Preferences and Politics ...

[silentmist]

Hello

I've just been thinking about how different people can develop sexual preferences for certain groups of people and how these groups also seem to reflect politicised groups within our societys.

Does sexual preference reflect our bigotries that we perhaps don't readily admit to others, or even ourselves ?

It seems ok to discriminate on the most superficial basis when it comes to sex but if we have the same attitude towards other social activities such as work or friend networks it becomes wrong ... strange.

[Mark]

I don't think I'm following your reasoning here. Can you give a concrete example of what you mean? that would help me be able to think about what your saying and maybe say something reasonable in response.

[silentmist]

Yup

The same way we'll feel more comfortable around people who might remind us of a good friend we once had or even a previous partener, and then extrapolate that to whatever 'group identity' these people might belong to.

Or perhaps if we learn to associate negative qualities to someone familier, would we develop a social and/or sexual preference for what is unfamilier, or contrasted to, within a popular context such as perhaps leather jackets being associated with 'rebellion' and you may feel like rebelling due to some repression or taboo avenue of expression.

Basically associating some socialised or sexualised icon sympathetically with a motivation we may have such as the need for intimacy or sex.

I have been reflecting on my use of pornography and how that pornography is catogorised by build, gender, age, race or even occupation. These aspects of people also seem to have some political significance too.

Edited February 8, 2009 by silentmist