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More About Sex (Because you like it so much)
A firestorm on the message board last week--gay marriage struck a nerve.
Me, I had a good yuk. First, over all the historical and biblical arguments. Excuse me, but if we are prisoners of history and myth, how we do ever advance? Doesn't the earth stay...flat? And then there was the 'marriage is for straights only' argument. Don't you love it when your neighbor purports to know Eternal Truth? (Nobody took me up on my request for stock tips.) And then there was the 'gay marriage diminishes straight marriage' argument. Like the sight of two gay guys in hot embrace with rings on their left hands is going to inflame my Johnson and make me abandon my wife. Like giving the most modest legitimacy to gays is going to be the tipping point that sends borderline straights rushing to join a minority that's widely despised in America.
What I got out of last week: I really need to focus more on sex here.
One, for the simple reason that we're all very interested in it. Two, because that interest seems to cause a problem for some of us, and it would be profitable to drill down and try to figure out why. Three, because some of us--well, me, anyway--believe that loving sex is a sacrament and greatly pleases God. And, finally, because how we --well, we straights, who are all that matter in this country--think about sex seems to be connected to our feelings about women and women's rights.
From an interview with writer Elizabeth Gilbert:
"Joseph Campbell spent a lifetime studying myths from around the world, ultimately sketching the archetype of the hero as a protagonist who sets out on a journey that ends in personal—and spiritual—transformation. Do you see echoes of the hero’s tale (well, heroine’s) in your own story?
"Back when Campbell (whom I love, by the way) was teaching at Sarah Lawrence College, his female students would sometimes ask, 'But what about the heroine’s journey? Don’t women get to participate in this universal questing epic?' Traditional world mythology, however, frankly replies: 'Nope.' Women (as life bearers) have always been seen by mythmakers (men) as being automatically perfect for their task; they don’t need to transform."
Which leads me to this week's question. John Lennon wrote that "woman is the nigger of the world." True? If so, what is it about men that wants women subjugated? Why do religions and cultures give women fewer rights? Which cultures and religions are enlightened on women's rights--and why?
And--you knew it would come down to this--why do women take their clothes off for men who disrespect them?
Me, I had a good yuk. First, over all the historical and biblical arguments. Excuse me, but if we are prisoners of history and myth, how we do ever advance? Doesn't the earth stay...flat? And then there was the 'marriage is for straights only' argument. Don't you love it when your neighbor purports to know Eternal Truth? (Nobody took me up on my request for stock tips.) And then there was the 'gay marriage diminishes straight marriage' argument. Like the sight of two gay guys in hot embrace with rings on their left hands is going to inflame my Johnson and make me abandon my wife. Like giving the most modest legitimacy to gays is going to be the tipping point that sends borderline straights rushing to join a minority that's widely despised in America.
What I got out of last week: I really need to focus more on sex here.
One, for the simple reason that we're all very interested in it. Two, because that interest seems to cause a problem for some of us, and it would be profitable to drill down and try to figure out why. Three, because some of us--well, me, anyway--believe that loving sex is a sacrament and greatly pleases God. And, finally, because how we --well, we straights, who are all that matter in this country--think about sex seems to be connected to our feelings about women and women's rights.
From an interview with writer Elizabeth Gilbert:
"Joseph Campbell spent a lifetime studying myths from around the world, ultimately sketching the archetype of the hero as a protagonist who sets out on a journey that ends in personal—and spiritual—transformation. Do you see echoes of the hero’s tale (well, heroine’s) in your own story?
"Back when Campbell (whom I love, by the way) was teaching at Sarah Lawrence College, his female students would sometimes ask, 'But what about the heroine’s journey? Don’t women get to participate in this universal questing epic?' Traditional world mythology, however, frankly replies: 'Nope.' Women (as life bearers) have always been seen by mythmakers (men) as being automatically perfect for their task; they don’t need to transform."
Which leads me to this week's question. John Lennon wrote that "woman is the nigger of the world." True? If so, what is it about men that wants women subjugated? Why do religions and cultures give women fewer rights? Which cultures and religions are enlightened on women's rights--and why?
And--you knew it would come down to this--why do women take their clothes off for men who disrespect them?
