MyDD :: Make Sex a Top 2006 Issue

Make Sex a Top 2006 Issue

by Chris Bowers, Sat Apr 09, 2005 at 06:54:45 PM EST

Let's fight the culture war, but let's fight it on our terms.

If you hadn't already noticed, the modern conservative movement wants to control every aspect of sexual activity and intimate relationships. They want to control marriage, they want to control women's fertility, they want to keep teens from knowing about sex, they want to stop gay people from doing it, they want to ban contraceptives, they don't want anyone to talk about masturbation, and they certainly don't want to see boobs on television. The implications of this have echoes throughout history. As a smart blogger once noted:

One of the parts of fascist ideology that gets forgotten is how much it fixated on sex and reproduction. Not just the racial purity laws, but its disciplining of sex and reproduction in service to the state. And, if we look at this specific aspect of fascism, then we can point in this country to a creeping fascism that is aimed directly at the body, pleasure, sex, and reproduction.

Sparta would be proud. However, Americans hate it:

NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll conducted by the polling organizations of Peter Hart (D) and Bill McInturff (R). March 31-April 3, 2005. N=1,002 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.1.

"When it comes to social and moral issues facing the country, do you think that the federal government should generally be more active or less active?"

More Active   Less Active   Depends   Unsure
    35		  54	       9	 2

So many seemingly individual "issues" are being fought on this front: gay rights, reproductive rights, sex education, the battle over contraceptives, FCC regulation. However, they are all connected under the larger banner of whether or not the government should control people when it comes to sexual activity, intimacy and reproduction. And it does not matter whether or not you are a women, because conservatives want to control male sexual activity as well (although they clearly put more effort into controlling women).

Democrats need to be open and loud about this. I guarantee that making sex a campaign issue will draw huge headlines, I guarantee that the majority of the country is on our side, and a guarantee it will reach a lot of people who otherwise would not have voted. Here is a simple campaign slogan: keep Republicans out of your bedroom. Conservatives are from Sparta, liberals are from Athens. I don't think many Americans would have a difficult time deciding in which ancient city they would rather live.

Tags: Ideology (all tags)

Permalink :: 30 Comments :: Post a Comment

P A N T Y ... P O L I T I C S ! ! ! (none / 0)

HEY ... YOU... GET OUT OF MY DRAWS (To the ryhtm of Hey you get off of my cloud.

I read where a mullah in IRan went on televsion warning women against becoming sexually excited when peeling eggplants... I kid you not.

Or in Swaziland where the parliament outlawed mini-skirts in it fight against a 50% AIDS infection rate.

I used to think that this could only happened in backwards countries but when you have an administration who believes that god talks to him... that is when you realize how backwards...this country has become.

We can prove this because they are the most illmoral degenerate people in this country.

Liberals should wear a SCARLET L, like in the Scarlet letter. We wear our issue and beliefs in public. Whereas the conservatives chastise this openess while hiding who they are.

For example:
The Director of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has been on a crusade to get gays out of BSA was recently found with pedophilia porn of little boys.

Instead of being open and honest the hide and their issues fester into weeping puss on society.

Liberals are honest... if they are gay the want to live openly and have healthy relationships and raise families...

There should be a special place in hell for gays like this it is beyond sick and this man should never have been allowed to adopted childen... not because it is gay but because he is a sick sociopath.

Besides telling us how to live, think, marry, pray, vote, invest, educate our children and, die, the GOP has done a fine job of getting gov't out of our lives.

by Parker on Sat Apr 09, 2005 at 07:15:26 PM EST

Re: P A N T Y ... P O L I T I C S ! ! ! (none / 0)

Sponge Bob was a major low point for the GOP

Besides telling us how to live, think, marry, pray, vote, invest, educate our children and, die, the GOP has done a fine job of getting gov't out of our lives.

by Parker on Sat Apr 09, 2005 at 08:23:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

All fascist and communist regimes do this.. (none / 0)

They basically view society as a behavior modification environment, and as they consolidate control, they tend to replace all of the carrots with sticks until people are simply surviving at a subsistence level. Sex is a carrot..

Thats what this is really all about..

They have been doing it with the black community for a long time.. Its the reason subcultures are created.. to provide an alternative hierarchy when people are denied access to the 'mainstream' one..

