advances such "antibiotics, blood transfusions, and vaccines". Morality, ethics, and gender roles Raëlism insists on a strict ethical code for its followers. Members are expected to take responsibility for their own actions, respect cultural and racial difference, promote non-violence, strive for world peace, and share wealth and resources. They are also encouraged to uphold democracy, in the belief that humanity will ultimately make a democratic choice to introduce geniocracy. The Raëlian opinion is that everything should be permitted so long as it harms no one and does not impede scientific and technological advance. Members are nevertheless advised against using recreational drugs or stimulants so as not to harm their health, although some practitioners have acknowledged that they use alcohol and cigarettes. John M. Bozeman characterized the religion's morality as "progressive," while Palmer referred to the group's "liberal social values", and Chryssides called Raëlist values "worldly and hedonistic". The scholar of religion Paul Oliver said that the philosophy's ethics are "relativistic" in that practitioners are encouraged to act in a manner that they feel appropriate to the context. Several scholars have also argued that it is a "world-affirming" religion, using the typology established by Roy Wallis. Raël considered gender as an artificial construct and emphasized its fluidity. Raël avoided a macho persona and is instead often described by his followers as being "gentle" and "feminine". Palmer suggested that Raël regarded women as being superior to men because they were described as being more like the Elohim. In Raël's account, the inhabitants of the Elohim planet "have 10 percent of masculinity and 90 percent of femininity." Raël also proposed that if women were in positions of political power across the world, there would be no war. The Raëlians have participated with public protests for women's rights. At its June 2003 "Joy of Being Woman" demonstration, Raëlian women danced naked through the streets of Paris. Palmer described the Raëlians as feminists, although Raël criticized mainstream feminism, arguing that it "copied the shortcomings of men". Generally adopting the belief that the human body is malleable, Raëlism has a positive opinion of plastic surgery to improve physical appearance. Raëlism teaches that the Elohim created humanity to feel sexual desire as a panacea for their violent impulses. It states that through the pursuit of sexual pleasure, new pathways between the neurons in the brain are forged, thus enhancing an individual's intelligence. Raëlism encourages its members to