By Raha Boshra
As the title suggests, this is my last blog here. To my audience, I hope the material I have provided was insightful, and that what I discussed on sexuality, as well as other topics related to it, was valuable and important. It has been a joy to write these blog posts, even though I was often lost on how to run this website.
Throughout these past few months and running this blog site, I have learned a lot about sexuality. Through this topic, I gained more insight about culture, gender, and how they all interact simultaneously in society, no matter where. I learned that simple things like marriage often have deeper meaning in life, but it all depends on how we view it. For example, many people see marriage as an important milestone in life, while some might deem it unnecessary. In the end, it is important to know that one should not be judged for whatever decision they make for their life. On the other hand, I was surprised to learn how much marriage affected the economy throughout the years, as well as the creation of viagra. Marriage ties strongly with capitalism.
What strengthened my beliefs was when it came to the topic of pornography. I have heard of Andrea Dworkin, but I was enlightened when I read, even the introduction of her 1981 book titled “Pornography: Men Possessing Women” as it angrily feeds the audience on the sad truth about pornography and how it hurts and exploits women, based on true stories and experiences. Dworkin shares multiple stories of women and sex workers who were victims of sexual assault at the hands of violent men, either one or multiple of them at the same time. She is not afraid to speak her mind, and I appreciate that about her. I have always been opposed to erotic material, but this has taught me how truly harmful it is. So, I consider myself anti-porn and even anti-kink for the same reason. Because even some kinks are disguised as an excuse to hurt women while glorifying violence.
Moving on, there was also a discussion on labels in the LGBTQ+ community. Sure, some might agree that it is better to keep things simplified, but I do not see anything wrong with other identities as they are used as a way to experiment and help people find themselves. It was not difficult for me to learn about umbrella terms within sexualities and gender identities, so I believe that anyone else can do it too. I do consider myself an Asexual, someone who does not feel sexual attraction, but there is also a spectrum to Asexuality. For example, an umbrella term within asexuality is called “Demisexual”, meaning one feels no sexual attraction until there is a strong connection beforehand. There are more identities within the spectrum, such as AroAce, which means that one is Aromantic and Asexual, meaning there are no sexual or romantic attractions. However, some believe that asexuality is not a part of the LGBTQ+ even though they resonate a lot with different sexualities. For example, recently I learned about asexual lesbians, who focus more on the romantic connection rather than the sexual. All in all, I see nothing wrong with many identities and terms used to describe oneself.
My final message to you all is to keep yourself educated. Read, question things more often, and do research on topics that intrigue you. Looking back, I never thought that I could become so open-minded, yet analytical of everything around me. This era of my life has taught me to hold my moral values highly, as I have found out that it is a way of self-respect to surround myself with those who have similar beliefs.
Signing off
-Raha B.
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