Breastfeeding Fame. Thank you!
Here are the links and PLEASE click the links given on this site for further
crucial studies. These studies support all that we are saying, with
clinical, empiral tests AND THE PATRIARCHAL POWER, ALTHOUGH ORIGINALLY
FUNDED BY THEM IS NOW IGNORING THESE STUDIES.
Why? Because these studies support Matriarchy, the importance of Mother and
is saying that Patriarchal ideals and values cause damage to the human
psyche and lead to violence and other serious problems. And so of course,
Patriarchy wants to pretend that violence cannot be avoided, that humankind
has to be violent, and we just have to arm ourselves against the other guy
being violent, and have to take initiatives to make sure the other guy
doesn't get violent, rah, rah, rah, less Motherhood, screw women and
children, children are no more than cannon fodder, what really matters is
WAR and BUSINESS...THESE STUDIES SAY THAT DENIAL OF MOTHERHOOD AND THE
AFFECTION PEOPLE NEED FROM HER CAUSES DISFUNCTION, SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND
VIOLENCE. IT IS WHAT WILLIAM BOND HAS BEEN WRITING FOR YEARS, 'MAKE LOVE,
NOT WAR.' WHAT IS ALSO SO INTERESTING TO ME IS THAT THESE STUDIES SHOW THAT
ADOLESCENTS SHOULD NOT BE PREVENTED FROM HAVING SEX! TEENAGERS SHOULD NOT BE
SEXUALLY REPRESSED! SHOCKER, ISN'T IT? PLEASE READ! )
http://www.violence.de/index.html
http://www.violence.de/prescott/bulletin/article.html
http://www.violence.de/links.html
http://www.violence.de/archive.shtml
http://www.violence.de/politics.shtml
THE ORIGINS OF PEACE AND VIOLENCE
Deprivation of Physical Affection as a Main Cause of Depression, Aggression
and Drug Abuse
INTRODUCTION
It is generally known (back to medieval or ancient times) that deprivation
of sensory stimuli like voice and vision in the early phases of human life
will cause irreversible mental retardation in the child. Also the prevention
of child play will cause intellectual deficits in the adult. But eyes, ears
and the nose are not the only human sensory systems.
Additionally there are the two body sensor systems, the "somatosensors". One
is the vestibular sensor for maintaining orientation and upright walk. The
other one is the skin, for sensing touch.
MOTHER BONDING IS ESSENTIAL FOR PEACE
Through the work of James W. Prescott, Ph.D. and various others until the
mid 1970s it was established that these previously neglected senses are of
overwhelming importance for the development of social abilities for adult
life. Their deprivation in childhood is a major cause for adult violence.
James W. Prescott, Ph.D., was a health scientist administrator at the
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), one of the
Institutes of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1966 to 1980.
He created and directed the Developmental Behavioral Biology Program at the
NICHD where he initiated NICHD supported research programs that documented
how the failure of "Mother Love" in infant monkeys adversely affected the
biological development of their brains. These astonishing abnormal brain
changes underlie the behaviors of depression, impulse dyscontrol and
violence that result from mother-infant separations.
CULTURES THAT PUNISH INFANTS OR REPRESS SEXUALITY ARE VIOLENT
These behavioral effects were confirmed in his studies on primitive cultures
including the effects of sensory deprivation of human sexual pleasure and
affection during adolescence. The results of these scientific studies do not
support the many traditional religious and cultural values throughout the
world, which deny the importance of "Mothering" and of youth affectional
sexual relationships for peaceful and loving behaviors.
The continuation of this research was obstructed and eventually cancelled by
the NICHD. Even the existence and results of these NICHD supported research
programs was consciously omitted in a recent NIH publication.
On this web site, you can read the whole story. Here you can read a short
history of Dr. Prescott's research and the full text of the groundbreaking
article "Body Pleasure and the Origins of Violence", watch the complete Time
Life video documentary Rock A Bye Baby, browse the comprehensive archive of
scientific papers and visit related websites from our list of selected
links.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BODY PLEASURE AND THE ORIGINS OF VIOLENCE
By James W. Prescott
From "The Bulletin of The Atomic Scientists", November 1975, pp. 10-20
(Introduction of the article in the "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists":)
James W. Prescott, a neuropsychologist, is a health scientist administrator
at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda,
Maryland. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Humanist
Association. This article appeared in part in the April 1975 issue of The
Futurist, published by the World Future Society, and is reprinted here with
their permission. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the
author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the National
Institutes of Health.
A neuropsychologist contends that the greatest threat to world peace comes
from those nations which have the most depriving environments for their
children and which are most repressive of sexual affection and female
sexuality.
James W. Prescott
Human violence is fast becoming a global epidemic. All over the world,
police face angry mobs, terrorists disrupt the Olympics, hijackers seize
airplanes, and bombs wreck buildings. During the past year, wars raged in
the Middle East, Cyprus, and Southeast Asia, and guerrilla fighting
continued to escalate in Ireland. Meanwhile, crime in the United States grew
even faster than inflation. Figures from the Federal Bureau of Investigation
show that serious crimes rose 16 percent in the first six months of 1974-one
of the largest crime increases since FBI record-keeping began.
Unless the causes of violence are isolated and treated, we will continue to
live in a world of fear and apprehension. Unfortunately, violence is often
offered as a solution to violence. Many law enforcement officials advocate
'get tough' policies as the best method to reduce crime. Imprisoning people,
our usual way of dealing with crime, will not solve the problem, because the
causes of violence lie in our basic values and the way in which we bring up
our children and youth. Physical punishment, violent films and TV programs
teach our children that physical violence is normal. But these early life
experiences are not the only or even the main source of violent behavior.
Recent research supports the point of view that the deprivation of physical
pleasure is a major ingredient in the expression of physical violence. The
common as-
p. 11, November 1975, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
sociation of sex with violence provides a clue to understanding physical
violence in terms of deprivation of physical pleasure.
Unlike violence, pleasure seems to be something the world can't get enough
of. People are constantly in search of new forms of pleasure, yet most of
our 'pleasure' activities appear to be substitutes for the natural sensory
pleasures of touching. We touch for pleasure or for pain or we don't touch
at all. Although physical pleasure and physical violence seem worlds apart,
there seems to be a subtle and intimate connection between the two. Until
the relationship between pleasure and violence is understood, violence will
continue to escalate.
As a developmental neuropsychologist I have devoted a great deal of study to
the peculiar relationship between violence and pleasure. I am now convinced
that the deprivation of physical sensory pleasure is the principal root
cause of violence. Laboratory experiments with animals show that pleasure
and violence have a reciprocal relationship, that is, the presence of one
inhibits the other. A raging, violent animal will abruptly calm down when
electrodes stimulate the pleasure centers of its brain. Likewise,
stimulating the violence centers in the brain can terminate the animal's
sensual pleasure and peaceful behavior. When the brain's pleasure circuits
are 'on,' the violence circuits are 'off,' and vice versa. Among human
beings, a pleasure-prone personality rarely displays violence or aggressive
behaviors, and a violent personality has little ability to tolerate,
experience, or enjoy sensuously pleasing activities. As either violence or
pleasure goes up, the other goes down.
