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I think the American neocon mindset is rooted in a deep anxiety over sexual desirability and availability, and yes, they're getting hornier and hornier. I think about their most sensitive hot-button propaganda/obsessions... and agree that losing Roe and Medicaid has made having sex feel majorly uncomfortable. I also think about how, for conservatives, the availability of safe and reliable abortion unconsciously threatens the availability of sex itself, which causes a certain kind of person a lot of sexual frustration.
In the conservative sphere, an abortion represents a kind of liberal consummation of the very specific, valorized m/f penetrative sex act ("fucking") which conservatives must reject because it contrasts procreation (a righteous consummation.) But, this leaves them feeling as if they've disavowed the act of fucking itself, which also functions as the ultimate expression of a highly valued, socially necessary patriarchal masculinity---the ideal fuck in this framework being one that provides maximum male pleasure with minimal resulting social responsibility. So, the collective conservative libido experiences conflict between the desire to affirm through action a system of male dominance and female submission (i.e. cis Men(tm) fucking cis Women(tm) without restraint) and the competing desire to limit the affirming action itself (i.e. giving sex a restricted definition, between heteromonogamous married couples for the purposes of procreation) even though, in this framework, any limitation on that action represents an existential threat to heteropatriarchy.
Long story short, I think yes, conservatives are getting sexual, because it seems as if the horny conservative vibe arises from the culture centralizing male libidinal desire, encouraging an unlimited expression of that desire, but insisting that manifesting the ideal version of that desire (i.e. men fucking at will and without consequence, bringing about a fantasy scenario where fucking will not result in manifest responsibility to a woman or child, i.e. likely involving an abortion) is categorically wrong. "Men," conservative unconsciousnesses cry, "need to fuck, but they also need abortion to fulfill their fantasies... but abortion is wrong... and in fact sex is wrong if it results in abortion... and we can't have abortions... so we can't fuck... so abortion limits sex... blahh i'm gonna go sublimate my anger and frustration into self-destructive class and gender and racial aggression!!"
I don't know if this entirely holds water, and I know I'm being a real armchair Freudian, but I think it's safe to say the conservative Id is currently spiraling out in public horny frustration... and being eaten alive by its own internal contradictions.
In the conservative sphere, an abortion represents a kind of liberal consummation of the very specific, valorized m/f penetrative sex act ("fucking") which conservatives must reject because it contrasts procreation (a righteous consummation.) But, this leaves them feeling as if they've disavowed the act of fucking itself, which also functions as the ultimate expression of a highly valued, socially necessary patriarchal masculinity---the ideal fuck in this framework being one that provides maximum male pleasure with minimal resulting social responsibility. So, the collective conservative libido experiences conflict between the desire to affirm through action a system of male dominance and female submission (i.e. cis Men(tm) fucking cis Women(tm) without restraint) and the competing desire to limit the affirming action itself (i.e. giving sex a restricted definition, between heteromonogamous married couples for the purposes of procreation) even though, in this framework, any limitation on that action represents an existential threat to heteropatriarchy.
Long story short, I think yes, conservatives are getting sexual, because it seems as if the horny conservative vibe arises from the culture centralizing male libidinal desire, encouraging an unlimited expression of that desire, but insisting that manifesting the ideal version of that desire (i.e. men fucking at will and without consequence, bringing about a fantasy scenario where fucking will not result in manifest responsibility to a woman or child, i.e. likely involving an abortion) is categorically wrong. "Men," conservative unconsciousnesses cry, "need to fuck, but they also need abortion to fulfill their fantasies... but abortion is wrong... and in fact sex is wrong if it results in abortion... and we can't have abortions... so we can't fuck... so abortion limits sex... blahh i'm gonna go sublimate my anger and frustration into self-destructive class and gender and racial aggression!!"
I don't know if this entirely holds water, and I know I'm being a real armchair Freudian, but I think it's safe to say the conservative Id is currently spiraling out in public horny frustration... and being eaten alive by its own internal contradictions.
1d ago
Comments (6)
These replies have been so thoughtful and i’m enjoying reading them because some of my thoughts are being echoed back to me! I also want to add that conservatives and republicans are not anti-abortion. The 1/4 women getting abortions doesn’t just count the libs! I feel like everyone participates in abortions right? like donald trump has 100% asked one of his ladies in the night to get an abortion in his 80000 years of living. And i’m sure those women, if consenting to the abortion, probably also are “pro-life” but only when it doesn’t fuck their life up. you feel me? i forget my references atm but i remember reading about how white women love to claim pro-life politics but are still getting abortions when they feel like a baby doesn’t fit into their life (AS THEY SHOULD!!!!). It’s just crazy that identity politics and real tangible rights are actively fighting against each other in these groups. I remember watching one of those Jubilee type videos where all these pro-life women were talking about how they got abortions and it was right for them at the time but they regret it now and want forced birth for everyone even though they got to choose. so silly!!! i will never understand the workings of a conservative woman’s brain.
