Irish Want to Be Sexual!

As the Irish continue their St. Patrick’s Day celebrations this weekend, the Self, Selves and Sexualities conference opened at Dublin City University yesterday. Though the Irish may have a reputation for sexual repression in connection with strong Catholic values, history professor Diarmaid Ferriter suggests that they have replaced their fear of sex with a fear of not being sexual enough.

Citing the current emphasis on sexualizing young girls, Ferriter hypothesizes that what the Irish lack is the ability to practice moderation. While they used to be obsessed with hiding “fallen” women, like sex workers and unmarried mothers, he claims they have replaced this institutional repression with a need to be overtly sexual.

“There is this huge pressure on people sexually to perform, to be sexually active to be sexually knowledgeable in so many ways,” he said. “When you look at the pressures that existed in earlier parts of the 20th century, the fear of being too sexual in some respects was replaced in the early 21st century by the fear of not being sexual enough. “

The conference, organized by Dublin City University’s (DCU’s) School of Nursing and School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies, includes more than 60 speakers on issues including sexual health, sexuality in literature and the media, and spirituality and sexuality. It is described as the first of its kind in Ireland and is “aimed at enhancing sexual literacy, generating well being and advocating social justice.”