Sex is Politics

When Vidal argues that "sex is politics," he means that politicians use sexual issues and sexual "hot buttons" (153) as a means to control the behavior of the people. Vidal is arguing that the order of the society and the functioning and growth of the economy depend on a certain set of behaviors from the people. That behavior is based on a patriarchal, heterosexual, child-bearing, family-based system which produces obedient hard-working citizens who will be less likely to act in a way which will threaten the society or the economy or their own family life.

Therefore, Vidal is arguing that politicians see sex as politics, and the sex lives of the people are affected by politicians who seek to push those hot button issue for political, economic and social purposes. For example, continued prejudice against women in the workplace can be seen as a political expression of the belief that "A woman who can support herself and her child is a threat to marriage, and marriage is the central institution whereby the owners of the world control those who do the work." The same holds for the politics of homosexuality, says Vidal, for "homosexuality also threatens that ancient domination, be

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simply an expression of repression for political purposes. Except for the far right wing of the Republican party, politicians for the most part appeal to the homosexual community for support and funding, especially as it becomes obvious that homosexuals are just as politically active as members of other minorities, and are more affluent than most other groups as well. Vidal's book containing this essay was written over 15 years ago. Would he deny that today it is far less popular to campaign against homosexuality on a political basis than it was in 1983? Would he not recognize that homosexuality is today far less stigmatized than it was in the past, and therefore is less a "hot button" issue to be used by politicians to easily manipulate the electorate? After all, Barney Frank is an openly gay Congressman, himself the subject of earlier sexual scandal, who was one of the leaders in the successful Democratic defense of President Clinton in the recent scandal. Of course, that scandal, involving President Clinton and the White House intern Monica Lewinsky, has opened up the doors of sex in the world of politics as perhaps no other event in the past ever has. Certainly the public acceptance of Clinton (illustrated in his high job p
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Approximate Word count = 1368
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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