There is no clear date for when the political work of mankind began. Since the beginning of time, we humans have constantly evolved and adhered to different sets of ideas and political and societal frameworks. Political systems keep changing and adapting to scientific, literary and technological developments. However, the constant evolving of mankind and technology also create challenges for governments and regimes in power that try to prove themselves as the best representatives of the people and their needs.
For a long time, the bedroom has served as a basic indicator for how much governments and regimes respect human rights and individual freedoms. Ensuring a steady supply of food, reasonable housing and clothing for the people is no longer enough for a regime to consider itself successful. There needs to be more. This is because we humans decided that we can no longer neglect issues that affect our bodies, desires and freedoms. We put them away for a long period of time due to political repression and taboos.
Today, however, the world is forced to address issues concerning sex and sexuality in new ways. It usually happens on progressive platforms which has helped breaking the societal taboos on sex.
However, the word “sex” still raises controversy even in some of the most progressive countries. Perhaps this is because the topic always remained interesting despite all the attempts of previous eras to push it away. Perhaps the systematic policies aimed at ending discussions of sex actually just helped fuel the desire to talk about it even more.
In any case, and because the subject was not dealt with in a free manner for many years, sex remains a controversial topic. For long, various sciences were used to address sex and establish “facts” on the topic .
The only problem was that these sciences oftentimes were controlled by political regimes and part of regime ideologies that were in place to ensure absolute power.
Therefore, the world’s idea of gender today is not the same. Rather, it differs from one country to another and even between individuals in the same society. The interpretation of gender is hence linked to local culture and beliefs. While some keep insisting that the goal of sex must be procreation, others affirm that it is the sex itself that is the goal. Some consider this a taboo or forbidden view while some see sex simply as a human necessity. The media should discuss issues concerning sex such as the freedom to choose a partner or freedom to have sex outside religious and societal restrictions and the issue of the state and the extent of its validity in interfering in the sexual relationships of the people.
And speaking of our relationship with our bodies, this relationship is exposed on a daily and continuous basis to external interventions. On the academic level, for example, the school system in Lebanon has played a major role in creating a great rift between us and our bodies. This is because the schools wasted important years of our lives without talking about the body and sex. Even during our teenage years, the conversations in class were limited to rigid biological information presented by the teacher shyly without opening any room for discussion or questions and without satiating the student’s curiosity, whose concept of his or her body and sex has just begun to change.
This is in addition to the school playing the role of watchdog and police and focusing on prohibition and disgrace rather than awareness and care for the students. The Lebanese school curriculum is not designed to create awareness among students, but rather to quench the student´s curiosity and quest for knowledge. The schools end up playing the role of the political, religious and societal authorities. Many other factors affect our relationship with our bodies and interfere with us apart from the religious authorities which keep “allowing and not allowing” us to exercise our freedoms. There are laws and legislation which control our bodies. Our social class, race and gender are also key factors when it comes to our relationships with our bodies and influencing reproductive health.
In the past months, Lebanon has witnessed a wave of suppression of personal freedoms and violence against marginalized groups, including refugees, women and sexual and gender minorities. Extremist groups and campaigns against freedoms have emerged. This scene is strange to see in a country that used to be a refuge for writers, poets, and politicians opposing the regimes of other more authoritarian Arab countries. It is strange that the terrorism of these extremist groups is protected by law while peaceful gatherings and activities of the queer and LGBTQ communities keep getting stopped. Activists are persecuted by the security forces and rainbow flags are torn down while weapons roam freely in the hands of their bearers here in Lebanon. Sex, love, and relationships are terms and concepts that are still captive to the interpretations of religious men and the political authorities. In a country ravaged by economic, health and political crises and that chooses to place the burden of responsibility on marginalized groups such as refugees, life can never be what it should be.
The journey of liberation begins here, by speaking publicly in a loud voice. Liberation begins when the error and wrongful actions are noticed and formally rejected. After rejection, one has to start working for something better. The journey begins when we come to terms with our bodies; their shapes, weights, colours, and capabilities, and when we realise that we are not a moving sin. The journey begins when we realise that our bodies belong to us only and that no system can repress them in the name of protection or justice. Justice has a long way to go and it starts right and right now.