They just don't get it..

Narcissists are obsessed by control, and of course, nobody can completely control everyone, so they end up becoming more and more paranoid as it gets harder and harder to manage.. Everyone and anyone could be a threat.. They repress their subconscious and repress their fear.. but it comes out in wierd ways..

Often the leaders in these regimes end up killing millions of people from starvation.. Creating an environment where the 'proles' are prevented from having sex (unless they conform to an increasingly impossible standard) inevitably causes rebellion, which if expressed illegally, results in an excuse to imprison people and put them to work in prison industry.. where they are literally working for their lives..

Classic examples of this double standard: Nazi Germany's slave labor camps.. and the exhortation to women to have sex with soldiers.. Japan's system of 'comfort women' - and puritanical mores for 'good women' at home..

When leaders suppress sex, its for a reason, they don't want people getting pleasure for free.. You play by their rules or you don't get laid.. Its quite simple.. Eventually, these societies become extremely vicious.. with public executions meted out for the slightest infraction.. Look at North Korea for an extremely good example of this..

ALL fascist regimes repress sex.. All of them..

by ultraworld on Sat Apr 09, 2005 at 11:08:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: P A N T Y ... P O L I T I C S ! ! ! (none / 0)

You don't get it do you?

People like Finkelstein are the real Republican Party.

They don't give a damn about gay rights one way or the other.
They don't give a damn about abortion one way or another. (Five GOP appointed justices voted for Roe in 1972 and 5 GOP appointed justices voted to uphold it in 1992.)
They don't give a damn about the "value" or anyone's private life.

They just care about money.

They just say what they have to in order to get people who do care about these issues to vote for them.

The crocodile tears the Bush brothers shed for Terri Schiavo and the blatant posturing of DeLay and Frist, when they had all supported measures to cut off support to terminally ill patients, finally started to show their hypocrisy to the American people.

by wayward on Sat Apr 09, 2005 at 10:52:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

That's fascinating. (none / 0)

I had no idea that Playgirl magazine represented "the left."

People often get canned for speaking out publicly on issues simply because by voicing an opinion, you run the risk of hurting revenues.

Never having read the magazine, I don't know whether or not they have a tradition of political commentary.

Do you?

Are we safer yet?

by catastrophile on Sun Apr 10, 2005 at 10:00:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Who publishes Playgirl? (none / 0)

You're throwing names around but I don't know whether they're relevant or not -- and, I take it, neither do you. It's up to the magazine's publishers whether or not politics belong in their pages.

I've asked you to explain your assumption -- specifically, that the editor was fired because of a bias toward liberalism, as opposed to a bias toward apolitical content and appealing to the widest possible audience.

Rather than explain that assumption, you've restated it -- and added irrelevant information. I'm sorry, but I don't dance. Take care.

Are we safer yet?

by catastrophile on Sun Apr 10, 2005 at 03:34:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The more I think about it, (none / 0)

the more I think you're right -- not that this represents intolerance by "the left," but that she was canned for announcing she was a Reep.

After all, it must have scared the pants off of the publishers (so to speak) to learn that their editor-in-chief belonged to a party which would, given half a chance, regulate their magazine right out of existence.

Sort of like if the Boy Scouts learned that one of their top officials belonged to NAMBLA.

Are we safer yet?

by catastrophile on Mon Apr 11, 2005 at 01:50:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr (none / 0)

My sex life (or current lack of it) is no one's business but my own!!!

On a more serious note, I completely agree. There is nothing shameful about sex. It's a subject that should be openly discussed. Sex is a truly wonderful thing and people should not be ashamed that they have sexual needs.

by ang6666 on Sat Apr 09, 2005 at 07:23:14 PM EST

Remember Howard Dean... (none / 0)

During the primaries there was a great article about Dean in a high school in the south.

Candidate Dean vs President Bush on Sex
By Jeff Booth

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, during a visit to Washington inner-city's Ballou Senior High School, told the teenagers in attendance that they needed a president "that's comfortable talking about sex." He stated that it was important to talk openly about the role of sex in the spread of AIDS, and the importance of condom usage as a preventative measure. "I happen to be a doctor so I'm more comfortable than most I would say. Not many politicians are willing to talk about stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS, condoms and sexual activity, but you have to do it."

