Либерализация половой морали в современном мире

Abstract

This article discusses the process of liberalization of sexual morality in the modern world. It is shown that normative beliefs about sexual relationships are significantly different between cultures, which enhance their social sustainability by erecting the boundaries of acceptable sexual behavior. In Western society, sexual morality originally based on Christian teachings, though regularly violated by its members, has remained stable for centuries. Individuals who violated the established norms in terms of sexuality never tried to dismantle the entire regulatory order. However, in the second half of the 20th century, dramatic changes occurred that destroyed many of the fundamental values and normative patterns that define human behavior. First the heterosexual youth revolution of the 1960s, which had a predominantly female face, tore down regulation concerning sexuality, marriage and fertility, and then, at the turn of the 21st century, the homosexual revolution permanently deformed traditional sexual morality. In the West nontraditional sexual relations at the moment are undergoing constitutionalization both in the informal and formal ways. The public opinion has begun to accept certain decisions affecting the interests of the LGBT community, who, in their turn, increasingly impose their culture on individuals, social groups and society as a whole. Those who disagree with the new rules are increasingly often subjected to various sanctions. Homosexuality moves from socio-cultural to the political field, entering the orbit of the geopolitical interests of Western countries. Unlike Europe and the USA, where sexual morality is being liberalized (although not in a uniform manner), in some countries the opposite trend is conspicuous. In this article, special attention is paid to Russia. Having analyzed the results of public opinion polls on the issue of homosexuality conducted in the last decades, we show that Russians’ negative attitude to this phenomenon is on the rise. Perceiving homosexuality as a deviation contradicts the global trend of liberalizing sexual morality.