Sex-positive is a term that describes people who are open about their sexuality and consider sex and sexual acts – of consenting adults, as fundamentally healthy.
Feminist groups believe that women should have the sexual freedom to explore and express their sexuality through sexual activity, as long as they don’t cause physical harm to other people. It aims to remove all stigma and shaming of sexual preferences. Their campaigns and movements include and emphasize safe sex and consent in their teaching of sex education.
Unfortunately, any term popularized to create awareness or anything that is made with good intention, can be used incorrectly by people who don’t really understand the scope of the issue. Others, especially the conservatives, try to stand their ground and stick to what they know, dismissing the whole idea entirely without even trying to understand it.
How can it make a difference?
There have been a lot of misconceptions about sex-positivity that needs to be put right. This is what the different sex-positive feminist groups are after. Like, for instance, being sex-positive doesn’t mean being pro-pornography or that they are sexual addicts. They want to address the taboo topics and promote gender equality when it comes to healthy sexual appetite and being able to express it.
Women, especially those who were raised in a conservative Catholic community were thought to live their lives according to societal norms, guided by religious ideologies. Sexuality is a sensitive topic. Sexual acts and behaviors are suppressed and minimized in what’s socially acceptable. They are shamed by their sexual choices and carry the stigma of enjoying sex as much as men do. Culture plays a big part in honing our beliefs and we can’t easily change – if not totally abolish, the kind of lifestyle we grew up in.
Homosexuals and sex positives don’t seem to fit in that kind of an unhealthy environment. Thus, they either restrain their true selves, which causes countless psychological problems; or resort to undesirable sexual behaviors that upset the conservatives. This is something that we can avoid if only we can be more accepting and unbiased.
Now, if you were sex positive, how would you deal with all of it without compromising your true self? How would you communicate your wants and needs without offending the moralists? Would you control your sex drive all your life for the fear of being shamed?
We need sex-positive feminist groups to educate people, to open their minds to be able to understand and accept our differences. This could be a broad topic to discuss with a wide range of sub-topics involved, and there is much work to be done to be able to achieve the goal of gaining gender equality all over the world. But it can be done. We just have to start somewhere. If you’re sex-positive, you don’t need to join feminist groups to enlighten people. You can do it on your own. Stand your ground and be a good catalyst for change.
