When Sex Is Used for Power and Politics

The adage "sex sells" is not lost on policymakers, lobbyists, power moguls, and anyone intent on using the "politics of sex" to influence people and decision-making. Human curiosity, fascination, guilt, masochistic or sadistic tendencies, competitiveness, fear, power dialectics, and control provide a perfect platform for exploitation by those who see opportunities in sex-related social issues. Laws created in response to sex, sexuality, and sexual behavior are ripe for manipulating people, primarily when lawmakers aim to secure a vote. Sex is the perfect marketing strategy.

Sexual topics are like neon; they excite and trigger many immediate reactions in people; manipulation opportunities are ripe. Unfortunately, politicians can seize this opportunity and promote and enact laws that escape rigorous analysis, resulting in naive, biased, and sometimes deleterious outcomes.

The creation and enactment of laws about some aspects of sexual behavior usually do not consider the ultimate consequences, which often create new issues and cause more significant harm and risk to those the laws apply and those directly affected by them. Legal decisions ultimately reflect human motivation and behavior even if they purport loftier goals; remember, people make laws.

Intended Consequences of the Politics of Sex

Mississippi, Texas, Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Georgia are among an increasingly growing list of states that have enacted or are attempting to enact laws that limit, restrict and censure abortion.

Texas has outlawed the teaching or support of families struggling with potential gender identity issues in their own households, reminiscent of yesteryear's anti-sodomy laws (which were rooted in homophobia). Governor Abbott ordered the state's Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to conduct "child abuse" investigations against parents who provide gender-affirming medical care to their trans kids. The Idaho House of Representatives passed legislation that would arrest and send parents of children confronting gender confusion to prison for providing their child with the appropriate medical guidance and care.

The #MeToo movement, with its genesis attributed to Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, and a few accused political figures, both elected and appointed, mirrors the antecedents and energy similar to the furies over LGBTQ rights of parents regarding their children and the polarized debate around abortion. Rage and outrage prevail, often without rational thought, resulting in extreme decision-making. Laws enacted become less about protection and more about harnessing a point of view without thought of ultimate consequences to those affected. Myopia runs wild while people suffer the outcome.

#MeToo brought and continues to shed light on the realities of sexism and sexually inappropriate and abusive behavior toward women. Power dynamics, with their intent to oppress, are morally reprehensible, and the U.S. Constitution affirms the rights of all people. However, when the political swing is generated heavily in one direction or another, chances are another movement will be created to counter the force.

Resultant Consequences

Since the #MeToo movement, some men claim to be increasingly unsure about the line between playful banter at work and inappropriate comments. In addition, some men contend that their jobs are being usurped or passed up for promotion based on gender or race, adding a particular layer for white men whose aggression is fueling racist hate groups. However, perhaps at the risk of appearing insensitive or diminishing the genuine threat to women, very few men overtly discuss the sexual taunting and teasing some of them have felt by women.

Most agree that there is no parity between the number of women harassed, devalued, or debased and men who have had similar experiences. Yet the voices, opinions, and reactions of angry, fearful, and innocent men exist. Decisions and actions to protect one group incite anger in another. Having a voice is essential. Revenge becomes too possible and likely an outcome in the absence or suppression of speaking out.

Current laws in some states surrounding abortion and LGBTQ issues, many of whose outcomes currently remain in the balance, claim to be guided first and foremost by legal ethics or scholarly constitutional interpretation based on American jurisprudence. Likewise, our elected and appointed officials are supposed to make decisions based on legal reasoning toward supporting their entire constituency, even when the outcome favors one group. But unfortunately, political agendas often supplant ethics.

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Considering the fallout from laws enacted or in the process of being passed around abortion, the rights of parents and their LGBTQ children or those with gender dysmorphia face a similar fall.

What might an appropriate step be if the Supreme Court strikes down the decisions reached in Roe v. Wade or comes to some partial decision that grants states rights to create laws around women's reproductive options? Some would argue that we ought then to turn toward seeking out the men whose participation was consensual and got the women pregnant. Should not these men be held responsible for half of all the ongoing financial, custodial, educational, health, and well-being of the child born to the mother who could not obtain an abortion? Women seeking abortion almost always became pregnant during intercourse with a man. Do the men walk away from their half of the responsibility?

Similarly, what is the potential risk for parents arrested in response to helping their child address gender or sexual confusion? Suicide and suicidal ideation are exceptionally high among teens struggling with gender and sexuality issues. "Transgender individuals (those whose gender identity does not align with their sex assigned at birth) report suicide behaviors at a higher rate than their cisgender peers (those whose gender identity aligns with their sex assigned at birth—8.6 percent versus 25-30 percent respectively," the American Academy of Pediatrics reports.

The process of uncovering one's sexuality occurs over a lifetime, including gender identity and sexual orientation. Questioning one's sexual orientation at least once in a lifetime is normal. Most people accept that eroticism, the use of sex as a vehicle to be close to another person, and the pursuit of pleasure are natural and take many forms, from heterosexual to homosexual. Most parents who aim to support the gender identity of their child do so via education, psychological processing, and, in some cases, protracted step-by-step medical protocols. This takes time, usually lots of it.

Human beings cannot renounce their biases without careful analysis of what drives their thinking; many people have no conscious clue how subtle their preferences can be. Religious beliefs, cultural and social trends, and parental dictates all imprint and influence thoughts and affect subsequent opinions and decisions.

Sex doesn't just sell; it is also able to be quickly targeted to rally constituents steeped in their own biases. Cognitive dissonance underscores recruitment and support of an idea or ideology; politicians are great at creating it.

With responsibility comes rational thought, or one ought to assume that this is so. But, ultimately, rationalizations are made by all, whether we are an elected or appointed government official, therapist, clergy, teacher, journalist tasked with many and sometimes personally challenging issues. All too often, what is truly right is supplanted by the ability to be swayed.

Deconstructing the issues of abortion, #MeToo, and LGBTQ parental rights reveals more about the power and control of individuals than it does about what is right or even what makes sense. Sex, aggression, and power are constructs that find their place in every arena in all societies; politics and religion are sometimes just the scapegoats. Psychoanalytic thinking contends that sex, aggression, and competitiveness are inherent in the psyche of every individual. It is egregious to use sex to manipulate outcomes or as the fodder of political aims. Exploitation is a dangerous weapon whose fallout affects the lives and well-being of many. Political awareness assumes fundamental awareness and respect of the power one has to use it. Exploitation is an easier path to get votes these days.