Sensory Deprivation
The reciprocal relationship of pleasure and violence is highly significant
because certain sensory experiences during the formative periods of
development will create a neuropsychological predisposition for either
violence-seeking or pleasure-seeking behaviors later in life. I am convinced
that various abnormal social and emotional behaviors resulting from what
psychologists call 'maternal-social' deprivation, that is, a lack of tender,
loving care, are caused by a unique type of sensory deprivation,
somatosensory deprivation. Derived from the Greek word for 'body,' the term
refers to the sensations of touch and body movement which differ from the
senses of light, hearing, smell and taste. I believe that the deprivation of
body touch, contact, and movement are the basic causes of a number of
emotional disturbances which
Violence against sexuality and the use of sexuality for violence,
particularly against women, has very deep roots in Biblical tradition.
include depressive and autistic behaviors, hyperactivity, sexual aberration,
drug abuse, violence, and aggression.
These insights were derived chiefly from the controlled laboratory studies
of Harry F. and Margaret K. Harlow at the University of Wisconsin. The
Harlows and their students separated infant monkeys from their mothers at
birth. The monkeys were raised in single cages in an animal colony room,
where they could develop social relationships with the other animals through
seeing, hearing, and smelling, but not through touching or movement. These
and other studies indicate that it is the deprivation of body contact and
body movement-not deprivation of the other senses-that produces the wide
variety of abnormal emotional behaviors in these isolation-reared animals.
It is well known that human infants and children who are hospitalized or
institutionalized for extended periods with little physical touching and
holding develop almost identical abnormal behaviors, such as rocking and
head banging.
Although the pathological violence observed in isolation-reared monkeys is
well documented, the linking of early somatosensory deprivation with
physical violence in humans is less well established. Numerous studies of
juvenile delinquents and adult criminals have shown a family background of
broken homes and/or physically abusive parents. These studies have rarely
mentioned, let alone measured, the degree of deprivation of physical
affection, although this is often inferred from the degree of neglect and
abuse. One exceptional study in this respect is that of Brandt F. Steele and
C. B. Pollock, psychiatrists at the University of Colorado, who studied
child abuse in three generations of families who physically abused their
children. They found that parents who abused their children were invariably
deprived of physical affection themselves during childhood and that their
adult sex life was extremely poor. Steele noted that almost without
exception the women who abused their children had never experienced orgasm.
The degree of sexual pleasure experienced by the men who abused their
children was not ascertained, but their sex life, in general, was
unsatisfactory. The hypothesis that physical pleasure actively inhibits
physical violence can be appreciated from our own sexual experiences. How
many of us feel like assaulting someone after we have just experienced
orgasm?
The contributions of Freud to the effects of early experiences upon later
behaviors and the consequences of repressed sexuality have been well
established. Unfortunately time and space do not permit a discussion here of
his differences with Wilhelm Reich concerning his Beyond the Pleasure
Principle.
The hypothesis that deprivation of physical pleasure results in physical
violence requires a formal systematic evaluation. We can test this
hypothesis by examining cross-cultural studies of child-rearing practices,
sexual behaviors, and physical violence. We would expect to find that human
societies which provide their infants and children with a great deal of
physical affection (touching,
p. 12, November 1975, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
holding, carrying) would be less physically violent than human societies
which give very little physical affection to their infants and children.
Similarly, human societies which tolerate and accept premarital and
extramarital sex would be less physically violent than societies which
prohibit and punish premarital and extramarital sex.
Cultural anthropologists have gathered exactly the data required to examine
this hypothesis for human societies-and their findings are conveniently
arranged in R. B. Textor's A Cross-Cultural Summary [1]. Textor's book is
basically a research tool for cross-cultural statistical inquiry. The survey
provides some 20,000 statistically significant correlations from 400 culture
samples of primitive societies.
Infant Neglect/Adult Violence
Certain variables which reflect physical affection (such as fondling,
caressing, and playing with infants) were related to other variables which
measure crime and violence (frequency of theft, killing, etc.). The
important relationships are displayed in the tables. The percent figures
reflect the relationships among the variables, for example, high
affection/low violence plus low affection/high violence. This procedure is
followed for all tables.
Societies ranking high or low on the Infant Physical Affection Scale were
examined for degree of violence. The results (Table 1) clearly indicated
that those societies which give their infants the greatest amount of
physical affection were characterized by low theft, low infant physical
pain, low religious activity, and negligible or absent killing, mutilating,
or torturing of the enemy. These data directly confirm that the deprivation
of body pleasure during infancy is significantly linked to a high rate of
crime and violence.
Some societies physically punish their infants as a matter of discipline,
while others do not. We can determine whether this punishment reflects a
general concern for the infant's welfare by matching it against child
nurturant care. The results (Table 2) indicate that societies which inflict
pain and discomfort upon their infants tend to neglect them as well. These
data provide no support for the prescription from Proverbs (23: 13-14):
"Withhold not chastisement from a boy; if you beat him with the rod, he will
not die. Beat him with the rod, and you will save him from the nether
world."
Adult physical violence was accurately predicted in 36 of 49 cultures (73
percent) from the infant physical affection variable. The probability that a
73 percent rate of accuracy could occur by chance is only four times out of
a thousand.
Of the 49 societies studied, 13 cultures seemed to be exceptions to the
theory that a lack of somatosensory pleasure makes people physically violent
(see Table 3). It was expected that cultures which placed a high value upon
physical pleasure during infancy and childhood would maintain such values
into adulthood. This is not the case. Child rearing practices do not predict
patterns of later sexual behavior. This initial surprise and presumed
discrepancy, however, becomes advantageous for further prediction.
The Long-Term Consequences of Infant Pleasure and Pain
Human societies differ greatly in their treatment of infants. In some
cultures, parents lavish physical affection on infants, while in others the
parents physically punish their infants. A study of anthropological data by
the author [2] found that those societies which give their infants the
greatest amount of physical affection have less theft and violence among
adults, thus supporting the theory that deprivation of bodily pleasure
during infancy is significantly linked to a high rate of crime and violence.
The tables below show how physical affection-or punishment-given infants
correlates with other variables. For example, cultures which inflict pain on
infants appear to be more likely to practice slavery, polygyny, etc. In the
tables, N refers to the number of cultures in the comparison while P is the
probability that the observed relationship could occur by chance which was
calculated by the Fisher Exact Probability Test.
