Bestiality and pedophilia are on the horizon and heading for normal.
The trends are not subtle.
Our great grandmothers called various things abomination and met them universally with rage. For instance, casual sex is an easy example.
The next generation called it scandalous, but found it interesting.
The next tolerated it, and the next one trained their children to participate.
From vice.com, “Otherkin Are People Too; They Just Identify as Nonhuman. We talked to the internet residents who feel more like foxes, dragons, and cats than members of Homo sapiens….”
A foundational belief in our society is, “If I feel like it is true or right for me, I should do it.” If people identify as part animal, it will be difficult to argue that they shouldn’t have sex with an animal.
Right now that is abomination and met with shrieks. Tomorrow it will be on Jerry Springer. The next day it will tolerated, and the next day embraced as “right for some people.”
I didn’t watch Cuties on Netflix, but children’s sexuality is not hard to see. What once belonged exclusively in marriage became acceptable between consenting adults. And then teenagers. And now junior highers. Whatever happened in Cuties is outrageous today. In a decade or two it will be merely controversial. The next generation will tolerate it, etc. “Advocates” will arise and lobby for children’s “rights.”
In the early 1700’s Alexander Pope wrote:
Vice is a monster of so frightful mien [i.e., countenance]
As to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
[emphasis mine]
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Friend’s reply:
I’m confused by this post. Role play is one thing, between consenting adults. Whatever, but you’re saying bestiality is becoming normalized? And pedophelia? Look what happens to those in jail! Now, there are men in positions of power and wealth who are ok with it, apparently. But power and wealth =corruption and suppression of other’s rights. Don’t think it’s becoming the norm. But obviously pardoned by some elites.
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My response
I am no cultural anthropologist. Nonetheless it seems to me like one pattern in our culture over the past one or 200 years is a continual broadening in what we consider to be appropriate sexual behavior, including what’s OK to talk about in public, and to think and feel.
I am NOT NOT NOT saying any thing is good or bad, only that there’s a change in culture. Good and bad are worth discussing, but that’s not what I’m doing here. See if you disagree.
A couple hundred years ago it was taboo to even talk about a heterosexual married woman being “pregnant.“
Then that became ok.
It wasn’t ok to show married people lying in the same bed on TV. Then it was ok.
It became alright to show more.
And then a little more.
And then some more.
Free love in the 60’s was a shock to the 1950’s mentality.
In Grease they made fun of a girl who “won’t go to bed till she’s legally wed.” That was a change from Wally and The Beaver.
Tame lyrics of the 60’s gave way to more explicit hair metal in the 1980’s and finally rap.
We wanted more.
The Swimsuit Issue would have sold a zillion copies in 1945, but been taboo. In 1995 it wasn’t taboo.
You probably saw that Red Hot Chili Peppers poster when we were in college. It’s not so eye popping anymore, though.
A few decades ago, you could scream nasty words at LGBTqa+ persons.
In “Police Academy” the gay bar was no longer a social abomination. It was something to laugh at, and maybe rewind and watch again.
Tom Hanks in “Philadelphia” was controversial in 1993, but not as bad as it would have been in 1975, and there was an LGBT+ channel for free last time I stayed in a hotel. I’m not saying it’s bad, only that the line keeps changing.
In her music video, “I Think We’re Alone Now” Tiffany was dressed extremely modestly. Now, Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball” has a billion views.
Gay marriage wasn’t a thing. And now it is. (I’m not saying that’s bad, only that what’s acceptable continues to include more and more options.)
Living together was progressive in the 1990’s, but now it has a place in the IRS tax code.
Gender fluidity was a serious shock to the system a decade ago. Now it’s fairly widely accepted.
We say teen pregnancy is bad for a young woman’s academic career, but it’s not morally reprehensible anymore.
Junior highers have lesbian sex in the bathroom at school. A friend told me about that one five years ago.
If a man identified as female twenty years ago he went to the psych ward (I saw one).
Today a child can identify as non-binary and we applaud.
If the line keeps moving, what may or may not be coming down the pike? What’s to stop a precocious twelve year old from expressing their sexuality? Could a teenage boy gain the right to have sex with his track coach? Who are we to deny him? Things are getting more inclusive, so why not?
Some people have species identity disorder, identify as a wolf or butterfly, and feel like an animal trapped in a human body. That’s pretty weird to our most of culture right now, but it’s gaining a foothold. And who are we to judge them, or deny them expression of their feelings?
Fifty years ago gay marriage was revolting but today is fine. Fifty years before that, living together outside marriage was an outrage and now it’s normal. It seems to be a little bit of a pattern. Things unspeakable become mere taboo, then fringy, then tolerable, and maybe even acceptable.
Maybe instead of pedophilia I should say “consensual childhood sexual activity.”
I’m not saying that and bestiality are normal right now.
I think I’m making some rational observations, though. Sexual debut is occurring at younger ages . Inclusivity continues to broaden its embrace. Is it possible that things which today are revolting and outrage could eventually find some space to be tolerated?
Free Spirit Seed Company 