Tuesday, April 22, 2008

service to the species & personal enjoyment

I know, nobody has anything nice to say about male sexual desire but still, reading it depressed me (and made me laugh!). From The Second Sex:

"The situation under consideration is profoundly different - biologically, socially and psychologically - for man and woman. For a man, the transition from childish sexuality to maturity is relatively simple: erotic pleasure is objectified, desire being directed toward another person instead of being realized within the bounds of self. Erection is the expression of this need; with penis, hands, mouth, with his whole body, a man reaches out toward his partner, but he himself remains at the center of this activity, being, on the whole, the subject as opposed to the objects that he perceives and instruments that he manipulates; he projects himself toward the other without losing his independence; the feminine flesh is for him a prey, and through it he gains access to the qualities he desires, as with any object. To be sure, he does not succeed in taking actual possession of them for himself, but at least he embraces them. The caress, the kiss, imply a partial check; but this check itself is a stimulant and a pleasure. The act of love is completed in the orgasm, its natural outcome. Coition has a definite physiological end and aim; in ejaculation the male rids himself if certain discomforting secretions, he obtains a complete relief, following upon sex excitement, which is unfailingly accompanied with pleasure. In any case, a definite act has been consummated, and the man's body retains its integrity: his service to the species is combined with his personal enjoyment."

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