Human nature = able to fool myself for a long time, until the crud finally hits the fan.
It's about a lot more than "feelings" and "self-esteem". If you reduce it to that, you're the one who's self-deluded.
And I have no idea what kind of "conservative" denies that an act can be objectively degrading in and of itself, regardless of how the parties think they "feel" about it.
Well, not everyone considers oral sex degrading. I'm saying if a person enjoys engaging in that activity and does not feel degraded by it, it is not degrading to them.