I think that our society treats sex (get ready for a big contradiction!) both too casually and too seriously.

To me this parses as "we don't treat sex honestly." And I think that we don't because there are many competing agendas about what we should be doing with our bodies.

As long as you’re not saying you don’t have any respect for me, I’m cool.

I do respect you.

Me too. (Which is pretty surprising, given how generally intolerant I am of Hec's tendency to oversimplify moral/social issues. But on these...yeah. Right there with him.)

Uh..Woo hoo?

Sex-positive, to me, means that (provided everyone is a consenting adult) sex is good. Period, end of sentence. Marriage, monogamy, and declarations of love and eternal fidelity are all optional; none of them definitely make sex better in any moral or satisfaction-rating sense.

Now, I'm not talking life-long monogamy, marriage, orientation, or any of that. That's a person's personal morality and tastes. But sex isn't ever only good. You can't isolate the goodness in sex from the potential for the badness that sometimes comes riding along with it, but I see it treated like it can be good period. You can't put sex in a box. You could probably have sex in a box, like a fridge box or something, but that's another thread. Wait. This is the right thread.

I can't possibly be sex-positive because I'm married, monogomous, or not bi-sexual

Huh. That's an interesting interpretation of the text....

Jilli, it's all yours. I hope it helps. Lord knows I lost a few "friends" in the goth scene here when I got married and chose for the vast majority of my marriage to be monogamous.

You can't put sex in a box.

"Nobody puts sex in the corner." t /dirty dancing

Now I'm an athiest. If I had to count my sexual partners I think it would take paper and pencil.

I'm confused. Are you saying that one has something to do with the other?

She's been dating the guy for 2 months.

Oh, dear. Marriage after ten years of dating is hard enough. Good luck to them both.

Marriage, monogamy, and declarations of love and eternal fidelity are all optional; none of them definitely make sex better in any moral or satisfaction-rating sense.

Well done. I'ma have this sewn on a pillow.

Jilli, it's all yours. I hope it helps. Lord knows I lost a few "friends" in the goth scene here when I got married and chose for the vast majority of my marriage to be monogamous.

I was very surprised to find out that my views are oh-so quaintly Victorian, but no one holds that against me because it goes so well with my wardrobe.

But sex isn't ever only good. You can't isolate the goodness in sex from the potential for the badness that sometimes comes riding along with it, but I see it treated like it can be good period.

I also agree with this. I've just never been able to get to that part of the discussion with very vocal "I'm SEX-POSITIVE and YOU'RE NOT" people, for the reasons I stated previously.

Well, I've had to. And she said box. huh huh huh. And I've noticed Hec to be a man of conviction, but not necessarily intolerant. But maybe we have the same intolerances.

Would you, could you, in a box? / Would you, could you, with an ox?

Ahem. Sorry.

Sex of course has the potential to be very, very bad when it's used to hurt another person. But that's not the fault of sex--it's the fault of the person who is using sex to hurt another.

The nature of sex itself, the act of copulating with another person to the pleasure of both, is good. Beautiful. A work of art. (My god, I sound like such a hippy.) Married or not, straight or not, with one person at a time or not--these things are irrelevant except to the people involved.

You want to wait until you're married? My blessings to you and your spouse. You want to screw the entire football team with a smile on your face, and it's really not because you have no self-esteem but rather because you simply love having sex? Here's a big box of condoms--have fun! One is not inherently a better action than the other. It's all a matter of preference, and preferences should be respected, not enforced.

Oh wow! We may need to talk… There is one kid in my class who grew up in Appalachia. Most of his family is still there. It’s interesting hearing his perspectives on stuff. Unfortunately, I completely disagreed with him on something today and made myself look really stupid, but oh well.

I have lots of stories, so ping me on my profile addy if you want to talk via email or if you want my phone number (or give me yours so I can call you). If you let me know what the syllabus out line is, I'm sure I can find tales to fit whatever you're discussing in class.