6. Music & Sex

5. Popular Music

And Sex

RM Radio
Coming Soon

Similar to what we observed in the segment Pop Music and Drugs, norms of

behaviour in Western `traditional’ culture have long been challenged by alternative

ideologies and lifestyles - and indeed perceptions of self and sexuality. Those

considering themselves to be `progressive’ or `liberated’ often measure or determine

what they regard as `oppressive’ societies by mainstream and even official attitudes to

sexuality, and particularly attitudes to censorship and homosexuality. Those more

`conservative’ elements, measure what they consider as the `decay’ and corruption of

societies in much the same way. Attitudes to sexuality can tell us a lot about the power

relations of any given society and much of collective society’s attitudes to sexuality and

indeed the challenges to them are reflected in Western Popular Music. In this segment

we overview some of this music and the messages therein.

The David Rose Orchestra - The Stripper

Debate

In any society, there are always supporters of behaviour that is accepting to different

moral codes and practices and this includes the sexual act and different practices and

cultures supporting them - with some acts sometimes proclaimed as illegal. And as such

we always, at least in the west, get ongoing debates and sometimes bitter ones, and

even ensuing civil disobedience campaigns, wherein some sectors of society try and get

some illegal sexual behaviors such as prostitution and homosexuality, accepted as

morally and legally legitimate for all sorts of reasons including those ideological,

and even economic. And just as in other dimensions of entertainment, sexuality and

sexual behavior and the debates they generate have been, and are, inherent in modern

Popular music.

Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing

While most music talks about love in some sense - Pop music talks not just about love,

but also procreation and ways of doing it. Since the advent of modern pop and a

general relaxation in censorship in the West since the 1960s, there have been countless

songs about sex in all shapes and dimensions.

However, generally speaking, before the

1960s, sex in music was pretty tame and

heavily censored, and even more so after

Elvis Presley's 'black sexual' music had

the US conservative establishment 'hot

and bothered' with its sanitised heavily

censored response embodied in the

works of such 'Sclock Rockers' as Bobby

Vee.

Bobby Vee - The Night Has A Thousand Eyes

But with the onset of the Counterculture in the mid 60s and the concomitant sexual

revolution all hell let loose on the airwaves, with the sexual revolution also transmitted

through Pop music. Ever since, deregulation and an easing of official attitudes has seen

sex in all its dimensions increasingly and more explicitly sung about in Pop.

Captain & Tennille - Do That To Me One More Time

Donna Summer - Hot Stuff (1980)

In the 21st century it is now possible to identify and categorise many different sexual

themes in modern Popular music. For our purposes we have loosely divided them up

into: 'Traditional-Conservative': music reflecting traditional heterosexual desires

reflected in modern Pop; 'Raunchy': music reflecting sexuality and sex more 'explicitly';

'Very Raunchy': music reflecting raunchy sex - even more 'raunchily'; 'Gay' - music

reflecting male homosexuality; Lesbian - music that is self evidently lesbian; and finally

music that is 'Transgender' - or promotes it. Finally there is music that can be

considered to be advocating acceptance of gay, lesbian or other forms of sexual activity.

Traditional - Conservative (Straight)

Olivia Newton-John - Physical

Rod Stewart - Tonight's The Night

Donna Summer - Love To Love You

Bob Seger - Night Moves

The Doors - Light My Fire

Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar

The Beatles - I Want You

Def Leppard - Pur Some Sugar

Aerosmith - Love In An Elevator

Bad Company - Feel Like Making Love

Marvin Gaye - Lets Get It On

Led Zeppelin - 'Whole Lotta Love'

Raunchy

Salt N Pepa - Push It

Kiss - Take It Off

George Michael - I Want Your Sex

Madonna - Erotica

Duran Duran - Girls On Film

Divinyls - I Touch Myself

Prince - Cream

Sexyback - Justin Timberlake

Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke

Very Raunchy

Benny Benassi - Satisfaction

Marianne Faithfull - Why D'Ya Do It?

Again as in Segment Five and the use of drugs, sexual behaviour has often been central

to broader debates -politically, about the way human society should be organised. And

again this debate is the Collectivism versus Libertarianism debate - a debate over the

legitimate role of the State and the reach of its power in our society, and a debate

fundamentally central to the way we organise our community. To refresh yourself with

the points of this debate, you should refer back to Segment Five.

Gay & Lesbian Music

Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax

Culture Club - Do You Really Want To Hurt Me

Kevin Ayers - Caribbean Moon

Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl

Melissa Etheridge - Bring Me Some ...

Damn - I Wish I Was Your Lover

K.D Lang - Sexuality

Sebastion Castro - Bubble

Neon Hitch - F U Betta

When we consider the argument supporting the right to free expression of sexuality

and variants of the sexual act, it clearly is a libertarian argument. And briefly this is the

State has no right to dictate what is legitimate sexual behavior provided no innocent or

third parties are harmed in any way.

Lets recap the characteristics of the Libertarian position:

First, it stresses the individualism of human beings, and their right to pursue interests

unhindered by the interference of the State and its agencies. The individual is believed

to hold certain inalienable rights which are not the subject of, and do not fall within, the

sphere of the arbitrary whims of government, and in this case sexual activity, and any

interference with this right is a gross infringement of individual liberty.

Second, and following on from the first, is that the individual being the embodiment of

certain inalienable rights, is considered to have an invisible circle, or bubble drawn

around him or her. This circle is considered to circumscribe the area of activity which is

exclusively the realm of the individual, which in this case embraces the individuals

sexual preferences and related activities. A distinction is thus made, then, between self-

regarding and other regarding interests. Those activities which affect only the individual,

or consenting individuals, concerned are the exclusive domain of the person as opposed

to the State. Extreme libertarians would therefore apply this to the unimpeded

engagement in any form of sexual activity. However, where an individual’s actions self-

evidently impinge upon those of another without their consent, and where palpable

harm is perceived, the State then is believed to have a role to play in preventing this

harm.

The State, therefore, is considered to be a necessary evil. Sexual libertarians believe

the powers of the State must be strictly limited to those minimal concerns of providing

the framework within which individual sexual liberties and preferences can be

preserved. And from within this 'bubble of sexual autonomy' those sexual libertarians

argue for the right to practise those sexual activities often considered 'unnatural' and

even illegal by the State, such as homosexuality, transgender etc, and even beastiality,

etc.

Transgender

Kinks - Lola

Queen - I Want To Break Free

David Bowie - The Jean Genie

Boy George - The Crying Game

Marilyn - I Call Your Name

To conclude, what does modern Pop actually say about sex and sexuality? In short, it

doesn't really say anything in terms of value judgments but instead freely promotes all

sorts of sexual conduct. Whether Pop music in highlighting and advocating all sorts of

sexual behaviours is morally right or wrong, or indicative of a society in decay - or

one that is modern and free, history will decide. At present, such advocacy in Pop

music indicates the degree of libertarianism we have reached in the generally Christian

and/or secular West, as opposed to the moral constraints imposed on other societies by

Islamic regimes and others.

Advocacy

Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side

Rod Stewart - The Killing Of Georgie

But to finish our brief overview, how could we possibly forget to include two very

famous songs; one promoting gays; the other - a little bit of sex in the afternoon!