TABLE 1
Adult Behaviors in Societies Where Physical Affection is Lavished on Infants
Adult Behaviors Percent
% N Probability
P
Invidious display of wealth is low 66 50 .06
Incidence of theft is low 72 36 .02
Overall infant indulgence is high 80 66 .0000
Infant physical pain low 65 63 .03
Negligible killing, torturing or mutilating the enemy 73 49 .004
Low religious activity 81 27 .003
TABLE 2
Adult Behaviors in Societies Where Pain is Inflicted on Infants by Parent or
Nurturing Person
Adult Behaviors Percent
% N Probability
P
Slavery is present 64 66 .03
Polygyny (multiple wives) practiced 79 34 .001
Women status inferior 78 14 .03
Low infant physical affection 65 63 .03
Low overall infant indulgence 77 66 .000
Developing nurturant behavior in child is low 67 45 .05
Supernaturals (gods) are aggressive 64 36 .01
The coded scales on infancy were developed by cultural anthropologists
Barry, Bacon and Child [3]; on sexual behavior by Westbrook, Ford and Beach
[4]; and on physical violence by Slater [5].
p. 13, November 1975, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Two variables that are highly correlated are not as useful for predicting a
third variable as two variables that are uncorrelated. Consequently, it is
meaningful to examine the sexual behaviors of the 13 cultures whose adult
violence was not predictable from physical pleasure during infancy.
Apparently, the social customs which influence and determine the behaviors
of sexual affection are different from those which underlie the expression
of physical affection toward infants.
When the six societies characterized by both high infant affection and high
violence are compared in terms of their premarital sexual behavior, it is
surprising to find that five of them exhibit premarital sexual repression,
where virginity is a high value of these cultures. It appears that the
beneficial effects of infant physical affection can be negated by the
repression of physical pleasure (premarital sex) later in life.
The seven societies characterized by both low infant physical affection and
low adult physical violence were all found to be characterized by permissive
premarital sexual behaviors. Thus, the detrimental effects of infant
physical affectional deprivation seem to be compensated for later in life by
sexual body pleasure experiences during adolescence. These findings have led
to a revision of the somatosensory pleasure deprivation theory from a
one-stage to a two-stage developmental theory where the physical violence in
48 of the 49 cultures could be accurately classified.
In short, violence may stem from deprivation of somatosensory pleasure
either in infancy or in adolescence. The only true exception in this culture
sample is the headhunting Jivaro tribe of South America. Clearly, this
society requires detailed study to determine the causes of its violence. The
Jivaro belief system may play an important role, for as anthropologist
Michael Harner notes in Jivaro Souls [6], these Indians have a "deep-seated
belief that killing leads to the acquisition of souls which provide a
supernatural power conferring immunity from death."
Infant Physical Affection and Adult Physical Violence
Societies that provide infants with a great deal of physical affection
('tender loving care') are later characterized by relatively non-violent
adults. In 36 of the 49 cultures studied, a high degree of infant affection
was associated with a low degree of adult physical violence-and vice versa.
When the 13 exceptions were investigated, it was found that the violence of
all but one (the Jivaro tribe of South America) could be accounted for the
presence or absence of premarital sexual behavior.
TABLE 3
Relationship of Infant Physical Affectional Deprivation to Adult Physical
Violence
High Infant Physical Affection Low Infant Physical Affection High Infant
Physical Affection Low Infant Physical Affection
Low Adult Physical Violence High Adult Physical Violence High Adult Physical
Violence Low Adult Physical Violence
Andamanese Alorese Cheyenne Ainu
Arapesh Aranda Chir-Apache Ganda
Balinese Araucanians Crow Kwakiutl
Chagga Ashanti Jivaroa Lepcha
Chenchu Aymara Kurtatchi Pukapuka
Chuckchee Azande Zunic Samoansb
Cuna Comanche Tanala
Hano Fon
Lau Kaska
Lesu Marquesans
Maori Masai
Murngin Navaho
Nuer Ojibwa
Papago Thonga
Siriono
Tallensi
Tikopia
Timbira
Trobriand
Wogeo
Woleaians
Yahgan
Premarital sex punished: underlined Premarital sex permitted: italic
a According to Harner (1972) the Jivaro culture is misclassified and belongs
in column 2 (personal communication).
b According to Derek Freeman, Professor of Anthropology, Australian National
University, the Samoans belong in column 2 (personal communication).
c The Zuni are also reclassified to column 1.
Source: Textor [1]; infant behavior ratings from Barry, Bacon and Child [3];
and adult violence ratings from Slater [5].
This table is a revised version updated with information from the article
"Can More Touching Lead to Less Violence in Our Society?" by Lionel Gambill,
published in The Truth Seeker, March/April 1989. Gambill writes:
Subsequent to original publication of this material in The Futurist in April
1975, cultural anthropologists informed Prescott of errors in some of the
original codings in the reference work on which the comparison was based.
When these errors were corrected, no exceptions remained. The
Pleasure/Violence Reciprocity Theory, applied to the cultures listed in that
reference work, has a predictive validity of 100%.
The original version of the table from the Futurist is available here.
The strength of the two-stage deprivation theory of violence is most vividly
illustrated when we contrast the societies showing high rates of physical
affection during infancy and adolescence against those societies which are
consistently low in physical affection for both developmental periods. The
statistics associated with this relationship are extraordinary: The percent
likelihood of a society being physically violent if it is physically
affectionate toward its infants and tolerant of premarital sexual behavior
is 2 percent (48/49). The probability of this relationship occurring by
chance is 125,000 to one. I am not aware of any other developmental variable
that has such a high degree of predictive validity. Thus, we seem to have a
firmly based principle: Physically affectionate human societies are highly
unlikely to be physically violent.
Accordingly, when physical affection and pleasure during adolescence as well
as infancy are related to measures of violence, we find direct evidence of a
significant relationship between the punishment of premarital sex behaviors
and various measures of crime and violence. As Table 4 shows, additional
clusters of relationships link the punishment and repression of premarital
sex to large community size, high social complexity and class
stratification, small extended families, purchase of wives, practice of
slavery, and a high god present in human morality. The relationship between
small extended families and punitive premarital sex attitudes deserves
emphasis, for it suggests that the nuclear Western cultures may be a
contributing factor to our repressive attitudes toward sexual expression.
p. 14, November 1975, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
The same can be suggested for community size, social complexity, and class
stratification.
Not surprisingly, when high self-needs are combined with the deprivation of
physical affection, the result is self-interest and high rates of
narcissism. Likewise, exhibitionistic dancing and pornography may be
interpreted as a substitute for normal sexual expression. Some nations which
are most repressive of female sexuality have rich pornographic art forms.
Extramarital Sex
I also examined the influence of extramarital sex taboos upon crime and
violence. The data clearly indicates that punitive-repressive attitudes
toward extramarital sex are also linked with physical violence, personal
crime, and the practice of slavery. Societies which value monogamy emphasize
military glory and worship aggressive gods.
These cross-cultural data support the view of psychologists and sociologists
who feel that sexual and psychological needs not being fulfilled within a
marriage should be met outside of it, without destroying the primacy of the
marriage relationship.
