The sex-positive movement is a social and philosophical movement that seeks to change cultural attitudes and norms around sexuality, promoting the recognition of sexuality in the countless forms of expression as a natural and healthy part of the human experience and emphasizing the importance of personal sovereignty, safer sex practices, and consensual sex free from violence or coercion.
It is based on the idea that "sexuality is an important part of the human experience and it deserves respect. The terms and concepts of sex-positive German: sexuell positiv or, alternately sex-affirmative sexuell bejahend and sex-negative sexuell negativ are generally attributed to Wilhelm Reich. His hypothesis was that some societies view the sexual expression as essentially good and healthy, while others have a generally negative view of sexuality and seek to repress and control libido.
The sex-positive movement does not, in general, make moral or ethical distinctions between heterosexual or homosexual sex, or masturbation , regarding these choices as matters of personal preference. Sex-positive , a term that's coming into cultural awareness, isn't a dippy love-child celebration of orgone β it's a simple yet radical affirmation that we each grow our own passions on a different medium, that instead of having two or three or even half a dozen sexual orientations, we should be thinking in terms of millions.
It's the cultural philosophy that understands sexuality as a potentially positive force in one's life, and it can, of course, be contrasted with sex-negativity, which sees sex as problematic, disruptive, and dangerous. Sex-positivity allows for and in fact celebrates sexual diversity , differing desires and relationships structures, and individual choices based on consent. In general use, the term sexual liberation is used to describe a socio-political movement, witnessed from the s into the s.
During the s, a shift in the ways people thought about sexuality began to take place, heralding a period of de-conditioning in some circles away from old world antecedents, and developing new codes of sexual behavior, many of which have since been integrated into the mainstream.
