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Do We ‘Need’ Sex?
Total celibacy might be an unrealistic goal, but mitigated celibacy seems a justified response to our rape culture.
By Daniel Gauss
Celibacy goes deeper than the flesh.
~F. Scott Fitzgerald from This Side of Paradise
While reading Augustine’s Confessions, and his denunciation of his earlier life of sexual profligacy, a question (incidental to his story but still quite important) hit me. Do we become sexually aroused only because of external stimuli, or do our bodies cause us to become aroused as part of some natural cycle, causing us to then seek out external stimulation?
It turns out that both situations are at play. It is not just the outside world, especially the commercial world, bombarding us with sexual stimulation that might cause arousal; our own bodies can start nudging us toward arousal with virtually no external stimulation (this is called spontaneous arousal).
Becoming aware of both types of situations allows for a path toward greater personal responsibility and even the choice of a type of celibacy. That is not to say we should all become celibate, but it is to say that a type of mitigated celibacy seems to be a viable choice. It is also a good way to step back from the promptings of an overly…