Premarital Sex, Physical Violence and Other Adult Behaviors
Premarital sexual freedom for young people can help reduce violence in a
society, and the physical pleasure that youth obtains from sex can offset a
lack of physical affection during infancy. Other research also indicates
that societies which punish premarital sex are likely to engage in wife
purchasing, to worship a high god in human morality, and to practice
slavery. Other results are shown in the table below.
TABLE 4
Adult Behaviors in Societies Where Premarital Sex is Strongly Punished
Adult Behaviors Percent
% N Probability
P
Community size is larger 73 80 .0003
Slavery is present 59 176 .005
Societal complexity is high 87 15 .01
Personal crime is high 71 28 .05
Class stratification is high 60 111 .01
High incidence of theft 68 31 .07
Small extended family 70 63 .008
Extramarital sex is punished 71 58 .005
Wives are purchased 54 114 .02
Castration anxiety is high 65 37 .009
Longer post-partum sex taboo 62 50 .03
Bellicosity is extreme 68 37 .04
Sex disability is high 83 23 .004
Killing, torturing and mutilating the enemy is high 69 35 .07
Narcissism is high 66 38 .04
Exhibitionistic dancing is emphasized 65 66 .04
High god in human morality 81 27 .01
These findings overwhelmingly support the thesis that deprivation of body
pleasure throughout life-but particularly during the formative periods of
infancy, childhood, and adolescence-are very closely related to the amount
of warfare and interpersonal violence. These insights should be applied to
large and complicated industrial and postindustrial societies.
Crime and physical violence have substantially increased over the past
decade in the United States. According to FBI statistics, both murder and
aggravated assault increased 53 percent between 1967 and 1972, while
forcible rape rose 70 percent.
These figures again raise the question of the special relationship between
sexuality and violence. In addition to our rape statistics, there is other
evidence that points to preference for sexual violence over sexual pleasure
in the United States. This is reflected in our acceptance of sexually
explicit films that involve violence and rape, and our rejection of sexually
explicit films for pleasure only (pornography). Neighborhood movie theaters
show such sexually violent films as Straw Dogs, Clockwork Orange, and The
Klansman, while banning films which portray sexual pleasure (Deep Throat,
The Devil in Miss Jones). Attempts to close down massage parlors are another
example of our anti-pleasure attitudes. Apparently, sex with pleasure is
immoral and unacceptable, but sex with violence and pain is moral and
acceptable.
A questionnaire I developed to explore this question was administered to 96
college students whose average age was 19 years. The results of the
questionnaire support the connection between rejection of physical pleasure
(and particularly of premarital and extramarital sex) with expression of
physical violence. Respondents who reject abortion, responsible premarital
sex, and nudity within the family were likely to approve of harsh physical
punishment for children and to believe that pain helps build strong moral
character. These respondents were likely to find alcohol and drugs more
satisfying than sex. The data obtained from the questionnaire provide strong
statistical support for the basic inverse relationship between physical
violence and physical pleasure. If violence is high, pleasure is low, and
conversely, if pleasure is high, violence is low. The questionnaire bears
out the theory that the pleasure-violence relationship found in primitive
cultures also holds true for a modern industrial nation.
Another way of looking at the reciprocal relationship between violence and
pleasure is to examine a society's choice of drugs. A society will support
behaviors that are consistent with its values and social mores. U.S. society
is a competitive, aggressive, and violent society. Consequently, it supports
drugs that fa-
p. 15, November 1975, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
cilitate competitive, aggressive, and violent behaviors and opposes drugs
that counteract such behaviors. Alcohol is well known to facilitate the
expression of violent behaviors, and, although addicting and very harmful to
chronic users, is acceptable to U.S. society. Marijuana, on the other hand,
is an active pleasure-inducing drug which enhances the pleasure of touch and
actively inhibits violent-aggressive behaviors. It is for these reasons, I
believe that marijuana is rejected in U.S. society. For similar reasons
heroin is rejected and methadone (an addicting drug minus the pleasure) is
accepted.
The data from my questionnaire support this view. As Table 5 shows, very
high correlations between alcohol use and parental punishment indicate that
people who received little affection from their mothers and had physically
punitive fathers are likely to become hostile and aggressive when they
drink. Such people find alcohol more satisfying than sex. There is an even
stronger relationship between parental physical punishment and drug usage.
Respondents who were physically punished as children showed alcohol-induced
hostility and aggression and were likely to find alcohol and drugs more
satisfying than sex. The questionnaire also reveals high correlations
between sexual repression and drug usage. Those who describe premarital sex
as "not agreeable" are likely to become aggressive when drinking and to
prefer drugs and alcohol to sexual pleasures. This is additional evidence
for the hypothesis that drug "pleasures" are a substitute for somatosensory
pleasures.
Violence and Pleasure:
The Attitudes of College Students
The reciprocal relationship of violence and pleasure holds true in modern
industrial nations as well as primitive societies. This theory was tested by
means of a questionnaire given to 96 college students (average age: 19). The
results showed that students who have relatively negative attitudes toward
sexual pleasure tend to favor harsh punishment for children and to believe
that violence is necessary to solve problems. The students rated a series of
statements on a scale of 1 to 6, where 1 indicated strong agreement and 6
strong disagreement. Through a statistical technique (factor analysis), a
personality profile of the violent person was developed. Table 5 shows the
degree of relationship among the various statements which reflect social and
moral values. The figures at left, known as 'loadings,' are treated like
correlation coefficients. They indicate the strength with which each
variable contributes to the overall personality description of the
respondent as defined by this specific profile.
TABLE 5
Somatosensory Index of Human Affection
Factor 1:66.6%
Violence Approved
.85 Hard physical punishment is good for children who disobey a lot.
.81 Physical punishment and pain help build a strong moral character.
.80 Abortion should be punished by society.
.76 Capital punishment should be permitted by society.
.75 Violence is necessary to really solve our problems.
.74 Physical punishment should be allowed in the schools.
.69 I enjoy sadistic pornography.
.54 I often feel like hitting someone.
.43 I can tolerate pain very well.
Physical Pleasure Condemned
.84 Prostitution should be punished by society.
.80 Responsible premarital sex is not agreeable to me.
.78 Nudity within the family has a harmful influence upon children.
.73 Sexual pleasures help build a weak moral character.
.72 Society should interfere with private sexual behavior between adults.
.69 Responsible extramarital sex is not agreeable to me.
.61 Natural fresh body odors are often offensive.
.47 I do not enjoy affectional pornography.
.42 I often get "uptight" about being touched.
Alcohol and Drugs Rated Higher than Sex
.70 Alcohol Is more satisfying than sex.
.65 Drugs are more satisfying than sex.
.60 I get hostile and aggressive when I drink alcohol.
.49 I would rather drink alcohol than smoke marijuana.
.45 I drink alcohol more often than I experience orgasm.
