{"id":12868,"date":"2018-12-13T10:52:06","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T15:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=12868"},"modified":"2018-12-13T11:13:02","modified_gmt":"2018-12-13T16:13:02","slug":"the-great-socialism-sex-charade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2018\/12\/13\/the-great-socialism-sex-charade\/","title":{"rendered":"The Great Socialism Sex Charade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vox<\/strong> is whooping up the wacky notion that “sex was better under socialism<\/a>.” Tell that to Romanian women forced to undergo monthly gyno exams to outlaw abortions because the government proclaimed in 1985 that “the fetus is the socialist property of the whole society\u2026 Those who refuse to have children are deserters.\u201d Women’s reproductive lives were part of centralized economic planning, especially \u201cpolicies to make better use of the population as a factor of production\u201d by \u201cstimulating an increase in birth rates.\u201d This policy was endorsed and subsidized by the World Bank, which is currently touting itself as the friend of women.<\/p>\n

Maybe sex was more exciting in the East Bloc because government-made condoms and other contraceptives were utterly unreliable, as Hungarian women bitterly complained to me in 1987. I rejected the sales pitch from a Romanian government agent\/hooker in Bucharest<\/a>, so I have\u00a0 no first hand knowledge on this topic.<\/p>\n

The Vox piece is based on an interview with\u00a0Kristen Ghodsee<\/strong>, the author of a new book,\u00a0Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence<\/a> The Guardian (U.K.) rhapsodizes<\/a> that “Ghodsee\u2019s book could not have been published at a better moment.” But the author’s thesis leans massively on a single 1990 poll that indicated that East German women had more orgasms than West German women. Soviet emigre Cathy Young<\/strong> summarized<\/a> the criticism of that survey: “The actual findings are complicated, contradictory, and often dubious. One such survey suggested that East German men were better endowed, which mostly seems to demonstrate that Communism breeds more prolific liars.” (My experience is limited to Schleswig-Holstein, so I will not generalize.)<\/p>\n

Ghodsee is a cultural anthropologist. Her publisher’s blurb claims her book shows “why capitalism is bad for women and how, when done right, socialism leads to economic independence, better labor conditions, better work-life balance and, yes, even better sex.” That qualifying phrase – “when done right” could apply to lots of things in life, horizontal and otherwise.\u00a0 Ghodsee’s faith in\u00a0 government handouts as an engine of liberation should settle any doubts about her credibility.<\/p>\n

Here’s a sample of the zesty Twitter retorts to the Vox piece:<\/p>\n

To keep warm in bread lines<\/p>\n

\u2014 Country Club Man (@SpCombustion) December 12, 2018<\/p>\n

Because they need to trade it for food?<\/p>\n

\u2014 yokotaster (@neontaster) December 12, 2018<\/p>\n

Because they have an entire government fucking them.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Sr. (@Linocc) December 12, 2018<\/p>\n

Because it’s easier to find the g-spot when a female is emaciated?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Tony Bruno (@TonyBrunoShow) December 12, 2018<\/p>\n

In Russia, G spot find you!<\/p>\n

\u2014 Steve S (@PBreezeSteve) December 12, 2018<\/p>\n

More lower body strength from picking turnips and potatoes all day on the gov’t farms I’m guessing?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Lance Dragan (@jthunders13) December 12, 2018<\/p>\n

Eating pets and zoo animals is an aphrodisiac.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Narcissist sniffing dog (@Narcissist_dog) December 12, 2018<\/p>\n

The other 23 hours and 50 minutes of the day are worse, however\u2026it\u2019s a tradeoff.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jeff Given (@ElJefe322) December 13, 2018<\/p>\n

Because there will be no sandwich request after sex<\/p>\n

\u2014 bernardito (@cliffantius) December 12, 2018<\/p>\n

Q: What did socialists use for light before candles?<\/p>\n

A: Electricity.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Tom Naughton (@TomDNaughton) December 13, 2018<\/p>\n

Big brother demands you orgasm.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Raul Felix (@raulfelix275) December 13, 2018<\/p>\n

The only form of entertainment the peasants can afford.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Erik Charter Track! (@trackfan99) December 12, 2018<\/p>\n

The sex in east germany was so good they had to build a wall to keep people in. They had a safety net around the wall where they shot people who tried to cross it<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ogre Paladin (@OgrePaladin) December 12, 2018<\/p>\n

Many of my relatives were raped and beaten in forced labor camps in the People\u2019s Socialist Republic of Albania, guess we can file that under BDSM yeah?<\/p>\n

\u2014 hunky Stalin (@shillz4hill) December 12, 2018<\/p>\n

FWIW – here’s what I saw in communist Romania.\u00a0 People seemed too gaunt to enjoy anything there.<\/p>\n

Podcast: My Train Trip to Communist Hell<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n