Patriarchy and the Notion That Sex Is Worse Than Murder
But why would gender equality align with sex-positivity and gender inequality bring sex-negativity?
--
A man kills in an attempt to eliminate sexual temptation. But isn’t murder more heinous than sex? And is sex heinous?
How does one arrive at such a mindset?
Much has been said about evangelical teachings that, while rarely inciting murder, drew Robert Aaron Long to kill eight people, six of them Asian women who worked at spas in the Atlanta region. The teachings commonly reduce a man’s worthiness to his skill at keeping his mind off of illicit thoughts and reduce a woman’s worthiness to modesty — so as to keep men from sinning. Because if he sins it’s her fault, really. The next logical step in Long’s mind was to eradicate evil, immodest women.
Few reach that level of crazy. Yet many see sex as sinful and find worthiness reduced to women showing skin and men masturbating. But why do so many see sex as the pathway to Hell in the first place?
Sex-negativity has a long and strong history in the Western world, yet some cultures are, or have been, marked by sex-positivity. Before European contact, the ancient Hawaiians saw sexual pleasure as a gift of the gods. Genitalia of powerful gods were prominently portrayed and even worshipped. American Indians, pre-contact, were also sex-positive. Young people who had sex outside of marriage were simply normal, which is similar to both the Hawaiians and the African !Kung, who say sex is like food, both being necessary for sustenance.
Each of these societies also lack a system of patriarchal male dominance, unlike Robert Long’s Baptist church which, as part of the Southern Baptist Convention, tells women to submit to their husbands and blames women for men’s sexual misdeeds.
But why would gender equality align with sex-positivity and gender inequality bring sex-negativity?
Early humans were foragers and foraging societies even today are marked by general equality and unconcern with “sexual sin.” We don’t know exactly how…
