"It's lack of pussy that fucks countries up. Lack of pussy is the root fucking cause of all global instability; if more hajjis were getting quality pussy, there'd be no reason for us to come over and fuck 'em up like this, 'cause a nutbusting hajji, is a happy hajji. You take the Republican Guard and comp their asses for a week in Vegas. No fucking war! If Saddam invested more in the pussy infrastructure of Iraq than he did in his fucking gay ass army, then this country would be no more fucked up than say, Mexico."
— Corporal Josh Ray Person, Generation Kill
A core value of an Ethical Slut and the counterpart trope to Everybody Has Lots of Sex.
This is when sex not only feels good, but is morally good in general. When this trope is in play, sexual intercourse will always lead to satisfaction and rarely have negative consequences, sex between a protagonist and antagonist will almost invariably lead to a Sex–Face Turn, and there will rarely ever be meaningful emotional consequences for sex unless they're a part of a Very Special Episode.
In the worst case, sex will lead to an unexpected pregnancy, but the consequences will be offset — the characters will learn valuable life lessons, neither party will regret it even if it was a drunken one night stand, and even a resultant single parent will be happy because Babies Make Everything Better.
STDs will be effectively nonexistent, with even The Casanova being able to effortlessly avoid them. Any emotional problems caused by a relationship (or lack thereof) will be blamed on the sufferer. In a Will They or Won't They? situation, sex will almost always lead to a long-term relationship without any undesirable repercussions.
In the (very unlikely) scenario that a character has a less than fantastic impression of sex, this will be the fault of an unusually awful partner — you can expect it to be resolved by a better partner in short order.
This trope was especially popular back in the eighties with the rise of modern teen movies.
Often the natural extension of I'm a Man; I Can't Help It. The supertrope of Sex–Face Turn, Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex, Unproblematic Prostitution, and Free-Love Future. The arch-enemy of Sex Is Evil. Related to STD Immunity. Compare Sex Is Interesting. Overlaps with Heroic Seductress.
Examples:
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Comic Books
- ElfQuest. Sex is good in just about every situation, as per the Everybody Has Lots of Sex universe. Even if nature decides two elves should have a child together against their will, they inevitably enjoy it and the child is always celebrated as precious new life because Babies Make Everything Better. For what it's worth, these in-universe rules only apply to elves- one storyline has Mender seducing a couple of human women, but as "normal" human women, it only succeeds in seriously screwing up their lives. Pini came up with this storyline after becoming concerned that an impressionable teenager might read ElfQuest and conclude that sexual relationships can never have negative consequences.
- Subverted in Sparks: An Urban Fairy Tale. Jo doesn't necessarily believe this trope (as can be seen when she drags a heavily inebriated acquaintance outside of a room of horny frat guys), but she is willing to be optimistic about it in the right circumstances. And it turns out to be a terrible idea. In spite of the heartfelt conversation they have beforehand, the actual sex act physically hurts Jo, and afterwards the guy says it's a one-time-thing, meaning that for all his consternation about living the pigeonholed life of a high society playboy he's not willing to actually fight against it. The experience ends up leaving Jo even worse off than where she started.
Fan Works
- The Smurfs in Empath: The Luckiest Smurf don't seem to have a problem with sex, as long as its participants are married. The Imaginarium, which is the closest thing the story series has to Star Trek's holodecks, does provide the male Smurfs who aren't married an outlet for their sexual needs, which is mentioned in a few stories.
- Same thing with the Smurfs in the Hero: The Guardian Smurf story series, except that they can't use sex to procreate... at least, not yet, according to what Mother Nature says on the issue in a mini-story.
- The works of Saberlord Oboeshoes
definitely have a sex-positive message. As Wonder Woman tells her daughter in Amazon Origin:
"First of all, it can involve a boy and a girl, two boys, two girls, or a combo of three or even four. Second, sex is all about the joining of the most sensitive parts of the body, soul, and mind all together at once. During the process, the physical, spiritual, and mental parts of everyone who does it join together into one, becoming an intense array of passion that makes you lose yourself as you fly through the air! As Amazons, before and after every battle, we offer to have sex with our fellow warriors, strengthening the bond of love between us all!”
Film
- Used to an absurd degree in Risky Business. At the beginning of the movie, Joel is a virgin, and an insecure loser. As a result of his having sex with a call girl (and subsequent snowballs) he- gets into Princeton, gains an incredibly hot girlfriend, and develops a great deal of self-confidence. Moreover, it's implied that this confidence was also gained by all the guys who dipped into their trust fund for the one-night brothel. His ridiculous ability to evade any negative consequences for these acts of poor judgment is lampshaded by the pimp near the end, who states that he really ought to just kill Joel outright considering all the trouble he's caused.
