Sex is a private concern

There was a time when sex was a topic that children never discussed in front of their elders. Now, even the President’s private sex life is a fit topic during press interviews. The first answer we have come across from a celebrity who was asked about her sex life was Zsa Zsa Gabor’s reply. She said, "Personally, I know nothing about sex because I’ve always been married."

The French novelist Marcel Proust had to cope with that same problem. A lady reporter asked him, "What are your views on love?" "Love?" "Yes," the lady said. "I make it constantly but I never talk about it."

There is no doubt in our mind that one of our main problems today is the fact that almost everything we see on mass media is about either sex or violence. And sad to say, the youth today is more influenced by media than by their families or schools.

Sex is really a very private matter between two individuals of the opposite sex. It is in bad taste to inquire about any person’s private sex life. When the inquiry is done in public, and the person addressed is a lady and no less a person than the President of the Republic, then journalism has certainly hit a new low.

Many of the crimes committed today are related to sex. This is because to most people, sex is pure lust. Bertrand Russel defined sex as love. He said that "it consists essentially of respect for the other person and unwillingness to use that person solely as a means of personal gratification."

There is a world crisis. We are in a predicament very similar to the times before the outbreak of the Second World War. In a way, you can say that Sept. 11 was another Pearl Harbor, but even more so because the attack was right on the main city of the United States and the victims were not military personnel but civilians. Here, we have more than our share of terrorists. And worst, we have mass poverty everywhere. There are the problems that should concern us. It has always been our contention that the problem of street children should be the Number One priority. But there is very little being done to alleviate their plight.

In Mindanao, the Abu Sayyaf bandits have not been apprehended, and now, we have the problem of the refugees. Media should show concern for the nation’s problem. When they distract the people’s attention from these problems and go into matters like the latest lover of Kris Aquino, they become part of the national problem. One of their main missions is to inculcate the people with proper values.

We are not against sex. We are just for putting everything where they rightfully belong.