O: The Intimate History of the Orgasm
I flipped through a LOT of bookmarked pages and found the tidbits to be not all that great in the re-telling, without the context. But as there is a chapter called "A Little Coitus Never Hoitus" I just HAD to make an entry for the book, anyway. This is the book where I learned of Barbarella, after all :) Sooo...Basically, millions of other cultures are WAY more open, fair, and healthy when it comes to sex. The end.
Not really :) besides learning about all the crazy cultures out there, I also learned:
Celibacy was not imposed on the early Christian clergy, as opposed to monastic celibates, until the Second Lateran Council of 1139, and then only for financial reasons. The Church's idealization of celibacy derived originally from the supposed virginity of Christ and his mother, but priestly celibacy was in fact introduced by Pope Innocent II principally to stop married priests handing down Church property to their heirs.
Arguing against prostitution for a churchman of the time was a little like a sailor arguing complaining about the sea. It was a financial mainstay of the church. Priests were wily when it came to withholding absolution to induce wives to sleep with them, as well as compelling fornicators to name their partner, in order to get, so to speak, a hot tip.
Burgo Partridge, in his history of orgies, wrote wisely in reference to the early days of Christianity: 'Abstinence from sexual activity leads to an almost total mental preoccupation with the subject and psycho-neurotic symptoms and sexual hallucinations were developed on a really astonishing scale. A terrific outburst of "incubi" and "succubi" swept the bedrooms of Europe. These nocturnal visitors, connected in the minds of the Christians with witchcraft and devilry, indulged in liberties with the afflicted person, always of a sexual nature. They were particularly common in nunneries, and seemed also to be highly contagious.'
Ha. Psycho-neurotic obsession with sex. Serves 'em right :)
Not really :) besides learning about all the crazy cultures out there, I also learned:
Celibacy was not imposed on the early Christian clergy, as opposed to monastic celibates, until the Second Lateran Council of 1139, and then only for financial reasons. The Church's idealization of celibacy derived originally from the supposed virginity of Christ and his mother, but priestly celibacy was in fact introduced by Pope Innocent II principally to stop married priests handing down Church property to their heirs.
Arguing against prostitution for a churchman of the time was a little like a sailor arguing complaining about the sea. It was a financial mainstay of the church. Priests were wily when it came to withholding absolution to induce wives to sleep with them, as well as compelling fornicators to name their partner, in order to get, so to speak, a hot tip.
Burgo Partridge, in his history of orgies, wrote wisely in reference to the early days of Christianity: 'Abstinence from sexual activity leads to an almost total mental preoccupation with the subject and psycho-neurotic symptoms and sexual hallucinations were developed on a really astonishing scale. A terrific outburst of "incubi" and "succubi" swept the bedrooms of Europe. These nocturnal visitors, connected in the minds of the Christians with witchcraft and devilry, indulged in liberties with the afflicted person, always of a sexual nature. They were particularly common in nunneries, and seemed also to be highly contagious.'
Ha. Psycho-neurotic obsession with sex. Serves 'em right :)