Day #19 - Sex

During the 1950's, before the onset of rock 'n' roll music, our country looked at sex and sexuality like it was just another venereal disease, all on its own.  Talking about it was reserved for slumber parties, locker-rooms and colleges.  Before and after these periods of our lives, it just wasn't DONE!!  Groups we openly recognize today were considered fictional or non-existent back in that decade.  We refused to acknowledge anyone belonging to any such group, and, because of this, they just didn't exist.  It was morally abhorrent to even talk about them.

After the passing of that decade, the 60's brought the beginning of sexual revolution.  Though there were still activities we considered morally offensive, the generic practice and discussion of sex and sexuality was becoming less and less of an evil.  Corporations like Playboy distributed as much sex as it could without total offense of the American Public, causing Americans to be more desensitized to it.  Recreational drugs and sex began to go hand in hand, making sexual tensions nearly non-existent.

With the coming of the following decade, the 70's ushered in the age of porn on film, and that particular decade was the freest we would ever get, away from the almost religious strictness and overall views we endured in the 50's.  It was commonly OK to be sexually adventurous and promiscuous, our morals were totally out the window, especially thanks to the number of drugs we had available for recreation's sake (regardless of their illegality, we tended, as a nation, to look the other way.)  Laws concerning sex and drugs were the most relaxed in our history.  The Disco Era (more prominent in the late 70's) only fueled our heedlessness of any possible danger.

The 80's however, turned sexual freedom on its ear when AIDS appeared, and with the onslaught of the crack epidemic, laws tightened and penalties concerning the same also stiffened, bringing the age of free sex and drug taking/sniffing to an end.  Thanks to crack, the number of prostitutes nearly tripled in metropolitan areas, and the number of prisoners that were jailed for drug-related offenses grew to unprecedented numbers during the Reagan years, the height of "The War On Drugs".

Because of the renewed awareness of the dangers of drugs and sex, and with AIDS as a crushing reminder of our mortality, should we carelessly engage in pre-marital sex, we turned to education during the 90's and beyond to teach our youth the advantage of sexual protection and the merits of abstinence.  Monogamy became the word of the decade, and the people who practiced it were more encouraged and admired.

Now that we're immersed in our newest century, the dominant generations have embraced the technological age as an alternate outlet to sex.  Internet porn is about the biggest and most profitable business in the world, and although sex is still a prominent instinct, we shrug off its need with every round of Pong, Pac-Man, Zelda, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mortal Combat, Assassin's Creed, World of Warcraft and Black Ops that we plug into our consoles.  Instead of foreplay, it's easier to just fire up our iPads and crush a few candies instead.  With the entrance of the Me (remember, I'm a firm believer in, not only a "Me" Generation, but in the 21st century as the "Me" Century) Age, and because of the fear of our planets over-population in some countries, as well as the fact that we fear the mutation of our current killer sex-related diseases (or the possible creation of a new one), we care less and less about consensual sex between two or more people, and are turning now to "taking care of the problem ourselves", if you will.  If the size of the Earth's population continues to grow at the current rate, I wouldn't at all be surprised to see controlled breeding as a norm in countries around the globe.

I stated, in an article I wrote about the legalization of drugs and prostitution in our country, that it wasn't so much the drugs we took, or the illegality of either prostitution or drugs, but our attitudes about the same that needed to be altered.  It's important that we hold, in both hands, the good and the bad of these things, and reconfigure the results to suit our current times.  Why have prostitution be illegal?  OK, it doesn't set a good example for our children to see it being practiced out in the public arena, but that's really about where the bad side ends.  Besides, our kids see it anyway, even in its illegality, so that makes that a silly argument.  And, as far as that goes, the de-sensitizing of our more recent generations to violence and sex has really made this a moot issue.  If it's still an elephant in the room, it doesn't need to be practiced out of doors, does it?  With it being legal, it can operate just as well indoors as out without fear, so that doesn't really need to be a concern either.  On the other side of the argument, there's the saved costs of trying to legally crack down on it, when it just gets worse and worse regardless of our efforts to curb it or stop it altogether.  It just won't stop, no matter what we do.  Then there's the blatant spread of disease we experience with it being illegal.  It's a rebellious thing to do...against our parents wishes, the common law, and against law enforcement, so the lure of it never will go away.  If you make it legal, the lure of rebellious behavior associated with this currently illegal activity will decrease, and, thanks to government involvement in making sure prostitutes are healthy (regular worker check-ups, regulations for the use protection, etc.), the spread of disease will slow as well.  Sex crimes, which often happen due to the way we approach the subject, would lessen dramatically if prostitution were made legal and more favorably viewed.  I just have to say, in our current times, and with stress being almost an epidemic condition, and the success of such things over in Europe and Asia, that we should be prompted to re-evaluate and reconsider alternate options.

Sex, in a nutshell, has been through the ringer in America.  It was massively frowned upon and held as a fatal sin to participate in.  Then it was freely practiced, and brought with that, one of the scariest diseases we've ever had the pleasure of contracting.  Then future generations were educated more thoroughly in our schools and in the public mindset, bringing about new generations that are well-informed and more prone to abstain, and are producing a higher consciousnesses when dealing with all things taboo, when and where it dares to rear it's head.  Until we become more open about it, however, it will have to remain high on our list of deadly sins.

The moon is in the 7th house, and Jupiter aligns with Mars (Not really, it just sounded good to say here, all of a sudden).  Day 19 is no more.  We approach the end of April, where we will, more than likely, begin again anew.