11-20-10

The moralization surrounding sexuality increasingly amazes me. Even the word, "morality", automatically suggests sexual morality. This is strange, considering that the worst crimes involve injuring or taking human life.

Why does sexuality provoke more moral outrage than murder? Why does the "X" rating only apply to pornography, not to even the most gruesome horror movies? Is not sadistic violence worse than almost any kind of sex? Yet somehow sexuality keeps getting the bony ascetic finger of morality.

For example, prostitution, or the bartering of sexual favors between a woman and a man, is based on the reality that women have sexual favors, which men want; and that men have money and meat and other stuff, which women want. This is an entirely natural arrangement, which has been working very well for a very long time, and in which both man and woman have their needs satisfied.

In fact what we call "prostitution" is the essence of male-female relationships. I have yet to meet a woman who would have sex for free; even in this liberated age, women expect something in exchange for their favors. Yet from religionists to feminists, people keep attacking prostitution as "sin" and "degradation" and so on.

From a purely scientific point of view, the deep and abiding moral prejudice against women and men bartering sex is incomprehensible. First of all, as noted above, women always expect something besides sex. This probably relates to the differential in reproductive strategies of male and female. The essential strategy of the female is to have offspring. The male cannot have offspring, and therefore his strategy is simply to mate, as often and with as many females as possible.

This explains why we see women, but not men, selling sexual favors; why men, rather than women, avidly consume pornography; why men, much more than women, are likely to "cheat": different reproductive strategies lead to differentials in drive. To put it simply: women want babies, and men want women.

Now surrounding the woman's essential baby drive, her maternal instinct, is a whole superstructure of other needs: food, clothing, shelter, etc. Also she needs things that symbolize her value, thus ensuring her survival: gifts, entertainment, etc. All of this stuff is more valuable to a woman if it comes from a man, since it shows his ability and willingness to help her offspring survive.

Compare this with the man's need, which is essentially sexual. We like women who are exciting, flirtatious, risk-taking, and of course sexually enthusiastic (or who can deliver a good, noisy pretense of enthusiasm). We do not care if the woman is dirt poor, indigent and helpless; actually helpless women are even more attractive. The key for men is sex appeal.

1.1 There is nothing wrong with prostitution; it needs to be legalized and regulated.

1.2 Women have been getting paid, and men getting laid, since the dawn of time. Get over it.

1.3 Men want sex, but women expect something besides sex. Men wanting sex, and women wanting something besides sex, is normal and natural. Why is this so hard for people to grasp?