Philosophy of Sex--Greta Christina Article

Introduction

Greta Christina narrates her previous sexual experiences, starting from her relationship

with men to a point where she starts to explore the definition of ‘sex’ with fellow women.

However, she seems confused on the right definition of ‘sex’. Her first definition looks at sex as

a journey to fulfilling sexual pleasure through mutual consciousness and consent. Christina goes

further from this first definition to looking at sex through shared thought which she bases it on

the consensus of the mind, regardless of whether both parties are having fun or not. She further

defines sex as a journey to a mutual sexual satisfaction through a conscious consent. However,

the goal of satisfaction is centered on one of the partners such as in a case where one person is

focused on getting his/her own pleasure. The traditional definition of sex is an action done

through sexual intercourse. Christina goes further to question scenarios such as rape and ponders

as to whether this constitutes to sex. Her bid to find the definition takes the reader to a situation

where she hosts an all-girl sex party. She is engaged in touching and kissing and dirty talks. She

further questions whether those activities satisfy the definition of sex. In another experiment, she

involves a woman, whom even after negotiation on what to do, the woman says that she is not

sure whether she wanted to have sex. However, two ladies were satisfied even without touching

each other’s body. Based on their differences in defining sex, she still does not find the answer

she is searching. Christina’s final quest to find the answers to her question takes us to a scenario

where she is working as a dancer for clients on a peep show. A client looks at her dancing naked

and begins to masturbate. She near the client and the sexual arousal becomes vigorous. Both of

them leave satisfied, making her question the act if it constituted to sex. From her definition, we

find various elements involved in sex. This paper will, therefore, pick one of her descriptions and
further elaborate it to identify the available and the missing constituents of sex to get a definite

answer to Christina’s question. The definition of ‘sex’ is based on individual preferences on

activities that constitute the action.

With focus on Christina’s last definition, there is consciousness in whatever they did, as

both parties were aware of their acts and feelings. However, it is important to remember that

Christina was doing her job. Therefore, one cannot conclude that her actions constituted of

consent. This scenario can be compared to watching a pornographic video, which does not

represent sex. One may ask, is Christina going to the point of masturbating to please a stranger

out of her own will or is it her job that is making her do all these? The answer for the question is

found in her statement when she says that she could not believe that she was paid to masturbate

and it was a terrible job. Therefore, we can conclude that if she had an option, she would have

acted differently.

Even though there are some cases, we could count as sex such as deriving pleasure

through activities of the duo, such as teasing, the definition lacked mutual consent, as the two

parties are strangers. One party is a client and the other is doing what she is paid to do. Even as

she is conscious in masturbating in front of a stranger and claims that they both had a fabulous

time, there is little evidence of consent, as we do not know whether her employer instructed her

to do perform while naked before the clients or whether she was doing it out of her free will. The

definition is therefore too broad because, even as sexual stimulation through teasing can be

classified as sex, mutual consent still misses out. Furthermore, there is no physical activity

connecting the two parties such as touching to stimulate feelings, since each party is busy

stimulating their bodies.

 The second definition of sex is that it is a conscious consent and a mutually

acknowledged pursuit of shared sexual pleasure. In this case, mutual consent is addressed

whereby both parties have mutual feelings for sex without any form of coercion. Sex is an action

that provides pleasure to both parties. However, this definition is too broad and at the same time,

it seems complex. First, on the broadness of this definition, there are many ways in which people

can find pleasure. Determining pleasure ranges from personal sexual orientation to the

techniques used during sex. The description, therefore, fails to pick a detailed definition of

sexual pleasure, as some people would think that sexual pleasure can only be derived from

vaginal or penile stimulation. Secondly, the description does not specify whether there is need

for a physical contact between the two parties in a conscious and consented desire to achieve

sexual satisfaction. For some people, sexual desire can be met through watching the other parties

do some acts that he/she considers sexually fulfilling. For others, sexual pleasure is achieved

through body contact, oral stimulation or vaginal penetration. Others find pleasure through being

tortured or torturing the other partner.

This definition is also too narrow, as it is difficult to determine whether both parties

achieved their optimal desired sexual pleasure. A man may assume that through hours of

vigorous sex, a woman is satisfied. In this case, therefore, there is a chance that one party will go

unsatisfied despite both sides having mutual sex feeling, consent, and consciousness. Thus, two

people can make consent to have a sexual relationship involving body intimacy, yet remain

unsatisfied, as their fetish desires are not fulfilled.

It is important to remember that sexual pleasure and satisfaction involves more other

things and actions. For instance, some individuals may prefer anal sex, which is not discussed in

any of Christina’s definition of sex. Furthermore, other instances question consent and an
example is when someone is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Such a person would be

acting on consent and consciousness to have whatever kind of sexual pleasure they need with

another person. The person would even enjoy sex, but later, this individual may develop a sense

of guilt. Another problem occurs on the legality of sex. If two people who are conscious

mutually agree to explore their sexual pleasure and one of the parties has not attained the legal

age and considered a child under the law, does the same constitute to sex?

Conclusion

Like Christina, one is likely to be in a dilemma on providing a definite answer to this

question. From the above explanations, it is, therefore, challenging for one to define sex

adequately as different people uphold varying views on this subject considering their preferred

tastes and preferences which constitute sexual pleasure. Furthermore, new ways of finding sexual

satisfaction evolve every day. Having a single explanation for this question is likely to create

disagreement in ideas amongst people as some people would feel left out following their

preferences in achieving sexual ecstasy. It would be unfair to pick one definition and conclude

that, that is the right definition for sex. Therefore, we should learn to accept other people’s

definition of sex without prejudice and unfair judgment.