Before I begin, I want to make one things clear: the term deviant does not automatically means bad, yet it is usually used that way. Deviant simply means different from the norm.

Sometimes that is a bad thing, and sometimes it is not. How communities respond to sexual deviance, and how they determine whether any given deviance is bad or not is the subject of this discussion.

I didn't feel as if I needed to tag this post as NSFW; if there is enough community agreement, I will add that tag

This blog is in contemplation of the child porn controversy here on Steemit, yet it requires us to dig a little deeper in understanding sex and deviancy.

Normal versus Deviant

The illustration above shows you what I mean. Most People act Normally: Some People act in Deviant ways; statistically, this is also known as outliers, since they lie outside the norm. Again, I'll restate that deviant is not always bad, but that bad actions are by default deviant

And applied towards sexuality?

Sex is one of humanity's basic drives. Reproduction is instinctive; and I hope you follow my assumption that identification with one's sexual nature is one of our basic ways of identifying ourselves. Most people are Normal because if it were otherwise, we simply wouldn't reproduce as a species.

Due to this identification of self based on sex, Deviant behavior is going to be looked on with abhorrence by instinct, and the farther out of the norm the deviance is the greater that behavior is, the greater the level of repugnance.

There is a wide variation of cultures through the world; some societies practice very different means in social norms. Raping boys is normal behavior in some cultures. Then again, bad behavior is normal in some cultures. You can usually come up with some good socio-biological reasons for cultural standards.

Finally, some people have higher sex drives than others; I'll skip a full digression, but keep in mind that alpha behavior may be interpreted as a means of satisfying a higher sex drive. People with higher sex drives may engage in deviant behavior to satisfy that urge as well, but that doesn't mean that deviant behavior is always the result of a high sex drive either. Sometimes deviance is just deviance.

Child Abuse/Porn

We'll start the discussion here, since this is the subject that sparked this post. There are some instinctive reason for us to regard this behavior both as deviant and as bad.

Failure to reproduce. Children are extremely unlikely to bear children
Instinct to protect children. Part of the reproductive instinct is to protect offspring until they are mature enough to do so themselves. Hurting children sets us off.
Children that are victims develop problems in normal sexual behavior as adults; again, this interferes with the species drive to survive.

So whether it is child rape, or child porn, it sets us off in a negative response, and deservedly so.

Homosexuality

Homosexuality goes against the reproductive instinct as well. OTOH, there is not an inherent...badness...to it. One of the reasons it was regard as bad in the past is that it did harm to a tribe's ability to reproduce and to defend itself. A man was expected to be tribesman and warrior; the reason that there is a stereotype of the "limp wristed" homosexual comes from the female imitative behavior of some homosexuals.

Digression note - In the Old Testament, it is male to male homosexuality that is the sin, not lesbian sex. This indicates that it is not homosexuality that was regarded as wrong, but the harm done to the tribe from male homosexuality

And of course, you could point to the Scared Band as a counter-example, but keep in mind that we are still looking at the norm in determining social reaction.

Bestiality

If you cross a man and a bear and a pig, you get Al Gore and his inherent mental instability...

...but most likely you get no offspring as well.

In addition, no one wants their meat basted in this fashion.

Sorry, I can't take bestiality seriously; or the reasons why someone would resort to it, desire it, or to consider excusing it.

"If he had sexual intercourse with an animal, that will not make his hajj void"
Islam and Bestiality

Rape

Rape is not considered sexual deviance as much as it is a personal crime. It can looked at in terms of stealing sex. OTOH, there is some some study done in the argument that it is the act of dominance rather than sex that drives the rapist.

Returning to the Old Testament, there is argumentation that the crimes of Sodom were the intended rape of the angels, not the homosexual aspect of the rape.

Dominance in sex may be related to normal sexual impulses, as we'll look at shortly.

This does not imply that the act of rape is anything other than a crime. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the idea of consent in this blog; consent should be assumed as a foundation of normal sexual relations. Period.

Yes, I know that feminism says differently, but I take feminism as seriously as I do bestiality

Kinks/Porn

What? Everybody has their clothes on!

Does this picture make this post NSFW? I'll come back to that question. And if there is enough demand, I will indeed mark the post as such

Depending on how a culture defines normal, fetishes may be considered as deviant. Tying up and spanking a partner can be looked at as expression of dominance in sex. Costumes, gorilla suits, lingerie, tickling, etc etc...can all be looked at as deviations from normal sex; at least from religious norms in which everything other than reproductive sex is a sin.

So while we expect a negative reaction to such inherently evil deviances as child abuse, we can also see hostile reactions to other, perhaps not so bad deviances as porn (or the circumstances where porn is accessible - a person may enjoy porn in private, but express concern where others, especially children, can access it)

The Red Pill

What is normal sexual behavior between men and women? I suggested that social behavior derives from biological circumstances above. Red Pill philosophy comes from the notion that women will select the best man to mate with, regardless of who she ends up living with. I'm not going to argue Red Pill here, but I did want to throw the idea out for those of you that may want to seek reasons for why people behave the way they do in normal situations.

Especially in the idea that expressions of dominance in a man are attractive to women.

Religion and Social Norms

Following from the idea that biological considerations will drive cultural expectations (brain tease - is homosexuality more common and accepted in overpopulated societies? cough cough, Japan), we can see why some religions spend so much of their dogma on definitions of sexual normality.

In a society where an unwed mother became a strain of the tribe's resources, marriage circumstances and the rules protecting them became major rules in the religion.

In societies where leftism has become one of the prevalent religions, we see the identity politics catechism derived from feminism become part of society's rules, resulting in the kangaroo courts we see in colleges.

I have also seen the argument that a religion may create sins in order to always have a hold over the population; I won't argue that either way.

Witch Hunts

Any set of rules may be abused ( oh yes, this includes lack of rules as well). I think there are enough historical examples that all I need to do is to mention this idea as part of this post.

Finally

Each of these ideas can be expanded on in great detail, but I did want to put them together in overview. I'll draw some conclusions.

Sexual mores derive from biological concerns
The farther from social norms a sexual behavior is, the more repulsive that behavior becomes, drawing more negative reactions...whether or not the behavior is harmful or not
Different biological situations create different norms
Social mores created by a religion/politics may become outdated, or may be based on political reasons, not biological ones. Circumstances change while sexual behavior will not
Steemit is going to develop standards of acceptable posting (including NSFW labeling) based upon the voting weight of it's members, and the social mores they developed previously. This includes punitive measures such as use of the flag, and reSteeming warnings of abuse.

Did you find the final picture deserving of a certain level of censorship (the NSFW label) on Steemit? Why? Does that definition of deviance change based upon intent? Is it OK in this context, but in definite need of NSFW tagging if used as the subject of a post by itself? How do you see these questions in relation to this post as a whole?

Yes, I want you to think ;> And to discuss!

Sexual Deviance and Community Response (Steemit or Otherwise)