The Dark Labyrinth of Male Sexuality

Content warning: Discussion of sexual assault. If you have read anything in this post as condoning or excusing sexual assault, you have read it wrong and should go back and read it again.

Caveat: this is about male heterosexuality. Much of it will not apply to gay men.

I grew up with the post-sexual revolution progressive consensus. This consensus sees sex as an essentially harmless and pleasurable act to be negotiated between two (or more) consenting adults. In this view, sex is basically good and harm comes from repression or distortion.

This view doesn’t actually explain real world values and expectations about sexuality, even among the sex-positivists. Ironically, this confusion itself produces frustration and shame. There is an alternative: a sex negative path to sexual liberation that begins with understanding sexuality’s rapaciousness and potential for harm.