A question that occasionally gets asked is something along the lines of “why does the right want to restrict sex so much?” It’s a fair question at face value, the right does seem to care more than the left about who’s fucking who and how. The obvious answer to this question, of course, is “the same basic reason the left wants wants sexuality to be more open.”
Both restricting and opening sex are active attempts at social engineering. In fact, they’re vital parts of the social engineering strategy of both sides.
First I’ll clarify what I mean by social engineering: It’s any direct attempt to change the behavior of society at large. Simple enough, right? Any anti-drug campaign is social engineering. Any anti-racism campaign is social engineering. That nutrition class you probably had to take in high school? You bet your ass that’s social engineering!
Social engineering does not have to be malicious, despite the negative connotations. It often isn’t. A dysfunctional society is a pain in the ass to govern.
So why sex?
Sex is among the most primal of instincts that we share as the human animal. It is as pleasurable as it is intimate. It is the ultimate form of social validation and just a fun thing to do. It’s pretty much the only thing where regular people can “play pretend,” much as they did when they were a child, and have that be totally acceptable. It’s how we bring life into this world. It’s the ultimate “carrot on a stick” with which those in power can lead a population of people to alter their behavior in matters beyond sex.
So here’s how the left and right tend to differ on the matter (note I’m painting with broad strokes while playing with the loosely defined concept of “left and right.” I’m also talking more about ideals rather than practical results of said ideals so bear that in mind) :
Pleasure to the left:
The left, at least as I’m loosely defining it, typically values freedom to act as one pleases so long as there is no direct harm to others. Caveats abound and this will probably get me the most heat out of anything I said here. But I’m running with it anyway. Libertarians are leftists in this paradigm. The quintessential left wing society would have people doing whatever they want all the time and it would not hurt anyone else or have any negative consequences.
The left uses sexual openness is a means of tapping into the desire for pleasure. If anyone can fuck anyone as simply as they could say “hello,” this would mean people would have a lot of fun. More importantly, though, it would mean a breakdown of social hierarchies, which is a common trait among many leftists. It’s framed as a freedom from sexual inhibitions much the same way leftism as a whole is framed as a freedom from labor, oppression, etc. Sexual leftism wants you to be free to dress how you want, present how you want, act as you want, and have society’s full support in doing so. Sexual pleasure helps them achieve it.
Intimacy to the right:
The right values stability. The same lecture about caveats and whatnot applies here, fuck you. The quintessential right-wing society would have people operating as components of a well oiled machine and they would provide their part to the nation at large while enjoying their time off in a non-intrusive way.
The right uses sexual intimacy as a means of tapping into our desire for social validation. If sex is restricted to monogamous couples, this would generate a greater level of respect for the act of sex. More importantly, though, it would also reinforce social hierarchies, which is a common trait among the right. It’s framed as a freedom from debauchery in the same way the right as a whole is framed as freedom from social collapse, multi-national interests, etc. Sexual rightism wants you to be austere and react against that which disturbs the current order of things. Sexual intimacy helps them achieve that.
Both restricting and opening sex are active attempts at social engineering. In fact, they’re vital parts of the social engineering strategy of both sides.
First I’ll clarify what I mean by social engineering: It’s any direct attempt to change the behavior of society at large. Simple enough, right? Any anti-drug campaign is social engineering. Any anti-racism campaign is social engineering. That nutrition class you probably had to take in high school? You bet your ass that’s social engineering!
Social engineering does not have to be malicious, despite the negative connotations. It often isn’t. A dysfunctional society is a pain in the ass to govern.
So why sex?
Sex is among the most primal of instincts that we share as the human animal. It is as pleasurable as it is intimate. It is the ultimate form of social validation and just a fun thing to do. It’s pretty much the only thing where regular people can “play pretend,” much as they did when they were a child, and have that be totally acceptable. It’s how we bring life into this world. It’s the ultimate “carrot on a stick” with which those in power can lead a population of people to alter their behavior in matters beyond sex.
So here’s how the left and right tend to differ on the matter (note I’m painting with broad strokes while playing with the loosely defined concept of “left and right.” I’m also talking more about ideals rather than practical results of said ideals so bear that in mind) :
Pleasure to the left:
The left, at least as I’m loosely defining it, typically values freedom to act as one pleases so long as there is no direct harm to others. Caveats abound and this will probably get me the most heat out of anything I said here. But I’m running with it anyway. Libertarians are leftists in this paradigm. The quintessential left wing society would have people doing whatever they want all the time and it would not hurt anyone else or have any negative consequences.
The left uses sexual openness is a means of tapping into the desire for pleasure. If anyone can fuck anyone as simply as they could say “hello,” this would mean people would have a lot of fun. More importantly, though, it would mean a breakdown of social hierarchies, which is a common trait among many leftists. It’s framed as a freedom from sexual inhibitions much the same way leftism as a whole is framed as a freedom from labor, oppression, etc. Sexual leftism wants you to be free to dress how you want, present how you want, act as you want, and have society’s full support in doing so. Sexual pleasure helps them achieve it.
Intimacy to the right:
The right values stability. The same lecture about caveats and whatnot applies here, fuck you. The quintessential right-wing society would have people operating as components of a well oiled machine and they would provide their part to the nation at large while enjoying their time off in a non-intrusive way.
The right uses sexual intimacy as a means of tapping into our desire for social validation. If sex is restricted to monogamous couples, this would generate a greater level of respect for the act of sex. More importantly, though, it would also reinforce social hierarchies, which is a common trait among the right. It’s framed as a freedom from debauchery in the same way the right as a whole is framed as freedom from social collapse, multi-national interests, etc. Sexual rightism wants you to be austere and react against that which disturbs the current order of things. Sexual intimacy helps them achieve that.

