Sexual mores

JOYCE McMillan is right to object to the marketing of sexually-themed products to young girls (Opinion, 20 February), but if we embrace a philosophy of sexual licence, condoning sexual activity outside marriage and even as a mere recreational activity divorced from relationships, we will inevitably end up with a society with a distorted and unhealthy view of sex.

If our sole advice to teenagers is to only have sex if you really feel like it, then younger children will pick up on this. It is naive to imagine that children will exist in a bubble of innocence surrounded by a sexually permissive culture.

The solution is to put sex back in its place, marriage, where it can fulfil its intended functions (cementing permanent relationship, reproduction and giving pleasure). Sex outside this structure risks emotional and physical harm, and reduces the chance of subsequent stable family life – a major factor in the well-being of parents and offspring.

Ms McMillan is no supporter of Christian sexual morality; she furiously hacks away at selected symptoms of our sexually degraded and chaotic society, while cherishing its root: sexual liberalism.

Newspapers could ask themselves a few questions as well: for example, why do we find so many stories about the lingerie industry accompanied by sizeable photographs, while, in comparison, the sock business is neglected?

RICHARD LUCAS

Cowan Road

Shandon, Edinburgh