Are Relationships Political?

One of the most destructive follies of modernity is the notion that sexual relationships are at their heart matters of power and politics. Many feminists treat sex and relationships as political acts, and view and attempt to hinder women from working so as to attain “independence” as constituting a “war on women.”

The notion that sex and relationships are political in nature stems from the demonic attitude that human relationships are zero-sum games, where one person’s gain is another person’s loss. From this viewpoint, men and women attempt to assert their own power over the other through sexual activity.

But the relationship between a man and a woman is not meant to be a zero-sum relationship, but a mutually enhancing, joyful bond between two freely giving and receiving partners. In a Christian romantic relationship, the man is called to give himself entirely to his woman, and the woman gives herself to her man in return. Both are made complete by their mutual self-gift.

In Christian romantic relationships, men and women are not competitors – they are lovers, helping each other attain happiness.

But those who confuse sex with a power trip (men seeking to assert their masculinity by sleeping with myriad women, or women who use “vagina politics” to gain independence and control men through the power of the bedroom) transform couples into competitors, seeking personal pleasure or power. And in the long run, this creates division among males and females, who see each other as obstacles to happiness.

In making sex into a political act, prideful men and women have sown hatred, dissension – leading to a massive increase in divorce, infidelity, spousal discord, and a host of other societal evils.