Sex in the capital City

In Wednesday’s Captial Times (a local Madison paper) we get a lovely example of morality gone wrong:

A [state] Republican legislator says he is "outraged" that the University of Wisconsin student health service provides prescription birth control, especially the so-called morning-after pill.
State Rep. Dan LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, said he is drafting a bill to stop all UW student health services from either advertising or providing students with the morning-after pill

This comment from Mr. LeMahieu came after one of the student newspapers contained an advertisement suggesting that women should stock up on contraception before going on spring break. This of course leads to the usual arguments stating that if we make contraception available, we are encouraging students to have sex.

Now, this argument may hold some water in high schools, but most college students are over 18. People who are over 18 can vote, can be recruited to fight in the military, can enter sweepstakes, and, as far as I’m concerned, should be allowed to have sex. Safe sex should be encouraged and made easily accessible. If they want to abstain, they are old enough to have the power to make that choice without hiding contraception from them.

His article brings us to a wider question though. Why is sex such a contentious issue? Why do politicians care so much about who is having it, how they are doing it, and of course, what happens once sex leads to pregnancy?

But what of it? Why is sex so controversial? I guess part of it, is that the consequences of sex can be quite serious. Diseases, sexual violence, negative social stigmas, even crushed self esteem can be the possible results of sex. An unexpected pregnancy is also an obvious possibility, which has many of its own complications and confusions.

Pregnancy within marriage, is of course one of the few socially acceptable reasons to talk about sex. Sex within marriage or within a long-term relationship is generally acceptable as well, but it’s rarely discussed in mixed company.

I consider myself a pretty open-minded person, but don’t often talk about sex with my friends. With online friends, I suppose it comes quite easily. The anonymity of a chat makes it easier to open up about personal things. It’s not that I’ve done a lot that I’m ashamed of, but for some reason I find it quite difficult.

Again, why is this? Why is sex so personal? I’ve heard it explained that it’s one of the greatest contradictions of humanity: We like to believe we are civilized, intellectual, and rational beings. Yet Sex is one of the most animalistic, emotional, and natural things we do. We need to do it to for procreation. We enjoy it on a purely lustful level, and of course it can be a powerful statement of love and emotion. It can also lead to pain, confusion, and terrible illness.

Can we reconcile this? Can we reconcile the pragmatic side of making sex safe and of not selling it , trivializing it, or being degrading? I suppose the key will be to be more open about it, to not make it such a tableaux. Open and frank conversation, along with proper education will take the power away from those who want to push it back into the closet and control that which they have no business controlling.It’s a difficult balance, but something we can make sex a healthy, wonderful thing, rather than a political “sin” to be bandied about.