[lbo-talk] Leftists and sex

Stephen E Philion philion at hawaii.edu
Sat Feb 7 11:36:40 PST 2004


TS wrote: I think you are both right. I think there is a lot of confusion in American culture over what is the line between healthy sexuality and respectful behavior toward women. This is particularly true in activist/leftist circles. So you get men who are absolutely petrified around women.

--you must hang out in some oddball left wing circles, the ones i've been around certainly don't conform to this rush limbaugh type stereotype. we in the US live in a society that in its own particular (albeit not unique) way makes people nervous about sex. People across the board react in ways that are probably pretty consistent from what I've seen. I've known leftists who act as you describe above and I've known a goodly number who are quite the opposite, utter libertines and think the nervousness is nothing but a social construct with little need for acceptance if a little critical thought is put into it. At the same time I've found that similarly among certain right wingers, liberals, etc. This notion that there is a 'left' way of reacting to sex, sexuality, gender relations is at best misinformed. ------------------------------- Anyway, this applies at least to that subset of activists who are "politically correct".

--alas, the 'subset'. well, that same 'subset' exists among the right, moderate rightists, moderate liberals, lefties...big deal. -------------------------------- I like to hang out with people who love life and bodies; hey, I know we're fallen but it's the only game in town that I can be sure of :)

--you'll find those types on the left, right, center, fat, thin, old, young, loud snorers, quiet sleepers... ---------------------------------- I dont know if it is because feminist ideas are less pervasive in europe or not, but in any case there does not seem to be the above problem of sexual politics-at least it is not as pronounced- in Europe (at least with France and Italy.

--maybe it has something to do with European sexual/gender relations than with feminism? it is odd that feminists would be held responsible for what is a dominant culture of nervousness about sexuality. on the other hand, i'd hesitate to generalise across feminists for that matter, there's such variety in that group too. --------------------- I also think you have the northern european influence in American culture that has a bad effect on how people live in their bodies.

--yeah, that ALSO has a slight impact....but not as much as those left wing feminazis who have simply ruined the potential for America to be like Europe. i'm tired of those feminazi sponsored protests against nude beaches out here in the midwest...

steve



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