I had intended to pick up and talk about the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear which went on this weekend -- since I am, naturally, a Stewart/Colbert fan -- but I've been reading this book which has dominated the last few days and so I can't help but want to wax philosophical at it. (Also, I'm desperately trying to avoid ranting about Glenn Beck, Fox News, and the state of modern media because, let's face it, nothing good will come of that).
I'm going to warn you right now, you're going to have to bear with me because I'm kind of writing this off the cuff. I had intended to be a good little researcher and actually finish my book before talking about it, but I got excited and am prematurely spewing my opinion.
The book is called Sex at Dawn, and is not a guide to how to get freaky in the bedroom. Written by Christopher Ryan Ph.D. and Cacilda Jethá, M.D. (who both have extensive and interesting backgrounds), their website describes the book as showing "how our promiscuous past haunts our current struggles regarding monogamy, sexual orientation, and family dynamics." I have to give credit where credit's due, I wouldn't be reading this book right now if it wasn't for listening to Dan Savage's podcast where he had Christopher Ryan on as a guest. I recommend listening to it for an interesting discussion and dynamic... I would double check which podcast it was and link it directly for you folks, but the government blocks his website. You can't see me, but I'm rolling my eyes and muttering about censorship under my breath.
I'm going to take a quick step back here, and potentially do this whole post in more than one part as I get increasingly long winded. When I was in highschool and feeling idealistically young and full of save-the-world energy, I read a book called Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. It was one of those books that changed my outlook from then and largely helped shaped my current views on my world and my place on it. (Note: that link is to the Wiki entry for the book, and should come with a giant spoiler alert sign since it gives the entire breakdown of the story. The author's website is here if you're interested). Ishmael asked an immediate question that I think all teenagers can relate to, and most adults if they really stop and think about it: What the hell is wrong with the world? I'm over simplifying it. It's a book based on the assumption that we feel there is something innately wrong with how things are turning out, and it traces back man's societal and cultural development to track down the place where we took a wrong turn.
At the risk of giving it all away (trust me, read the book, the journal is worth as much as the answer), the central premise is that with the advent of agriculture, with man kind turning from hunter-gatherers to animal domestication and sedentary societies, it fundamentally changed our society, destroyed the previous "tribal groupings" and that this change is not for the better. The societal change that came from now being a sedentary culture meant that although we have more control over our food supply, our mentality regarding the possessive nature of our food supply had to change. You no longer shared with your tribe-mates, you bartered with your neighbours. More stable food supply led to population explosions, increasing disease and shorter life expectancy. Owning land led to wanting more land led to warring with your neighbour to take his land. Matriarchal hierarchies gave way to patriarchal ones and the subservience of women who now had to barter their bodies for the land, food and protection of the controlling male class.
I'm skipping along past all the proofs for the above claims. I'm not about to re-write both books here, so if you would like the in-depth account of where all these claims are coming from, read the books and read the footnotes found in the books.
The reason I'm laying out these theories regarding man's development going back to the Neolithic Revolution (ie, the agricultural revolution) is because Sex at Dawn takes the same stance that Ishmael does, but in regards to human sexuality. They look at the current story being told about human sexuality, the accepted narrative of why our sexuality is the way it is and why men and women are the way they are, and conclude that it doesn't compute.
It made me want to cheer out loud. Sex has been my focus of study for the last few years as I waned in and out of school, and I've been of the stoic opinion that our current sexual narrative is woefully lacking. What is taught in schools is pathetic. The lack of real, actual, useful and true information is embarrassingly deficient. Human sexuality is an omnipresent fact of life, and yet the discussions surrounding it are hush-hushed, the information is tightly controlled and editted for "respectability", the taboo is alive and thriving.
A 13 year old can go into a movie theatre and watch someone be brutally chopped to bits, but heaven forbid there's a penis on screen.
To be continued...
