Pink beast By Jason Randolph BurrellI was considering writing a post about highbrow vrs. lowbrow literature but decided to write about pornography & sexual repression instead. Mainly, because the conversation in the last post steered around to the adult sex market and got me thinking...
My own sexuality & the subject of sexuality in general is something I've given a lot of thought to since I became single after spending the major portion of my adult life married & influenced by convention & puritan attitudes about sex. After leading a sheltered life for so many years, I suddenly find myself with the freedom to do what I want & with whom I want. I have unlimited access to the internet & nobody looking over my shoulder to see what I'm looking at.
Also,when my oldest daughter chose exotic dancing (stripping to some people) as a way to make a living. I've was forced to rethink some of my assumptions about that profession, so I could come to terms with her choices.
With all of that being said, I still have very mixed feelings about pornography.
I used to think all pornography was strictly bad & immoral. I never allowed it in my house & fiercely "protected" my family from it. I still believe pornography should be treated like the other vices; drugs, alcohol, & gambling & children should never be exposed to it. I also believe the pornography trade has the potential to be very exploitative & often is. But for all it's downsides, I would rather live in a society that allows for expressions of sexuality ...
In climates of fear & repression, where expressions of sexuality are considered shameful & forbidden, human sexuality is still expressed, but it morphs into something dark & evil...This article contains interesting comments about Islamic society & sexual repression.
An excerpt:
Ates: "Conservative forces have a lot of political power in the Islamic world. They have power and control over half the population, namely the women. They spread fear and they use violence. Making sexuality taboo enables them to isolate themselves from the West, which, of course, is a monster and is to blame for all the bad things in this world. Our religion, they say, helps to keep us from being taken over by the West. We are the better ones, the authentic ones. This mentality makes it possible to avoid even mentioning one’s own failure."
This article highlights the degree of frustration experienced by people under the Islamic reign of sexual repression. An excerpt:
The sexual frustration of many young Arabs has countless causes, most of them economic. Jobs are scarce and low-paying, and most young men are unable to afford and furnish their own apartments -- a prerequisite to being able to marry in most Arab countries. At the same time, premarital sex is an absolute taboo in Islam. As a result, cities across the Arab world -- Algiers, Alexandria, Sana'a and Damascus -- are filled with "boy-men" between 18 and 35 who are forced to live with their parents for the foreseeable future.
In this article Austin Cline gives us his take on who sexual repression played a role in the medieval practice of persecuting of witches:
It seems to me that witches served a symbolic role for the male, celibate religious authorities in Europe.
Indeed, most of those accused of witchcraft almost certainly weren't guilty of anything of the sort. Instead, their treatment at the hands of men, and the rationales used by those men, indicate that the oppression of witches was somehow symbolic of the oppression of women in general, of women's sexuality, and of sexuality in general.
I think that it was the religious authorities who were obsessed and insatiable with their sexuality, but since their repressive ideology couldn't allow that, they had to project their desires onto others. If women, sexually evil beasts, were actually responsible for the priests' sexual desires, then the priests could in turn still feel holy -- and better yet, "holier than thou," more righteous and holy than the hated women around them.
Why is it in political systems, in which religion plays a major role (theocracies) , sexuality is repressed & women oppressed?
posted by Rita @ 6:46 AM
30 Comments
30 Comments:
What a beautiful piece of contemporary art Ms.Rita ... I love it! Nope ... never seen it before. :)
Later Ms.Rita .........
I think most of the theocracies we see are Abrahamic in origin (Christian/Jeudism/Muslim). I see the Abrahamic god (Yahweh, Allah, Whoever) as quite misogynistic himself.
We need look no further than genesis to see that women caused our downfall....Original Sin ?
Exactly what knowledge was gained from the forbidden fruit? The knowledge that nudity is bad, sex is dirty, and you shouldn't leave your sons alone for too long ??
The Bible is chock full of woman hatin' in the OT. Even in the NT (The Jesus Chronicles), women are either whores or virgins.
There doesn't seem to be much of a "gray" area in terms of sexuality for women in Abrahamic religions. The prevailing philosophy seems to be, "If you ain't my Mama, you're a whore."
In regards to pornagraphy:
That's so hard to define.
Some see simple nudity as porn. I feel that nudity is natural and does not, in and of itself, cause any harm to children. Heck, they're born nekkid.
Raw sex, on the other hand, is too much for young minds.
So, I agree. Children should be protected from porn. I think, also, children should be protected from scenes of graphic violence, perhaps more so than porn.
RC
A collection of the artists work is Here. Enjoy!
