On 1/10/06 8:25 AM, "Mike Frank" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> WHY has
> tolerating gore become important for adolescent males, and WHY do we find
> cruelty titillating?
Mike,
Good questions.
You may be implying that something in human society changed and now
adolescent males are tolerating gore. They have ALWAYS tolerated gore,
throughout every moment of human history for which we have evidence.
Every once in a while, there's a fashion for daintiness or aversion to
carnality of all kinds, but wouldn't you say that gore and cruelty is always
a norm in culture? A norm, not the only norm -- often, there are political
and religious countervailing impulses, also.
Here's some speculation about why cruelty titillates:
Relief. We see suffering and we're reassured that we're not suffering.
This is reflected in the threat/relief cycle of slapstick humor.
Will to power. We want what we want, when we want it. Human-on-human
cruelty is evidence of power and we identify with it to some extent.
Fetishistic linking. Some cruelty gets linked to Eros in some
mysterious way and the erotic charge is part of the titillation. You see
this link in lots of vertebrates. Duck sex and cat sex come to mind. I'd
be surprised if it's not genetic in humans, too.
Other kinds of identification. Today's New York Times Science section
has a long article about how we respond neurologically when we see things
happen. Titillation is the name we give to sharing in exciting, threatening
situations vicariously.
Nu?
Cordially,
Dv
Doug vanderHoof
Producer/Owner
Modern Media
Bucktown, Chicago
(773)394-0029
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