Integral Sexology
The idea that sex is bad and physically, mentally, morally and spiritually debilitating seems to arise in male warrior cultures. It would seem that the real reason is the effect open sexuality has on male bonding and military discipline, particularly if men are allowed to explore variant sexuality. There may also be a link between sexual release and aggression, particularly the idea that sexual indulgence calms aggression. This idea found its way into sports training where sexual activity before an event was said to sap the athletes vitality. This has since been disproven.
There have been several ways in which male societies have dealt with this. In Sparta boys were separated from the society of women at a young age. Their sexual desires were transmuted into a military homosexual culture. When a Spartan married he did not live with his wife. Instead he would steal into the matrimonial home in the night and then return to the male barracks. Much of Spartan society was directed to creating strong men and women, strong women were said to give birth to strong warriors. Heterosexual intercourse was directed toward procreation and homosexual practices reserved for release and pleasure. In Athenian society married women were kept in the home and were meant to produce children. Men pursued pleasure through homosexual liaisons or prostitutes. Some women were able to take lovers.
The Polynesian societies, whilst having a warrior tradition, did not face the same degree of threat from invasion. Conflict occurred but not to the extent that other societies faced. In these cultures sexual pleasure was not seen as a debilitating force. Instead it was seen as a positive force.
Now, if we can move to something of a sweeping generalization. Those religions that arose out of a patriarchal, warrior culture developed a sex negative belief system concerned with preserving male strength and power, as well as patrilineal descent. The control of sex was essential to ensuring male cohesion. Those religions that arose out of a matrilineal and non-warrior culture developed sex positive belief systems that emphasized the spiritual importance of fertility and the creative nature of sexuality.
It is not so much a question of Ascent or Descent but a question of matriarchal power in societies based on peaceful and abundant trade relations or of patriarchal power based on conquest in conditions of competition and scarcity. The matriarchal worldview saw spirituality as an ecstatic gift as part of the abundance of the gods, most often a Mother Earth figure. The patriarchal worldview saw spirituality in terms of a larger war against good and evil. They created monastic orders that resembled military barracks.
Greek society was complex and you find expressions of both modes. Some Greeks allowed sexual indulgence but others cautioned against sexual excess.
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Ray is a Melbourne based writer. He has completed two novels and is currently going through the process of getting them published. Read his Biography
Bliss is a young hippie girl with an extraordinary, untamed mind: a guitar prodigy, a synesthete, but can she tame her wild talent?
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Greetings comrade, this is truly an epic in the making. I suspect you’re a hippy at heart but need clarification on that spirit of unconventional freedom. Sex is a powerful reality in the politics of negotiation – with oneself and others. No doubt about that. And I was very surprised at the ability you have to generalise bodies of knowledge and systems of philosophy at the stroke of a simple pen. I must also admit that your analytical strength is breathtakingly all embracing. You have alerted me to many and a variety of different forms of social practices and theories that I was not aware of , or have slipped under my radar. I need time to fully appreciate the implications of your research here and elsewhere on your blog. Overall, well done and I fully commend the play on words in your blog’s title. Thanx for another good read.
Thanks William. Yes, a hippie, but much, much more than that. My influences go back to the pioneering work of psychoanalysis, particularly Otto Gross…
Ok, if I may just add my opinion to the issue you discuss here, Ray. It seems that you are advocating a form of sex education at a personal level from a very early age in our society. The premise for this type of education is based largely on your research which clearly demonstrates that a positive sex society is more functional in this area and that many of the associated, social problems modern society faces in this area are a result of an ongoing negative sex attitude promoted by the prevailing cultural , religious intolerance of mainly, western monotheistic religions. These religions in general have adopted and incorporated myths about human and child sexuality to protect the status quo and foster a sex negative attitude through their propaganda. This in turn has reinforced stereotypes and has become the blueprint for assessing and evaluating cultural attitudes towards, in particular, child sexual abuse. Therefore, in your recommendation for a more sensible approach to problems that child and indeed adult sexuality generates in modern society is to effect a paradigm shift in our cultural attitude towards sexuality. This can be achieved through a pro active , integrated education program packaged as part of life skills. Well, if I may say Ray, although the impulse is noble, well researched, empirical and sensible there is one vital ingredient you have neglected to include in all of this- namely , personal opinion. Implementing such a “life-skills” program exploring the positive virtues of a positive sex attitude requires a huge cultural paradigm shift – which in essence means changing the ways people think about themselves, others, their religion, their relationships..I don’t think this Utopian impulse has much of a chance because sex is a sensitive and personal reality. The only real way to effect a cultural shift in our attitudes is through story telling and the narrative structure. Traditional , cultural attitudes are embedded in the stories or mythology perpetuated consecutively in and through the younger generations. I think this is the only glimmer of hope to effect this type of social change. And how do you change the nature and culture of story telling when Hollywood, success, advertising, and the recycling of our myth making industries dominates every aspect of our lives? And you agreed in your statement that for an adult to achieve self mastery in this area was tantamount to high cognitive skills. There aren’t too many bright politicians out there. A very thought provoking and powerful discourse on this topic and I admire the scope of your analysis. But in my honest estimation, this has buckley’s chance of happening because sex governs our lives , metaphorically speaking, and to suggest that people and children should altruistically give in and satisfy these desires based on personal pleasures in order to break free from the constraints imposed from external sources is to deny the capacity for exploitation of this by others who are not so altruistically inclined. George Orwell successfully pointed this out in his parable, Animal Farm. I suspect there is a Utopian ideal underpinning much of what your essay is saying. In the West it is American culture that predominately dictates and perpetuates our mythology – and we all know how sick and dysfunctional America is in regards its internal policies…..don’t get me started on its external policies. Please don’t take my appraisal of this well thought out deconstruction of the poltics of sex you have espoused here as an insult, but rather as a means to intellectually stimulate and add to the discussion which obviously has a significant impact on me. If I am too bold in my comment forgive me this slip. William :-)
Well, just quickly, the type of sex education I have in mind is being implemented by some people in some countries. Holland is a good example. But we have a growing gap in the Anglophone countries between an increasingly educated, sex positive community and the sex negative religious community. Change is slow but the increasing acceptance of gay marriage is a sign of change.
I honestly thought that the idea behind the integrated sexology approach went much further than that. I suspected it aimed at curing sexual problems on a range of issues through a change in attitudes on all fronts. But I get your point. Change is slow. Thanx. Anyhow I will get back to your other essays as well some time soon. I enjoy your simple expression to deconstruct complex ideas.
It does go much further. My reply was short because I have limited time and this is a very large subject. As you look through my blog you’ll see I expand on several points. I’m currently interested in recent findings in neurobiology. In regard to Utopian sex education I suggest you read ‘Island’ by Aldous Huxley.