Sexual Revolution

Sexual Revolution -The Ugliest Product of Imperialism

Dr. Javed Jamil

Moderator Mike Ghouse: The paragraph that starts with .. “Sexual Revolution has taught…” is expressed well, but that is not the norm and no society has ever approved it. Granted certain stores are permitted to function with such ludicrous items, but the society has not accepted it as a norm. Some of the incestual relationships mentioned in the paragraph are repulsive even to the most liberals. Over all it is an informative and moving essay. The words chosen in paragraph 1 are very powerful.

Revolution implies an extraordinary change. But the change is not always the antibiotic that kills the infection and treats the disease. Instead it may be the hypnotic that sedates, addicts and slowly poisons. For any colossal transformation to be valuable, it has to be for the better. If huge changes do not end into salubrious fruition, they have no credentials to be called a Revolution. Imperialism, which has economic fundamentalism as its backbone, has used every tactic to strengthen its stronghold on the masses. What can be a better way to do this than to commercialise human susceptibilities? And what can be the most paying of all susceptibilities except sex. This wholesale commercialisation of sex has spawned what the forces of modernity boastfully call Sexual Revolution.

“Sexual Revolution” is in truth the nadir of human behaviour. It has proved to be not the antibiotic but the hypnotic. It has heralded nemesis of individual’s peaceful existence, family’s peaceful sustenance and society’s peaceful countenance. It has derailed every body from the right course, nailed every institution and failed every development; it has only bailed the merchants. It has made humanity look ludicrous; it has thinned to almost non-existence the demarcating line between human and animal. It has sacrificed abiding happiness at the altars of instant fun; and has crucified health on the cross of wealth. It has made character moribund by slaughtering the inspector of conscience that sustained it. It has pierced childhood, hanged womanhood and polluted manhood. It has snatched the apron of shyness that used to adore and protect woman, and has made her transvest the lingerie of shamelessness. It has transfigured man from a lover and protector of woman to mere usurper. It has made love without sex to look abnormal and ridiculous but sex without love to appear natural and admirable. It has reduced love to lovemaking, and has made lovemaking a perpetual captive of unadulterated lust. It has trounced parenthood and transfixed childhood. It has buried fatherhood and sickened motherhood. It has bulldozed the world and brought mankind to the verge of total collapse. Sexual Revolution is the python that must be trapped at the earliest and killed without delay.

Sexual Revolution has taught us that sex is not for life but life is for sex. That sex must overrule every other consideration and overcome every obstacle in its way. If it is the custodian of Law, it must learn to behave; if it is the inspector of Religion, it has to be dismissed; and if it is the police of morality, it has to be confronted. It has made us believe that sex must not necessarily be between a human and a human; it can be between a human and an animal. That sex must not always require two sexes; it may be between a man and a man, and between a woman and a woman. That sex must not have to be between two adults: it may be between an adult and a child. That sex may not unfailingly involve those who are not linked by blood; it may involve a mother and a son, a father and a daughter and a brother and a sister. That sex should not always be limited to two individuals; many may join simultaneously. That sex must not necessarily use organs that are naturally meant for it. That sex must not necessarily be enjoyed away from the public gaze; it may be performed in front of staring eyes and exhilarating hearts and brains. That sex must not necessitate any formal declaration; any two consenting individuals can have it without warranting any social or legal sanction. That, in extreme circumstances, sex does not even require consent; if one is smart enough to hoodwink Law or bold enough to face it, one may even rape without fearing too much. That sex does not have to be for fulfilling one’s legitimate physical and psychological desires; it may also be for filling one’s coffer. That sex need not be the corollary of love; it may be purchased or sold in the market. That whatever comes in the way of sex must be mercilessly got away with even if it is a human-in-making. In nutshell, Sexual Revolution has convinced us that sex knows no bounds. The old saying must be redefined thus: everything is fair in love, sex and war.

Let us trace the history of Sexual Revolution! Its history is in fact the history of the rise of economic fundamentalism that is the pivot around which imperialism revolves. Let us focus here on some specific events that are regarded as important “milestones” in the triumphant march of Sexual Revolution! The first major work on the subject entitled Psychopathica Sexualis was published in 1886. The book discussed sexual oddities like arousal of women by putting on men’s clothing and attraction of men to women’s gloves. Obviously, it coincided with the early advance of Industrial Revolution that had put economic fundamentalism in the lead in the world developments. It was at about the same time that Sigmund Feud’s “celebrated” work shocked the world. He proposed the thesis that adult sexual proclivities had their origin in childhood. In the following years, the gay rights movement was born in Germany. Its founder, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs campaigned for legalising homosexuality.