Mac
It certainly is a reflection of ancient, superstitious, out-dated modes of thinking that are no longer acceptable to modern enlightened men & women. The more progressive & liberal factions of the Christian church have advocated for equal human rights & taken stands in that area. Progressive Muslims do this too.
I am thinking though, of the viral hatred & persecution of women that is manifested. Where the theocracy literally attempts to make the object of hate, evil... fearful, monstrous, poweful & loathsome. It uses suppression, oppression, & the authority of religion to do so.
What does this really stem from? How did this come to be? I would have to say in part because it was/is allowed by patriarchal societies. For instance, I love reading philosophy & classical literature from the Greeks to the age of enlightenment, it is a study in progressive intellectual thinking. Nietzsche is a favorite of mine, he lambasted religion & his theory of master/slave mentality is enlightening, but he did not address the oppression of women in religion(being a bit of a misogynist himself, I'm sure, he never thought of it). The same with Machiavelli & his take on human nature & power. Or even Thomas More, with his "Utopia". I could go on & on...What was the matter with all these intelligent/scholarly men through out the ages? Were they oppressed themselves? Were they blinded by convention? Or deep down, are men actually afraid of women?
The key word is "power"...
Pornography?
I don't even own a pornograph.
Thanx for the link to the art piece's ... very nice work indeed, I do love the pink backing though as far as being unique.
Thank You Ms.Rita ..........
It is logical that sexual repression and puritanical attitudes go hand-in-hand with subjugation of women. To men, women represent sexual temptation; so when sex is repressed or considered dirty, women are seen as a temptation to unclean or sinful behavior; they're a threat to the repressive social order and moral system, so they need to be controlled and may themselves be regarded as impure.
In the most sexually-puritanical societies (ultra-conservative Islamic countries) young males have so little social contact with women other than their mothers and sisters that they grow to look upon women as almost mysterious alien beings, not persons.
The correlation fits remarkably well. The societies most relaxed about sexuality and pornography are the Scandinavian ones, and women are more fully equal with men there than anywhere else in the world. The most puritanical societies in the Middle East are the places where women have the least freedom. Look at other societies -- Russia, the US, Latin America, China, and so forth -- and you'll see that wherever they fall on the spectrum of sexual freedom vs. puritanism, they'll be on a similar place on the spectrum of how much freedom and equality women have.
Why does religion come into it? For reasons which are still debatable, religion is one of the main sources of sexual repression -- control of sexuality seems to help religion maintain control of society. This is most marked in the Abrahamic religions, but can be seen in other religions too.
Since religion tends to monopolize mythology and "morals", it also provides a structure to codify and solidify the subjugation of women which results from the sexual repression.
"Religion is regarded by the common people as true,
by the wise as false,
and by the rulers as useful."
- Seneca the Younger
With theocracies, that usefullness is total control.
nice topic and very well said about things not many people want to talk about...
on the other hand, you just talked about the sexual repression in islamic society... what about yours ? what about mine ? what about ours ? ... no seriously, islamic society might be worst, but we still live in the world of "Men"...
Thanks infidel!
I found this very interesting to ponder:
Since religion tends to monopolize mythology and "morals", it also provides a structure to codify and solidify the subjugation of women which results from the sexual repression.
Speaking of myth...in a series of lectures that I was listening to on classical Greek & Roman mythology, the point was brought up concerning the role of "monstrous females & female monsters" in classical mythologies.(think, Amazons, Medea, Medusa, etc...)The Professor "Elizabeth Vandiver" made a good point about the nature of these female monsters & the anxiety about female powers in these patriarchal cultures, where men held ALL the positions of power. Except, the woman's sexual power & her ability through child bearing to control reproduction. Professor Vandiver even suggests that..."the frequent rape motif in Greek myth, because these rapes always result in offspring; the motif may have less to do with male sexual pleasure then males desire to control fertility."
My point in bringing all of this up is the direct connection between the foundations of the Abrahamic religions & what is considered western thought.
mac
So true...
BTW, I also agree with you about children & exposure to graphic violence. :)
Prash
I would like to take up that subject. & esp. hear your views, as we come from such different perspectives. :)
you just talked about the sexual repression in islamic society... what about yours ? what about mine ? what about ours ?
Because Islamic society is the most extreme case, it helps us understand other cases.
Rita -- The fact that religions codify things the way they do makes both the sexual repression and the subjugation of women much harder to change in religious societies. In places like Europe where religion has become very weak, both of those things were able to fade away naturally. In Islamic countries they are proving terribly difficult to uproot.
