The Economics of Sex. The Economics of Sex How much do you think you are worth? Alex Sexuality and Chastity | Vocation of Marriage | World's View Catholic-link.com – From recent claims that Pope …More
The Economics of Sex.
The Economics of Sex
How much do you think you are worth?
Alex
Sexuality and Chastity | Vocation of Marriage | World's View
Catholic-link.com – From recent claims that Pope Francis is planning to change the Church’s teaching on divorce and remarriage, to the worldwide headlines announcing that Pope Benedict had okayed contraception, you might get the impression that the only thing the Church ever talks about is sex. This is far from being the case. What is true is that people spend a lot of time talking and thinking about sex and so of course the Church, who engages with the world, talks about it too. (And, well, ‘Pope says that God loves us’ is not really a newsworthy headline.)
This video, then, takes a pretty scientific look at the economics of sex, in which sex is considered in the same light as the distribution of goods and resources, with consideration of supply, demand, costs and market shares. Obviously this video discusses sex, which means its age-appropriateness should be considered carefully, but it is in no way graphic.
Thinking like an apostle
For me, the main point that jumps out at me from this video is as this: if I sell myself short, I am selling everyone else short as well. If I don’t expect better from a guy, then why should he bother. And if I sell ‘intimate access to my body’, as they describe sex in the video, for less than it’s worth then I am not only doing myself a disservice, but also my theoretical partner and all other women, because in a way, I’m reducing the price.
But what is the value of sex? To understand this we need to take a couple of steps back and ask what love is. ‘Love is the free self-giving of the heart… In every friendship there is love. The most beautiful form of love on earth, however, is the love between man and woman, in which two people give themselves to each other forever.’ (YouCat 402). ‘Sexuality must not be separated from love; they must go together. The sexual encounter requires the framework of a true, dependable love. When sexuality is separated from love and is sought only for the sake of satisfaction, one destroys the meaning of the sexual union of man and woman. Sexual union is the most beautiful bodily, sensual expression of love. People who look for sex without love are lying, because the closeness of their bodies does not correspond to the closeness of their hearts. Someone who does not take his own body language at its word dose lasting damage to body and soul. Sex then becomes inhuman; it is degraded to a means of obtaining pleasure and degenerates into a commodity. Only committed, enduring love in marriage creates a space for sexuality that is experienced in a human way and brings lasting happiness.’ (YouCat403) It’s interesting that we only start to talk about commodities (and the language of economics) when sex is inhuman and degraded.
God really does love us and shower us with gifts, and so the Church understands that there are three aspects of sexuality which belong together: sexual pleasure, personal love and fruitfulness (openness to children). (YouCat 404). Three gifts for the price of one! Each of these gifts is good and beautiful and comes from God. In fact, because they come from God they cannot be anything but beautiful when used well i.e. when they all three belong together. Because this free self-giving which is love cannot be temporary (because if there is a need for a get-out clause then it’s not really free or self-giving) and because it is sacred (from God) then sex belongs only in marriage (YouCat 407), which has also been shown repeatedly to be the best environment for children to grow up in.
If we ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ sex we are not only selling ourselves and others short, we are also misusing a beautiful gift from God. This gift, like the love that it expresses, is given freely and is not for sale.
The Economics of Sex
How much do you think you are worth?
Alex
Sexuality and Chastity | Vocation of Marriage | World's View
Catholic-link.com – From recent claims that Pope Francis is planning to change the Church’s teaching on divorce and remarriage, to the worldwide headlines announcing that Pope Benedict had okayed contraception, you might get the impression that the only thing the Church ever talks about is sex. This is far from being the case. What is true is that people spend a lot of time talking and thinking about sex and so of course the Church, who engages with the world, talks about it too. (And, well, ‘Pope says that God loves us’ is not really a newsworthy headline.)
This video, then, takes a pretty scientific look at the economics of sex, in which sex is considered in the same light as the distribution of goods and resources, with consideration of supply, demand, costs and market shares. Obviously this video discusses sex, which means its age-appropriateness should be considered carefully, but it is in no way graphic.
Thinking like an apostle
For me, the main point that jumps out at me from this video is as this: if I sell myself short, I am selling everyone else short as well. If I don’t expect better from a guy, then why should he bother. And if I sell ‘intimate access to my body’, as they describe sex in the video, for less than it’s worth then I am not only doing myself a disservice, but also my theoretical partner and all other women, because in a way, I’m reducing the price.
But what is the value of sex? To understand this we need to take a couple of steps back and ask what love is. ‘Love is the free self-giving of the heart… In every friendship there is love. The most beautiful form of love on earth, however, is the love between man and woman, in which two people give themselves to each other forever.’ (YouCat 402). ‘Sexuality must not be separated from love; they must go together. The sexual encounter requires the framework of a true, dependable love. When sexuality is separated from love and is sought only for the sake of satisfaction, one destroys the meaning of the sexual union of man and woman. Sexual union is the most beautiful bodily, sensual expression of love. People who look for sex without love are lying, because the closeness of their bodies does not correspond to the closeness of their hearts. Someone who does not take his own body language at its word dose lasting damage to body and soul. Sex then becomes inhuman; it is degraded to a means of obtaining pleasure and degenerates into a commodity. Only committed, enduring love in marriage creates a space for sexuality that is experienced in a human way and brings lasting happiness.’ (YouCat403) It’s interesting that we only start to talk about commodities (and the language of economics) when sex is inhuman and degraded.
God really does love us and shower us with gifts, and so the Church understands that there are three aspects of sexuality which belong together: sexual pleasure, personal love and fruitfulness (openness to children). (YouCat 404). Three gifts for the price of one! Each of these gifts is good and beautiful and comes from God. In fact, because they come from God they cannot be anything but beautiful when used well i.e. when they all three belong together. Because this free self-giving which is love cannot be temporary (because if there is a need for a get-out clause then it’s not really free or self-giving) and because it is sacred (from God) then sex belongs only in marriage (YouCat 407), which has also been shown repeatedly to be the best environment for children to grow up in.
If we ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ sex we are not only selling ourselves and others short, we are also misusing a beautiful gift from God. This gift, like the love that it expresses, is given freely and is not for sale.
