A Libertine most refers to those who have absconded from society's mores surrounding sexuality and what is seen as it’s proper expression (enjoy it quietly). Though that is true ( and we love you, freak folks) the word is more general than that. A libertine is one that questions all of society's expectations in order to find a life that truly brings them pleasure. Questioning to see what fits with their life and what is simply cultural baggage being passed along without thought.
Culture has been mankind’s hack to bypass the limitations of the size of our own brain. We are able to upload practices, mores and ideas into a cloud brain, the combined brain of everybody that shares that culture. These practices tend to help our people survive based on the environmental and cultural factors of the day. This mode of knowledge transmission is not perfect however. Cultural adaptation operates in the same way as natural selection. If a culture faces a problem, a practice usually grows that addresses it. If times change and a cultural practice begins to harm people more than it helps it is usually phased out. If there is no negative pressure though, vestigial practices cling on, serving no real function but remaining all the same.
It is those who are willing to explore beyond what is practiced, to look into themselves and find a path to their own pleasure that oftentimes uncover these cultural adaptations that no longer serve. We are born into a culture and will pick up and enter into many new cultures (The culture of University as compared to the culture of prison for example. Both have very unique requirements for success). It is the job & the calling of the libertine to prod at these boundaries. To test what one can get away with in pursuit of their own fulfilling life. It is the libertine’s that uncover the cracks in our cultures, that find new ways to be successful and to find joy that were previously off limits.
We need more Libertine’s fighting for what brings them pleasure & happiness because the more we find ways to make ourselves happy, the more it opens the doors for others that feel similarly.
