Jim Morrison, Rant on Sexuality/Society Excerpt from Rob Zimmermann

Today I would like to rant about society. 

I was chatting with a friend a week or so ago... about erotic literature. She proceeded to look at me like I'd mentioned poop at the dinner table, and then told me that she thought the book I was reading is evil.

EVIL.

Yet, only an hour or so before, the same friend was speaking enthusiastically about her new gears of war game that she couldn't wait to play with her husband. My mind was spinning. What? How? I am left with one question.

Why is sex so taboo? 

In a generation that grows up with video games about killing, stealing life from another human, why would a parent be okay with their child playing a game that's main objective is to murder? There is a steamy PG-13 love scene in the generations favorite teen trilogy that might show a butt crack, it is deemed obscene, inappropriate... crude even? An adult watching porn in the privacy of their own home, is this something for them to be ashamed of?

We were designed to love each other deeply, to live together in groups, to fall in love with a mate, to have and then raise children. Our most basic instinct is to have sex... so why in our society is it okay to simulate murder on a video game, and yet expressing love in physical form is considered evil?

What are we teaching a generation that lives in a society where Murder is acceptable, yet human Sexuality is not?

I suspect one, very simple answer: Fear. 

“People are afraid of themselves, of their own reality; their feelings most of all. People talk about how great love is, but that’s bullshit. Love hurts. Feelings are disturbing. People are taught that pain is evil and dangerous. How can they deal with love if they’re afraid to feel? Pain is meant to wake us up. People try to hide their pain. But they’re wrong. Pain is something to carry, like a radio. You feel your strength in the experience of pain. It’s all in how you carry it. That’s what matters. Pain is a feeling. Your feelings are a part of you. Your own reality. If you feel ashamed of them, and hide them, you’re letting society destroy your reality. You should stand up for your right to feel your pain.” 

― Jim Morrison

April 3rd, 1969. The Doors' Jim Morrison turned himself in to the FBI in Los Angeles. He was charged on six charges of lewd behavior and public exposure at a concert in Miami on March 2nd, 1969. He was later released on $2000 bail.

“The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can't be any large-scale revolution until there's a personal revolution, on an individual level. It's got to happen inside first.” 

― Jim Morrison

And here we are, erotic novelists, porn stars, even mainstream writers and actors, hiding behind false names, hiding behind a mask to protect ourselves from ostracism, because we are afraid too.  





Why are people ostracized for creative expression of sexuality, yet mass murderers are plastered all over the television? Why do parents not speak out when their kids watch cartoon character's skin ripped from their bones, but a love scene between two married vampires spawns countless parents to attack, and accuse it of condoning domestic violence?

I hope one day fear will let go of us all, and we will live in a more accepting world.

In closing I'd like to share words from my friend Rob.

Excerpt: From Where I Stand:

When I was reading of Jim Morrison on stage,

facing the drummer instead of the crowd,

I saw myself as the Lizard King.

I was Jim. I was hiding my face from the world.

Eventually, we turned around slowly.

There was an audience eager to listen.

I withdrew my mask.

Instead of hiding behind a world of books,

I spoke out. I opened up.

I revealed myself.

My story stood naked, for all to hear.

-Robert Zimmermann