Sexuality
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Sexuality is an omnibus term which captures all of the biological and social processes and activities related to sexual activity by humans, and applies to them clinically, culturally, politically and religiously.
Mores and laws
Due to its power as a driving force and complexities in the outcomes of its physical exploration (ranging from jealousy to childbirth), human sexuality often plays a central role in political and religious regulations on behaviour. While social and cultural mores are usually unspoken, and wildly variable from time to time and place to place, religious and political attitudes towards sexuality are usually codified and thus less mutable as cultures change with time.
This can lead to discussion and debates over what many consider oppression, of one kind or another, of their own or others sexual expression of themselves — by both those who consider the "rules" to be oppressive and those who don't, or even want to institute more stringent regulation.
Sexual liberation
The "liberators" usually consider all genders to be co-equal actors at a moral and therefore legal level, and that any people over the age of consent ("adults") who engage in voluntary sexual activities that do not affect others are exercising in a fundamental human freedom.
Examples of liberation
- Equal rights for all genders and orientations
- No-fault divorce laws; community property laws
- Medically accurate and complete sex education
- Wide distribution of family planning information and access to birth control methods
- Same-sex marriage rights
- Cultural awareness and legal standards for sexual harassment
Sexual oppression
The "oppressors", who often use pseudo-scientific arguments to back their claims, often consider men's and women's[note 1] roles in society to be differentiated[note 2], tend to want to regulate what specific sexual activities and with whom and when they are engaged in are permitted, and in more extreme instances do not consider many inhumane practices to be wrong.
Examples of oppression
- Forced marriage of any kind
- Dissemination of misinformation about sex, pregnancy and (sexually transmitted) diseases
- Sexual shaming (slut shaming, virgin shaming, kink shaming, etc.)
- Unequal rights in divorce laws
- Homophobia and mistreatment of homosexuals
- Honoring religious or cultural requirements such as "honor killings"
- Blocking access to information about family planning
- Censoring speech about human sexuality
- Legalization of genital mutilation (clitorectomy, non-medical male circumcision, etc.) of minors, or forcing it on anyone
- Obstacles to legal remedies for rape[note 3]
See also
Notes
- ↑ According to the oppressors, Men and Women are the only two genders, transgender people simply cannot exist, and married heterosexuality the only acceptable orientation.
- ↑ I.e., they believe in fixed, different gender roles beyond the basics of reproductive biology
- ↑ Sometimes, they can even be subtle, such as forcing victims to pay for the forensic tests to determine the rapist.
