Women sell their bodies here indiscriminately. There is barely any exclusivity or discretion. I walk down the street to school everyday and I am swarmed by oceans of breasts and cleavages. Breasts are no longer private. Girls here are hot; they certainly know how to play up their sexuality.
Sexuality is a very openly acknowledged and well understood thing here, and both guys and girls show their awareness in the way they dress and behave.
The Daily Californian, an independent Berkeley student tabloid-like publication even has a column called "Sex on Tuesdays". The following three images are taken from this daily newspaper.
(Click on the images to enlarge them to readable size)
The thing about all this awareness is that there is no turning back. It's innocence lost. Perhaps there is a way out, but I don't see at this point how the exclusivity, the sacredness of sex can return to this modern American society.
I believe in exclusivity when it comes to physical intimacy. But I guess I cannot be so imposing as to assume the same value should apply to everyone.
Perhaps I am close-minded, having come from a relatively conservative Asian society and even more conservative Christian society. One may argue that sex, virginity and the works are overrated. Humans were made creative and freedom is essential to allowing one's humanness to emerge. And that the church is the main body responsible for reigning people's minds and making them feel guilty about doing what is only absolutely natural. Social control runs against the natural grain of man. As a student of Sociology, I cannot disagree with how the church and conservative society controls the individual. In fact, I agree with that, and at times, I too, find it an oppressive tool.
But why is social control bad? Because it goes against the freedom of the individual?
Is pure individual freedom really all that great?
When social regulations break down, the controlling influence of society on individual propensities is no longer effective and individuals are left to their own devices. The sociologist, Emile Durkheim calls this state of affairs anomie, a term that refers to a condition of relative normlessness in society. It is a condition in which individual desires are no longer regulated by common norms and where, as a consequence, individuals are left without moral guidance in the pursuit of their goals.
I love social control. I am a proponent of social control. I thrive under conditions of control. Liberty and freedom? That, to me, is what I call overrated. It's a nice excuse not to be accountable to anyone. It's a great way not to feel guilty about anything. It discharges people from ever having to consider others -- afterall, we're all individuals in our own right, you live your life and I live mine, why should you allow me to affect you? This, to me, is the artificial construct that denies the bonds, the inter-connectedness between and among humans. It's selfish.
I don't think I have argued my case thoroughly or even logically. This is perhaps the most politically incorrect piece I have put up on my blog. Yes, apparently, I do feel strongly about this. Perhaps I'll update this entry again when I think of more coherent and elaborative points.
Or perhaps I'll leave it this way. Take me as I am, or leave me. I have rights to my opinion and to be naive. I can be self-righteous and egocentric because I'm my individual and I'm not infringing on another's freedom.. or so they don't say.
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