Sexuality: History, paradigm shifts and actual questions

Author: Maísa Cristina de Lima Nascimento

NMO: IFMSA Brazil

Theme: SCORA

Email: [email protected]

Love and sex

Sex is imagination,

Fantasy.

Love is prose.

Sex is poetry.

(…)

Love is divine,

Sex is animal.

Love is Bossa Nova,

Sex is Carnival.

              Rita Lee

Sexuality has always been treated as a confidential subject, something too sinful to be pronounced in loud words. The repression, in turn, started with Eva’s apple and, since then, has become the ultimate law of an unquestionable taboo. Sex should govern heteronormative rules after marriage. Who would have thought that millennia after original sin, such modern societies would still follow such outdated rules. This fact brings countless mental health problems to people who question why they follow this sexual policy if it does not make sense. Thus, the feeling of guilt arose to men and women, whether homosexual or not, about sexuality.

In the 1960s, the first birth control pill appeared in the United States and there was a real revolution in sexual habits across the West. Sex, then, was no longer an absolute symbol of procreation and perpetuation of the species, but also of pleasure. Despite great advances, we still live in a sexist, homophobic, racist and prejudiced society with any and all practices that do not fit the established standards of an archaic society. We have discovered that fitting into this tapered pattern is the synonymous of mental suffering, yet rebelling against it, too. However, it is liberating.

Michel Foucault in “The History of Sexuality” points out that sexuality is not a mere biological effect brought about by libido, however it is also built by social and historical aspects, which directly influence recent issues of gender diversity, since even today there is a repression of the right to love or feel pleasure. This is confirmed by the current defense of the Brazilian Minister of Human Rights, Damares Alves, who preaches sexual abstinence to young people aged 10 to 18 to combat early pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Thus, social coercion is used instead of a harm reduction policy.

In contrast, countries like Germany have been teaching sex education since their primary education, as it is understood that it is better to clarify doubts and talk about prevention than to be silent about sexuality. Adolescence is a period marked by several questions and it is the duty of great authorities, such as family, school, governmental and religious institutions, to help young people shape their future relationships responsibly, without risk of unwanted pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases. It is a form of self-knowledge and empowerment to those who live in a society that rewards prejudice and narrow mindedness.

Sex is only one aspect of sexuality and it is essential to have an open dialogue, in order to end the old taboos. Explaining gender diversity means bringing the comfort of being proud of what you are, without fear of judgement. It is to free oneself from toxic paradigms with the possibility of expanding new reflections, creating a more empathic and less standardized society.

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