Even more significant was his response to a student question about what he would do about unwanted teen pregnancy. Dean stated that "Some kids are going to abstain -- which we encourage -- some kids are not and you've got to be truthful in both cases. That's all we can do. We can't control your behavior."

This is in sharp contrast to the current Bush administration policies on sexuality and AIDS, where being truthful has been completely eliminated from the agenda. They have an anti-sex agenda that is closer to an assault on sexual freedom and information.

While Dean would teach the importance of condom usage, Bush has been engaged in a campaign of misinformation and censorship. The Bush administration had information on condom usage to prevent AIDS removed from the Center for Disease Control Web site. A separate CDC listing of sex-education "Programs that Work," meant to give local officials information on scientifically proven methods of reducing risky teen sexual behavior was also removed. Bush has been appointing fundamentalist critics of condoms to a presidential advisory panel on AIDS.

Now compare that to Kerry and Hilliary running around talking about absintence...

Besides telling us how to live, think, marry, pray, vote, invest, educate our children and, die, the GOP has done a fine job of getting gov't out of our lives.

by Parker on Sat Apr 09, 2005 at 07:39:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

on ancient cities (none / 0)

i think a vast majority of Americans couldn't describe one substantive difference between Athens and Sparta.

but...

I think its a great idea... the commercials would be awesome.

You could have a gaggle of Chubby Repub's in suits hiding in the closet al a Mission Impossible. A woman is crying as she explained her miscarriage yesterday to her husband. The Repbulicans burst out like FBI agents and cuff the mother and drag her off for not reporting it.

by srolle on Sat Apr 09, 2005 at 09:13:53 PM EST

Re: on ancient cities (none / 0)

I don't think most Americans could name what countries Athens and Sparta reside in

Tennesseans for Feingold

by ben114 on Sat Apr 09, 2005 at 09:53:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: on ancient cities (3.00 / 1)

Aren't they both in Georgia?

by wayward on Sat Apr 09, 2005 at 10:41:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: on ancient cities (none / 0)

Actually, Spartan women were far better off than Athenian ones.

Spartan women were relatively free compared to other ancient Greek women and practically ran the place when the men were at war. Athenian women were practically slaves, good mainly for reproduction and keeping house. (Recreational sex was something men did with each other.)

by wayward on Sat Apr 09, 2005 at 10:45:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

We already had that war (none / 0)

it's called WWII and Athens won.

by Paul Goodman on Sun Apr 10, 2005 at 01:24:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

it's all privacy... (none / 0)

If we could only draw a big circle around all these issues, use the broad term, privacy, and get people to realize that when gay rights are threatened, and women's reproductive rights (and men's right to family planning as well!) and Michael Schiavo's right to act on his wife's behalf, then ALL of these threats affect us all...

The fringe right is pushing the anti abortion, anti women's reproductive rights battle on so many fronts, and they are successful (with their base) at linking them all to a 'culture of life.'

We have to be able to connect the dots for people -- the majority of our fellow citizens -- so they see how every time someone's right to privacy is undermined, it's only a matter of time before theirs is on the line in some way too.

The Republicans depend on our fragmentation and their ability to demonize our constituent groups to each other. We can't permit it any longer.

by sarany on Sat Apr 09, 2005 at 09:23:54 PM EST

marriage = family & children for GOP (none / 0)

i think that making sex an issue is a great idea since the right is moving to make gay marriage an issue for 2006. their anti-gay marriage arguments are often centered around the idea of marriage being a special state-sanctioned bond for producing children--which makes it about state regulation of sex. This view of marriage invalidates the marriages of infertile and childless couples.

In addition, there are many unmarried couples and singles with children. We already know many on the right denounce out of wedlock births and want the state to exert its influence through abstinence programs and programs that encourage those receiving welfare to get bonuses for marrying.

by benchcoat on Sat Apr 09, 2005 at 10:17:40 PM EST

Many people can't afford to have children.. (3.00 / 1)

Those who do end up having them, are scared because they see themselves slipping backwards.. They see the fact that they have to work so hard they can't really watch over their kids.. and they think that putting them in a Christian church will help.. It might and then again it might not.. What they really need are the kind of social networks that used to exist but which the corporate world has been quietly commoditizing and co-opting.. So now you really cant go out and not spend money.. Thats the whole idea..

