It’s amazing, for how much our American society thinks about sex, how little they think about the biologically imperative nature of sex, or our compulsions to seek it. It’s like we live in a world of sexual gluttons, hooked on the sex equivalent of fast food. We can plug in and have virtual sex without ever touching another human being. We can “purchase” mates from foreign countries. Love affairs are started online without a look into each others eyes. We believe in fantasies and manipulated images. Fetishes and dirty secrets are now opened for purview in the mainstream.
How far have we strayed from nature? How did this happen? My current working hypothesis says, maybe one of the greatest contributing factors to this conundrum is a friend I hold dear; widely available access to birth control. Granted: sex may be recreational too and take on many creative forms, and “the powers that be”, did “make it feel good”. So let me clarify, the sex to which I am referring is good ‘ol fashioned vaginally penetrative climactic sex with an opposite gendered partner. To see my point, imagine for a moment our modern society without birth control. What a disaster it would be if we continued our current habits. The reality that sex makes babies would probably quickly force most to consider their choices in partners and quantity therein more sobering.
I, like most all modern American women, have been guilty at times of having a cavalier attitude towards sexual relationships myself. It’s nearly impossible not to in this world we have built. But, like any behavior– we can question “why”. I am not unlike most women, I shudder at the thought of possibly creating a child with some of my past partners. Without the haze of synthetic hormones, and the false sense of security birth control provides, our natural ability to “suss out” a good mate would probably be more intact.
Now, in terms of mate selection, what is “natural”? If we continue, with procreation in mind, the process becomes simpler. If a man can produce sperm every morning, yet a woman’s gestation period takes her off the “breeding market” for nine months at minimum, wouldn’t it make good biological sense then that the woman should be the more selective of the two in with whom she has sex? Is that then why historically men have always been in the position of “suitor” to “win” the “rights” to a woman’s bed? A human mating dance of sorts. Women now seem to see sex as disposable as their male counter parts. Women seem to be emulating men as sexual aggressors, in what I feel is a misguided attempt to take control of their sexualities. Women are now dancing, vying, competing, denigrating, and destroying themselves and each other, to “win” the “right” to his affections. Is this a good thing? Is this progress? Is this how nature intended? Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely not of a prudish Victorian mindset, I enjoy sex completely. What I question is in how we regard the act today and how unnatural, superficial, and hollow it has become. It is evident in everyday life, (i.e. divorce rates, broken homes, the media, domestic violence, etc) that men and women have become disconnected and at odds with each other. Men and women struggling for dominance while neither “sides” inherent needs are being met. If we are now asked to be so acutely sensitive to the unique needs of others, then “why” is this not being translated into the uniquely different needs of men and women? Where is that respect for our gender differences? I am not and will never be a man, nor should I ask myself to emulate one. I am equal, but different. What happened to synergy and harmony? How much of our society has crumbled because of the deterioration of the familial fabric? Are women, like me, who have consciously decided to forgo having children, some sort of aberration? Is my biological clock broken, or just disillusioned by my idealism? Is this path we are embarking on, in the thick of the “sexual revolution”, sustainable? Is it simply a backlash from women’s repression, if so, then when and how do we stabilize? I want to be a woman: equal to but different than a man. Why is this so difficult and distorted? These are just a few of the questions that trouble my pretty little head 😉 Your thoughts, feedback, and nay saying, is appreciated and encouraged. Namaste ❤
One of my favorite quotes by a woman, revolutionary for her time, and gone too soon:
“I do not want to be the leader. I refuse to be the leader. I want to live darkly and richly in my femaleness. I want a man lying over me, always over me. His will, his pleasure, his desire, his life, his work, his sexuality the touchstone, the command, my pivot. I don’t mind working, holding my ground intellectually, artistically; but as a woman, oh, God, as a woman I want to be dominated. I don’t mind being told to stand on my own feet, not to cling, be all that I am capable of doing, but I am going to be pursued, fucked, possessed by the will of a male at his time, his bidding.” – Anais Nin
A glimpse of life from the moon... 