Who gives sex a bad name? Exploring why we value human, and avian celibacy, so very much
The primary reason for disgust is the close proximity between the sexual and excretory organs in the human body People revere celibacy as it represents the ability to control urges in order to achieve rewards and pleasures A retired high court judge from Rajasthan, Mahesh Chandra Sharma, broke the internet on Wednesday when he gave us a new lesson in avian biology - peacocks are celibate and peahens get pregnant by drinking the male bird's tears.
DIRTY TRUTH
Hilarious, but curious. Why are we culturally conditioned to see sex as something dirty (and even Western)? Why is sexual pleasure so unseemly and crude to us? And why is procreative sex the only sanctioned form? “The primary reason for disgust is the close proximity between the sexual and excretory organs in the human body,” says counseling psychologist Deepak Kashyap. He sees many patients who are unable to accept their sexuality as a normal part of their lives. “But on another level, we revere celibacy as it represents the ability to control ‘lower order' urges and impulses in order to achieve ‘higher order' rewards and pleasures,” he explains.
Kashyap also says that lack of a balanced approach to finding happiness and our limited self-awareness lead us to associate sex with shame and guilt. “We feel shame when we are unable to meet social standards and guilt when we fail to meet personal expectations,” he says explaining why people feel uncomfortable about the very idea of sexual pleasure.
Author Kiran Manral has another take on the matter. She feels it has more to do with how the female is perceived as a reproductive tool in a patriarchal society and how any feminine role beyond that is just a ploy to lead the male astray. “Women have been perennially depicted and castigated as the temptresses in even our mythology. Look at the many apsaras who were sent down from heaven to make the holy men break their meditation and not threaten the Gods,” says Manral explaining how misogyny is the basis for our obsession with celibacy. “Brahmacharya, if a choice, is always valid. What is not valid is distorting biology and basic reproduction facts,” she says questioning the rationale behind justice Sharma's remarks on peacock sex.
Wonder what peacocks have to say on the matter.
The primary reason for disgust is the close proximity between the sexual and excretory organs in the human body People revere celibacy as it represents the ability to control urges in order to achieve rewards and pleasures A retired high court judge from Rajasthan, Mahesh Chandra Sharma, broke the internet on Wednesday when he gave us a new lesson in avian biology - peacocks are celibate and peahens get pregnant by drinking the male bird's tears.
DIRTY TRUTH
Hilarious, but curious. Why are we culturally conditioned to see sex as something dirty (and even Western)? Why is sexual pleasure so unseemly and crude to us? And why is procreative sex the only sanctioned form? “The primary reason for disgust is the close proximity between the sexual and excretory organs in the human body,” says counseling psychologist Deepak Kashyap. He sees many patients who are unable to accept their sexuality as a normal part of their lives. “But on another level, we revere celibacy as it represents the ability to control ‘lower order' urges and impulses in order to achieve ‘higher order' rewards and pleasures,” he explains.
Kashyap also says that lack of a balanced approach to finding happiness and our limited self-awareness lead us to associate sex with shame and guilt. “We feel shame when we are unable to meet social standards and guilt when we fail to meet personal expectations,” he says explaining why people feel uncomfortable about the very idea of sexual pleasure.
Author Kiran Manral has another take on the matter. She feels it has more to do with how the female is perceived as a reproductive tool in a patriarchal society and how any feminine role beyond that is just a ploy to lead the male astray. “Women have been perennially depicted and castigated as the temptresses in even our mythology. Look at the many apsaras who were sent down from heaven to make the holy men break their meditation and not threaten the Gods,” says Manral explaining how misogyny is the basis for our obsession with celibacy. “Brahmacharya, if a choice, is always valid. What is not valid is distorting biology and basic reproduction facts,” she says questioning the rationale behind justice Sharma's remarks on peacock sex.
Wonder what peacocks have to say on the matter.
No comments:
Post a Comment