She Wants Sex, and an Orgasm Too!
Forget suffrage, equal pay, even the right to maternity leave. The new hot topic in women’s rights is a movement for sexual fulfillment. This legal idea was sparked by an Ecuadorian politician, Maria Soledad Vela, during the process of rewriting the country’s constitution.
Ms. Soledad Vela campaigning for sexual happiness
Soledad Vela is arguing for sexual happiness in an open society, meaning that women should be able to have the knowledge and right to make their own decisions about sex. Of course, opponents of the idea jumped all over her. Critics point out that she is just being “ridiculous” by bringing sexual relations into the new constitution, claiming that she is trying to make orgasm a legal right. Interestingly enough, in a really obvious sort of way, is the fact that the people most strongly opposed to Soledad Vela’s idea are men. I can see how people might be shocked at a law proposing sexual happiness. It does seem a bit ludicrous to assume that a country can enforce “happiness” in the bedroom – does that mean orgasm, more foreplay, making a man kiss you on the mouth after you suck his dick? I know I would be happier if all of those things were mandatory. But I realize that we take a lot of our sexual freedom here in America for granted. Sure, I still get called a slut sometimes, but I also live in a society where that word is questioned to the point at which I don’t really care about it anymore. So what would I be down in Ecuador? A mega-slut? Sexually untouchable?
But Soledad Vela isn’t talking about sexual skill or potency; it’s not a matter of enforcing “good” sex and imprisoning men for their sexual blunders. What she is really seeking is more along the lines of sexual equality in a legal sense, equality that allows women the legal right to have a happy sex life instead of being part of a baby factory. The phrase she uses to explain her viewpoint is “clearer laws covering life, health, and sex education” – meaning her law isn’t directly aimed at sexual intimacy. Granted she didn’t really make her point clear enough, but I think Soledad Vela may be pointing at societal judgments. And in that case, it’s not really a matter of legality. Perhaps the focus should be on reproductive rights, or abortion, although that might just bring us back to the issue of women serving solely as child bearers. Still you can only change tangible rights; you can’t force people to change their attitudes, especially when those attitudes are about a sensitive subject like female sexuality (in addition to being tainted by conservative Catholicism). You can’t guarantee a woman the right to have their sexuality free from judgment. But, hey, maybe this is a start.
Isn't sex supposed to be like fireworks?
Here is a news clip of the issue with Maria Soledad Vela…I think. It’s in Spanish, so anyone who has a better grasp of the language should check it out.
Has anyone ever heard of laws regarding women’s sexuality in Ecuador, or other countries? I am assuming that most countries do not have explicit laws about female sexual behavior, and I am not sure of the exact wording of Soledad Vela’s idea.
How interesting… that’s something I probably wouldn’t have stumbled upon on my own. While Ecuador is conservative, I wonder what would happen if Maria were asking for the same thing in the US. Sure, American feminists have debates over the word slut and argue for a woman’s right to her own sexual agency, but do the majority really think a woman has a right to her own sexual happiness.
People against this law aren’t going to be people who think it’s just silly. If they thought that, they wouldn’t care one way or another if it passed. It’s people sincerely against women’s sexual fulfillment that will oppose it.
the only laws I have ever been familiar with (well, not FAMILIAR, but you know what I mean) concerning female sex or sexuality are pretty much there to stymie or subjugate being women are, well you know, the devil and such.
and I would imagine there would be great support for shoving men in jail for unsatisfactory sex. the last thing some dude would want to do is confess to the other inmates that the reason he is in is because he couldn’t please his woman
he he
I wonder if they will start ‘sex schools’ where all men have to go (like conscription during war time) to learn how to please woman better……
Ah, utopia.
i think to a large extent the idea of feminine sexuality is accepted in the U.S. I mean dollyann – of course we still have major double standards surrounding that, but then i think about women in saudi arabia whose families hold public executions when they are caught having sex. i know it’s not relative, but i have a lot of appreciation for the fact that i can have sex freely – sure i get judged sometimes, but it doesn’t really affect me that much because i feel like i live in a society where people’s judgments are constantly questioned. on the other hand, it has bitten me in the ass (no pun intended) and it isn’t really fair the sexual standards that women get caught up in. as for ecuador, there might be a strong masculine machismo culture that opposes women’s sexual happiness….i think you are right about the critics not really thinking it’s silly. i mean look at the catholic church – i feel like the power of female sexuality scares them….silly….haha
ozymandiaz – haha i agree with you about subjugating women. we are evil after all right? i like how a lot of views i have read about concerning churches….such as the witch hunts in europe centuries ago – focused on women’s sexuality as evil and part of a covenant with the devil. and men like to think that they can always get a woman off, they all seem to be so sensitive about it! i can’t imagine if they were jailed for a failure to provide orgasm….
shannon – oh yes… how about “reeducation camps”? maybe we should just start teaching men how to give good head in sex education class, or at least drill the anatomy into them. i am so happy that i have had guys who know what they are doing, and not to mention they actually CARE about getting me off. there are not enough of those by far… but then i think about women in the 1950s…eck. i would be a secret lesbian.
thanks for your comments guys!
- Harlequin