Antisexualism
Encyclopedia
Antisexualism is opposition or hostility towards sexual behavior and sexuality. In pre-modern times, antisexual social movement
s were usually expressed in religious terms, but they now often have a secular social reform agenda. Most antisexual people believe that sexuality, but not asexuality, is a kind of addiction resulting in both physical and social effects, that it disrupts relationships, and causes people to lie and cheat to achieve the pleasure of sexual gratification. Antisexuals are not necessarily antinatalists
, so they do not necessarily object to sex for procreation. Some antisexuals believe sexuality to be the cause of many of the world's problems. Antisexuals can also be opposed to the idea of romantic love
, with some describing it as an "addiction to a person".
Social movement
Social movements are a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of individuals or organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words, on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change....
s were usually expressed in religious terms, but they now often have a secular social reform agenda. Most antisexual people believe that sexuality, but not asexuality, is a kind of addiction resulting in both physical and social effects, that it disrupts relationships, and causes people to lie and cheat to achieve the pleasure of sexual gratification. Antisexuals are not necessarily antinatalists
Antinatalism
Antinatalism is a philosophical position that assigns a negative value to birth, standing in opposition to natalism. It has been advanced by figures such as Arthur Schopenhauer, Peter Wessel Zapffe, Heinrich Heine, Emil Cioran, Philipp Mainländer, Philip Larkin, Chris Korda, Matti Häyry, Thomas...
, so they do not necessarily object to sex for procreation. Some antisexuals believe sexuality to be the cause of many of the world's problems. Antisexuals can also be opposed to the idea of romantic love
Romantic love
Romance is the pleasurable feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love.In the context of romantic love relationships, romance usually implies an expression of one's love, or one's deep emotional desires to connect with another person....
, with some describing it as an "addiction to a person".
Reasons for antisexualism
The antisexual movement promotes antisexualism as a way of life. Antisexuals are not always asexual, although they say it is not impossible to become asexual and they seek asexuality, but the reasons for their antisexuality are often based on their reasoning or morals. A few of the claims some antisexuals make include:- Sexuality can complicate relationships (as when people are hostile towards each other because they are sexually attracted to the same person).
- Sex may hinder one's spiritual development.
- Sexual desire can cause people to place primitive instinct ahead of intellect (people across the world continue to have unsafe casual sex despite their awareness of the dangers of STDs, for example).
- Sexuality asserts itself in the human mind by releasing neurochemicalsNeurochemistryNeurochemistry is the specific study of neurochemicals, which include neurotransmitters and other molecules such as neuro-active drugs that influence neuron function. This principle closely examines the manner in which these neurochemicals influence the network of neural operation...
comparable to addictive drugs into the brain. - Sexual desire can cause people to lie and cheat in the pursuit of sexual relationships.
- Sexuality can lead to discrimination, based on perceptions of sexual immorality and intolerance of certain sexual preferences.
- Sexual desires could be false assumptions that are foisted on you by society, hence you may need to look at how your sexuality is ideologically and institutionally constructed.
- Sexuality, which is usually based on notion of physical attractivenessPhysical attractivenessPhysical attractiveness refers to a person's physical traits which are perceived to be aesthetically pleasing or beautiful. The term often implies sexual attractiveness or desirability, but can also be distinct from the two; for example, humans may regard the young as attractive for various...
, encourages and justifies obliviousness to the unfairness of discrimination against people who are deemed unattractive by others. - There is no difference between consent and coercion; sex is a means of oppression.
- There is a link between unrestricted reproduction, resource depletion and environmental decay. This is a position ideologically connected to deep ecologyDeep ecologyDeep ecology is a contemporary ecological philosophy that recognizes an inherent worth of all living beings, regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs. The philosophy emphasizes the interdependence of organisms within ecosystems and that of ecosystems with each other within the...
, antinatalismAntinatalismAntinatalism is a philosophical position that assigns a negative value to birth, standing in opposition to natalism. It has been advanced by figures such as Arthur Schopenhauer, Peter Wessel Zapffe, Heinrich Heine, Emil Cioran, Philipp Mainländer, Philip Larkin, Chris Korda, Matti Häyry, Thomas...
and MalthusianismMalthusianismMalthusianism refers primarily to ideas derived from the political/economic thought of Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus, as laid out initially in his 1798 writings, An Essay on the Principle of Population, which describes how unchecked population growth is exponential while the growth of the food...
. - Mother-roles are a construct used to subjugate women, hence they may oppose procreation. This argument chimes with certain feminist and queer theories (lesbianLesbian feminismLesbian feminism is a cultural movement and critical perspective, most popular in the 1970s and early 1980s , that questions the position of lesbians and women in society. It particularly refutes heteronormativity, the assumption that everyone is "straight" and society should be structured to serve...
, pro-celibacy and Green feminism), but not others. - Male dominated families can be harmful entity for society, which is similar to the theory of Marx and Engels that male dominated family structures which reduce females to objects of reproduction and household chores are more a form of 'prostitution' than one of ethical family values. Some Marxists have advocated the abolition of the family and communal living.
