Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ames.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!hplabs!hao!ames!barry From: barry@ames.UUCP (Kenn Barry) Newsgroups: net.women Subject: Sex and violence Message-ID: <544@ames.UUCP> Date: Fri, 28-Sep-84 14:20:46 EDT Article-I.D.: ames.544 Posted: Fri Sep 28 14:20:46 1984 Date-Received: Sun, 30-Sep-84 03:35:48 EDT Organization: NASA-Ames Research Center, Mtn. View, CA Lines: 66 [] A lot of the discussion about rape recently has asked, explicitly or implicitly, what the relationship is between sex and violence. What has not been brought up, however, is what is perhaps the most fundamental question: is there an INHERENT connection between sex and violence in the human being (male and female)? That is, do people naturally associate the two activities, apart from any cultural biases in their upbringing? I don't have an answer to this question, but because I suspect that most people's answer would be 'no', I'm going to present a few 'yes' arguments in the interest of promoting discussion. The following examples could be interpreted as evidence of inherent connections between sex and violence in human beings: 1) The obvious one - rape and similar sexual violence. Rape is known in all cultures I am aware of. Why is this desire to dominate and hurt expressed sexually? 2) 'play' violence - A lot of people (in many cultures) include symbolic or playful violence in their sexual activities. Bondage and S&M are the obvious examples, but there are other, less extreme forms which are very common: role-playing in dominant/submissive roles, 'rough' sexual play (biting, pinching), etc. 3) fantasy violence - rape fantasies, harem fantasies, etc. Erotic literature shows that sadistic and masochistic fantasies are common in many different cultures (e.g., Japanese, Roman). 4) sexual arousal from viewing non-sexual violence - this was mentioned in someone else's posting recently; a study of American men found this was a common connection. There are also anecdotal stories of both men and women being aroused by hunting, either doing it or watching it. Likewise, there are accounts of women being aroused by seeing men fight one another (boxing, football, etc.). I don't vouch for the accuracy of these stories, I only mention them to encourage discussion. Anyone know of any studies on this? 5) Many of our relatives in the animal kingdom have dominance fights among the males to see who will get the females. 6) Among our close relatives (primates, baboons), gestures of non-sexual submission are often sexual in form, i.e., a male baboon will acknowledge the dominance of another male baboon by adopting the copulating posture of a female baboon, even though no sexual activity is intended. 7) Violent language - sexual terms are often used in aggressive and insulting language ("f*ck you!"). I don't know if this is true in other cultures, but I suspect it is; anyone know? 8) Biochemical similarities - I believe that both aggression and sexual arousal involves release of adrenalin; can anyone confirm this, or cite other biochemical similarities between sexual arousal and aggression? 9) Behavioral similarities - Sexual and aggressive behavior *look* similar; the best illustration of this is what commonly happens when a small child happens to interrupt his/her parents when they're making love, and one of the parents has to then explain that 'Daddy wasn't hurting Mommy'. In addition to discussion of the nature/nurture question itself, I would also be interested in discussions of how this question relates to the question of what we DO about sexual violence. For instance, if associating sex and violence is a conditioned response, it might make sense to try to decondition people; if, however, it's partly biological, this approach could never be entirely successful, and it might make more sense to let people's thoughts alone, and just work on their behavior. Comments? - From the Crow's Nest - Kenn Barry NASA-Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Electric Avenue: {dual,hao,menlo70,hplabs}!ames!barry