Why as a society ..

[ABsolution]

..do we still turn sex into something nasty and to be hidden and yet it's good to glorify violence and senseless murder?

[andy hughes]

Because we follow our insticts, but some of them are more acceptable than others. I think as society evolves, the concept of sex as 'nasty' is slowly dying out, but unfortunately, the concept is being replaced by the notion of sex as a fashion accessory, which is different, but not necessarily any more desirable! As far as violence goes, I believe that our veneer of civilisation is just that - a veneer, and a thin one at that. Just below the surface is our violent inside, waiting to be tickled and prodded - not nice, but the way we are, until a few million more years of evolution straigten us out as a species. It takes a lot of time, so don't hold your breath!

[ABsolution]

I'd say you got it in one Mr. Hughes.. 'Nuff said.

[KARL]

The western (Euro-centric) culture attitude over recent centuries toward sex owes, in my assessment, a lot to religious (Christian) leadership's teachings. These were (and often still are) much motivated by their desire to have control of the population and also often directed by a puritanical outlook (a notion that suffering now earnes you brownie points in the afterlife and anything enjoyable in this life will cost you in the hereafter). Our inclination generally to pass judgement on people has a strong bearing also - the contradictory traditional quiet admiration for men who screw around but condemnation of women doing so is another story. Glorification (although I think that is putting it a bit strongly) of violence, etc. is similar to the above contradiction because nobody wants to be on the receiving end of these while the "macho" tendencies within society keep this symptom alive. In my opinion, by now all of the above manifestations in today's society are the result of influences from people around us (the "nurture" part of the classic argument) and they are being slowly modified by current views (and very, very much by availability of contraceptives and in the opposite direction by Aids, etc. in one case, and by TV, films, computer games, etc. in another). All people are different but, for the purposes of this discussion, I think the differrences in to what extent people make up their own minds rather than following the current "cool" opinions of their peers are the most important. The ability to distinguish between fantasy and reality is also something all of us need to possess.

[sft42]

I don't know....didn't i make this point with regard to a question on censorship a few days ago?

[flirty41]

You did, indeed, sft! Arts and Literature 'Who sets the age restrictions for pornographic material?' I *thought* I'd read it somewhere before :-)