- Forever Amber takes this view of sex in regards to its setting of 17th century England. It fits this trope clearly as there are only ever two situations where sex is presented as bad- when done with the wrong expectations, and when you don't do it for whatever reason. It's still up to debate, though, whether the characters' views on this status quo are necessarily correct. It's worth noting, after all, that near the end it takes Lord Carlton several chapters to realize what a terrible idea it is to have sex with Amber now that he's married. The liberal views Charles II holds on sex are almost certainly the reason why his wife ends up too frail to give him a legitimate heir. And to top it all off, Amber's a pathetically fragile emotional wreck at the end of the book, ditching the entire posh lifestyle she had been working so hard for on the off-chance that Lord Carlton would take her back.
- Alice in Wonderland: An X-rated Musical Fantasy.
- Played with in Beyond the Lights. The movie is basically one long public service announcement against the hyper-sexualization and objectification of women by the music industry. However, sex ITSELF is a different story: Noni and Kaz clearly have no objections to that particular activity!
- Bicentennial Man: It's made pretty clear that Andrew and Portia are Happily Married, and are still having regular sex well into old age. Of course, Andrew's medical inventions have made both of them very healthy for their age (Portia is a centenarian; Andrew is a bicentenarian).
- Young & Wild: Daniela believes this, quite unlike her parents and the Evangelical community, to whom it's bad except in marriage. She complains they treat fornication like it's the worst thing ever. Her blog is heavily about extolling the joys of sex and relating her escapades.
Literature
- Myrna Minkoff of A Confederacy of Dunces believes this fervently, to the point where she regards sex as the key to world revolution, equality, and peace. She also thinks sex would solve all of Ignatius' problems; in his case, she might actually be right (although she has ulterior motives; she's obviously trying to get into his pants for years for complex but ultimately understandable reasons).
- The Teresa Knight Trilogy: The general view of the protagonist, and the series overall (at least if it's safe, with consenting adults etc).
- The Change Room: Shar, a High-Class Call Girl and Ethical Slut, believes this firmly (at least if all the parties are enjoying the sex).
Live-Action TV
- Game of Thrones: Daenerys has utilized her sexuality to not only claim her first position of authority alongside her husband, but also to mature from a callow girl into a fierce woman. After Drogo dies, she becomes fully divorced from sexual acts until over halfway through Season 4 when she shares a night of passion with Daario Naharis. Immediately after, her administration becomes pro-actively rejuvenated, with her sending her lover away from her on a mission of battle and diplomacy, instead of keeping him close. She also follows Jorah's advice for the first time since Season 1 and reinforces both men's loyalty while fulfilling her own agenda of attempting to subjugate Slaver's Bay as a fair ruler.
- Nip/Tuck has this in spades. Regardless of the context, sex only ever seems to make any situation or relationship better, as it seems to magically make any character that engages in it stronger and more self-confident. Take the twins in the second episode of the series, who are emotional basket-cases when they realize that getting surgery to make themselves look different was a bad idea, but all of three scenes later are happy and well-assured having just engaged in a threesome with Christian.
- Scrubs features most of the characters with an active sex life, and while there is the occasional Slut-Shaming (mostly with Elliot) it is largely played as a natural part of human relationships. One episode featured a couple who were highly conversative WASP's, but a snowball of morals occurs when the husband explains with frankness that the most communication they have as a couple is in those intimate moments. Dr. Cox and Jordan were having an ongoing, meaningless argument that was only solved when they got a night by themselves without their infant baby. Carla once suggested to Turk that they abstain from sex for a few months before their marriage, but when Turk became more open to the idea after speaking with the patient Carla was having a rough day and needed some stress release.
Music
- George Michael's "I Want Your Sex" is all about this, and quotes the trope by name.
Mythology and Religion
- While the Abrahamic faiths have long had a reputation for prudery, The Bible is actually very positive about sexuality, as long as it is kept within the context of marriage between husband and wife:
- In the Book of Genesis, one of God's commandments to the first humans was to "be fruitful and multiply." Keep in mind that this was before the Fall, so everything in creation was good as God made it.
- The book called Song of Songs, or Song of Solomon, is devoted to sex and romance.
- The Book of Proverbs says of the man's wife, "Let her breasts satisfy you always".
- The Book of Hebrews has a warning to believers of how to keep the sex good (according to God's view of "good"):
Marriage is to be honored among everyone, and the bed undefiled. But God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers. - The Qur'an: Celibacy and asceticism are strongly discouraged, even though it's not forbidden in and of itself. Islam insists that good people have good sex, which is a different conversation.
Webcomics
- In Alfie (2010), the Snake People have this attitude, and as such many of them have gone into Unproblematic Prostitution, since they might as well make money doing what they love.