Havelook Ellis’ Studies in the Psychology of Sex carried the theme forward. He attempted to depathologise masturbation, orgasm, sexual pleasure between husbands and wives and homosexuality. These seeds had for obvious reasons the support of the merchants who had started visualising sex as a great money plant. Celia Mosher discussed women’s orgasm and lambasted Victorian clothing that could ‘distort’ the internal organs. The first sex institute was founded in Berlin. Margaret Sanger is credited with the legalisation of birth control. That can obviously be regarded as a giant leap ahead in the march towards Sexual Revolution. She founded Planned Parenthood. The first nudist colony was opened in Germany as early as in 1903. The discoveries of sex hormones in the 1920s simplified the birth control measures. The period after the World War II witnessed huge activities at the sexual front.
People perhaps wanted to bury the savage memories of the war in the fantasies of sex. Alfred Kinsey published his massive studies of the males and females in 1948 and 1953 respectively. He proved that about half the men had been unfaithful to their wives and one fourth of women to their husbands. This was a clear attempt to normalise promiscuity. He also tried to normalise homosexuality showing that it was much more common than was believed. This survey sought to convey the message that, if one committed a sexual misdemeanour, one should not hide it. Hypocrisy was worse than the sin itself. Strange argument indeed! To commit adultery is alright. But it is not right to hide that you have committed it. You can do a major evil. But you must not indulge in a smaller one. This was a conscious attempt to make people express what they had been doing. This would convince people that they were not alone in committing those evils. This would reduce the feeling of guilt from their hearts. More and more people would jump on the bandwagon of freedom of sex. With the demolition of guilt by the normalisation of perverse sexual behaviour, those involved in it would not even think of reforming themselves. They need not because they were only doing what most of the others did.

The media then got into the act with the publication of the first edition of Playboy in 1953. The films started depicting sexual intimacies and naked bodies. Playboy encouraged women to bare themselves before the camera because, “if they are beautiful, they must show it to the world”. And if they had a hidden asset, why not cash in on it? By now the researches related to sex had started attracting all the disciplines.

The first serious study of the physiology of sexual arousal and orgasm was published in 1960s. This study demonstrated the utility of vaginal lubrication and established a formal mechanism of sex therapy. With the “baby boomers” becoming sexually active, the real Sexual Revolution began in the 60s. Sex education was introduced in schools and colleges. Premarital sex became a norm rather than the exception. Striptease, cabarets and pornography had already started making huge inroads into the private lives of men and women. The increasing promiscuity, homosexuality and other perversities combined to elevate the incidence of STDs. The biggest jolt to the Revolution came in the form of AIDS. But by now, sex had become such a force in the economic development that nothing could stop its advance, which still continues almost unabated. And at the turn of the Century, Viagra made its grand entry. It was hailed as big a revolution as was the contraceptive pill. The pill “revolutionised” sex by substantially diminishing the fear of pregnancy that made women feel safe in sex outside marriage. Viagra sought to “revolutionise” sexuality by taking the libido to new heights. With all the fears gone and exciting prospects, the “Sexual Revolution” is well on the course to ultimate “glory”.

As America and Europe can be regarded as the pivots of the revolution, their histories can be a valuable guide to understanding the transformation from a puritanical society to a depraved one. Goodbeer in his book “Sexual Revolution in Early America” has described the difference in the popular beliefs about America’s puritan past and the reality prevalent there. A review of the book says:

“In 1695, John Miller, a clergyman travelling through New York, found it appalling that so many couples lived together without ever being married and that no one viewed “ante-nuptial fornication” as anything scandalous or sinful. Charles Woodmason, an Anglican Minister in South Carolina in 1766 described the region as a “stage of debauchery” in which polygamy was “very common”, “concubinage general,” and “bastardy no disrepute”. These depictions of colonial North America’s sexual culture sharply contradict the stereotype of Puritanical abstinence that persists in the popular imagination. …Godbeer’s absorbing narrative uncovers a persistent struggle between the moral authorities and the widespread expression of popular customs and individual urges…”

It can be safely argued that “Sexual Revolution” has contributed immensely to the economic power that the West in general and the US in particular has enamoured itself with. It is no surprise that the US also boasts of being the sexual superpower of the world. This confirms the extraordinary role sex has played in the exaltation of the US. But alas! This zenith in the economic and military fields has run a concourse with the nadir in moral values, social security and family peace. The superpower of the world is also the superpower in terms of crimes, suicides, broken marriages, single parenthood, child molestation and bastardies. Hundreds of times the number the Americans killed on account of Terrorism are killed through the sexuality preached and practised by the forces that control their minds. Yet, the US government seems to be preoccupied only with “Islamic Terrorism” for which it has brought almost the whole world to the brink of disaster. Sexual Terrorism that kills millions of people throughout the world, murders millions of children before they are born, torments millions of families and exploits and assaults millions of women and children is ignored with criminal neglect.

Still, I hope American people can play the most powerful role in eradicating this deadliest form of the world terrorism. They have suffered the most on account of this and would benefit the most if they succeed in giving it a fatal blow. They have to convince their government to choose priorities among threats, on the basis of the havoc they cause to health, family and society. And if they fight this terrorism, “Islamic terrorists” will join them – they will have no other option – as friends not foes. The real peace at the international level will then no longer remain a dream. It will become a reality for all to see and enjoy. And it is commendable that there are people in the US already who have been campaigning for sexual restraints and promotion of marriage as the standard method of realising sex.
The United States Welfare Reform Act 1996 was a step in the right direction. It recognises marriage as “the foundation of a successful society” and “an essential institution of a successful society, which promotes the interests of children.” This is quite remarkable in the situation that prevails in America. The Act emphasises and promotes “abstinence” as the only fully safe method to avoid pregnancies and STDs. It teaches “abstinence from sexual activity outside marriage as the expected standard for all school age children.” Endorsing this Act, President Clinton was quoted by New York Times, January 5, 1997, as saying, “All of you need to help us send the strongest possible message: it’s wrong to be pregnant or father a child unless you are married and ready to take on the responsibilities of parenthood.” Great words from Clinton. Unfortunately, however, there seems to have been little progress on the social field that can attest to any remarkable change in the sexual lives of the people of the US after the Act.