1d ago
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✝️Probably not. It depends on how you define sexual. I can’t really see the right’s engagement with sex as “sexual.” The idea that the right is getting more sexual than “us” plays into right-wing propaganda.
First, I’d caution against lumping a reality TV dating show and a sex worker with Donald Trump and Trad Wives. I do get your point, but the first two are not “highly conservative.” Love Island was more conservative this season, but that conservative ideology reflects dating patterns in the U.S. and the rise of Andrew Tate types. Bonnie Blue is a sex worker who built a brand off sexist fantasies. She’s a weird case.
I think it’s also important to recognize that we’re still in the midst of the #MeToo backlash. That backlash included Hollywood executives, advertisers, and cultural institutions starting to view sex as a liability. It also included prominent commentators, celebrities, and regular people who simply did not care to learn about consent because they viewed #MeToo as a threat to traditional gender roles and sex itself.
What you’re likely noticing on the right is the right getting more pronatalist and using sex to promote that pronatalist agenda. Pronatalism is not just the idea that having children is good for society— it’s a white supremacist and misogynistic ideology. It believes America is getting too ethnic, too multicultural, and un-Christian. American women are eschewing their god-given roles as mothers to work in office, go clubbing, eat hot chip, and blog.
Let’s say you’re a Right-winger. You want to encourage people to have babies and protect the ~ Judeo-Christian ~ foundations of our nation. Sex can help. Sex sells. But you still have to do that within the confines of your ideology.
The best example of this is probably the way Evie magazine, a Peter Thiel-backed magazine for Tradwives, talks about sex. Wear that sexy mommy milker dress you and get FUCKED, but ONLY if you are a good (white) Christian wife trying to BREED more good (white) CHRISTIAN children.
Evie Magazine and its ilk are against anything that doesn’t fit into this white supremacist conception of sex. They’re against porn, against clubbing in a mini skirt, against you lustful women, against the lascivious Gays, the polyamorous FREAKS. They’re also against consent, because your husband should have access to your body at all times.
And weirdly, they claim to be the ones having the most sex. The Best Sex. In fact, the left/liberals don’t know how to have sex, because 1) the point of sex is procreation, not exploring, not pleasure, and DEFINITELY not activating your wife’s WAP, God fucking forbid; and 2) you libs are simply too obsessed with consent to have sex. You’re the puritans now!
But is this true? No. lol. The most sexual people I know are lesbians. They’re people who’ve completely divorced themselves from male desire and heteronormativity. After that, the “most sexual person I know” is probably my bisexual male friend, who again, had to spend a lot of time unpacking heteronormative ideals about sex/gender.
But I do agree, conversations about sex are a little weird now, and conversations about sex in media are very weird right now. I don’t think that’s entirely because of #MeToo or the backlash against it.
When we use Social media, we’re flooded with strangers’ opinions about any given subject. You never know what kind of content that stranger might be consuming— it could be Jessie Ware or Tunes for Tradwives. Social media algorithms also reward half-baked and controversial takes, and it’s very easy to post a half-baked or controversial take about a sexual ad, hookup culture, or just dating in general. And what can I say, sex sells.
I would like to think/write more about this, but I need to go get sexier RIGHT NOW. I have to eschew my god-given role as a mother and go to the club after a long day of working in an office, eating hot chip, and half-baked blogging on PI.FYI.
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❤️Not a rec but a trend I noticed in music.
In Hayes Code Hollywood (puritanical production mandates against things like sex, violence, swearing in movies), there were musical numbers that took otherwise innocuous songs and added eroti./BDSM undertones. we had “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The big dance sequence in Minnelli’s The Pirate, where a woman is transformed into a donkey/bunny(? I forget) on all fours (I think?) while Gene Kelly gyrates around her in tight, low cut leather (this is crystal clear).
Fast forward (I’m skipping many steps - an amateur at this sort of thing) to the late 2000s/early 2010s. The latent BDSM becomes more explicitly lyrical in songs Like “Bad Romance” and (obviously) “SM.” However, these songs have erotic purchase - they chart desire ( “ I want your revenge” “Chains and whips excite me”) without the context of the body. The instrument and the lyrics let the listener construct titillation/lust.