A related point of interest is the correlation between availability of pornography and low levels of actual sex crimes. Both in American states and European countries, levels of rape and child molestation declined as pornography laws were loosened (and sometime rose again after laws were re-tightened). Japan is awash in the most bizarre and violence-laced pornography (trust me on this, I've been there), and while it is not as gender-egalitarian as the West, women are safer from actual violence there than almost anywhere else in the world. Again, sexual repression and violence against women are correlated.
I like the Orgasm.com website, it's like King Solomon once said "I have 500 concubines at my disposal" or something like that.
....plus you can't get an STD from a porno either, so risk is minimized and reward is maximized.
About 90% of the chicks on that website live in Scottsdale too.
...plus I don't have to blow myself up by crashing any airplanes into buildings to get hot action either, like apparently Muslims do.
Interesting post rita,
two issues addressed i guess.
as for religious repression, i think we are slowly coming out of what was as normal (meaning religion) as existence itself. we haven't, even in western cultures, truly become equals.
i'm open to porn, but in the main, it continues the subjugation of women, rather than act as a liberator... and I have no clear picture of a society where women have defined themselves and men have accepted this.
what role would porn play?
religion might be a red herring when it comes to the issue at hand. it seems like basic patriarchal, rules of the savannah type garbage.
soooo many variables, the division between the sexes makes racism seem simplistic.
50% of pornography is men and the other 50% is women, except for in Lesbian porn whereby it is 100% women. A woman submitting to the sexual urges/fantasies of another woman is not demeaning is it? Even if millions of guys like to watch it?
To that, I say no. Pornography isn't demeaning to women, it is religion that is, particularly the motheistic ones. Some polytheistic religions actually have goddesses that they praise. However, isn't the act of orgasm in itself a form of praise too? I love seeing women, they have certain powers over my mind and behavior that men don't, so how is that demeaning?
Of course, that doesn't mean that I look at all women as objects of my own affection just because there is an endless stream of them performing all manners of sexual acts online at the click of a button whenever I'm in the mood, it's actually just a audio-visual aid for a biological act is all.
If anything, pornography has helped me to have more respect for women, not less.
India : I found this interesting post - http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Tamil-Nadu/Kodai/blog-150765.html
to read about sexuality in India where prostitution was considered in high regards before the British colonisation came to India...when I say British colonisation, it implies Victorian puritanism.
Enjoy reading.
what role would porn play?
Guys would get off on it. That would be true whether women were socially fully equal or inferior or superior.
I forgot to mention ... this is a great posting Ms.Rita ... I just couldnt really comment since I dont know a Hell of alot about this, I just alway's kind of done what I wanted and never really thought much about what other folk's were doin I reckon.
Thank You Ms.Rita .....
infidel
Again, thanks so much for your well thought out & valuable contributions to this post.
Japanese porn...without going into any details, they do have some interesting fixations.
qf Well, you've certainly pointed out some benefits of pornography. Speaking of wise old sayings, have you heard the one about "having too much of a good thing."? Moderation is always a good policy. ;)
oneblood
Thanks for your comment. I confess I had a hard time when writing this post keeping the subject matter contained as it is.
I also figured the various commenters(?) would put their particular spins on it.
While, I agree that pornography does contribute to the subjugation of women, it's out there & people are going to make use of it. Apparently, women are subjugated in societies whether porn is acceptable or not. Interesting to note, in one of the articles I was reading on the subject, it was discovered by using google tracking technology that countries where pornography is forbidden have the highest traffic of internet porn site hits.
Equality & respect is gained not by suppression but by the right kind of education & by responsible adults being...well...responsible.
I'm not sure what you mean by religion being a red herring?
Like infidel says..."Since religion tends to monopolize mythology and "morals", it also provides a structure to codify and solidify the subjugation of women which results from the sexual repression."
You said....
soooo many variables, the division between the sexes makes racism seem simplistic.
Personally, I see most problems with the opposite sex as the fault of the individual not with men or women in general. Didn't we kinda go over this on one of your posts?
prash Thank you for the link. The information age has certainly broadened all of our horizons & our world is not so narrow as we sometimes tend to think or maybe even as we'd like. Colonial influence is a very interesting subject.("A Passage to India" by E.M. Forester is one of my favorite books. BTW) I imagine in all of your travels you see much evidence of how colonization affects cultures.
Another fascinating book I just finished is "A Splendid Exchange" subtitled, "How Trade Shaped the World" by William Bernstein. It touches on colonization by way of economic history, commerce & trade. India & the rest of that part of the worlds exploitation by the west takes up quite few chapters.
