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dincubus -> RE: Controlling Women's Sexuality (8/2/2006 12:28:20 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: LadyEllen
Hi
I'm taking this as referring to more the social constraints which are placed on women's sexuality rather than anything in BDSM as such (where I find, almost anything goes!).
Its difficult for us looking back through an age of christian censorship to know how pre-christian societies in Europe dealt with female sexuality. The church destroyed much of anything from the ancient world that referred to sexuality, and this destruction was prosecuted even more fully when it came to anything that dealt with female sexuality. Christianity has only two roles for women - that of the harlot and that of the pure virgin or mother. Basically this means that any woman who does not conform to the type of moralistic asexuality of the virgin or mother is a harlot - hence evil, hence due persecution and execution. That this heritage of the culture of Judaism found its way in similar form into Islam is noteworthy.
At the same time, despite the destruction there is evidence that in the ancient world the roles and characters of women as multi-dimensional beings was known and acknowledged simply from the fact that there were so many Goddesses - some of whom were directly associated with the power of female sexuality. Freyja is a great example in this - a powerful, sexual woman not averse to using her sex for advantage, and yet not purely a "harlot" figure as the church would describe her - She is also Goddess of magic (for which read science, psychology, philosophy, writing etc in the modern world) the equal to Odin, a warrior, the uniter of couples and groups and so much more; a fully rounded woman in other words. It was not for nothing that independent, non conforming women even until quite recent times were condemned as witches - basically they had shown evidence of being drawn to the ancient ways.
Why is female sexuality controlled in our society? Look to the church. Is this the right way for us? No - we had a different way long ago. Can we restore that ancient way? Probably not - but we can try and many of us already are trying and achieving this.
E
LadyEllen,
All I can say right now is damn well put. I had never considered the sociological/religious aspect to the whole question. When i read what you had written, I kept saying to myself... uh huh, right, I see this now.
And you are right, the form in which the church's control/role set for women, as it had migrated into modern day Islam is indeed interesting.
And I know all too well the way in which roles are set for women in the church, as a matter of fact, within deeper issues with the church in which I had grown up, is why I have converted, as such, to paganism.
sorry for the bit of off topic discussion there
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