Tuesday, May 21, 2013

La Paglia

makes sense. In a scathing review of some airlessly dogmatic and dismal pomo academic studies of kinky sex, she writes:

First of all, every gender studies curriculum must build biology into its program; without knowledge of biology, gender studies slides into propaganda. Second, the study of ancient tribal and agrarian cultures is crucial to end the present narrow focus on modern capitalist society. Third, the cynical disdain for religion that permeates high-level academe must end. (I am speaking as an atheist.) It is precisely the blindness to spiritual quest patterns that has most disabled the three books under review.

Imagine. Including the male and female bodies as data in the study of gender. How essentialist.


Her summary comments about her own reading of S/M match my own experience of working in therapy with men who are drawn to it, as well as Jungian Antony Stevens' analysis (who links it, in male-male forms, to initiation rituals)


My conclusion, after wide reading in anthropology and psychology, was that sadomasochism is an archaic ritual form that descends from prehistoric nature cults and that erupts in sophisticated "late" phases of culture, when a civilization has become too large and diffuse and is starting to weaken or decline. I state in Sexual Personae that "sex is a far darker power than feminism has admitted," and that its "primitive urges" have never been fully tamed: "My theory is that whenever sexual freedom is sought or achieved, sadomasochism will not be far behind." 
Sadomasochism's punitive hierarchical structure is ultimately a religious longing for order, marked by ceremonies of penance and absolution. Its rhythmic abuse of the body, which can indeed become pathological if pushed to excess, is paradoxically a reinvigoration, a trancelike magical realignment with natural energies. Hence the symbolic use of leather—primitive animal hide—for whips and fetish clothing. By redefining the boundaries of the body, SM limits and disciplines the overexpanded consciousness of "late" phases, which are plagued by free-floating doubts and anxieties.


Her article's clever title, Scholars in Bondage, makes her eligible to join the crack team of post heading writers here at ExC.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Capitalism popularizes S&M? Good Lord, as bad and stifled as scientific inquiries in a fundamentalist conclave.

An honest discussion of S&M and kink's psychological implications would be interesting. From my admittedly limited observation, involvement in BDSM has a lot of factors. Some people may have an interest due sheer curiosity. Others are interested due to its perceived rebelliousness. And others are drawn to it for cathartic reasons. I confess that I have watched some videos to relieve frustration; worked wonders and gave me some ideas that I would like to try out some day. ;)

A fascinating passage from Melinda Selmys' "Authentic Sexuality," otherwise a very orthodox Catholic discussion of sexual attraction and gender, cried bull at the Catholic claim that sex is always viewed as a miraculous act. She adds that everyday life can often make it a mundane, even comical act. Her call for Catholics to get over their fear of such things as fur-lined handcuffs and blindfolds struck me as I read La Paglia's article: even those rather common and mild kinks fall under the umbrella of BDSM.

-Sean

Anonymous said...

The idea that S&M marks the decline of a culture is concerning. Should it, then, be abstained from for being a celebration of the fall of civilization, or is it acceptable because it reinforces the basic power dynamics of a sexual relationship, and reasserts the natural order?

The religious aspects are, of course, interesting and appealing to me. I've always been interested in the self-discipline of Christian asceticism. Its mixing with the theological nature of sex, especially between lovers, could make for a heady combo. The fact that I like order and structure to interactions and tend to let people direct and lead me helps, too.

A relationship with somebody who has a keen interest in the body, especially a job in which one person is strict about their body, or helps people be physically disciplined, seems like a very natural environment for BDSM.

Hm. If a hunch I've had turns out to be true, I may be exploring B&D sooner than I thought.

-Sean

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