<p>“This idea keeps popping up on this thread, i.e., that our society is closed-minded about sex. I feel, and have always felt, quite the opposite - that no one really cares what other consenting adults do in the privacy of their own homes”</p>
<p>Bay, I wish that was true, people love to portray themselves as libertarian and not caring, and I wish that was true across the board. Yes, if you happen to live in certain parts of this country, it probably isn’t a problem,but that is not universally true, I wish it was. Want some examples of things that happen?</p>
<p>-Parents can and have kids taken away from them because the couple was into alternate sexual practices, usually S/m, simply because evidence came out that the couple was involved, and they often have a battle getting the kids back, lose jobs and so forth, and this doesn’t just happen in the bible belt. There was a case here in NYC where a grad student was arrested for s/m sex and the head of the sex crimes unit prosecuted, even though there was strong evidence the bottom consented, primarily because she had the idea that S/m was inherently illegal because no one could consent to that kind of activity (and the schmuck judge agreed, he suppressed the e-mail evidence as irrelevent, fortunately an appeal panel found he had screwed up, and the da’s office refused to reprosecute, saying there was no evidence it was abuse)</p>
<p>-Crossdressers have lost jobs because of their private activity, and the courts generally rule it is okay to fire someone for that.</p>
<p>-In 35 states someone can be fired for being gay or denied equal rights.</p>
<p>-Congress and dear old billy bob put into law a measure called DOMA, that basically said it didn’t matter what states said, the federal government refused to recognize same sex marriages or give any rights to same sex couples</p>
<p>-In about 8 states it is illegal to sell or purchase sex toys in the state</p>
<p>-Up util not many years ago, states had sodomy laws that basically made illegal any form of sex other then ‘traditional sex’, and people could be charged under this, though not surprisingly it was generally used against gays. The Supreme Court invalidated this (though the 4 uber conservative judges said that society had the right to define with law moral behavior, even if it happened in people’s bedrooms…sound like ‘live and let live’ that a supreme court justice could argue this?) And many in the GOP are pushing to try and get the supreme court decision overturned, and some of the usual suspect states are trying to get sodomy laws back on the books and then challenge it in court…</p>
<p>-Books that feature gay characters or anything other then ‘traditional’ values are some of the most banned books in libraries.</p>
<p>-Then of course we had the famouse Janet Jackson superbowl fiasco, that ended up with a huge fine for CBS by the FCC because some uptight types complained. In a society without the sex hangup, it is doubtful that anyone would care (and most didn’t, I will grant you that).</p>
<p>-Women who breastfeed still face tremendous issues when doing so in public, they get all kinds of complaints, people call it inappropriate, etc, and usually they say it is because it is indecent. Why? A women’s breast was meant to feed a baby, after all, and if a woman is using it in that context it is about a function, a very beautiful one, but because so many equate breast=sexual attraction, etc, they are uncomfortable about it (whereas in scandinavia, for example, where attitudes about sex are more relaxed, people would laugh at us).</p>
<p>While I don’t think Bailey’s stunt was a good thing or educational (it wasn’t IMO), I also think there is a valid point about sex in this country, when you have forces out there the way we do that want to turn back the clock, and others who let them do it, there is definitely a puritanical streak in this country, despite all the sexual images, and everything else, we still are squeamish about it, in a live and let live society things I mention above wouldn’t happen (worse, many of the same people stamping out ‘indecent’ sexuality support things like young girl beauty pageants, go figure). We have sexual images all over the place, granted, but do we really talk about sex, understand it, think it is no big deal? For many people, I would say no (again, not because of Bailey, but because of the way things happen here).</p>