Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Anal Sex Really Is Wrong?


Is the anus really meant for intercourse? That question is often posed because people see it as a wholly unnatural act, when between two men that is. The shocking realization is that anal sex is not as frowned up as one might think, but because it is the primary icon of gay male sex it is often looked upon as disgusting. A funny fact about thought abroad, anal sex, which was at one point illegal, is now legal in Singapore! The catch is it is only legal to heterosexual couples and the punishment for two men being caught in physical relations is up to two years in prison.

Though America does not have any major laws prohibiting anal sex amongst men, the media and dominant thought of the time perpetuate the act of male anal intercourse as wrong, and often time will associate AIDS as the punishment for such doings. As mentioned in class AIDS in America is definitely a gay man’s disease but the connotation and thought that follows that statement is in most cases very wrong. People who use biology to explain why anal sex between men is wrong and unnatural will make the claim that vaginal sex is RIGHT and that is why straight men did not get AIDS easily.

The common claim is that the vagina was specifically made for intercourse so it is tougher. In slang terms, it would go something like the anus was made to only have things come out and the vagina was made to have things go in. Funny enough though this thought is rather widespread and transcends all sorts of bounds like class, race, and religion, it could not be any more wrong. The pure facts are that any receptive sex partner has a higher risk for HIV transmission, vaginal or anal. In contention directly with the slang myth, the vagina was not made tougher so things could go in, quite the contrary it was made tougher so something generally about six times the size of the canal could come out. Pure science states that due to the stress intensive nature childbirth puts on the vagina it must be built stronger or people would not exist. The anus although was biologically made to carry fecal matter, a much less stress intensive product from the body.

Looking at the facts there is nothing that actually points to anal sex as wrong. This has actually been already established though, for heterosexuals at least. Heterosexuals who practice anal sex would not be branded as wrong, unconventional maybe, but definitely not so far as to say wrong. The question then is why are homosexuals still branded as wrong? The question lies in the emergence of HIV, but that is not much more than a manipulation of the media and government needing a scapegoat. The unfortunate truth is that gay men had a radical movement at the wrong time and because of such they were blamed for an epidemic. The epidemic extends worldwide and affects millions who are not male or gay, or possibly even old enough to know what HIV is yet it is still blamed upon gay men placing even more stigma upon them and their relationships.

2 comments:

Ajumma said...

Please tell me there is a punch line at the end of the guy's red shirt, like "NO HOMOS GO TO HEAVEN...that aren't dressed to the NINES" or something like that. That shirt makes me sad. Technically aren't we all homos?

r.b. said...

I'm really late about it, but I think you make a lot of good points about the arguments surrounding anal sex. It's interesting to me that many consider gay sex in general "immoral"...so its interesting to me how it transcends biology and reverts back to the age old issue of morality. In addition, I think that because our society is so homophobic, if something like oral sex was considered "gay sex", I'm sure that would be condemned as well.