Healthy Sexuality by Leah Manacop

Rule #34 of the Internet: if you can conceive it, there is porn for it.

We like to think of the Internet as the universal archive of information, the paragon of human intellectual hunger when in  reality some of our other voracities have crept and thrived in this public domain. In a society where leather, she-males, phallic-phillias, and fanged vulvas float omnipresent about our collective psyches, we still believe that there is such a thing as healthy sexuality- a straight and narrow path that transcends the appeal of voyeuristic videos and ousts all deviant acts that stretch a rogue limb out of Missionary Position.

As a member jilted and unsatisfied by pop/lock copulation, I’ve come upon my own definition of healthy sexuality- it’s that which is completely devoid of the acquisition, reclamation, or retribution of power; pleasure for pleasure’s sake alone.

But from a patriarchal perspective where sex and power are conjoined at the hip like some disfigured set of identical twins, does this even exist? Sex is used to fill an emotional void, as revenge, as a sublimation for violent hatred, as an exertion of dominance and conquest; in short, an act that doesn’t satisfy our carnal urges but validates the self by silencing the whimper as human as genital desire itself that tells us we are not enough.

When sex is linked with power, any disruption in the norm leads to distorted skews into destructive behavior– Norman Bates saw his mother as his only sexual outlet and when she chose to redirect her affections toward another individual, he felt as if he were losing personal power and prompted to murder his rival and said outlet. The broader interpretation of Oedipus taps into every boy’s desire to overthrow his father, claiming his right to power by repossessing the patriarch’s chosen mate.

When sex and power are linked, it becomes parasitism whereas sex for pleasure’s sake promotes emotional connection and self awareness. When a person is finally able to separate their self-image from sex, they can begin to flourish and develop their own conductive healthy sense of sexuality.