>
> I thought the piece which comrade Pugliese posted
> was
> spot on. S&M is a human product, a product of class
> society. In a general sense it was described by
> Hegel
> in the Lordship and Bondsman section of the
> Phenomenology of the Spirit. The point is, of
> course,
> to change it.
The sectarian left used to say this about homosexuality -- bourgeois decadence, etc. What's the difference? No one here today would ever allow him/herself to even think that Brian's gayness is sick perversion, that is inferior to straight sexuality and would be, uh, reformed in a classless society. (*Send kinky people to re-education camps, Mike?) Makes you think of necrophilia, incest, and child abuse. I think to a person we'd all rather be shot that say any such thing. Though 30 years ago the situation would have been quite different. Frankly, the response to kink here sounds like right wind fundies on gay and lesbian sex. Only some right wing fundies are more open-minded. Really!
Why is it OK to say these, well, bigoted, things about kinkiness, then? Why do people who find kink icky feel obliged, or indeed permited, to hold forth on why other people shouldn't do it, rather than just registering (quietly) that they wouldn't care for that sort of thing themselves. (They think.) As with homosexuality.
Why does it matter? Brian's put it very well. I'd say, to put it more loftily, because you can't be for human freedom and deny adults their consensual sexuality. Sex is every bit as important as work in human life. Maybe explantorily, I'm open minded on that, but I mean to living a decent life. There is no surer way to make people miserable, once they have a minumum of food, water, clothing, and shewlter, than interfering with their sexual needs and wants.
If self-identified libertarian leftists go all sex-cop on harmless forms of sexual conduct, that's really sad. I think some self-examination is called for -- quiet and solitary -- about why the need to join in this chorus of condemnation rather than offering solidarity in exactly the same way you would with homosexuality.
One more thing, Mike. You can't of course know what sexual needs people will have After The Revolution, and it's arrogant to pretend otherwise. Maybe the Revolution would change people's needs so that they wouldn't want to be kinky -- though if you could prove that to them, you might well lose them for the Revo!, maybe it would change the way they would be kinky, maybe not. Same with vanilla or straight or gay sexuality. But we are this side of the Revo, and whatever would happen that side of it, if there is a that side, it's silly to condemn something here and now because it might or might not be different then and there.
Speaking of which I have to go to work. Am I class traitor because I have a job?
_______________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today! http://vote.yahoo.com