It may be wrongly concluded that I have fixed my guns only at West. The truth is that no part of the world is absolutely free from the ill effects of the modern sexuality and the marketing of sex. Women and children are sexually abused and exploited all over the world in varying degrees. But West is to blame more for it has provided the ideological basis for the so-called Sexual Revolution. The evils are there in other societies as well but they are treated as such; they do not glorify them or justify their commercialisation. It cannot be said that East is free of women’s exploitation. Apart from the reasons prevailing in West, they have their own reasons. These reasons are rooted in the denial of the rights that women enjoy in law, social backwardness, poverty and old customs. Eastern women are too subdued to face male chauvinism It can also be argued with conviction that sexuality in East is not fully explored even within the boundaries of marriage. I have heard Western women as saying that eastern men are horrible in bed. And eastern women will naturally be much more horrible for Western men. Western women and men are too aggressive for eastern men and women to pair.

There may be substance in the suggestion that the latter must learn to explore their sexuality. But Western people must not underestimate the amount and the longevity of peace and happiness that the eastern couples enjoy within their limited sexuality. There is no harm if eastern men and women take some tips from Westerners for their sexual pleasures; but they must never learn the lessons of promiscuity and perversions from them. And they must not forget to teach Westerners the lessons of fidelity, loyalty and devotion. At personal level, I don’t believe in East-West conflict – cultural or otherwise. I believe that an evil is an evil wherever it is committed and whoever commits it. West deserves kudos for its extraordinary technical and scientific development and for its concern for its own people.
The scientific and technological development, advances in medical sciences, the building of infrastructure in the countries, the transport and communication and the religious tolerance for others (which though has lately taken a nosedive) are characteristics that West deserves to be emulated for. If they learn to translate their knowledge of sciences even in their private lives, things would change for the better: for them and also for the whole world. Western people deserve respect and love like any other people. What are to be fought are certain dangerous aspects of Westernism.

What is being intentionally or unintentionally ignored is that the huge transformation in sex and sexuality has not been the product of natural human evolution. Evolution is and must always be for the better. In contrast, the so-called Sexual Revolution has been a well planned, artificially monitored and promoted, dextrously and meticulously executed and aggressively pushed transformation by the forces of merchandise that had only their vested interests in mind. People are not changing themselves; they are being made to change. It is not the nectar of their strengths but the hillock of their weaknesses and their tendencies to succumb that is being used as the catalyst for this change. They are being driven to a weird world of phantasm that has nothing to do with reality. It is not sciences or medical sciences that are instrumental in bringing about these pernicious transformations on the basis of their good impact on society; but it is the corporate interests that are creating new values and burying the old ones.
The tree of Sexual Revolution is not being watered for the production and distribution of sweet grapes of love among the people but for the ultimate aim of the fermentation of grapes to manufacture the muscatel of “sex” that brings more money. And yet, instead of claiming responsibility itself, the corporate world tends to blame the people and their weaknesses for the growth of the evils as businesses. They ignore the fact that people are largely naive and unsuspecting. They read only what they are made to read; they read the lines, not between the lines. First their weaknesses are purposely exploited and then they are held responsible for succumbing to their weaknesses. People will have to observe the net that is laid to entrap them. They have to learn not to be governed and goaded by the merchants. Otherwise they and their posterity will continue to suffer.

Sex is not something that needs to be suppressed. Sex is the well that gives life. But the need of the hour is to cleanse the well not pollute it. If it gives pure water, it would ensure health; if it is adulterated with pollutants, it can kill everybody. The goblet from the well of sex is to be taken to satiate one’s desire; it can be sweetened with a sweetener, or made a bit salty by adding a pinch of salt or may be warmed or cooled depending upon the requirement. It is all right to make sex lively and not let it become livid. But don’t mix in it anything that poisons it! Sex is the gift of God that must be fully enjoyed. But don’t let the Devil wrap this gift in a colourful paper soaked with the cyanide of wild sex. If we have to save the world, we will have to guillotine the Devil of corporate sex at the earliest. If we do not get it doomed, we all will be consumed. Let the business help sex but don’t let the sex itself become a business. That is the only mantra for the salvation.

I have doubts if the people would be ready to chant this mantra because, as addicts they can understand and even desire to get away with their addiction; but the addiction has shackles that are too difficult for them to break. Sexual Revolution is the monster that requires the sword of Counterrevolution. Insurrections here and there will not suffice. Let its elegy be sung by its progeny as soon as possible! A victory against Sexual Revolution will be a victory against Imperialism.