Abnormal behaviour

Yes I quite agree with you. I think that as long as it harms no one then it is fine. Consent is always a difficult area. People who consent to acts that others believe to be wrong are often regarded as misguided or brainwashed. I believe to be able to consent you must be an adult and fully aware of what you are consenting to. However, once that is done it is no ones business but your own. I also think that there is the problem of marital abuse by both husbands and wives. I believe that some people who are naturally submissive mistake aggressive natures for true dominance and once in the relationship their submissive nature makes it hard for them to leave. This is one area where the person might be seen to have given consent but the relationship is wrong since harm occurs and I do not believe the person consented to being harmed in any way.

Well yes, I am only interested in having consensual things with full knowledge as being free and left alone. (Wow, that was a clumsy sentence.) Pedophilia is clearly exploitation, lacks informed consent, and deserves to be criminalised. So does bullying for that matter. I can see what you mean about polygamy, but yes, as long as it is info0rmed and consensual, where is the issue? Lash

thank my holy cows that I am not a religious moral neurotic…however I would be scared to try out what you have suggested…suppose something went horribly wrong and we end up hurting each other seriously?!

sudipta, the worst I've ever heard of is the occasional over-enthusiastic whipping, and that's in the SM area, not the D/s area where that scenario I mentioned occurs. It's a role play, there shouldn't be any real danger if you're sensible. Lash

Also, nobody is asking that you understand - just that you accept it and let it go. I don't have to understand everything in order to accept it, there are people who discriminate widely and are nasty about it, and I certainly don't understand it, but I kind of have to accept it because it happens all the time. There are also people who LOVE their careers, to the point where the career seems to be more important than their family. I don't understand that either. I don't accept it to the point where *I* would do that, but some people - that's how they're built. I can't stop them, and any complaining I would do would get them all riled up about how they think people who don't have careers are useless. It would cause a war for no reason. We simply have opposite priorities and the world needs some of both to survive. I was just talking to a friend today and she goes 'yeah, I don't understand people who are breeders, who always wanted a spouse and kids, a family, blah blah blah.' I kind of snickered at her because that is ME to a T. She doesn't UNDERSTAND it, no, because even though she has a spouse and kids, it wasn't the focus or the main goal in her life. It was in mine. However, she doesn't make fun of me or try to prevent me from having what I have because I understand it and she doesn't. She just knows that's how we're different and we can be friends anyway and life goes on. It's called variety. This is what I really wish the people who have issues with gay people would GET. Feel how you want! I don't care if you LIKE it. All I care about is you not go about trying to prevent gay people from enjoying the same freedoms YOU ARE GUARANTEED. Gosh! If they can't marry who they want to marry, let's take YOUR spouse away from you and see how you feel. Let's take YOUR kids away from you and see how upset you get. I don't think that people would be so solid about the inequality they strive for if they realized what it was like.

The sociology of conformity and deviance is a fascinating area, one I enjoyed working on, but it seems to miss a major element, as most sociology does: that is, the psychological input. Conformity seems to me to be a combination of an innate attitude of conservatism and a fear of being rejected by one's peers. "Deviant" behaviour, as it is called sociologically, that is, differing from the norm rather than indulging in perversions per se, tends to be the attitude of strong minded individuals. That individuality may be itself sometimes psychologically suspect, but in many cases it is simply the sign of a confident, thinking individual. Lash