by Ann Hancock
In the 1970s and 1980s I taught human sexuality at Humboldt State University. Despite this familiarity with the subject, only recently did I realize that conversing about sex is a lot like conversing about sustainability. The three main factors that block easy interchange about sex are the same three for sustainability. Fortunately, our culture has become more comfortable with the subject of human sexuality. Such a shift gives hope that just as we learned to shed sexual inhibitions, we can also learn to "lighten up" about sustainability. Let us consider the three factors common to both subjects to understand how this might happen.
The reward for learning about sex can be a lifetime of satisfaction and fun. Can sustainability promise anything close? In fact, I think it can. When a group of us practiced brief answers to the question, "What is sustainability?" one was, Sustainability is the answer to your deepest desires.Insufficient and Inaccurate Information
We would imagine that sex, as an essential and zesty part of our existence, would be revealed in full and celebrated. Instead, society--especially in the past--restricted the flow of accurate information as a means of controlling sexual behavior. Consequently, many clueless adolescents groped their way to sexual adulthood. Myths also served as another attempt to control behavior: Playing with yourself will make you go blind. Fantasies are a sign of perversion.Similarly, most people lack accurate information about sustainability: What does it really mean? Are we living sustainably or not? If not, why not, and what must we do to change? These questions are relatively easy to answer, but ready answers are difficult to find, largely because of the other two factors.
Taboos
Sexual taboos engulf us: Polite people do not talk about sex...Some people should not think about sex, such as children, seniors, and priests...Describing sexual preferences is revealing too much.... Please note that I am merely calling attention to the existence and the inhibiting effect of sexual taboos, not judging whether they are good or bad.Sustainability taboos also engulf us. Politicians avoid suggesting that we limit family size, immigration, or consumption. Questioning unchecked economic growth or preventing businesses from generating, or eliminating, as many jobs they want is considered extremist. Criticizing capitalism for causing environmental destruction alienates most Americans.
More subtle messages about violating taboos can also be found. Just last week at a conference about the California economic boom, one speaker suggested that those people who do not agree with smart growth principles are--among other things--resistant to change, immoral, greedy and elitist. Judgments loaded in our language inhibit the free-flow of information.
Painful Feelings
Fear, shame and guilt about sex often plague us. I am afraid to tell my parents I am homosexual…I feel ashamed that my co-worker arouses me…I feel guilty for…. You know the drill.Now that I work in the field of sustainability, people often behave oddly toward me. For example, a man at my office, without any preamble, guiltily confessed to me that he had eaten steak for lunch. On another occasion a man sheepishly described his Hawaii vacation to me. This sort of thing never happened when I worked as a real estate broker.
Fear, guilt, powerlessness, and sadness preside among the feelings that block us from talking about and dealing with sustainability. I venture that we are all in various states of denial because we are afraid to face what is happening to the Earth and what the implications for us might be.
Last week at a staff meeting I reviewed the vital findings of the Living Planet Report. As they listened, staff members cast their eyes down and their faces filled with gloom. How can we spark curiosity to learn when facts evoke such strong feelings? Yet how can we respond appropriately without knowing the facts? Painful feelings can close us down and reduce our capacity for effective action.
Imagine life without worrying that an out-of-control economy will leave you behind, that your children will move away because they cannot afford a home, or that energy and water will run out. Imagine a shrinking gap between rich and poor. Imagine plenty of time to play with your children. Time to have long sex-filled afternoons with your beloved. Such are the promises of sustainability.
Ann Hancock
This article originally published in eco.logic. For a free electronic subscription, email jtrav@wco.com.