Political Conservatism
.82 I tend to be conservative in my political points of view.
.77 Age (Older).
.51 I often dream of either floating, flying, falling, or climbing.
.45 My mother is often indifferent toward me.
.40 I remember when my father physically punished me a lot.
The collaboration of Douglas Wallace, Human Sexuality Program, University of
California Medical School, San Francisco, in the questionnaire study is
gratefully acknowledged.
This table is a slightly revised version. The original version has been
preserved.
Religious Roots
The origins of the fundamental reciprocal relationship between physical
violence and physical pleasure can be traced to philosophical dualism and to
the theology of body/soul relationships. In Western philosophical thought
man was not a unitary being but was divided into two parts, body and soul.
The Greek philosophical conception of the relationship between body and soul
was quite different than the Judeo-Christian concept which posited a state
of war between the body and soul. Within Judeo-Christian thought the purpose
of human life was to save the soul, and the body was seen as an impediment
to achieving this objective. Consequently, the body must be punished and
deprived. In St. Paul's words: "Put to death the base pursuits of the
body-for if you live according to the flesh, you shall die: but if by the
spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live" (Romans 8:13).
St. Paul clearly advocated somatosensory pleasure deprivation and
enhancement of painful somatosen-
p. 16, November 1975, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
sory stimulation as essential prerequisites for saving the soul.
"Now concerning the things whereof you wrote to me: It is good for a man not
to touch a woman" (1 Corinthians, 7:1).
Aristotle did not view a state of war between the body and soul, but rather
envisioned a complimentary relationship in which the state of the soul or
mind was dependent on the state of the body. In fact he stated that "the
care of the body ought to precede that of the soul." (Politica)
Aristotle also appreciated the reciprocal relationship between pleasure and
pain, and recognized that a compulsive search for bodily pleasure originates
from a state of bodily discomfort and pain:
Now, excess is possible in the case of the goods of the body, and it is the
pursuit of excess, but not the pursuit of necessary pleasures, that makes a
man bad. For all men get some kind of enjoyment from good food, wine, and
sexual relations, but not everyone enjoys these things in the proper way.
The reverse is true of pain: a bad person does not avoid an excess of it,
but he avoids it altogether. For the opposite of an excess is pain only for
the man who pursues the excess. . . .
Accordingly, we must now explain why the pleasures of the body appear to be
more desirable. The first reason, then, is that pleasure drives out pain.
When men experience an excess of pain, they pursue excessive pleasure and
bodily pleasure in general, in the belief that it will remedy the pain.
These remedial (pleasures) become very intense-and that is the very reason
why they are pursued because they are experienced in contrast with their
opposite. (Nichomachean Ethics, Book 7)
It is clear that the world has only limited time to change its custom of
resolving conflicts violently. It is uncertain whether we have the time to
undo the damage done by countless previous generations, nor do we know how
many future generations it will take to transform our psychobiology of
violence into one of peace.
In his discussion of the highest good, Aristotle was quite explicit:
"Therefore, the highest good is some sort of pleasure, despite the fact that
most pleasures are bad, and, if you like, bad in the unqualified sense of
the word." (Nichomachean Ethics, Book 7)
It is evident that the Judeo-Christian concept of body pleasure is quite the
opposite of that outlined by Aristotle, particularly, the relief of body
pain and discomfort through somatosensory pleasure. This denial of
somatosensory pleasure in Pauline Christian doctrine has led to alternative
forms of 'relief' through such painful stimulations as hair-shirts,
self-scourgings, self-mutilations, physical violence against others, and in
the non-sensory pleasures of drugs.
Experimental animal studies have documented counterparts to these phenomena.
For example, animals deprived of somatosensory stimulation will engage in
mutilations of their own bodies. Animals deprived of touching early in life
develop impaired pain perception and an aversion to being touched by others.
They are thus blocked from experiencing the body-pleasure therapy that they
need for rehabilitation. In this condition, they have few alternatives but
physical violence, where pain-oriented touching and body contact is
facilitated by their impaired ability to experience pain. Thus, physical
violence and physical pain become therapies of choice for those deprived of
physical pleasure.
The question arises as to how Christian philosophy and theology, which
borrowed heavily from Aristotle, managed to avoid, if not outright reject,
Aristotle's teachings regarding the morality of pleasure. The roots to this
question can be found throughout the Old Testament, beginning with the
account in Genesis of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.
The first consequence of Eve's transgression was that nudity became
shameful. This even may well be the beginning of man's hostility toward
women and the equating of woman with evil, particularly the evils of the
body. This is vividly portrayed in Zechariah (5:5-8) in an angel's
description of the flying bushel:
"This is a bushel container coming. This is their guilt in all the land."
Then a leaden cover was lifted and there was a woman sitting inside the
bushel. "This is wickedness, he said, and he thrust her inside the bushel,
pushing the leaden cover into the opening."
Violence against sexuality and the use of sexuality for violence,
particularly against women, has very deep roots in Biblical tradition, and
is spelled out very early. The nineteenth chapter of Genesis (19:1-11), the
first book of the Old Testament, holds that the rape of woman is acceptable
but the rape of man is "a wicked thing." This chapter about the destruction
of Sodom and Gomorrah describes Lot's hospitality to two male travelers
(actually two angels) who were housed with him.
In the evening the townsmen of Sodom came to Lot's house and said to him:
"Where are the men who came to your house tonight? Bring them out to us that
we may have intimacies with them." Lot went out to meet them at the
entrance. When he had shut the door behind him, he said, "I beg you, my
brothers, not to do this wicked thing. I have two daughters who have never
had intercourse with men. Let me bring them out to you, and you may do to
them as you please. But don't do anything to these men, for you know they
have come under the shelter of my roof." They replied, "Stand back! This
fellow," they sneered, "came here as an immigrant, and now he dares to give
orders! We'll treat you worse than them!" With that, they pressed hard
against Lot, moving in closer to break down the door. But his guests put out
their hand, pulled Lot inside with them, and closed the
p. 17, November 1975, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
door; at the same time they struck the men at the entrance of the house, one
and all, with such blinding light that they were utterly unable to reach the
doorway.
As the story continues, the two angels escort Lot and his family to safety
and then destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their great sinfulness. Yet not a
word of reproach is given to Lot for his willingness to hand over his two
virgin daughters to be gang raped. This same story is repeated in the books
of Ezekiel (23:1-49) and Judges (19:22-30).
Given such a tradition, it is understandable that during the Inquisition
only women were charged with having intercourse with the devil and put to
death for this crime of pleasure. What man has died at the stake for having
slept with Satan? This tradition is maintained in modern cultures where
women are punished for prostitution but their male customers are not.
The historical and Biblical acceptance of rape down through the ages has
brutalized the psyche of males brought up in this tradition. This is well
illustrated in the account of Michael McCusker, a Marine sergeant who
witnessed a gang rape in Vietnam. McCusker [7] tells of a rifle squad of
nine men who entered a small village.
