Thanks for your replies, now let me elaborate. It's something I've been thinking about for a long time, even though the thread itself was a knee-jerk reaction to a pretty pissy day I've been having. To be honest, my real frustrations are to do with the differing roles and perceptions of men and women in society. And in hindsight, perhaps I hate sexual desire, not sex itself. Let me explain.
I love women, and I have no qualms about the act of sex, it's a beautiful thing, especially when it's passionate and meaningful. Within a relationship, it can bring people closer together, and I've been fortunate enough to speak from experience. So it's not individual relationships I was referring to, it was more the perception that sexual desire drives a wedge between the two genders. It leads to perceived, fundamental differences between men and women. It leads to a lack of understanding and mistrust between the two sexes.
The key word here is perceived. Take that thread started by deadend (titled 'Men staring at women...'), for instance. Same old story, men are perverts, blah-blah-blah. Male sexuality is seen as this brutal, primitive, hideous beast. Our sexual desires are like this big white elephant in the room that stops us from achieving more in life and connecting more with other people. It stops us from forming purely platonic friendships with women we care about. A purely platonic friendship between a man and a woman could be the most beautiful thing. Just think about the closest female friend you have. Ever sneaked a peek at her ass? That sure isn't platonic.
Let me tell you what bothers me the most, what keeps me awake at night. This idea that men are simple creatures with simple needs and with ugly and animalistic desires. This is so not true. Nevertheless, this belief seems to be widespread in mainstream society. A lot of men seem to accept this view oh so freely and happily. Why do we put ourselves down like this? Are we not beautiful, creative, emotive and complex creatures too? Don't tell me that we aren't. We've created some of the most sensitive pieces of art, for instance. We have Bowie, Thom Yorke, Wordsworth, Brian Molko and Lennon ffs. And people still insist we are simplistic?
My purpose for living is to be the most beautiful man I can be, both inside and out. Like I said, I adore women, and I wonder whether a man could be as beautiful to a woman, as a woman can be to a man. I've always fought the idea that a man couldn't. I sometimes feel that society's attitudes to sex are more demeaning to men than to women. I'd rather be an object of desire than be seen as some pervert. Though I'm glad that with the advent of the 21st century, our society has begun to cater more for the needs and desires of female sexuality. It's quite a nice feeling knowing that we can be the objects of desire too.
Men don't exactly help themselves. Google 'The Man Rules' and read the first result. When this was made famous after being forwarded around the e-mail network, a lot of guys were like 'yeah, that's us in a nutshell, you tell 'em dude!!'. I was cringing because it confirms the simplistic, oafish stereotypes that we are so often associated with.
Finally, I'll never stop believing that there is such a thing as a beautiful man, and I intend to make it my lifelong ambition to prove it.