It will no doubt come as a surprise to learn that America is a sexually repressed society, inasmuch as the United States is typically portrayed as entirely decadent by local religious spokespersons of all denominations. But, as sex therapist Marty Klein shows in this comprehensive book, sexual rights are quite restricted in America compared to other developed nations and, indeed, some not-so-developed ones. Several of these issues are relevant to our situation in T&T, especially with respect to polices related to children and the now-popular topic of sexual harassment.
“The goal of this war is to control sexual expression, colonise sexual imagination, and restrict sexual choices,” Klein writes. He asserts: “The election of Barack Obama in 2008 was supposed to change many things, including government intrusion into private life. In the area of sexual rights, unfortunately, the positive effects have been extremely limited.”
Klein identifies several ideas which, he argues, became more widespread during Obama’s tenure and which he says are all “demonstrably false.” These include the belief that sex trafficking is an enormous problem and becoming worse, that adult use of pornography is a public health menace and that the Internet is full of predators preying on young people.
The book has 14 chapters which deal with policy matters ranging from sex education to abortion rights to pornography. “While erotophiles are not attempting to force erotophobes to live more sexually adventurous lives, erotophobes insist that both sides—everyone—live according to their erotophobic values,” Klein asserts.
As the recent debate on the Marriage Bill shows, this is also true in T&T.
Klein points out that the original religious injunctions against pre-marital sex in the West were laid down in an era when the age of puberty was much higher and the age of marriage much lower.
Then there’s the issue of sexual harassment. Klein notes that harassment laws passed in the 1980s in the US were intended to prevent women being obstructed in the performance of their jobs. “But now even the most indirect reference to sexuality at work or school can be considered the creation of a hostile employment or learning environment,” he writes.
His book offers a clear-eyed and powerful approach to all political issues related to sex. Many of these matters will become relevant in T&T, or already are, and we can therefore learn from America’s errors.
Author: Marty Klein
Publisher: Praeger, 2012
REVIEW BY
KEVIN BALDEOSINGH