sex taboo

We cannot talk about sex in polite company.

Rulers and law makers throughout history, around the world, including here and now, prohibit all sorts of sexual conduct among the non-politically-connected in their typical “Do as we say; not as we do” fashion.

There are special forces in most large police agencies devoted to sex – that is, arresting those whose appetites run counter to the political rules.

Sex outside a theoretical norm is distasteful, prurient, embarrassing, not to mention disastrous if caught by public exposure or police intervention. Yet most of it, no matter how outlandish it seems to any of us individually, is actually quite normal.

But we cannot talk about it, fight the Puritanical legislation against it or explain our way out of any criminal prosecution for it.

Clear-headed, open discussion about sex is taboo.

This all comes to my mind because of the combination of stories in today’s Rational Review Digest – a fine news source that arrives daily in my e-mail box.  I encourage you to subscribe to it as well.

Imagining a world where the political / ruling / enforcement classes stayed out of things that were none of their business, including SEX, perhaps none of the stories below would take place over and over around the world… or would at least become quite rare.

3) General avoids jail time in case involving affair with subordinate
Source: USA Today

“Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair was fined $20,000 and reprimanded but avoided jail time Thursday after he acknowledged committing adultery and mistreating his former mistress, an Army captain. The former deputy commander of the 82nd Airborne Division originally had faced sexual assault charges involving the junior officer. But the case against him fell apart after the trial judge ruled that the decision to seek trial might have been influenced by political considerations.” (03/20/14)

http://tinyurl.com/nsml78f

 

7) Mozambique: Protesters march against rapist marriage law
Source: Raw Story

“Rights activists in Mozambique Thursday marched through the capital Maputo to protest a colonial era law still included in new legislation that allows rapists to go unpunished if they marry their victims. The ‘marriage effect’ clause sees convicted rapists slapped with a five-year suspended sentence if they marry their victims. It stipulates that the perpetrator should stay married to the victim for at least five years. Though it had fallen into disuse, the clause has been retained in a new legislation replacing the colonial Portuguese penal code of 1886, which is currently before parliament.” (03/20/14)

http://tinyurl.com/qhf9b68

 

8) HI: law allows undercover police officers to have sex with prostitutes
Source: Fox News

“Honolulu police officers have urged lawmakers to keep an exemption in state law that allows undercover officers to have sex with prostitutes during investigations, touching off a heated debate. Authorities say they need the legal protection to catch lawbreakers in the act. Critics, including human trafficking experts and other police, say it’s unnecessary and can further victimize sex workers, many of whom have been forced into the trade. Police haven’t said how often — or even if — they use the provision. But when they asked legislators to preserve it, they made assurances that internal policies and procedures are in place to prevent officers from taking advantage of it.” [editor’s note: It ain’t rocket science — legalize prostitution for everyone, not just cops. Problem solved! – TLK] (03/21/14)

http://tinyurl.com/kyxva6o

 

11) India: Four convicted for Mumbai gang rape
Source: BBC News [UK state media]

“A court in the Indian city of Mumbai has convicted four men of the gang rape of a photojournalist last year. The men have been found guilty of five offenses, including gang rape, unnatural sex and destruction of evidence. Sentencing is set for Friday. The 22-year-old woman was attacked by five men while on assignment in a deserted mill in August. The fifth accused, believed to be under 18 at the time of the incident, is being tried in a juvenile court.” (03/20/14)

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-26660183

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An e-mail just arrived with the following list of sex crimes. It fit in too well with this morning’s post for me to ignore it. I have read some of these ridiculous laws, customs and tolerated legislation.

I didn’t research, nor can I vouch for any of them. However, they are all credible to me. Here you go:

In Lebanon, men are legally allowed to have sex with animals,
but…. the animals must be female.
Having sexual relations with a male animal
is punishable by death.

(Like THAT makes any sense.)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In Bahrain, a male doctor
may legally examine a woman’s genitals,
but…

is prohibited from looking directly at them during the examination.
He may only see their reflection in a mirror.

(Do things look different reversed?)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Muslims are banned
from looking at the genitals of a corpse.
This also applies to
undertakers. The sex organs of the deceased
must be covered with a
brick or piece of wood at all times.

(A brick?)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The penalty for masturbation in Indonesia
is decapitation.
(glad I don’t live in Indonesia)

(Here you just ‘go blind!’)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

There are men in Guam whose full-time job
it is to travel the countryside and deflower young virgins,
who pay them for the privilege of having sex for the first time.

Reason: under Guam law, it is expressly forbidden for virgins to marry.

(Let’s just think for a minute;

Is there any job anywhere else in the world, that even comes close to this?)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In Hong Kong, a betrayed wife is legally allowed
to kill her adulterous husband,
but may only do so with her bare hands.

The husband’s illicit lover, on the other
hand, may be killed in any manner desired.

(Ah! Sweet Justice!)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Topless saleswomen are legal in Liverpool, England –
but only in tropical fish stores.

(Makes perfect sense, what!)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In Cali, Colombia, a woman may only have
sex with her husband, and the first time this happens,
her mother must be in the room to witness the act.

(Makes one shudder at the thought.)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In Santa Cruz, Bolivia, it is illegal for a man
to have sex with a woman and her daughter, at the same time.

(I presume this was a big enough problem
that they had to pass this law?)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In Maryland, it is illegal
to sell condoms from vending machines
with one exception: Condoms may be dispensed
from a vending machine only in places
where alcoholic beverages are sold
‘for consumption on the premises.’

(Is this a great country or what?)

Well,…. Maybe not as great as Guam

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.

(Who am I not losing weight?)