- Sexual behavior evolved for human reproduction. If life is more a burden than a joy, one does a service to would-be offspring by not having them.
- Technological advances render sex obsolete.
In history
- John Harvey KelloggJohn Harvey KelloggJohn Harvey Kellogg was an American medical doctor in Battle Creek, Michigan, who ran a sanitarium using holistic methods, with a particular focus on nutrition, enemas and exercise. Kellogg was an advocate of vegetarianism and is best known for the invention of the corn flakes breakfast cereal...
, the inventor of the "corn flakes" variety of breakfast cereal, was opposed to all forms of sexual activity, especially masturbationMasturbationMasturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...
. The Road to WellvilleThe Road to WellvilleThe Road to Wellville is a 1993 novel by American author T. Coraghessan Boyle. Set in Battle Creek, Michigan during the early days of breakfast cereals, the story includes a historical fictionalization of John Harvey Kellogg, the inventor of corn flakes....
satirized his life and practices. - Ann LeeAnn LeeMother Ann Lee was the leader of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, or Shakers....
was the founder of the ShakersShakersThe United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, known as the Shakers, is a religious sect originally thought to be a development of the Religious Society of Friends...
, a radical Protestant sect that opposed procreation and all sexual activity. - The SkoptzySkoptzyThe Skoptsy were a secret sect in imperial Russia. The Skoptsy are best known for practicing castration of men and the mastectomy of women in accordance with their teachings against sexual lust. The movement originated as an offshoot of the sect known as the "People of God" and was first noted...
s were a radical sect of the Russian Orthodox ChurchRussian Orthodox ChurchThe Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
that practiced castrationCastrationCastration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses the functions of the testicles or a female loses the functions of the ovaries.-Humans:...
and breast mutilation on females. They opposed procreation for reasons similar to the Protestant Shaker movement. - Some forms of early ascetic GnosticismGnosticismGnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
held all matter to be evil, and that unnecessary gratifications of the physical senses were to be avoided. Married couples were encouraged to be celibate (see Book of Thomas the ContenderBook of Thomas the ContenderThe Book of Thomas the Contender, also known more simply as the Book of Thomas , is one of the books of the New Testament apocrypha represented in the Nag Hammadi library , a cache of Gnostic gospels secreted in the Egyptian desert...
, Acts of ThomasActs of ThomasThe early 3rd century text called Acts of Thomas is one of the New Testament apocrypha, portraying Christ as the "Heavenly Redeemer", independent of and beyond creation, who can free souls from the darkness of the world. References to the work by Epiphanius of Salamis show that it was in...
; also Spiritual marriageSpiritual marriageSpiritual marriage comes from the idea of "love without sex." It is a practice in which a man and a woman live intimately without engaging in any sexual activities...
). - OrigenOrigenOrigen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...
and Boston CorbettBoston CorbettThomas P. "Boston" Corbett was the Union Army soldier who shot and killed Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. He disappeared after 1888, but circumstantial evidence suggests that he died in the Great Hinckley Fire in 1894, although this remains impossible to substantiate.-Early...
were reported to have castrated themselves. - H.P. Lovecraft once said that "Eroticism belongs to a lower order of instincts, and is an animal rather than nobly human quality".
- Father DivineFather DivineFather Divine , also known as Reverend M. J. Divine, was an African American spiritual leader from about 1907 until his death. His full self-given name was Reverend Major Jealous Divine, and he was also known as "the Messenger" early in his life...
, Founder of the International Peace Mission Movement, advocated religious abstinence from sex and marriage and taught that sexual objectification is a root cause of undesirable social and political conditions. http://www.libertynet.org/fdipmm/word4/ovrpop1a.html http://www.libertynet.org/fdipmm/pmmdirtv/socpropa.html
In fiction
- The Junior Anti-Sex League, in George OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-FourNineteen Eighty-FourNineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
,was a group of young adult Party members devoted to banning all sexual intercourse, and replacing its procreative functions with the use of artificial insemination (children would be raised in public institutions, rather than in individual families). Though the League was founded and countenanced by the all-powerful totalitarian Party, the Party leadership did not allow it to succeed in its goals. However, the existence of the League served as an important public reminder of the Party's disapproval of all attachments and activities which could diminish exclusive loyalty to the Party, and that everything other than "normal intercourse between man and wife, for the sole purpose of begetting children, and without physical pleasure on the part of the woman" was forbidden sexcrime, which could be punished by death. - In Jorge Luis Borges's Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis TertiusTlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius"Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" is a short story by the 20th century Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. The story was first published in the Argentine journal Sur, May 1940. The "postscript" dated 1947 is intended to be anachronistic, set seven years in the future...
it is said that "one of the heresiarchs of UqbarUqbarUqbar is a fictional place in Jorge Luis Borges's 1940 short story "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius". Uqbar in the story is doubly fictional: even within the world of the story it turns out to be a fictional place. The story turns on the narrator's discovery of a fictitious entry about Uqbar: that is, a...
had declared that mirrors and copulation are abominable, because they increase the number of men." - Walter Kovacs, alias Rorschach, in the WatchmenWatchmenWatchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...
graphic novel.