Hi RC
No problem. I'm glad someone enjoyed the art work. I'm assuming you figured out what the pink beast is supposed to be symbolic of?
Did you check out the link I gave you? His depictions of women are rather disturbing, some of his work I would love to have on my walls though.
Thanx Ms.Rita .... actually, it never crossed my mind to wonder what the pink beast is symbolic of. I just enjoy art, and make whatever I look at, be whatever I choose for it to be. I am rather a little desensitized to what may be considered as "disturbing art". I have a collection of probably the most offensive and disturbing art, literature, as well as video, that would be offensive even to the male gender, or any human with senses for that matter. Understand ... I have no limit's, rules, or guideline's when it come's to any art or literature, I have art that would make men's skin crawl for that matter. This is also why I am VERY selective who I share with as well. For me my Dear ... it's all art ...nothing more, and up to our own imagination to make it whatever we choose. I use alot of discretion for instance on my journal/blog as to what I post out of respect to some stranger who may happen to rub across it, so that it isnt too harsh let's say, I am an understanding man as well. No law's make me do this or system of morality ... just common respect for other's is all.
Have a good un .........
BTW ... I didnt answer your question as far as checking out the link you gave .......... Are you kiddin?! ... Absolutely I checked it ALL out! :)
I'd love to check out the bloody NFL Play off game's today on the tele ... but unfortunately, I'll be back on the road again in a few hour's from now ... I'll try to get what I can on the radio while on the road. I got to eat ... and make a living! I'm not fortunate enough to get a paycheck like some on Wall St. or Capitalism Hill from sitting on my ass, and running my mouth. :)
Later Girl! :)
Thanks for the warning.
The pink beast is obviously symbolic of the evil vagina. Ready to bite off any penis that comes near. It reminded me right away of some of the descriptions, writer Henry Miller, used when talking about sexual encounters with certain women. I'm thinking "Tropic of Cancer", maybe? Can you believe I read that book when I was about twelve? I didn't understand it of course but I do remember the dirty parts. I must of pilfered it from my dad. check out this quote i got off the Wikipedia site... "Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Michael Musmanno wrote Cancer is "not a book. It is a cesspool, an open sewer, a pit of putrefaction, a slimy gathering of all that is rotten in the debris of human depravity."
Now that's harsh!
Actually I wouldnt have guessed that from that photo, nor ever even viewed any human genetalia as any of those thing's, to each their own. That wasnt meant as a warning, I know human's better than they know themselves, and would know not to even share certain thing's with certain people, so nothing no one would have to be warned or worried about with me ... I can read a person you can say ... and know most people's limit's. So it isnt at all difficult for me not to offend someone ... what would be difficult ... is trying to find me actually doing something of the sort.
I remember once ... and so does my daughter's who were laughing their asses off at the time year's back. Two minister type gal's who were going door to door handing out pamphet's and talking to folk's about Jehovah or whoever ...knocked on our living room door... they said they wanted to "share" I reckon... I'm a fair guy ... said sure ...invited them in... told them to have a seat, even offered them iced tea or soda's ... they looked at my wall's and froze almost in shock ... all of the sudden ... they were literally shaking...their hand's that is from nerve's I reckon... I said please ladies ... have a seat. They said ..."no ... we have something we need to do we forgot about" or siimilar ... I never had a guest run so quick to get out of my living room ... my daughter's busted out laughing hysterically! I couldnt help to myself! :)
Later........
"Personally, I see most problems with the opposite sex as the fault of the individual not with men or women in general. Didn't we kinda go over this on one of your posts?"
A knowing smile crossed the vulnerable part of my ego as I realized that indeed we could have. Gender in general yes, but I believe you're being a bit more specific no? :-)
I should clarify about my favorite topic though. Religion I think is a red herring in terms of our past only, because we are brutal. We did what it 'took' to survive. But I agree with you 110% about the future. The less a decisive role in our reasoning it becomes the better.
Please forgive me if I repeat myself, it's not intentional...me brain has a mind of its own (sigh).
Thanks for that clarification. I knew we were on the same wave link.
I guess I am being more specific about bringing it down to the individual. Actually the recent conversations on your site & macs has stimulated my own thoughts on these issues. I think that too often we humans quickly blame gender as an excuse to avoid personal responsibility.
For instance... people who abuse (i don't mean sexually but in general)the other sex must have a hard time seeing them as individuals apart from the despised gender.
Rita, always good advice, nice proverb about the moderation, or as I like to think about it as a schedule. That's right, I schedule my porno time just like I schedule other things, lol.
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