Introduction
Human sexuality appears to be a rather simple concept. However, this would be the case if sex was solely linked to reproductivity. Thus, it would make sense if people engaged in such activities for the purpose of fulfilling biological needs such as creating offspring. In reality, sex is much more than that, and besides having a biological objective, it correlates with multiple social, emotional, and psychological factors. Since it is not solely a physical process, what is sex? It is a complicated question since it takes many forms and changes based on the circumstances. Humans often explain sex to children by suggesting it is something that happens when mommy and daddy love each other. While this still refers to the physical connotation of creating new life, sex is explained through the word “love” in this particular situation.
This makes the subject even vaguer since love is an even more confusing term. Suppose romantic love is when two people are attracted to each other and feel the need to externalize their emotions through sex. However, humans do not always have sex with those they truly love, further expanding the dilemma. Maybe sex is a psychological need to connect with another person. In this case, all the pathologies and sexual crimes would be referred to as non-consensual emotional communication rather than abuse. The complexity of explaining human sexuality refers to the complexity of the concept itself. The truth is that sex, just like most human activities, has multiple layers. Each person views it differently, and the notion itself changes as time goes by. However, it is certain that humans are only beginning to understand themselves, their bodies, and their minds, and sex may become something entirely different as people evolve and start asking even more questions.
The Morality of Sex
Sex is not necessarily tied to any of the notions of reproductivity, emotional involvement, love, and other terms that are usually linked to human sexuality. However, it is certain that sex itself does have to do with morality, which is subjective for all people. Morality depends on one’s own intrinsic beliefs. These beliefs are constructed through the lived experience, the society in which the individual lives, family values, and even gender. Implementing a sense of moral value to human sexuality can be damaging in some instances and beneficial in others. For example, there are countries where women are punished for having premarital sex. This usually comes from a moral aspect of religion. An example of when it is appropriate to view sex from a moral standpoint is child abuse.
Engaging in a sexual relationship with a child is illegal even if there is consent. This system is based on the view of sex as something that requires cognitive abilities to either agree to or disagree to engage in it. Thus, since children are easily manipulated, do not have life experience, and cannot fully take responsibility for their actions, pedophilia is considered immoral and harmful. In this case, ethics play a significant role, and very few people can say that dealing with such situations without implementing a virtue connotation is wrong. However, pedophilia is indeed a non-debatable subject since there is a common understanding that manipulating kids into making sexual favors is wrong. The situation is different when it comes to other ethical subjects. As it has been established, adding a moral connotation to human sexuality is not prudence but rationality. Now it is essential to establish whether sex without the ethical connotation can be considered moral. Is it still sex if the physicality is all that’s left and the subjective attraction, virtue, and physiological desire are left out?
Sex Work
Sex is most often a tool used to fulfill physical desires rather than biological ones. Thus, people’s sexuality is not always focused on creating offspring but, most of the time is a way for individuals to engage in something pleasurable, emotionally colorful, and somewhat exciting. Since sex equals pleasure most of the time, it becomes something desirable. However, it is essential to point out that while it is a human instinct, not every person can find a partner or someone who is willing to engage in particulate activities that some may deem perverted. This is when human sexuality turns into an economic measure that can be fulfilled through a transaction. Sex work is the industry that allows people to receive sex in exchange for money. However, is it sex if the basis is centered around one person’s desire and another one’s willingness to engage in it only as a result of a reward?
As it was already established, human sexuality is tied to the notion of morality. However, when on one side sex is a physical need and on the other side there is a willingness to fulfill it for money, it is challenging to view it from an ethical perspective. Getting paid for a handshake or a massage does not change the fact that it is a handshake or massage because both these notions are not tied to an ethical connotation. On the other hand, sexual behavior is complex and consists of multiple levels that need to be considered, and then these levels disappear, and only money and instincts remain present; sex becomes something else. In case it was the same, prostitution without the financial part would become free prostitution, yet in reality, it is more than that (Andre 44). Thus, since free prostitution becomes something at least emotionally and physically desirable for both parties if the act is consensual, prostitution is not necessarily about human sexuality. It is a transaction that involves the simulation of sexuality and desire, which is why it is not a representation of sex itself.
