Social Order, Sexual Restriction, and the Secret Society

Note from Chase: this is a very thoughtful - and pretty deep - article by Alek exploring the cultural mechanics underlying social controls placed on individual sexual expression in modern Western societies. This isn't a "how-to" article; it's more a "here's how things work a few levels down" type piece. It's somewhat heavy stuff, but a rewarding read if you don't mind letting your brain work a bit. Here's Alek.

After having produced a number of practical articles recently, I wanted to write a more theory-heavy post on sexual ethics.

Before I begin, I would like to deliver a disclaimer. It should be noted that this piece is purely theoretical and an abstraction of how the mating game works. The world is a complex place, and it is impossible to describe every aspect of a social phenomenon.

Further, I would also point out that even though this essay might have anthropological elements, it remains a work in political/social theory.

This means that this text is not only descriptive in its nature (i.e., explaining “what is the case”) but also has a normative essence with the means of explaining “for what reasons things should be the way they are” or “what should be the case”.