception about oppression to sex work is wrongful as many women choose to live their life in the sex industry. Sex work can allow women to live an independent life, where they can afford to enjoy their lives through earning money by performing on what all women do. The social stigma of sex work has marginalized women from publicly expressing their feeling on sex; but they rather try to keep up to an image that the society wants to view . That image is of the ‘’good girl ‘’, the one who grew up waiting for the prince, and doesn’t talk publicly talk about sex. According to Young (2008) , 68% of people view prostitution as morally wrong ; There are many wrong public perceptions about women working in the sex industry ; and that is that mostly marginalized population are exposed to this line of work in order to make money as there is no other choice . According to Victoria Love’s guest lecture , she notes that there are many sex workers who have university degrees and choose to be involved in sex work . Sex work has been an ancient job that women provided their intimate services to men and were respected from society. In agreement with Scarlet Road’s film , sexual intimacy can be the most therapeutic part of our existence ; as noted by a sex worker in Australia who specializes in providing her services to people with disabilities. (Road , 2012) Sex positive feminism is an aid to marginalized groups who either can express their sexuality or their pride in sexual satisfaction.
The criminalization of the sex industry has pushed sex workers and clients into the shadows of society , which has allowed the victimization of sex workers . According to Love’s lecture (2014) , since the workers are criminalized violence is permitted; Radical feminism approaches support criminalization of sex work and pornography which have had a negative impact on creating negative stereotypes against sex workers. Presented by Victoria Love, a study on 855 clients of sex workers based on victimization; an overwhelming 29% of the clients had negative reviews on about their services, and 3,4% admitted to violent offences against sex workers. The media have played a significant role into influencing public perceptions against sex workers. Regardless of what we feel on a moral level , sex workers are victims and the most vulnerable people in our society . In the 21st century we live in an era that criminalizes a sexualized society which is dominated by ‘’anti-sex movements’’, and represents sex as a practice which is contradictory to social norms. (Atwood, 2012) The media now a days, have been focusing a lot on differentiating good sex from bad sex, making it a hot topic in frequent discussions ; although sex is presented as deviant behaviour by conservative people who enforce heterosexual sex and rare talk on sexual pleasure. Furthermore the easy access to porn , due to technology has initiated discussions about the amount of online sex younger people get , and how they handle this information . As noted by Atwood (2012) the latest focus has been on the dangers of online sex and porn addiction , which have a pernicious impact on young people . According to Young (2008), after the ‘’porn explosion ‘’ during the 1970s the criminal law tried to control the industry but eventually abandoned the efforts. Moreover , the criminalization of sexual expression has marginalized a certain group of people , these who are not heterosexual. Regarding most public morals , the good sex is heterosexual , private , intimate and monogamous; whereas anything despite these , its bad sex . ( Crossman , 2003) In agreement with Crossman (2003) , while the law is busy to ‘’normalize’’ these people who choose to have freedom in their sexual orientation , are being disciplined by the society and its expectations and not by the obscenity law. The Little Sisters vs Big Brother (2002) film takes us to the dramatic consequences of interaction of LGBT community with the government where extreme regulation from law , limits the sexual freedom of the LGBT community .
Sex positivism can limit regulations around the sex law being in the interest of people who wish to express and satisfy their sexual life in any orientation and manner. Historically , courts have looked at things which harm society and as noted by professor Meulen (2014) , there was criminalization of sexual imagery , as it was viewed as threat to the society , and specifically middle class and working class would be more vulnerable in being corrupted by obscene imagery . According to Young (2008) , currently there have not been any specific political or judicial reforms in regards with obscene law , although the government tries to monitor and regulate the sex industry. As I mentioned in my introduction , the human sexuality has never been shaped around obscene laws , but rather evolved based on people’s tendencies throughout the times; therefore the law has remained passive , but parallel to human sexuality . As Young (2008) notes , the common law has mostly ‘’attacked’’ prostitution but not the sale of sex . Sex Positive feminism can influence the law in a positive way , by allowing merely opinions on sexuality , if not de-criminalization of prostitution.
In conclusion , sex positivism is an approach which can function in the interest of women and their expressions on their sexuality . There are certainly many themes emerging from this movement , such as victimization , abuse and oppression of women ; but sex positive feminism might seem as n immoral movement to some people , when it is actually a part of our lives that we are afraid to express publicly , as we were raised and taught from out patriarchal families , to keep these matters to ourselves . Sex should celebrated be women , celebrate being loved and beautiful . Sexual life is an essential part of our lives , and ‘’touching’’ awakes many part of our social self . Due to criminalization of sexuality and sex work , many women and the LGBT community are constantly victimized ; liberalization of sexual expression in any desired way can limit the victimization rates , as women will not be viewed as sexual objects but as individuals in their own consent to enjoy sex and even getting paid for it. Socially constructed stereotypes , based on morals and norms are attacking sexuality as it is viewed ‘’bad’’ for the future of the youth . Public discourses are focused on informing the youth for the health risks of sex, abuse , and disadvantages of sexual freedom. The law hasn’t played a significant role into influencing the sexual expression throughout the history, but it has rather oppressed sexuality in public . Women are free in their bedrooms, for as long as there is sexual desire and satisfaction.

REFERENCES
Attwood , F. (2012) ‘’Sex and the Media ,’’ in The Handbook of Gender, Sex and Media , 1st Ed. Hoboken , NJ : John Wiley & Sons LTD., PP. 457-469
Cossman , B. (2003), "Disciplining the Unruly: Sexual Outlaws, Little Sisters and the Legacy of Butler," UBC Law Review, 36(1): 77-99
Love , V. (2013), “Champagne, Strawberries, and Truck-Stop Motels: On Subjectivity and Sex Work,” in Emily van der Meulen, Elya M. Durisin, and Victoria Love (eds.), Selling Sex: Experience, Research, and Advocacy on Sex Work in Canada. Vancouver: UBC Press, pp. 58-64.
Love , Victoria ( 2014 , March ) Women in the sex Industry ,Guest Lecture
Meulen , E. ( 2014, February ) Sexuality and Censorship , Lecture
Road , S. : A Sex Worker’s Journey (2011, 71 min)
Weisman . A Little Sister 's vs. Big Brother, Ministry of Justice (2002, 47 min)
Young, A. (2008), “The State is Still in the Bedrooms of the Nation: The Control and Regulation of Sexuality in Canadian Criminal Law,” Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 17(4): 203-220.

References: Attwood , F. (2012) ‘’Sex and the Media ,’’ in The Handbook of Gender, Sex and Media , 1st Ed. Hoboken , NJ : John Wiley & Sons LTD., PP. 457-469 Cossman , B. (2003), "Disciplining the Unruly: Sexual Outlaws, Little Sisters and the Legacy of Butler," UBC Law Review, 36(1): 77-99 Love , V. (2013), “Champagne, Strawberries, and Truck-Stop Motels: On Subjectivity and Sex Work,” in Emily van der Meulen, Elya M. Durisin, and Victoria Love (eds.), Selling Sex: Experience, Research, and Advocacy on Sex Work in Canada. Vancouver: UBC Press, pp. 58-64. Love , Victoria ( 2014 , March ) Women in the sex Industry ,Guest Lecture Meulen , E. ( 2014, February ) Sexuality and Censorship , Lecture Road , S. : A Sex Worker’s Journey (2011, 71 min) Weisman . A Little Sister 's vs. Big Brother, Ministry of Justice (2002, 47 min) Young, A. (2008), “The State is Still in the Bedrooms of the Nation: The Control and Regulation of Sexuality in Canadian Criminal Law,” Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 17(4): 203-220.