Article by: MARC PASCAL, The Moderate Voice
Perhaps living and studying in Europe on a number of occasions changed my perspective, but I cannot understand the silly outrage that many Americans show when some female displays her nipples, or other parts of her anatomy that are supposed to be off-limits. Contrarily the displays of male genitalia and buttocks are more often treated as comic relief. Public or private nudity does not pose a threat to American values and morality.
Too many Americans have an unhealthy and uncomfortable attitude towards the human body, the opposite sex, and sexuality in general. This attitude also extends to the female nipple which is objectively essential for breast-feeding babies. Perhaps this unhealthy obsession with occasional nudity, and then endlessly discussing it and looking at photos on the internet, might reflect a lack of a healthy occupation with sex.
This blog is not a discussion about the many variations of human sexuality but just the simple inability to look at the human body as something natural and that human sexual intercourse in its many forms are a normal part of our humanity. Perhaps some fault lies with most of the world’s religions and some of their extreme American expressions (i.e. Puritanism) for such a social, emotional and intellectual mess. Too many people were taught the strange view that things of the body are completely separate from things of the spirit, and anything enjoyable is probably ungodly and sinful.
We have for too long in the U.S. been taught and we still teach our children through our words and actions that human sexuality is somehow dirty and cannot be discussed openly in public, except by innuendo. Thus we only encourage more confusion, exploration, and some excessive behavior because we cannot take sex out of the “prurient interest” closet. Children need to appreciate their bodies and learn to fully respect those of other people. They need to know the correct medical terminology for all the parts of the human anatomy and how to safely engage in sex while understanding the consequences. Then we can dump all our stupid euphemisms and warped attitudes into the garbage heap of history.
In Europe with its far more casual attitude towards human sexuality and public nudity, pregnancy among unwed teenagers and sexually transmitted diseases are just a small fraction of what they are in the U.S. We are certainly doing something wrong with respect to sex education, particularly if we want to eliminate the need for abortion and the long-term public costs of unmarried teenagers raising children. Continue reading