There is dizzying complexity to the question: why is society so sexually repressed? Even those who fight to free themselves from the pathological conformity of normal courtship and bonding find themselves still mired in the mud of love, a world of strangers mistreated, genders pitted against one another. How does this persist in a time of scientific enlightenment?
I have one answer: the sexually repressed are good workers.
Systems of power have influenced culture since the dawn of civilization, and they want one thing: more power. It is well understood that culture is itself a powerful force that shapes human behavior. It just so happens that our culture today values hard work, chaste women, and the nuclear family. Was it the workers who wanted this? Or could our culture be a result of what others wanted for us?
The average human in the wild "works" 11 hours a week, maybe up to 4 hours a day. And that's more like hanging out with his buddies doing guy stuff. Hard to call it "work." Are we, the civilized, truly fulfilled by working jobs we hate, during hours we don't make, taking orders from others, so that we can barely afford the things we need and want? Sorry, but evolution says this behavior is unnatural.
The average human in the wild "works" 11 hours a week, maybe up to 4 hours a day. And that's more like hanging out with his buddies doing guy stuff. Hard to call it "work." Are we, the civilized, truly fulfilled by working jobs we hate, during hours we don't make, taking orders from others, so that we can barely afford the things we need and want? Sorry, but evolution says this behavior is unnatural.
Ask: what do sexually repressed people do? That's easy, they seek out sex. What if it's hard to get? Well then they try hard. How do they get it? Here's where it gets interesting.
It wasn't until very recently that women, as a convention, "worked" in the professional sense. Early labor was physically demanding, so systems of power preferred men for this work, which confined women to the home. Culture fueled the divide by defining gender roles, leaving women to a life of domesticity and men to till the fields.
In this environment, how would a repressed man get sex? Many ways. Mostly, he would compete for status and resources. Last question: how does a man in society earn status and resources? You guessed it: hard work.
Hard work is necessary to stay afloat in society, and that's one reason that we uphold the cultural value of hard work. There are loved ones who rely on that paycheck. So yes, even poor people should want to work hard in that sense.
But work ethic is also a tremendous benefit to systems of power: owners, corporations, political bodies, industries, economies, nations. They have an incentive and an advantage to mold culture toward this value.
But work ethic is also a tremendous benefit to systems of power: owners, corporations, political bodies, industries, economies, nations. They have an incentive and an advantage to mold culture toward this value.
The guy who invented corn flakes, John Harvey Kellogg, is a vivid example. He owned an empire and fought tooth and nail to repress the "animalistic" urges of man. Corn flakes were designed to decrease libido. He campaigned to normalize circumcision in order to curb masturbation in boys, which he believed caused "cancer of the womb." He reported that "the application of pure carbolic acid to the clitoris an excellent means of allaying the abnormal excitement."
I like that he recommended "pure" carbolic acid. You don't want additives in your genital mutilations.
The more you look at the modern evolution of courtship, the more this seems to be true. The contemporary 'masculinity crisis' is a great example of men living in a time of dwindling job opportunity, increasing sexual access via porn and promiscuous dating app culture, thus driving women to increased desperation, because less men need women less. Women are then told to solve this problem by culturally valuing "independence," rather than embracing a deep, natural need for tribe, family, and gang-mentality love.
The more you look at the modern evolution of courtship, the more this seems to be true. The contemporary 'masculinity crisis' is a great example of men living in a time of dwindling job opportunity, increasing sexual access via porn and promiscuous dating app culture, thus driving women to increased desperation, because less men need women less. Women are then told to solve this problem by culturally valuing "independence," rather than embracing a deep, natural need for tribe, family, and gang-mentality love.
The whole situation raises interesting questions about the direction of the future with regard to sexual repression. Are women even more reliant on their careers now that men place relatively less importance towards their own? How will the importance of marriage fare in the future? How will women respond if the decline continues? How will society function without tightly knit nuclear families?
