Incidentally, where does this idea that the poetic articulation of
erotic longing will help to construct a more mutually respectful
social milieu come from? It seems like wishful thinking at best to me.
I don't find in my sexual makeup a great deal that would be of use in
making a better society.
I guess it's a little bit like saying, "if we can all learn to be
respectful of one another's sexual selves, then in that regard at
least we will all have learned to be respectful of one another". That
might be true, but it begs the question rather.
I'm inclined to believe a) that our erotic selves are inherently
conflicted, and b) that these conflicts are not directly or
necessarily due to the fracturing of some primal innocence by
external, e.g. familial or societal, conflicts, but are internal to
the system of overlapping functions and imperatives that make up our
make-up. It would follow that the content of our sexual lives is not
inherently worthy of respect - in some cases, pity might be more like
it.
To respect another person as a sexual being might mean taking a proper
care of the miseries and anxieties to which their sexuality makes them
vulnerable, as well as acknowledging their capacity for pleasure.
There is no possibility of a straightforward "liberation" here, no
unqualified good that need only be released to realize itself.
Dominic
|