Then, in the latter 2010s, we get total assaults of the physical experience of pleasure in Songs like “WAP” artists like Cupcakke, etc. so explicit that they undermine eroticism. At the same time, there’s also artists like Carly Rae Jepsen, who wax about yearning in a mystical, spiritual fashion (that im sure Jia Tolentino wrote about somewhere).
still working out why, but I think this change speaks to how rabidly we want sensation (not contemplation) from art but also (bc we get most of our art electronicall) technology and (still Working this one out) religion?
i told my friend about this and he said, “Sex Positive Accelerationism.”
In Hayes Code Hollywood (puritanical production mandates against things like sex, violence, swearing in movies), there were musical numbers that took otherwise innocuous songs and added eroti./BDSM undertones. we had “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The big dance sequence in Minnelli’s The Pirate, where a woman is transformed into a donkey/bunny(? I forget) on all fours (I think?) while Gene Kelly gyrates around her in tight, low cut leather (this is crystal clear).
Fast forward (I’m skipping many steps - an amateur at this sort of thing) to the late 2000s/early 2010s. The latent BDSM becomes more explicitly lyrical in songs Like “Bad Romance” and (obviously) “SM.” However, these songs have erotic purchase - they chart desire ( “ I want your revenge” “Chains and whips excite me”) without the context of the body. The instrument and the lyrics let the listener construct titillation/lust.
Then, in the latter 2010s, we get total assaults of the physical experience of pleasure in Songs like “WAP” artists like Cupcakke, etc. so explicit that they undermine eroticism. At the same time, there’s also artists like Carly Rae Jepsen, who wax about yearning in a mystical, spiritual fashion (that im sure Jia Tolentino wrote about somewhere).
still working out why, but I think this change speaks to how rabidly we want sensation (not contemplation) from art but also (bc we get most of our art electronicall) technology and (still Working this one out) religion?
i told my friend about this and he said, “Sex Positive Accelerationism.”
Feb 26, 2024
Rec
💌i find as an unhealed person who doesn’t have a good sense of self respect or mindfulness sex kind of causes a lot of problems for me interpersonal and personal.
at least a break in looking at WHY you’re having sex, and what kind of sexual scripts you’re following without even realizing.. what parts of yourself are you reinforcing and/or reducing when you enter sexual situations?
i think sex can be mistaken for intimacy sometimes, is this the form of intimacy that serves you best? what conditions do you think you need to have sex that makes you feel good and genuine? do you feel you have emotional agency in your sex life?
(edit: also! sex is so fucking vulnerable! of course being vulnerable is how you form connections.. but to perform vulnerability is not the same and it happens a lot!)
i also have a lot of personal disgust towards sexual scripts put on by pornography (violence, minors, cnc ect.) the rad fem aspect of sex/porn is a whole nother beast, i’d recommend looking into bdsm ect through that lense if it’s something you are looking for more insight towards. (obviously fuck TERF and try to avoid those rabbit holes, but radical feminism affirmed a lot of theories i had on why sex/sexuality is/are such a point of shame and contention for young people)
ANYWAY, i am only 20 so take this with a grain of salt but i think that naturalism fucks with peoples potential for healthy and fulfilling sex lives, preset scripts about what it should be and what it has been. If the sex you’re having feels wrong it probably is, and you have agency to change that, just take a break and reevaluate.
at least a break in looking at WHY you’re having sex, and what kind of sexual scripts you’re following without even realizing.. what parts of yourself are you reinforcing and/or reducing when you enter sexual situations?
i think sex can be mistaken for intimacy sometimes, is this the form of intimacy that serves you best? what conditions do you think you need to have sex that makes you feel good and genuine? do you feel you have emotional agency in your sex life?
(edit: also! sex is so fucking vulnerable! of course being vulnerable is how you form connections.. but to perform vulnerability is not the same and it happens a lot!)
i also have a lot of personal disgust towards sexual scripts put on by pornography (violence, minors, cnc ect.) the rad fem aspect of sex/porn is a whole nother beast, i’d recommend looking into bdsm ect through that lense if it’s something you are looking for more insight towards. (obviously fuck TERF and try to avoid those rabbit holes, but radical feminism affirmed a lot of theories i had on why sex/sexuality is/are such a point of shame and contention for young people)
ANYWAY, i am only 20 so take this with a grain of salt but i think that naturalism fucks with peoples potential for healthy and fulfilling sex lives, preset scripts about what it should be and what it has been. If the sex you’re having feels wrong it probably is, and you have agency to change that, just take a break and reevaluate.
Mar 6, 2024
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