They were supposed to go after what they called a Viet Cong whore. They went
into her village and instead of capturing her, they raped her-every man
raped her. As a matter of fact, one man said to me later that it was the
first time he had ever made love to a woman with his boots on. The man who
led the platoon, or the squad, was actually a private. The squad leader was
a sergeant but he was a useless person and he let the private take over his
squad. Later he said he took no part in the raid. It was against his morals.
So instead of telling his squad not to do it, because they wouldn't listen
to him anyway, the sergeant went into another side of the village and just
sat and stared bleakly at the ground, feeling sorry for himself. But at any
rate, they raped the girl, and then, the last man to make love to her, shot
her in the head.
What is it in the American psyche that permits the use of the word 'love' to
describe rape? And where the act of love is completed with a bullet in the
head!
The first months. Breast-feeding and caressing will help this infant to grow
into a non-violent adult. Denial of such body contact in infancy can have
the opposite effect.
Why do men rape women? Researchers report that most rapists have a family
background of paternal punishment and hostility and loss of maternal
affection. I interpret rape as man's revenge against woman for the early
loss of physical affection. A man can express his hostility toward his
mother for not giving him enough physical attention by sexually violating
another woman.
Another explanation may be that the increasing sexual freedom of women is
threatening to man's position of power and dominance over women which he
often maintains through sexual aggression. Rape destroys sensual pleasure in
woman and enhances sadistic pleasure in man. Through rape, man defends
himself from the sensual pleasures of women which threaten his position of
power and dominance.
It is my belief that rape has its
Realistic dolls. Swedish paper doll exemplifies the frankness about the
human body that is needed to inculcate wholesome attitudes toward sex and
violence. In this paper doll, no attempt is made to idealize or de-sexualize
the human body; the body is simply accepted as it is.
p. 18, November 1975, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
origins in the deprivation of physical affection in parent-child
relationships and adult sexual relationships; and in a religious value
system that considers pain and body deprivation moral and physical pleasure
immoral. Rape maintains man's dominance over woman and supports the
perpetuation of patriarchal values in our society.
This figure shows the effects of the rearing environment upon a type of
nerve cell (called a stellate) which is found in the fourth layer of a rat's
visual cortex. The number of branches of the dendrites is much greater in
animals reared in groups in a toy-filled environment (called enriched
environmental condition, EC) than the number which occurs when two rats are
reared together in an ordinary cage (called social condition, SC) or when
rats are reared alone in ordinary cages (called isolate condition, IC).
These data show that extreme conditions of sensory/social deprivation are
not necessary to alter brain structure, and that an enriched sensory/social
environment can increase the complexity of brain cells. Dendrites, which are
usually branched like a tree, are the part of the nerve cell (neuron) which
carries the nerve impulse to the cell body; and they are the means by which
brain cells communicate with one another. Brain cells with many dendrites
can influence and regulate the activity of other brain cells more
effectively than brain cells with fewer or abnormal dendrites. It is
believed that the complexity of brain cells is related to the ability to
solve complex problems both of an intellectual and social nature, and that
abnormal dendritic structures underlie abnormal electrical 'spike'
discharges in the brain.
Source: Volkmar and Greenough [9].
It is clear that the world has only limited time to change its custom of
resolving conflicts violently. It is uncertain whether we have the time to
undo the damage done by countless previous generations, nor do we know how
many future generations it will take to transform our psychobiology of
violence into one of peace.
If we accept the theory that the lack of sufficient somatosensory pleasure
is a principal cause of violence, we can work toward promoting pleasure and
encouraging affectionate interpersonal relationships as a means of
combatting aggression. We should give high priority to body pleasure in the
context of meaningful human relationships. Such body pleasure is very
different from promiscuity, which reflects a basic inability to experience
pleasure. If a sexual relationship is not pleasurable, the individual looks
for another partner. A continuing failure to find sexual satisfaction leads
to a continuing search for new partners, that is, to promiscuous behavior.
Affectionately shared physical pleasure, on the other hand, tends to
stabilize a relationship and eliminate the search. However, a variety of
sexual experiences seems to be normal in cultures which permit its
expression, and this may be important for optimizing pleasure and affection
in sexual relationships.
Available data clearly indicate that the rigid values of monogamy, chastity,
and virginity help produce physical violence. The denial of female sexuality
must give way to an acceptance and respect for it, and men must share with
women the responsibility for giving affection and care to infants and
children. As the father assumes a more equal role with the mother in
child-rearing and becomes more affectionate toward his children, certain
changes must follow in our socioeconomic system. A corporate structure which
tends to separate either parent from the family by travel, extended
meetings, or overtime work weakens the parent-child relationship and harms
family stability. To develop a peaceful society, we must put more emphasis
on human relationships.
Family planning is essential. Children must be properly spaced so that each
can receive optimal affection and care. The needs of the infant should be
immediately met. Cross-cultural evidence does not support the view that such
practices will 'spoil' the infant. Contrary to Dr. Benjamin Spock, it is
harmful for a baby to cry itself to sleep. By not answering an infant's
needs immediately and consistently we not only teach a child distrust at a
very basic emotional level, but also establish patterns of neglect which
harm the
p. 19, November 1975, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
child's social and emotional health. The discouragement of breast feeding in
favor of bottle feeding and the separation of healthy newborns from their
mothers in our 'modern' hospitals are other examples of harmful
child-rearing practices.
About 25 percent of marriages in the United States now end in divorce, and
an even higher percentage of couples have experienced extramarital affairs.
This suggests that something is basically wrong with the traditional concept
of universal monogamy. When viewed in connection with the cross-cultural
evidence of the physical deprivations, violence, and warfare associated with
monogamy, the need to create a more pluralistic system of marriage becomes
clear. Contemporary experiments with communal living and group marriage are
attempting to meet basic needs that remain unfulfilled in the isolation of a
nuclear marriage. We must seriously consider new options, such as extended
families comprised of two or three couples who share values and lifestyles.
By sharing the benefits and responsibilities of child rearing, such families
could provide an affectionate and varied environment for children as well as
adults, and thereby reduce the incidence of child abuse and runaways.
The communal family-like the extended family group-can provide a more
stimulating and supportive environment for both children and adults than can
the average nuclear family. Communal living should not, of course, be
equated with group sex, which is not a sharing, but more often an escape
from intimacy and emotional vulnerability.
Openness About the Body
No matter what type of family structure is chosen, it will be important to
encourage openness about the body and its functions. From this standpoint,
we could benefit from redesigning our homes along the Japanese format,
separating the toilet from the bathing facilities. The family bath should be
used for socialization and relaxation, and should provide a natural
situation for children to learn about male-female differences. Nudity, like
sex, can be misused and abused, and this fear often prevents us from
accepting the honesty of our own bodies.
