There Is No Such Thing as "Normal Sex"
—Deciphering Love as Learned Fetishism through Erotic Games, Chigo, and Bonobos—
Introduction: Human "Karma" Cannot Be Contained in "L, G, B, T"
Recent gender discourse is entirely too well-behaved. While people preach "acceptance of diversity," it ultimately looks like an attempt to force human beings into new labels—"L," "G," "B," "T"—and recover them within existing institutions.
But are human "sexuality" and "desire" really so simple that they can be classified by a few letters of the alphabet? Take a look into the abyss of the internet. There, you will find infinite fetishes—or what psychiatry might clinically categorize as paraphilias—swirling around every conceivable object: 2D characters, inanimate objects, imaginary creatures, and specific situations. Behind the "love" discussed in sanitized terms, there is always the chaotic desire of "Karma."
In this piece, I wish to present a radical truth based on the technology born from erotic games, the Chigo (acolyte) culture of Japan’s past, and primatology: "Sex is not an instinct, but a learned fetishism."
1. It Was "Erotica" That Evolved Technology
"I started using the internet to see porn." There is no need to be ashamed of this motivation. The evolution of IT technology has always been driven by the engine of desire known as "erotica."
Programmers and hackers of the past worked desperately to animate static images in erotic games, break copy protections, and display images even a fraction of a second faster over slow connections. Video compression, VR, and online payment systems—these are all byproducts born from the human obsession to "see" and "touch." Geniuses like Isamu Kaneko, the developer of Winny, also emerged from this underground heat. "Desire (The Id)" is the strongest driver of civilizational evolution.
2. Japanese Sexual Culture: Gender is Fluid
Until Western "sexual morality" was imported following the Meiji Restoration, Japanese sexuality was far more free—or rather, chaotic.
The practice of "Chigo" (young acolytes) and "Shudo" (the way of the young) in Buddhist temples and samurai society was not merely a means of sexual relief, but functioned as an educational system and a bond of patronage. Furthermore, the lineage of "Otokonoko" (cross-dressing boys) continues uninterrupted from the Wakashu Kabuki of the Edo period to modern-day "Babiniku" (Virtual Incarnation). Japanese people traditionally possess a highly developed sensibility for gender performance, finding appeal ("Moe") not in the biological sex of the flesh, but in the "performed sex (the sex of the soul)."
The same applies to age. In the past, a girl was considered an adult upon menarche, and marriage and childbirth in the mid-teens were commonplace. The modern line drawn at "under 18 is a child" is merely an "artificial wall" demanded by modern society, not an absolute biological standard.
3. Is "Sex" Instinct or Learning?
Here, I want to pose a fundamental question: "If human beings were raised in isolation, could they have sex based on instinct alone?"
The answer suggested by primatology research (such as Harlow's rhesus macaque experiments) is a resounding "NO." Monkeys raised in isolation from their mothers and peers could not engage in appropriate sexual behavior even after reaching sexual maturity. They did not know how to mount, nor did they know how to accept a mate.
In other words, the process of joining genitals and reaching ejaculation is not an automatic instinct like breathing or a heartbeat. It is a "highly complex learned behavior (skill)" acquired through the imitation of others and social experience.
4. All Love is "Fetishism"
If sex is the result of learning, then the premise that "heterosexuality is normal and homosexuality is an anomaly (a bug)" also collapses.
Looking at great apes like bonobos, sexual behavior is frequently performed between males and between females, not just for reproduction, but as a tool for greeting, reconciliation, and stress relief. As suggested in papers such as those in Nature, "indiscriminate sexual behavior (pan-sexuality)" may be the ancestral trait (default) of living things, and heterosexuality may be nothing more than a form specialized for reproductive efficiency.
If so, then heterosexuality, homosexuality, and love for 2D characters are all ingredients in the same pot—"Fetishism" imprinted post-natally. Whoever or whatever one loves, it is merely a "sexual propensity" learned by that person's brain; there is no superior or inferior, no normal or abnormal.
Conclusion: Doubt the "Cage" of Institutions
Currently, discussions on same-sex marriage and separate surnames are heated, but in the end, they are limited to the question of how to fit minorities into the "cage" of existing institutions.
However, what is truly necessary is to doubt the cage itself. "Marriage," "Names (Family)," and "Normal Sex" are all merely "fictions (institutions)" added later to manage society.
Human desire (The Id) is muddier, more comical, and more powerful. If you feel uncomfortable with the bleached, sanitized "LGBT" discourse, try peeling off that label and re-examining your own inner "Karma." What lies there may be "Life" itself—a wild energy that cannot be contained within any institution.