Pornography
The first thing that people think about when hearing the phrase “sex for money” is prostitution, but other jobs are also related to this concept. Adult performers have sex in front of a camera and get paid as a result of consumers watching their content. Are the performers willing to sleep with each other, or do they do it solely for money? This is redundant since the sole activity involving financial benefits cannot be considered fully consensual from an emotional standpoint. However, it would be wrong to put the blame on the people making love for money since they do not have the responsibility to have the virtue of considering physical connection sacred. How about those watching such movies? The subject becomes more complex since one party receives a monetary benefit while the other one fulfills some intrinsic desires, which already adds an emotional connotation. Consumers of porn are, by definition, objectifying those they see on the screen. Those who seek such erotic content have the power to shape the pornographic industry, implement trends, and encourage its evolvement into something bigger and more significant (Cawston 630). Porn consumers are the ones who make porn so valuable, and porn performers become willing to engage in activities that they may avoid in their personal lives but do on camera to satisfy consumer demand. Sex becomes an object rather than a complex term signifying something more than the act itself. Thus, pornography is another illustration of a sexual favor rather than a representation of human sexuality per se. Watching porn is the last thing one can do to understand human sexuality, but it is helpful in identifying some of the things humans value in bed. Some are common fantasies, others are perversions, and the next ones can be the physical embodiment of specific psychological traumas. Either way, sexuality has little to do with pornography and even less with the consumer-product transaction which the adult industry relies on.
Objectification
When discussing pornography and sex work in general, it is important to mention objectification. Objectification in itself is degrading since the value of a human being is minimized and turned onto one of an object. An object is something that can be bought, sold, used, and thrown away since a thing does not have feelings, emotions, and individuality. It has a specific appearance and value, but it is indeed a monetary one, not an intrinsic value each person has by existing. People who are willing to pay for sex or erotic content treat the other party as a sexual object. This is suggested by the lack of necessity of mutuality. Needless to say, it is not implied that prostitution and adult performances are non-consensual by definition, but consent is given as a result of a reward instead of a personal unbiased decision. Consensual objectification is real, and it has nothing to do with abuse since one party is willingly presenting themselves as sexual objects (Marino 345). However, the question is whether the desire for reward guides such a presentation. In case it is influenced by the economic benefit, and one has to overstep personal values in order for someone else to be sexually satisfied, the objectification is morally and societally damaging.
No one denies the human need to engage in sexual activities as it is a primary instinct. Since most porn consumers and users of sexual advances in exchange for money are men, there is a bias against males as the main perpetrators of objectification. It is essential to avoid criticizing a gender for biological needs since it is equal to discriminating against someone for skin color (Christensen 351). The argument against sex work has nothing to do with the concept of sex for money as an intrinsically negative aspect of sexuality. Instead, the argument suggests that prostitution and porn often signify objectivization. When one turns into a pretty picture without individuality, sex itself becomes a product. This contradicts the previous point of human sexuality being strongly tied to morality. This is why objectifying someone can be harmful on multiple levels, including one’s sexual behaviors, desires, and perversions.
Sexual Dysfunction/Perversion
Objectivization may be interpreted as perversion based on the circumstances and the individual’s personal views. Perversion in itself is a broad term since it changes as certain societal norms are either becoming useless or, in other instances, people understand the harm they correlate with. By definition, perversion is something that is not included in the norm. Thus, everything that deviates from regular sexual activities may be classified within this category. However, sex is a flexible notion that differs based on the person engaging in the act, the society, and the time period. An example is homosexuality, which was referred to as a perversion till 1970 when doctors decided to start referring to it as a sexual orientation rather than a psychological illness (Busfield 760). This is an illustration of how a concept can change as society develops and becomes more open to deviation from the norm. In this sense, since most people are heterosexual, homosexuals are minorities, which means a different perspective compared to the majority.
It is certain that sexual perversions can have multiple connotations. In terms of the origins, Freud identified that perversions are the results of trauma, and people may engage in such activities without being perverts. On the other hand, the pathological desire to engage in some particular acts which deviate from the norm is the behavior of a pervert (Airaksinen, “Tricky Sexual Differences” 202). For example, the practice of BDSM may be viewed from both points of view. On the one hand, a person may apply some bondage, domination, sadistic, and masochistic practices without fully emerging in BDSM. However, in case a person seeks insufferable pain and humiliation through such sexual activities, this is an illustration of trauma exemplified through perversion (Airaksinen, “Tricky Sexual Differences” 6). BDSM itself is a controversial topic since, on the surface, it looks like consent is lacking, which is not the case. According to researchers, the persistence of power allows BDSM practices to be consensual. No matter who has the dominant and submissive role, all parties are able to say no (Card 50). Thus, while perversion is a deviation from the general notion of human sexuality, it is a part of it that is more complex than it appears to be.
