Wednesday, February 27, 2008

why does sex have negative connotations?

Have you ever wondered why sex - particularly premarital sex - is considered bad? Why is something that harms no one but gives so much pleasure (not to mention heralding new life) considered paap? You can enjoy great food, cool bikes, stylish clothes, fun games but sex? Noooo......that u aren't allowed to do. But why? What makes sex different from all the other means of pleasure? I'll tell you why. (I wonder why I keep reverting to anthropology to form my theories. I have absolutely no background in it.) Anyways, here goes:

At some point during the course of the development of civilization, people realized that free love (yes, it is not a modern concept) had it's huge disadvantage viz. uncared-for-children. You see, when people go about mating with each other without any responsibility for the outcome of their actions, what you end up with is pregnant females with no one to look after and feed their young ones - except maybe the females most in demand (maals). The male had no way of knowing whether the child was his or not and hence he had no interest in it's rearing (and hence propagating his own genes - if they were his in the first place). So to ensure that the male would take care of the child the bond of marriage was created and called sacred and pre-marital sex was forbidden and labeled immoral. Therefore, the actual reason for making pre-marital sex a taboo was to ensure the proper upbringing of the child.

Now fast-forward to the 21st century. Unwanted pregnancies can be avoided by condoms and birth control pills, among other methods of contraception. So the problem of the uncared-for-child doesn't arise at all. Considering the reasons for the labelling of sex as immoral and the technological advancements of our age, shouldn't we re-think our assessment about the morality of sex?

5 comments:

Amiya Patanaik said...

well you'll know why it's a taboo when you find your wife fucking a young man. While mentioning sex you are totally forgetting one side of it. There is commitment , love and morality attached to it... consider that too. But I must say you have put forth a very good theory but that no way justifies that premarital sex is good!

The Thoughtful Philosopher said...

[charged]
first of all, i was talking about pre-marital sex, not extra-marital sex. so commitment actually works in favour of my arguement. answer this: u consider falling in love with someone ok but expressing it physically as wrong. why? what's the big difference?

as for love, what is sex but an expression of love? well ...... at least the most beautiful sex is.

morality. that's what i tried to explain.......how morality came to be attatched to it. if u have a better reason why pre-marital sex is considered immoral then by all means.............do enlighten me.

and u're right. i haven't justified that pre-marital sex is good. i've only showed how the basis for labelling it as immoral is no longer valid today - if the basis is what i've said it is. whether it is good or desirable is a bit more complicated.

and thank u for your opinion.

the questioning soul........ said...

i'll say it was a completely logical side
with no emotions atached

Hardeep Siddhu said...

hello dear
i am a non stereotype man and like almost all your mindblasting articles. i am feeling more intelligent after reading your articles. thanks for that.


if we think logically, nothing wrong with pre-merital sex.
Now my question is why sex with our sister is considered bad?
if we can enjoy talking with our sister. why can't sex??

The Thoughtful Philosopher said...

[Hardeep]
Thanks for reading. And for the flattering compliment. I'm glad I could help you improve yourself.

Incest is discouraged because it leads to a deterioration of progeny. Healthy, strong offspring cannot come from people who have too many genes in common. That's why it was classified as immoral, objectionable etc.