The beneficial stimulation of whirlpool baths should not be limited to
hospitals or health club spas, but brought into the home. The family bath
should be large enough to accommodate parents and children, and be equipped
with a whirlpool to maximize relaxation and pleasure. Nudity, openness, and
affection within the family can teach children and adults that the body is
not shameful and inferior, but rather is a source of beauty and sensuality
through which we emotionally relate to one another. Physical affection
involving touching, holding, and caressing should not be equated with sexual
stimulation, which is a special type of physical affection.
The competitive ethic, which teaches children that they must advance at the
expense of others, should be replaced by values of cooperation.
To Love, not Compete
The competitive ethic, which teaches children that they must advance at the
expense of others, should be replaced by values of cooperation and a pursuit
of excellence for its own sake. We must raise children to be emotionally
capable of giving love and affection, rather than to exploit others. We
should recognize that sexuality in teenagers is not only natural, but
desirable, and accept premarital sexuality as a positive moral good. Parents
should help teenagers realize their own sexual selfhood by allowing them to
use the family home for sexual fulfillment. Such honesty would encourage a
more mature attitude toward sexual relationships and provide a private
supportive environment that is far better for their development than the
back seat of a car or other undesirable locations outside the home. Early
sexual experiences are too often an attempt to prove one's adulthood and
maleness or femaleness rather than a joyful sharing of affection and
pleasure.
Above all, male sexuality must recognize the equality of female sexuality.
The traditional right of men to multiple sexual relationships must be
extended to women. The great barrier between man and woman is man's fear of
the depth and intensity of female sensuality. Because power and aggression
are neutralized through sensual pleasure, man's primary defense against a
loss of dominance has been the historic denial, repression, and control of
the sensual pleasure of women. The use of sex to provide mere release from
physiological tension (apparent pleasure) should not be confused with a
state of sensual pleasure which is incompatible with dominance, power,
aggression, violence, and pain. It is through the mutual sharing of sensual
pleasure that sexual equality between women and men will be realized.
The sensory environment in which an individual grows up has a major
influence upon the development and functional organization of the brain.
Sensory stimulation is a nutrient that the brain must have to develop and
function normally. How the brain functions determines how a person behaves.
At birth a human brain is extremely immature and new brain cells develop up
to the age of two years. The complexity of brain cell development continues
up to about 16 years of age. Herman Epstein of Brandeis University has
evidence that growth spurts in the human brain occur at approximately 3, 7,
11, and 15 years of age. How
p. 20, November 1975, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
early deprivations affect these growth spurts has yet to be determined;
however, some data suggest that the final growth spurt may be abolished by
early deprivation.
W. T. Greenough, a psychologist at the University of Illinois, has
demonstrated that an enriched sensory environment produces a more complex
brain cell in rats than an ordinary or impoverished sensory environment (see
figure). His studies show that extreme sensory deprivation is not necessary
to induce structural changes in the developing brain. Many other
investigators have shown that rearing rats in isolation after they are
weaned induces significant changes in the biochemistry of their brain cell
functioning. Other investigators have shown abnormal electrical activity of
brain cell functioning in monkeys reared in isolation. I have suggested that
the cerebellum, a brain structure involved in the regulation of many brain
processes, is rendered dysfunctional when an animal is reared in isolation
and is implicated in violent-aggressive behaviors due to somatosensory
deprivation. It has been shown that cerebellar neurosurgery can change the
aggressive behaviors of isolation-reared monkeys to peaceful behavior.
Predatory killing behavior in ordinary house cats can be provoked by
stimulating the cerebellar fastigial nucleus, one of the deep brain nuclei
of the cerebellum.
Abnormally low levels of platelet serotonin have been found in monkeys
reared in isolation and also in institutionalized, highly aggressive
children. These findings suggest that somatosensory deprivation during the
formative periods of development significantly alters an important
biochemical system in the body associated with highly aggressive behaviors.
A number of other investigators have documented abnormalities in the adrenal
cortical response system in rodents who were isolation-reared and who
developed hyperactive, hyperreactive, and hyperaggressive behavior. Thus
another important biochemical system associated with aggressiveness is known
to be altered by somatosensory deprivation early in life.
It needs to be emphasized here that I advocate somatosensory pleasure
stimulation as a therapeutic procedure to correct the abnormalities due to
somatosensory pleasure deprivation. Such sensory stimulation can influence
brain functioning and it does not appear necessary, except in rare
circumstances, that brain surgery or electrical stimulation of the brain is
required to alter pathological, violent behaviors. Unfortunately,
therapeutic programs of somatosensory pleasure have yet to be established to
determine the effectiveness of this therapy at the human level. The success
of somatosensory therapy in isolation reared monkeys reported by Harry F.
Harlow and Stephen Suomi [8] when other forms of therapy have failed in
these animals, provide further encouragement and support for the utilization
of touch and body movement therapies in the treatment of emotional
disorders.
On the contrary, our prisons have been designed to maximize those conditions
that are responsible for the violence and imprisonment of the social
offender. It is not surprising that physical violence in such prison
environments is a major problem. The acceptance of somatosensory pleasure as
a form of somatic therapy will be difficult for our society to accept, as
the opposition to massage parlors in many communities indicates.
Clearly, if we consider violent and aggressive behaviors undesirable then we
must provide an enriched somatosensory environment so that the brain can
develop and function in a way that results in pleasurable and peaceful
behaviors. The solution to physical violence is physical pleasure
experienced within the context of meaningful human relationships.
For many people, a fundamental moral principle is the rejection of creeds,
policies, and behaviors that inflict pain, suffering and deprivation upon
our fellow humans. This principle needs to be extended: We should seek not
just an absence of pain and suffering, but also the enhancement of pleasure,
the promotion of affectionate human relationships, and the enrichment of
human experience.
If we strive to increase the pleasure in our lives this will also affect the
ways we express aggression and hostility. The reciprocal relationship
between pleasure and violence is such that one inhibits the other; when
physical pleasure is high, physical violence is low. When violence is high,
pleasure is low. This basic premise of the somatosensory pleasure
deprivation theory provides us with the tools necessary to fashion a world
of peaceful, affectionate, cooperative individuals.
The world, however, has limited time to correct the conditions that propel
us to violent confrontations. Modern technologies of warfare have made it
possible for an individual or nation to bring total destruction to large
segments of our population. And the greatest threat comes from those nations
which have the most depriving environments for their children and which are
most repressive of sexual affection and female sexuality. We will have the
most to fear when these nations acquire the weapons of modern warfare.
Tragically, this has already begun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Distributed by:
http://www.womanthouartgod.com/femempower.php
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Notes
1. R. B. Textor, A Cross-Cultural Summary (New Haven, Conn.: Human Relations
Area Files (HRAF) Press, 1967).
