Minding other people’s business – Pollies vs. sexuality

Two sailors

Disclaimer: This is an istock photo and in no way reflects the behavior referred to in this feature.

Last week there was an incident with the Aussie Navy in which some male sailors were running a score card on how many female crew they could have sex with. In some cases bets were laid and bonus points awarded for bedding a lesbian. All quite childish and “blokey” but none the less not the first time this has occurred in the land of the ocker.

But things are different now.

• Firstly the Media has a problem with the Internet so they are desperately seeking to sensationalise anything they can get their hands on.
  
• Then we have political parties desperately trying to stake out the moral high ground.
  
• Add to this Kevin 07’s fierce defence of his own religious baggage and we have feeding frenzy.

I think it’s time for more than the sailors to have a cold shower.

First of all, why is it the PM’s problem when the Navy play these silly little games? And for that matter why do folk insist a Head of State or a Minister come rushing into the office for minor administration functions? As an ex-Public Servant I can tell you we got a lot more done on our own than when we had Managers hanging over our shoulders asking stupid questions.

That’s why we had training and experts. I hate to think how much trouble the Press caused in the tactical rooms when we had the last big Bushfires in Victoria.

But going beyond pollies trying to micromanage in areas they don’t belong to, where does the line get drawn in this particular case? Do you ban sex outside marriage as the Catholic Church tried so unsuccessfully to do? That’s going to be popular.

Perhaps ban folk having more than one sexual partner? If so over what time period? How about one per week as a starting point? What about the civil rights of the sailors? And who runs the score card (aside from the sailors already running a book)? How do you know if stained sheets are from a solo performance or a joint operation?

Clearly it’s ludicrous to start playing the moral card here. The Navy has been managing their people for years and no doubt events like this (and far worse) have occurred forever. It’s their job to train their people and house them safely. Let them manage the supposed problem.

Women’s Lib went to a lot of trouble to give women control of their sex lives. Do we really want to go back to the bad old days and have the Press and the Pollies (Saints that they are) and even the newly reformed Germaine Greer start dictating how we lead our own lives?

Personally I don’t care how the sailors lead their sex lives though I am impressed the opposite sex is in vogue these days.