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Asexual norm can refer to apersonal or asocial norm. Most cultures have social norms regardingsexuality, and definenormal sexuality to consist only of certainsex acts between individuals who meet specificage criteria,nonconsanguinity (vs.incest),race/ethnicity (vs.interracial relationships), and/or social role andsocioeconomic status.
In most societies, the termnormal identifies a range orspectrum of behaviors. Rather than each act being simply classified as "acceptable" or "not acceptable", many acts are viewed as "more or less accepted" by different people, and the opinion on how normal or acceptable they are greatly depends on the individual making the opinion as well as the culture itself. Based on information gained fromsexological studies, a great many ordinary people's sex lives are very often quite different from popular beliefs aboutnormal, in private.[1]
If non-restrictive sexual norms are regarded positively, they may be called "sexual freedom", "sexual liberation" or "free love". If they are regarded negatively, they may be called "sexual licence" or "licentiousness". Restrictive social norms, if judged negatively, are calledsexual oppression. If the restrictive norms are judged positively, they may be regarded as encouragingchastity, "sexual self-restraint" or "sexual decency", and negative terms are used for the targeted sexuality, e.g.sexual abuse andperversion.
In the West, some people have relaxed the traditional definitions of normality, choosing instead to define normal sexuality as any sexual practice which does not involve what are regarded as sexual perversions. However, using this definition makes use of a long list of sexual perversions which themselves show up hidden assumptions about cultural norms. Recently, in Western society,consensualparaphilias are becoming more acceptable, in particular "any activity, not otherwise illegal, performed between consenting adults in private."
This liberalization of attitudes has resulted in thedecriminalisation of homosexuality in many countries, following the ground-breakingWolfenden report in the United Kingdom.
There is a tendency in Western countries towardsserial monogamy as a normal heterosexual lifestyle. There is also a movement towards recognizing long-term homosexual relationships (seesame-sex marriage).
There is also greater acceptance of sexual relationships (partnerships) without requiring the sanction of a form of marriage recognised by the church, state or legal system.
These liberalizing trends can be contrasted withconservative social trends that seek to reverse these patterns of behaviour, with encouragement for young people to choose traditionally accepted roles, beliefs and behaviors, and to exercisesexual abstinence or non-promiscuous lifestyles before marriage.
There is an opposing trend in reaction, that views such changes as a socially destructive force, and is opposed to them. It is often, though not exclusively, associated with people who havereligious feelings, and is prevalent in much ofChristianity in America, as well asIslam in theMiddle East andAsia, and other devout religious groups such asHarediJews inIsrael. In such countries there is often strong criticism ofnon-traditional sexualities andsexual liberation.
Some social unrest in both Eastern and Western cultures is due to this conflict between these two trends, and views upon acceptability and control of social and sexual norms.
