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From: edhall@randvax.UUCP (Ed Hall)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: Sex and violence
Message-ID: <2042@randvax.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 8-Oct-84 14:48:12 EDT
Article-I.D.: randvax.2042
Posted: Mon Oct  8 14:48:12 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 10-Oct-84 06:15:58 EDT
References: <544@ames.UUCP>
Organization: Rand Corp., Santa Monica
Lines: 24

I don't think many people would argue against a connection between
sex and aggression.  In fact, aggression (and I'm using the term in
a neutral sense) is a vital part of sex, in my opinion.  Even in the
most idealistic sense, striving for union is an aggressive act.

Violence, on the other hand, is an aberration in sex.  It is aggression,
to be sure, but more signifigantly it is destruction and enslavement.

Aggression, like power (aggression essentially being an expression of
power) is neutral; it can be either constructive or destructive.  It
can be either a firm and loving embrace, or an act of forceful
domination.

The aggresive aspect of sex can be scary; I know that as my awareness
of violence toward women increased I also became afraid of what lurked
behind my own sexual nature, and questioned my own sexual aggressive-
ness.  Alas, I think the men who question themselves in this regard
are probably the ones least deserving of it.  (Such self-conciousness
is certainly not very conducive to good sexual relations.)  But there
is a violent edge to the way sex is viewed in our culture, and I think
that a phase of such introspection can be a good thing.

		-Ed Hall
		decvax!randvax!edhall