Does anyone have any theories to answer this? Why TF are Conservatives

[Thtwudbeme]

so obsessed with sex?

We have a Lt. Gov in NC who found TWO books in a few HS media centers in NC that have a few scenes of gay sex- the books are graphic novels.

The man cannot QUIT talking about them. He stands in front of crowds with the images displayed on a ppt. He is convinced that teachers are predators- that teachers are out to "indoctrinate children" into some bizarre lifestyle that will be the ruin of the US.

I am a middle school librarian. I have to read books that are appropriate for students in the 6th through 8th grades. If my kiddos are checking out books that I think are more appropriate for a higher grade level I simply tell them, "if you find something that makes you uncomfortable, or your folks don't think it's OK, just bring it back to me and we'll find something else." In 8 years, I have had about three students bring a book back. I noted what made them uncomfortable, and we found different books. Simple. Easy. No stress on the kids, parents, or me.

But, these Republicans seem to think about children and sex constantly? Does anyone have a theory as to what in the hell is wrong with them?

[grumpyduck]

1. Personally I think it's all theater

to indoctrinate (and brainwash?) their moron followers.

[Biophilic]

2. It riles the base something fierce. What other reason could they want. nt

[Thtwudbeme]

8. Shock doctrine?

God, these people are fucking loons. The guy that shot up the pizza parlor was from right down the highway-

[elleng]

3. I have no theory.

THANKS for your work!

[2naSalit]

4. Pedophiles?

And latent, voyeurs, pedophiles?

[Thtwudbeme]

7. I am beginning to think that.

I mean, seriously-- this has damn near got to be some sort of projection.

I would never accuse someone of "being in the closet," but Jesus Christ at the Waffle House. These people are seeing Mickey Mouse as a predator. He's a fucking cartoon character MOUSE with a long term age appropriate girl friend.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

14. Total projection

Look at the tons of republicans charged with sex crimes and other bizarre stuff.
They are dark triads. Dark triads project rather than admit they are bad people or perverted themselves

[Dawson Leery]

5. They seem to be projecting their vile sins on others.

The RCC, the Evangelicals, Orthodox Jews, Wahhabists, etc all have a history of using their position to abuse others.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

6. Because they rarely get any?

[blm]

9. I don't think the politicians believe a word of their complaints.

They crafted them specifically to convince their target audience of the perpetually outraged know-nothings.

They know they cherry-picked, exaggerated, and outright lied to their voters because they know they are easily conned by the RightWing schtick and they certainly don’t respect them enough to be truthful.

[mhendrick]

10. Sex Sells

The same reason marketers use it. It gets headlines and attention.

[Diamond_Dog]

11. Many of them grew up in repressive Uber religious households

Where they were taught that sex is sinful, shameful, or dirty

So naturally they became obsessed with it, especially Women’s concerns and gay sex. They get their jollies from it.

[GoCubsGo]

33. Yes, this is probably a large part of it.

Some of this goes back to having roots in Puritanism, and to some extent, conservative Catholicsm, both of which treat sex as a big taboo. Which, in large part, is all about control over women.

[SmallFry]

12. I put forward this theory without anything to back it up.

We see a lot of people going around over the last six years or so who are completely obsessed with pedophilia and any sex outside of hetero.

My theory is as follows.

They have pedophilic tendencies. They have sexual thoughts about people of the same sex. They don't act on either. They have been raised to not be able to distinguish good or bad between the two. They are simply the worst two things possible. What they don't understand is that not everyone has the thoughts. It's only possible for them to view it through their lens. They don't understand that people do not all share their thoughts.

[Caliman73]

13. Sexuality is fundamental to humanity.

It is something that almost every single human being deals with. We are all "obsessed" with sexuality, sexual behaviors, etc...

What Republicans seem to be "concerned" about is controlling sexuality. Their focus on "deviance" seems to be driven by religion. I have made a few posts about this myself, kind of tongue in cheek but serious enough. They seem to really ruminate on bestiality, pedophilia, and homosexuality. My hypothesis is that because of the tendency for Conservatives toward binary thinking and an "external locus of control", they want to eliminate external sources of "temptation". They cannot internally manage thoughts and emotions so they externalize them. This means that what many or most people deal with internally (are my thoughts about sex "normal"?) they deal with externally and in binary fashion. For example, if a couple has a fantasy about sexual activity that they want to engage with, they will discuss it, try it out, talk about it, etc... They may talk to people they trust, or if it is an issue, maybe go see a professional therapist. This may be true, especially if the fantasy involves aspects of sexuality that are more risque (aggression, role reversal, etc..). Conservatives have been more indoctrinated into thinking that those thoughts and actions are "sinful", but they are really just natural, neutral thoughts. SO, the answer to a conservative is "BAN IT".

