Category: Uncategorized

What sexual identity, which has never shined brighter in the political spotlight, has taken over and allowed sex to be even more free. With periods in our country dominated by sex, drugs, and rock and roll, our nation is currently in a time where being open about who you love and who you can love is at the Forefront of discussion. With gay marriage being accepted, the whole gay pride movement has been in full force to allow everyone the freedom of loving who they want. This is an area that I believe is overlooked by Regnerus, ever since gay marriage has been legalized, the sex for gays has also dramatically decrease in price. Firstly, there has been many worries about diseases, but some birth control contraceptives are also in place to prevent sexually transmitted infections, which can eliminate or greatly reduce the probability of getting one of those diseases. Also, with gay marriage and “coming out” being widely accepted, gays no longer have to hide who they are. Apps like Tinder have been revamped and reskinned to give a dating app platform to gays, “Grinder.” This shows that our society is accepting of gays and wants them to get in on the cheap sex action.

The after effects of birth control and an increase in pornography use causes marriage to be cast to the side. As Regnerus states, “marriage (is) less urgent and more difficult to accomplish.” (194) this is a result of the new cheaper sex in our nation. With more and more people having multiple sexual partners, not having to worry about childbirth, has made settling down and starting a family less and less appealing. What sometimes happened was people would be in a relationship and then there would be an unexpected child born, and the couple would have what is called a “shotgun wedding.” This was mainly because having a child out of wedlock is frowned upon by many religions, so before the child is born the couple would get married and have the child while they were in wedlock, usually resulting in a poor marriage.
As many people look down upon getting married, there are also many benefits that are being overlooked, like paying less taxes, having a joint income, and a general uptick in morale. These previous benefits to getting married are now not even glanced at, has there has been a general decline in marriage in recent decades.

While looking through Cheap Sex by Mark Regnerus, one of the overarching points that he brings us is the fact that sex is actually very cheap. In terms of the birth control pill and contraceptives that girls take, in order to not become pregnant, the consequences of having sex have never been lower. Back in the day having sex was not just for love or lust, it was to make a baby and that happened often mainly because there were no prevention’s to the case. Nowadays with condoms, pills, and IED’s there are many ways to prevent childbirth, which is the main consequence of sex. Also with an uptick in pornography use, there’s a way to have a release of sexual build up with fully removing any possibility of having a child.

The US has always been known as a melting pot since the day it was founded. We have welcomed in immigrants with open arms to allow diversity and inclusion for all. Yet when Trump came into the political picture, he started a platform of exclusion. He wants to build a physical wall between Mexico and the US. I think this is interesting because the current issue in Mexico was driven by the US. We went into a politically unstable country and took out a leader so we could put a leader that we wanted in power. When this leader fell that we wanted gangs and the cartel took over parts of the country and divided power. These current political powers have made it unsafe for many citizens of Mexico to survive in their own country. Now years after we inter-feared people are still trying to escape their country to a place that is safer for them, but Trump wants to build a wall to keep them out. He has completely gone back on the majority of Americans beliefs of a melting pot in the grand view of the world. Yes, he was voted into the presidency of the US, but his beliefs are turning the US into a new country that is very different from our former beliefs. 

After reading this book and analyzing Regnerus cheap sex culture I have looked back at how this relates to our current situation on a college campus. He says that many people in our society are just looking for a quick interaction that doesn’t last more than a few moments. He has concluded that in today’s world people do not want long lasting relationship, mostly men, after the sexual liberation. I tend to disagree with this. The way we look at relationships in a personal experience and not a societal one. Depending on who you ask you will find a very different answer. There are so many people who are looking for long term relationships on Bucknell’s campus alone, where you would think only hookups are wanted. A college campus is seen as a very sexually adventurous place, but I think that as someone living in and amongst one that is false. Everyone seems to be looking for a partner that will be with them after college. Relationships are sought after, but a lot of people set unrealistic expectations of what they want in a partner, which leads to smaller numbers of relationships, so we see less relationships in the community.