The New Society Essay Examples

The progress man has made in the last two centuries may be easily overlooked by any accounts that assume an ahistorical approach. However, for historians, today man sits in a historic and historical moment given the changes experienced. Sexuality has its equal share of changes and this paper ventures to say that the change has been radical as it has been contentious.
It started with the far and forgotten pretext of cries of humanity. The narrative in town goes that every being, by virtue of being human, has the right to dignity, among other rights. The critical question, therefore, is whether the right to dignity encapsulates the right to sexuality. The developments today indicate an affirmative response. While Bryan Lowder in “How Gay Is Lincoln?” illuminates the times of Lincoln when homosexuality was ranked among the plagues, the societal changes today would make Lincoln and his ilk heroes. One wonders just how fast the society could have become so accommodating. Indeed, Lowder presents a society, during Lincoln, ambivalent and disconnected with gays and homosexuality. He suggests that while Lincoln could have been gay, the moral code that society operated upon deprived him the liberty of coming out in the open. Contrast the situation to today, whereby, gay rights have become the chorus with which human right activists identify themselves. That distinction illustrates the overwhelming changes that society has inevitably encountered.
The current trends are increasingly interesting more so because of the blossoming army of liberals. Indeed, the conservative approach by which the society would judge actions perceived as gay is slowly giving way to liberalism. The idea, or so the narrative goes, entails empowering humanity and giving persons the free pass to decision making. From an individualistic perspective, the argument embraces freedom of sexuality. The question such champions of free sexuality pose is why the attempted limitation of one’s sexuality. While this paper does not seek to portray such societal activists as retrogressive, it is merely surprised at the dynamism and hurried changes society is passing through. Interestingly, the same humanists would be fast to disagree with suggestions putting Lincoln at the crossroads of homosexuality. They say that such actions are failed attempts at discrediting or destroying the otherwise adorable image of America’s emancipation father.
Be that as it may, it is noteworthy what contemporary sexuality scholars think. For instance, Lowder’s topic, “How Gay is Lincoln” is written in the present tense. One can see the veiled suggestion at placing the discourse not in its old context, but to put to it within the present societal lenses. Interestingly, Lincoln apologists have argued that the latter’s actions such as the sharing of bed were purely for economic purposes. They, however, conveniently isolate overt activities such as Lincoln’s letters and his affectionate displays to his compatriots such as Joshua Speed.
Whether Lincoln was gay or not is not the subject of this paper. However, through this contentious but rich discussion, one sees through the changing societal lenses. It is arguable that what was previously considered sacrilegious and immoral, today finds concurrence and support. This shows the dynamic nature of society whose many innovations have forced changes to it. In that context, homosexuality today is not condescended upon and gay activists find the alacrity to tag Lincoln into their side with others suggesting that perhaps Lincoln was the forefather of homosexuality. This paper appreciates the changing times and has used homosexuality to demonstrate the level of change.