People also are under a lot of pressure to spend more than they can afford.. This dates back to the period right after WWII when there was a government program that encoraged planned obsolescence.. Remember when 'cool' people bought a new car every year? Pure profit...

We are kind of like birds.. afraid to show any weakness because we think that will start a chain reaction leading to disaster...

But we need to cry out for help.. Thats how communities start...

by ultraworld on Sat Apr 09, 2005 at 11:15:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Diversionary tactic.. Real issue is GOP's war on (none / 0)

The real issue is GOP's war on the middle class and especially, on the poor..

Sex is natural.. It happens..

The 'bad' things are when families disintegrate.. Unemployment is poison to families..

Lack of jobs and lack of options, and the need to feed children, are causes of things like prostitution..

As a society, we need to cut back on consumption and rebuild the commons - rebuild the social networks that the corporations have destroyed in the chase for more money..

Families also desperately need affordable childcare.. The Democratic party and community groups should offer childcare..

Sex education is crucial..

If you look at Europe, teen pregnancy rates are much lower.. because of a sensible attitude about sex education..

The US has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any developed nation..

What is happening is that the GOP economic war on the middle class is putting huge stresses on our society.. That is what is breaking up families..

if you don't beleive me.. read this:
http://rawstory.com/exclusives/dissenting_views_bankruptcy_405.htm

and this

http://www.acsblog.org/cat-economic-regulation-employment.html

and the running story here:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/bankruptcy/

When people have futures.. things like this don't happen.. when they don't, they do..

by ultraworld on Sun Apr 10, 2005 at 12:16:42 AM EST

A question (none / 0)

Do you see, as I do, the inherent contradiction between a political program that seeks to maximize the consumption of the common man, and a political program that seeks to a sustainable arrangement with the natural world?

Yeah, the Middle Class. Fascism. We have all discussed this ad nauseum. But we cannot keep popping out kids. We cannot keep burnig fossil fuels. We cannot keep decimating ecosystems. If freedom leads to ruin, what kind of future does it have? People turn to fascism when freedom fails. We set freedom up for failure when, via Madison Avenue and Hollywood, we teach the common people that the good life is one the revolves around how much you consume. That your worth as a father and as a man is how much you earn for the purposes of consumption by your wife and children.

We can have a utopia now, today, if we can cease the conversion of the natural world into junk. Of course, Billy Bob won't have a job at the factory anymore, and our "GDP" and "Standard of Living" will decrease on paper. Prices would rise, taxes would rise, people would live off of handouts: beautiful! Yet no Democrat would even dare to suggest that another Great Depression would be a good thing. Oh no! It's too tempting to think of it as a way to regain power.

With cotradictions like that, a party cannot be taken seriously as a viable alternative.

by Paul Goodman on Sun Apr 10, 2005 at 01:22:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Trudeau said it , almost 40 years ago (none / 0)

"The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation" --Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, 1967.

by CathiefromCanada on Sun Apr 10, 2005 at 01:56:32 AM EST

You Have to Be Careful in How This Issue is Framed (none / 0)

It would be completely the wrong thing to say or imply that all sex is good. The wrong impression is that Democrats are a bunch of "free love hippies" trying to justify hedonistic sex. That is exactly the image that Republicans will use to attack.

What we should say is that, even though some expressions of sexuality are improper or morally/ethically wrong, government should (reluctantly) permit them because: 1) people have a right to be wrong, within reason; 2) government can't do everything and things like Howard Dean style sane enforcement of drug laws, rational national defense, and realistic health care reform are better priorities for the use of government power; 3) people have a legitimate right to privacy.

Recently, Democrats have made proposals in the area of trying to decrease the number of legal abortions. Democrats need a similar set of counterproposals in the area of sexuality. If abstinence-only education doesn't work, Democrats nevertheless need to endorse abstinence as part of a comprehensive sex education, as abstinence is an entirely possible human behavior. If gay rights is a plank in the Democratic platform, prominent Democrats need to stand up and say that irresponsible behavior on the part of homosexuals who should know better is at least partly to blame for the spread of HIV and this is something that no amount of education or government effort can fix. If it is true that AIDS is an epidemic in Africa, we should still acknowledge that it is much less of a problem in areas dominated by Catholicism or Islam (which may or may not be due to underreporting) and that much of the spread of HIV involves people having sex when they shouldn't be, such as married men who visit prostitutes or keep a mistress, in the end passing on the virus to their innocent wives.

