How repressed are you?
I was talking to a friend tonight about different countries attitudes toward sexuality, and how some places are more repressed than others.
She comes from the Philippines, which is heavily Catholic, but the young people go out of their way to expose flesh, because a)it's a hot country, and b)they know it will raise the ire of the elder generation = rebellion.
Here in Japan, which has a very low percentage of people who would call themselves religious in any way (34% of the population, according to some survey I read about), you get high school girls wearing the shortest of skirts, and selling their soiled underwear to sweaty salarymen who have nothing better to spend their money than soiled high school girls' underwear...
But, generally, in this land of the rising sun, people seem to have quite a relaxed view of sex, in that it's not "dirty", as it is in say the UK or the USA. It's a natural function of the body, and people don't have too much anxiety about it.
I grew up in the UK, going to a Catholic school, and I can tell you, there were many sexually repressed people there, and that's only counting the teachers! Nah, seriously, I think I noticed and felt a real repression in the air when it came to sex in the UK, with the snickering attitude toward nudey mags, to the barely concealed delight of tabloid jounalists when they found out a senior government minister had been having an affair.
There seems to be a very relaxed attitude to sexual partners here in Japan, especially amongst the young. I've read reports where teenagers matter of factly state they have 4 or 5 sex partners and a boy/girlfriend, and that it's perfectly normal. Of course, this is probably one of the contributing factors in why the WHO has spotlighted Japan as one future hotspot of an AIDS epidemic! Especially when you factor-in the falling sales in condoms in Japan (I really don't think people are having less sex).
Personally, I wouldn't be able to cope with having more than one partner - I mean, it's too much stress, and I'd rather be with someone who I love deeply, rather than just flitting between people and not feeling at all.
She comes from the Philippines, which is heavily Catholic, but the young people go out of their way to expose flesh, because a)it's a hot country, and b)they know it will raise the ire of the elder generation = rebellion.
Here in Japan, which has a very low percentage of people who would call themselves religious in any way (34% of the population, according to some survey I read about), you get high school girls wearing the shortest of skirts, and selling their soiled underwear to sweaty salarymen who have nothing better to spend their money than soiled high school girls' underwear...
But, generally, in this land of the rising sun, people seem to have quite a relaxed view of sex, in that it's not "dirty", as it is in say the UK or the USA. It's a natural function of the body, and people don't have too much anxiety about it.
I grew up in the UK, going to a Catholic school, and I can tell you, there were many sexually repressed people there, and that's only counting the teachers! Nah, seriously, I think I noticed and felt a real repression in the air when it came to sex in the UK, with the snickering attitude toward nudey mags, to the barely concealed delight of tabloid jounalists when they found out a senior government minister had been having an affair.
There seems to be a very relaxed attitude to sexual partners here in Japan, especially amongst the young. I've read reports where teenagers matter of factly state they have 4 or 5 sex partners and a boy/girlfriend, and that it's perfectly normal. Of course, this is probably one of the contributing factors in why the WHO has spotlighted Japan as one future hotspot of an AIDS epidemic! Especially when you factor-in the falling sales in condoms in Japan (I really don't think people are having less sex).
Personally, I wouldn't be able to cope with having more than one partner - I mean, it's too much stress, and I'd rather be with someone who I love deeply, rather than just flitting between people and not feeling at all.
posted by TOK at 12:28 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home