Fantasies are imagined scenarios that people create to satisfy their desires, interests, and needs. They can involve any combination of ideas, images, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
They often include some form of romantic or sexual attraction between characters. Fantasies can be private or shared with others, but they may violate societal norms around gender, age, race, religion, power dynamics, and more. This essay explores how fantasies challenge or reinforce these cultural and moral standards through examples from literature, media, psychology, and personal experience. It argues that while fantasies can subvert traditional expectations, they also reflect and reproduce them by providing safe outlets for emotional expression.
Cultural norms
Cultural norms refer to accepted rules, customs, beliefs, and values within a society. These norms influence what is considered acceptable behavior, speech, clothing, relationships, and other aspects of life. In terms of sex and sexuality, norms vary widely across cultures, time periods, religions, classes, genders, and other factors.
In many Western cultures, heterosexuality and monogamy are standard while homosexuality and polygamy are stigmatized. Some religious groups discourage premarital or extramarital sex altogether. Other communities value virginity as a marker of purity and virtue, while others emphasize pleasure and experimentation.
Moral norms
Moral norms relate to ethical principles that guide individual choices and collective decisions. They address questions like "What is right?" and "How should we behave?" Morality is shaped by social and historical context, including laws, religions, philosophies, political systems, education, media, and family traditions. Different moral frameworks prioritize different virtues such as justice, compassion, honesty, humility, self-control, equality, freedom, and more. While some moral codes are universal (e.g., not harming others), most are relative (e.g., how much privacy do people deserve?).
Intersection between fantasies and norms
Fantasies can challenge cultural and moral norms by exploring taboo topics like violence, fetishes, non-monogamy, gender fluidity, rape, incest, bestiality, pedophilia, and more. They allow individuals to experiment with identities, desires, and power dynamics in a safe way.
A woman might imagine being dominated by a man she finds attractive but would never want to be treated this way in real life. Or a person might explore their attraction to someone outside of their usual age range without consequences. Fantasies also reinforce norms by affirming traditional roles, relationships, behaviors, and desires.
Someone may fantasize about meeting the ideal partner who shares their interests, values, and background.
Literary examples
In literature, fantasies often break or affirm cultural and moral boundaries. In the novel "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov, Humbert Humbert has a sexual relationship with a young girl named Dolores Haze. This violates societal norms around age differences, consent, parental responsibility, and child exploitation.
The book celebrates literary romanticism, sensuality, artistry, and imagination. It questions whether love is possible between two seemingly mismatched individuals. Similarly, the novel "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker features an interracial couple that challenges racist ideologies while affirming the power of intimacy, forgiveness, and human connection.
Media examples
TV shows, movies, music videos, and other media can depict fantastical scenarios that challenge or reinforce cultural and moral norms. The film "Fifty Shades of Grey" explores BDSM relationships between two consenting adults despite criticism from conservative groups. The TV show "Game of Thrones" includes incestuous couples that defy religious beliefs but are praised for creativity and complexity. Music videos like "WAP" by Cardi B feature explicit sexual content that many find offensive but others enjoy as empowering and liberating. These works reflect social and political debates over sexual expression, feminism, representation, and censorship.
Psychological perspectives
Psychology offers insights into how fantasies interact with cultural and moral norms. Some research suggests that people engage in sexual daydreams to manage anxiety, regulate emotions, explore identities, and cope with stressors. Fantasy can provide a safe space to explore desires without consequences or judgement. On the other hand, it can lead to unrealistic expectations about sex and relationships. Studies also indicate that most fantasies involve heterosexual partners who share similar ages, races, body types, and socioeconomic statuses. This may perpetuate stereotypes and reinforce power dynamics.
How do fantasies interact with cultural and moral norms?
Fantasies are imagined scenarios that individuals may engage in for various reasons, including personal gratification, escape from reality, exploration of new ideas, and creative expression. While some cultures may view certain types of fantasy as morally acceptable or desirable, others may consider them taboo or immoral.