There is something infantile about rebellion and transgression. The need to perform and draw attention to oneself by constantly overthrowing and despising anything considered valuable or sacred by a previous generation has a rather Oedipal ring to it. Growing up used to be about learning and internalizing the values of the past in order to take one’s place in society. But a society built around transgression is really a society committed to a permanent state of immaturity. Whether it’s activists or social media users upping the rhetorical ante by insulting anyone they disagree with and demanding public affirmation of what is obviously false—that men can be women and vice versa—or whether it’s the ever-more outlandish sexualities on display in pop culture, the dynamic is the same: public discourse degenerating into infantile tantrums.
Which brings us back to Pride Month. Exhibitionism and glorying in transgressive sexuality and in the inability or unwillingness to exert self-control is the mark of an infantile society. No, children shouldn’t be taken to Pride parades. But we fool ourselves if we think that such parades are not themselves deeply childish affairs.
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