Anti-pornography rally in Jakarta?

In 21-5-2006 more than 10.000 people took part in an anti-pornography rally in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. They were supporting a bill before parliament which would include a ban on public kissing and erotic dancing.

The bill would make organizing erotic dancing punishable by up to 10 years and public kissing in the mouth punishable by 5 years or a fine. (http://www.news.bbc.co.uk./2/hi/asia-pacific/5001786.stm)

This might seem just another sign of the lack of liberty in the islamic countries, yet even though Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country, most people's interpretation of the faith is generally seen as tolerant.

On top of that in both European countries and some of the United states similar laws do exist, more or less strict and influential.

Some of the examples include: It is illegal to kiss in railways in France, A man can be arrested in Italy for wearing a skirt, In west Virginia even today there is still a law that dictates that unmarried couples who live together and "lewdly associate" with one another may face up to a year in prison. ( http://www.dumblaws.com/laws)

These examples are probably more funny than a real problem to any unmarried couple in west Virginia, yet they are a taste of the sexual constraint in a year that follows several "sexual liberation ages".

The true problem lies on the facts that in 2006 homosexuality is considered a disease in most parts of the world, that unwed mothers and their children do face social racism, that there are still teenagers in the western developed world that are not informed about contraception and that children of the age of about 13 entering their puberty learn about sex from their friends or the internet and not those who should be responsible their family, school, or community.

Human sexuality still remains a taboo for most people.

Yet sexuality is a central aspect of being human throughout life and encompasses sex, gender, identities and values, sexual orientation, eroticism, pleasure, intimacy and reproduction.
(ARSRC, 2003:17)

It contributes to human definition of the self and their relationships to others. Because sexuality is so encompassing, it has through centuries influenced the family, the community and even the nation. Sexuality plays also an important role in population politics and its consequences.

So who is to blame for the fact that a range of taboos have been webbed around the subject?

In many respects most taboos concerning sexuality are associated directly or indirectly with religion. Directly because Christianity, Catholic and Orthodox church most specifically, condem sexual activity before marriage, masturbation and homosexuality, Islam is also on the same path. Indirectly, because people's perception of what religion says or what the holy books dictate as well as religious people's own view have created myths and superstitions concerning what is and what is not about sex.

But then again in the 21st century the church has lost power and still things have not made much progress so for some reason societies choose to preserve with great care the beliefs and folk "wisdom" of their predesesors.