2. J. W. Prescott, "Early Somatosensory Deprivation as an Ontogenetic
Process in Abnormal Development of the Brain and Behavior," Medical
Primatology, edited by I. E. Goldsmith and Moor-Jankowski (Basel: Karger,
1971), 357-375; and Prescott, "Cross-Cultural Sludies of Violence," in
Aggressive Behavior: Current Progress in Pre-Clinical and Clinical Research,
Brain Information Report No. 37 (Los Angeles, Ca.: University of California,
Aug. 1974), pp. 33-35.
3. M. K. Bacon, I. L. Child and H. A. Barry, III, "Cross-Cultural Study of
Correlates of Crime," Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66 (1963),
291-300; and Barry, Bacon and Child, "Definitions, Ratings, and
Bibliographic Sources for Child-Training Practices of 110 Cultures," in
Cross-Cultural Approaches: Readings in Cooperative Research, edited by C. S.
Ford (New Haven: HRAF Press, 1967).
4. J. T. Westbrook, Ford, and Beach, in A Cross-Cultural Summary, edited by
Textor (New Haven: HRAF Press, 1967).
5. P. E. Slater, "Killing, Torturing or Mutilating the Enemy," in A
Cross-Cultural Summary, edited by Textor.
6. Michael Harner, Jivaro Souls.
7. Vietnam Veterans Against the War, statement by Michael McClusker in The
Winter Soldier Investigation: An Inquiry into American War Crimes (Boston:
Beacon Press, 1972).
8. S. J. Suomi, and H. F. Harlow, "Social Rehabilitation of Isolate-Reared
Monkeys," Developmental Psychology, 6 (1972), 487-496.
9. F. R. Volkmar and W. T. Greenough, "Rearing Complexity Affects Branching
of Dendrites in the Visual Cortex of the Rat," Science, 176 (June 1972),
1445-1447; and M. Coleman, "Platelet Serotonin in Disturbed Monkeys,"
Clinical Proceedings of the Childrens Hospital, 27 (1971). 187-194.
Text republished with the kind permission of James W. Prescott. Originally
appeared in THE FUTURIST magazine (April 1975). Reproduced with permission
of the World Future Society, 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 450, Bethesda, MD
20817 USA. WFS is a nonprofit educational and scientific association with
30,000 members in 80 countries. It serves as a neutral forum and
clearinghouse for information and ideas about current trends and possible
future developments.
OCR and HTML by Erik Möller. Please tell me about any spelling or OCR
mistakes you find. If you know of any other translation besides English,
German and French, or if you want to write one, please contact me. I am also
interested in more material on the same subject.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DR DALE, I ONLY SAW THIS POST TODAY - ALL SUCH IMPORTANT POSTS SHOULD BE
FORWARDED TO MY PERSONAL E MAIL RASA@... BECAUSE PUTTING
TOGETHER BOOKS NO LONGER GIVES ME TIME TO TARRY ON GROUPS.
THIS IS IMPORTANT AND I WILL NOW LOOK UP YOUR LINKS AND STUDY THE MATERIAL
FOR INCLUSION INTO THE MONUMENTALLY IMPORTANT SEX AND SPIRIT BOOK. (I MIGHT
CALL IT 'IS SEX A SIN')
THANKS AND KEEP IN TOUCH.
BTW, YOUR ARTICLE ON BREASTFEEDING ON THE WTAG SITE HELD THE NUMBER ONE
POSITION FOR THREE MONTHS, AND THIS MONTH ONLY WENT TO NUMBER TWO. (YOU HAVE
OVER 26,000 PEOPLE A MONTH READING YOUR ARTICLE.) WE HAD FROM JUNE
STATISTICS LIKE THIS,...71,000+, THEN 75,000+ ...THEN 90,000+ AND BASED ON
WHAT HAS COME IN SO FAR, IT LOOKS LIKE SEPTEMBER WILL HAVE OVER 91,000
VISITORS! THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE AS I AM NOT EVEN ADVERTISING ANY MORE! YOUR
ARTICLE IS MOST IMPORTANT TO THE PUBLIC, IT SAYS SOMETHING THEY NEED....
RASA
Original letter from Dr. Dale:
Re: [UnwashedPaganWoman] Women Answer Rasa's Article about Women
Rasa,
The problem is that, due to patriarchy's perverse attempts to repress
sexuality in women, all sexuality has become demeaned and degraded. No
wonder women have grown to hate and be suspicious of sex. They have become a
big part of the problem, however. The disconnect between women and
sexuality, as you know, has even affected their ability to breast-feed their
babies. They also join a repressive regime along with men in stigmatizing
adolescent sexuality. It is a sobering thought to realize that Romeo would
now be in jail and on a sex registry list.
The one visionary who really understood this problem was the great
psychologist, William Reich. He challenged Freud in one of the biggest
issues still facing us. In his "Mass Psychology of Fascism" he revealed that
the problem is not the supposedly "twin evils" of SEX AND VIOLENCE. No. That
is the smokescreen. The evils are SEXUAL FRUSTRATION AND VIOLENCE.
Historian Lawrence Stone notes specifically the role played by sexual
frustration in the conquest of native populations by the European explorers:
It has also been argued that post-Reformation Christianity has favoured late
marriage, by encouraging asceticism and thrift...In view of the low recorded
level of illegitimacy it is reasonable to assume that for many young men
this delay involved considerable sexual denial at a time of optimum male
sexual drive, despite the usual non-procreative outlets...it could help to
explain the high level of group aggression, which lay behind the
extraordinary expansionist violence of western nation states at this time
(Stone 1977, 52-4).
So patriarchy's repression of women's sexuality, in effect, "backfired" on
men to create a culture that denied their sexual expression as well. This
lack of sexual outlets causes a build-up of male sexual frustration ---and
that causes the violence. The way out of the trap is for society to embrace
sexuality in a healthy way. In the short term, that means more sex to
alleviate the current obsessiveness surrounding sex. When sex is not
demeaned and denied, even advertisers will not be able to manipulate the
public through obsessive consumerism. (It's interesting that the rock song
that has captured the public's fascination for years ---always on top or
near the top of the "all time great" rock songs---- is the Rolling Stones "I
Can't Get No Satisfaction". This contains a very deep message about the
relationship between sexual frustration and its use in inspiring an
obsessive consumerism.) Women have to again embrace sex from the breast
onwards. They have to heal the obsessiveness of men through a more sexually
giving paradigm. I know men "don't deserve it" ---but they need to be
re-nurtured by a sexually open mother figure. And, to prevent this cycle
re-occurring in future times, the sexual repression of childhood must also
come to an end. (Read my attached paper, "SEXUAL INTIMACY DEPRIVATION IN
CHILDHOODAND THE ORIGINS OF VIOLENCE".)
Dale
PS Here's a wonderful website you should definitely check out:
http://www.violence.de/index.html
And here's the paper that is the main focus of this website and others. It
is one of the seminal papers of all time:
http://www.violence.de/prescott/bulletin/article.html
Fri Sep 22, 2006 1:21 am
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