In Paragraph 9, Pope Paul VI talks about marriage and especially mentions the idea that men and women must stay faithful to each other. The part containing to this issue is below:
Married love is also faithful and exclusive of all other, and this until death. This is how husband and wife understood it on the day on which, fully aware of what they were doing, they freely vowed themselves to one another in marriage. Though this fidelity of husband and wife sometimes presents difficulties, no one has the right to assert that it is impossible; it is, on the contrary, always honorable and meritorious. The example of countless married couples proves not only that fidelity is in accord with the nature of marriage, but also that it is the source of profound and enduring happiness.
Basically, it means men and women must stay faithful, as in not to have sex with another partner. This also addresses the issue of the high divorce rate in America.
What the Pope would wish for every marriage in America is complete and absolute dedication of both partners to each other. If this amazing yet unrealistic goal was to be achievable, the social impact would be immense. Children would no longer have to be transported from house to house and custody battles would not exist. Families would not be split due to one partner moving out or leaving the family. Finances would be a lot simpler and children would not be put in the middle of a “love war” in which each mom or dad would want to win over the complete love of the child. The children of the family would have both a male and female role model to look up to for development. Within a relationship of the two parents, both would have faith in the other that they are the “one and only” for the other person. The psychological strain of every member of the family would be lessened and many feelings spared. The couple would view themselves as an entity, which would create a strong bond between the two. On the downside, it would mean that two people who should not be together (abusive relationship, fighting, financially unstable) would have to work out their differences in order to have a peaceful environment. However, on the whole I believe this change would benefit the great majority of the population. Even in the article, the Pope admits that having one partner is difficult. Not impossible, but difficult. He sees this as an ideal that we should all work towards and what a “perfect world” would look like.
However, these actions (let us call them our conscious politics and commitments if we were to adopt this social norm into our culture) would, according to Bordo, be undermined by our unconscious wishes (sexual desire for others than the original partner). However, although those new goals may be undermined and challenged by our desires, it does not necessarily mean they need to be broken. A person always chooses to commit adultery; it does not happen explicitly from our unconscious desires. At some point, it must be a choice each person makes before the action. Bordo's claim may be correct in stating that our unconscious body wishes for certain things (almost like the id of freud), however I think her theory is not complete in that these is always the "logical" sense of a person who, when forced to make a decision, reflects back on their goals and balances the unconscious wishes with the norm they are trying to keep (like the ego). Based on their own conscious, those decisions are made. Although our bodies may innately sway us to one side, I do believe it is our choice to make the final action.
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