In case the perversion is pathological, and one cannot be satisfied without a particular fetish, there is the possibility of occurrence of sexual dysfunctions. As with everything related to human sexuality, there are levels of dysfunctions. Certainly, in some instances, such outcomes are solely physical. However, since dysfunctions refer to one’s inability to achieve pleasure, there may be an emotional factor inhibiting desire, arousal, or fulfillment. Humans are compound, and since sex is deeply emotional in most instances, sexual dysfunctions may be affected by the phycological implication of human interconnection. Dysfunction, just as perversion, was considered to be the negative side of a human being (Cacchioni and Tiefer 308). However, it is crucial to take into consideration all the factors included in the notion of sexuality to put a label on one’s aims, desires, or inabilities to achieve pleasure. This, again, suggests that the physical connection between people is much more than the act itself but includes various other subjective measurements which are deeply personal.
Sexual Assault/Harassment
The dark side of sexuality is the instinctive desire that some cannot control, which turns into abuse. Sexual harassment and assault are deeply damaging for victims having to live through such experiences. Humans have evolved through compassion and reason, which always illustrates the importance of considering the consequences of every behavior. However, because sexual assaults are still prevalent, it is clear that the initial premise of sex, which is mutual consent, does not resonate with the perpetrators. Humans started viewing sex as an act in which both parties participate by choice relatively recently in history. The accent on mutuality is now highlighted more than ever. It may be related to understanding human sexuality as more than a physical expression of instincts. This is why rape and assaults are not only viewed as crimes against one’s physical well-being but also an attack on integrity, psychological health, and values.
Sexual harassment and assault are certainly the darkest portrayals of human sexuality. However, it is unclear whether the lack of mutuality allows such atrocities to be called sex. The perpetrators are the only ones seeking gratification, while the victims are the silent objects to fulfill their desires. Thus, it can be argued that such crimes are more abusive than sexual. First, the perpetrator views the victim as a tool for exercising instincts. This suggests that objectification is at the core of such assaults since the one being abused has no say in what is happening. Moreover, sex becomes a product, similar to the concept of prostitution and pornography. In these instances, the product is being sold, while in the case of sexual abuse, it is being stolen. In both instances, the person being used for sexual gratification is viewed as an object that has no free will or power over their bodies, sexualities, and integrities. Needless to say, rape and prostitution or adult performances are different. The argument only suggests the presence of objectification in both and the lack of morality that usually aligns with one’s sexuality. Assault in itself, as the worst portrayal of sex, is highlighted through the lack of ethics, a disregard for one’s power to make a choice, and the presence of a perverted view on sexuality. If these are the traits of the most harmful side of intimacy, the logical argument would suggest sexuality is adequate when it has a moral connotation, a desire to form a connection through mutual desires, and a healthy context for engaging in sexual activities.
Conclusion
Human sexuality takes many forms and has multiple different connotations. While it can be interpreted as the physical embodiment of internal human connection, it can also be illustrated as a result of psychological trauma, destruction of integrity, and a disregard for one’s humanity. It would be too simple to paint sexuality with one color since there are many complex levels to it. Either way, it is certainly a big part of humanity as a species. People are far from perfect, and their sexual behavior is sometimes the best concept that proves the validity of this statement. But humankind evolves and constantly changes, which means that there is a tremendous chance for individuals to address some of the questions that are being left out in terms of sex. While some atrocities, such as assaults and harassment, are, unfortunately, still a part of sexuality, most individuals put morality and virtue into how they treat other human beings in and outside the bed. It even relates to one’s sexual behavior towards themselves. Thus, sexuality, like every other aspect of human nature, is not stagnant, and it will experience even more significant shifts. Since the species evolved from being driven by instincts to being able to use rationality when making decisions, the prospect of sex becoming an even deeper interhuman connection is inevitably critical.
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