Society’s Understanding of Sex
A society’s understanding of sex is influenced by its level of logical and scientific thinking. There has been a fascinating mix of superstitions, ignorance, and sloppy science surrounding sexuality throughout the centuries. For example, Greeks worshiped the male penis as an icon for protection, fertility, and power and even built a 15-foot erect phallus out of stone on a fancy pedestal on the Isle of Delos. To protect their property, Romans marked it with statues of the Trickster, a devious little charm with a major erection. In the Spring, young nubile girls would dance around a maypole to invoke nature’s fertility. And how to explain women’s sexual attractiveness to men? During the Inquisition in Europe, attractive women were viewed as possessed by the devil, given their power over men. A scientific, legal evaluation of the time was to weigh the suspected woman’s breasts in the evening and then in the morning, and if they weighed less, she was thought to have had sex during the night with the devil.
When mentally ill people were hospitalized in Europe in the mid-1850s, the frequency of boys and young men masturbating was misinterpreted by the doctors as the cause of mental illness or mental retardation. Devices were invented in the mistaken effort to prevent what we now know to be healthy nocturnal erections and wet dreams. One device placed electrical wires around the penis to ring a bell in case of erection. The wires made contact in order to awaken him and thereby prevent erection or wet dreams. A less humane device involved a leather strap with needles embedded that would prick the penis when it swelled. One can only imagine the harm caused to young boys by these misguided, unhealthy practices. Yet we should be humble in our judgments of those cultures and professionals. Some of our current sloppy sexual science likely will not stand the test of time.
Posted in Sexual Health (General)