You can't really BAN thoughts, but you can try to ban media that normalizes or expresses those thoughts. Liberals will tend to just accept that people have a range if thoughts about sex and sexuality. They may feel uncomfortable with some, but they will typically adopt an attitude of "That's not for me, but if it makes you happy and you aren't hurting anyone..." whereas Conservatives see the issue as "if it isn't a certain way, it is bad and hurts everyone"

As others have said on this thread, there is certainly some cynicism about the situation. People, especially conservative leaders, may not even care about the issue directly, but they will use it as a cudgel to try to beat their opponents with it. There is a certain amount of truth to that too. I happen to think that it is more important to them for the reasons I mentioned above. Conservatives are trapped in their minds by fear of anything that challenges their world view. They obsess about it, and their only solution seems to be to eliminate external triggers whether those triggers are book, music, video games, or people.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

15. I am asexual

Sex is to me not enjoyable,I prefer to not have sex to me I would rather do other things like do art or watch tv.. Sex is not fundamental to everyone. There are a lot of asexual people,not just me.

[Caliman73]

21. Asexuality is a valid aspect of sexuality too.

Humans have a wide range of orientations toward or away from sex and sexuality.

Did not mean to leave you out of the equation. Your attitudes toward or away from sex are valid.

My question is this: Are you trying to control what other people think and do regarding sexual activities, thoughts, etc..?

The focus of this thread is why Republicans/Conservatives seem to have an obsession certain aspects of sex and sexuality. I was responding with my ideas of this obsession with those aspects and toward controlling other people's access to media and other aspects of sexual expression in response to the OP's question.

[RockRaven]

16. Self-loathing? Trying to "fake it until you make it" from a "purity" standpoint?

They are indoctrinated into believing they need to think and feel the same way the rest of the group thinks and feels about any given issue. Religion, taxes, pollution, vaccinations, sex, whatever. For Repukes, cons, and MAGAts, the most important thing is being in step with the rest of the group.

But when it comes to sex, the official position of the group is out of step with their own personal inclinations. Maybe a little, maybe a lot, but it doesn't perfectly match what they feel or what they do. And that's true for ALL of them. Because the group's cartoonish "normal" sexulaity ideal is decidedly abnormal. They are ALL bullshitting and trying to match the group's expectations, without realizing none of them are actually where the group pretends to be.

So they feel uncomfortable, unworthy, broken, etc. And so they yell louder and louder to try to convince themselves and each other that they are indeed perfectly normal thank you very much and it is all these other people who are not and let me show you in a graphic and exaggerated fashion because that's what a perfectly normal person would do I'm sure you all agree.

[lastlib]

17. I can't recall the exact quote.....

but it was something to the effect that conservatism was rooted in a dep-seated fear that someone, somewhere, might be enjoying themselves.

That might be the heart of it.

[LakeArenal]

18. I think because to them sex is something dirty to begin with.

Sex sells. Cameras on tv love the crotch shot of a girl in shorts. Ever watch Below Deck?

[Thtwudbeme]

22. Had a friend whose daughter was a steward on that show

I thought the whole show was ridiculous. Daughter is now married with two kids trying to pretend like the show didn't happen.

[LakeArenal]

23. I don't even watch it... I just see commercials for it.

Almost always one crotch shot.

[Thtwudbeme]

24. Yep.

It's a stupid show. Horrid people.

[Walleye]

19. I believe it's simpler than we think it is.

It’s hard to work up any hatred against somebody because they are in favor of universal healthcare. So you think up the dirtiest thing you can to call them which in this period of time is pedophile. I kind of think that pedophilia is pretty much a fixed percentage of the population. I don’t think it’s a disease that grows every year. And I don’t think it’s all that prevalent. They will just keep using this as long as it sticks and then switch to something even worse

[MissMillie]

20. Fear

Fear of their kids growing up, or growing up too soon.
Fear of losing control of their kids.
Fear that if their kids have questions, they won't have the answers.
Fear that their kids will question their religious answers to scientific questions.
Fear of having uncomfortable conversations with their kids.

[LakeArenal]

28. ✔️✔️✔️

[maxsolomon]

25. It motivates their base. Facts are irrelevant.

Whatever works in a Midterm year is what they'll bloviate about.

[Basic LA]

26. To them, sex is a big sin, with few exceptions.

And sin needs to be rooted out & punished.

[retiredgeek]

27. It's all posturing for their base

Like the far right nutballs in state government here in Oklahoma. They are always thumping their bibles, telling people they are “fighting” for them, and continuing to pass draconian laws that only benefit the control obsessed theocracy crowd here. They don’t want anyone to have an “unapproved” opinion or thought.

[applegrove]

29. Wedge issues. They ran out of them. Same sex marriage seemed to be settled. They needed

that wedge back so they nuclearized the issue again. Putin lead the way by always attacking LGBT. They are syncing up with autocrats so they cam merge.

[Midnight Writer]

30. Sex sells.

[meadowlander]

31. It draws attention away from what they actually believe and are doing.

[LeftishBrit]

32. To get attention

It's always been so. In 1930, Senator Reed Smoot went on a big anti-pornography campaign, immortalized by the late great Ogden Nash in a poem which began:

Senator Smoot (Republican, Ut.)
Is planning a ban on smut.
Oh, root-ti-toot for Smoot of Ut.
And his reverend occiput

and ended:

Smite, Smoot.
Be rugged and rough.
Smut, if smitten,
Is front-page stuff.

[Irish_Dem]

34. Those who are sexually repressed and see sex as evil are more obsessed with sex

and act out more inappropriately.