Two things go together here. Responsible government and responsible personal behavior, and a responsible government acknowledges that it can't make individuals live up to all social responsibilities, no matter how reprehensible their behavior.

Things You Don't Talk About in Polite Company: Religion, Politics, the Occasional Intersection of Both

by Anthony de Jesus on Sun Apr 10, 2005 at 02:15:13 AM EST

Not due to underreporting (3.00 / 0)

when you are a virgin and you consumate your sexual life with another virgin and have a faithful marriage, sexually transmitted diseases cease to be a leading cause of death. Islam and Christianity (among others) promote those behaviors. It should not come as a shock that it correlates with a lower rate of HIV. What it really boils down to is who pays for vice? Do we all pay? Or just the practitioner? If we all pay then it becomes everybody's business, and freedom goes out the window (communism). When only the practitioner pays, so be it. Live and let live. Many leftists want to have their cake and eat it too. Sexual license, public support for the outcome. I just want a consistant ethic. If the common man does what he likes, let him pay the price. If I am to subsidize him, let me tell him what to do. No equivocating.

by Paul Goodman on Sun Apr 10, 2005 at 01:09:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

"CHURCHY WANNA GET PAID" [SCARY] (none / 0)

"Our job is to reclaim America for Christ, whatever the cost," Kennedy says. "As the vice regents of God, we are to exercise godly dominion and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our government, our literature and arts, our sports arenas, our entertainment media, our news media, our scientific endeavors -- in short, over every aspect and institution of human society."
- D. James Kennedy, Coral Ridge Ministries

by piniella on Sun Apr 10, 2005 at 02:53:41 AM EST

Re: "CHURCHY WANNA GET PAID" [SCARY] (none / 0)

They had better be careful what they wish for - they just might get it.

The nations of Europe had official, state supported, religions for years.

Now, in only two of them do more than half the population attend Church on a monthly basis - Poland and Ireland. Both of these countries have something in common in that the Catholic faith of most Irish and Poles was not historically supported at all, but repressed.

by wayward on Sun Apr 10, 2005 at 11:20:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The Most Interesting (none / 0)

thing I ever heard Hilary say was her pointing out that abortion restriction requires government compliance monitoring of women. It will bring Big Brother into our lives in a big way that is acceptable to no one.

by Bob H on Sun Apr 10, 2005 at 07:56:25 AM EST

Re: The Most Interesting (none / 0)

Well a nerve has definitely been hit cuz Coulter is Shilling for Jeebus

I'd like to know when was the last time that evil cow has even stepped foot in a church was it before or after her operation...

REPEAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A "VALUES VOTER".

Besides telling us how to live, think, marry, pray, vote, invest, educate our children and, die, the GOP has done a fine job of getting gov't out of our lives.

by Parker on Sun Apr 10, 2005 at 08:29:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Did she have an abortion? (none / 0)

I'm trying to interperet "operation".

by Paul Goodman on Sun Apr 10, 2005 at 12:59:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Did she have an abortion? (none / 0)

Anne has a larger Adam's apple than most burly men.

Besides telling us how to live, think, marry, pray, vote, invest, educate our children and, die, the GOP has done a fine job of getting gov't out of our lives.

by Parker on Sun Apr 10, 2005 at 02:03:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Wilhelm Reich (none / 0)

wrote about this in the late twenties in his titanis "Mass-Psychology of Fascism". He also described the same phenomena in the Stalinization of the Russian Revolution in "Sexual Revolution". We ought to honor him and his contribution.

The bottom line is what kind of freedom do you really have if you aren't sexually free? If goverment has the power to control your libido, it surely has the power to control everything else. The same argument was used against the communists viz the means of production. In both case the government is taking the means of the continuation of life solely into its hands. Very dangerous.

by Paul Goodman on Sun Apr 10, 2005 at 12:58:24 PM EST

I am very interested in this (none / 0)

I am very interested in this
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by hpvv on Tue Dec 20, 2005 at 03:13:02 AM EST

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