Here’s a thought experiment: An experienced and wealthy movie executive requires that those who want a part in one of his movies to perform a day of community service at a local hospital where he sits on the Board of Directors. This executive has the reputational and artistic power to make his actors plenty of money and to bring them plenty of fame. Is this requirement an abuse of power? What if the requirement only applied to male actors who desired a part from him? Now is this requirement an abuse of power? Is it scandalous? Hardly. So what makes another requirement, having sex with him, applied to a different group, female actors, more of a scandal, of an abuse of power? I believe the answer lies in our attitudes and feelings toward community service at a local hospital versus sex. The former is virtuous, the latter is not. No, sex is not virtuous. It’s somehow both sacred and sinful, and that attitude toward sex is what makes sex particularly scandalous, and the reaction to illicit sex by otherwise caring individuals particularly traumatic. If sex weren’t put on these pedestals, would it have so much power over us? That’s an important question, and today’s two cents.
On Sex
