Only the open-minded get to experience the world from many perspectives. But “open-minded”?! What does that even mean?!
Most of us actually speak of open-minded even in German when we talk about people to whom we attribute the attribute of open-mindedness. Sounds better, fits more into our globalized, flexible world, in which anglicisms are an expression of coolness and education.
Open and open-minded sounds desirable at first. Who wants to be seen as the opposite, closed and narrow-minded?! We live in a society in which openness to new things and experiences is for many a sign of joy of life and attractiveness!
Sexually open – what does that mean?
But is openness also seen as attractive when it comes to sex?! Bewundern wir Menschen, die sich als sexuell offen bezeichnen?! Does it make them particularly attractive?! Would we also want to be like that?! Or is the exact opposite the case: do we rather devalue these people? Does it make them unattractive to us because we assume they had or have many different sex partners?! Is sexually explicit equal to promiscuity?! And do we therefore prefer to set ourselves apart from these people?!
Only the open-minded get to experience the world from many perspectives.
The question is what each and every one of us understands by sexually open. Is a sexually open person a person
- who has no problem talking about his*her sexuality or sexuality in general
- likes to try out different sexual practices
- who likes to have sex with different partners?
Or is such a person a mixture of all three aspects?
Promiscuity
This term refers to the practice of sexual contacts with relatively frequently changing different partners or in parallel with several partners. Promiscuous therefore also stands for sexually permissive or open-hearted. In our opinion a promiscuous person is in any case sexually open-minded. But for us, the other two aspects mentioned are also an expression of sexual openness.
Sex Talk
There are people who are extremely uncomfortable talking about sex and related topics. Out of very different reasons. Often it has something to do with the upbringing we have enjoyed but also with the circles we live in. In more conservative and perhaps even strictly religious circles for example it is not only frowned upon but possibly even morally reprehensible and thus quasi forbidden to speak openly about the topic of sexuality. This does not have to mean that the people who move in such circles do not have sex and try out many directions in this respect. It simply means that they do not make it a public issue. Other people on the other hand do not find it difficult to talk about their sexual preferences. Maybe they even see it as their mission to (re)remove the taboo from a natural topic.
The joy of sexual experimentation
Even those who like to expand their sexual background and therefore do not exclude any experience for themselves will be considered sexually open. Often this will be people who are also in other areas of life rather open-minded, always looking for a new kick, a mind-expanding and/or physically border-expanding experience, an inspiration that expands their own horizons. On the other hand those who are not so keen on experimenting may be frightened by the variety of differently lived sexuality and sex practices. Or else it is perceived as repulsive.
How open-minded are we?! – A matter of opinion?!
Every person is different also with regard to his or her approach to sexuality. Where one person might already see himself as very open another might speak of being uptight. And vice versa a very offensive but normal way of dealing with sexuality can already be seen by others as extreme or even abnormal. Therefore it makes little sense to make mutual evaluations here. At the end of the day it is all a matter of definition or personal preferences. Nevertheless the quote at the beginning is in any case correct for us because it takes a certain amount of open-mindedness and curiosity to get to know the world in many different ways. Even the big, wide world of sex.
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
