Christianity and Islam and Confucianism (using those terms as shorthand for the cultures, not to denote the religions themselves) have all been pretty sex-negative for most of their history.
Well...given that "sex-negative" is a variously definable term, I'd still have to disagree with regard to Islam. Throughout most of Muslim history (in the Middle East, at least), attitudes toward sexual pleasure have been far more liberal than in, say, Christianity -- assuming you're talking about the behavior of married men and women. Granted, Islam shares many other religions' intolerance of homosexuality and of sex outside the marriage bond, though there are exceptions and social workarounds in many Muslim countries for both: in Saudi Arabia, for example, male homosexuality is seen as a relatively normal adolescent behavior; and in Iran, day-long marriages are legal and allow otherwise uncommitted men and women to have sex together.
But (and I realize this is a big qualification), assuming you're talking about heterosexual marriage, Islam is aggressively sex-positive. From the hadith advocating oral and anal sex to the sharia rulings that guarantee women a legal right to sexual pleasure and birth control, Islam's historical relationship to sexual gratification is a far, far better one than, oh say, the Roman Catholic Church's.
Granted, that's not saying much. But I at least like that the Qu'ran proposes that God invented sex for the same reason He made fig trees and cool breezes: for the pleasure of His creations. A far cry from original sin, anyway.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2003-07-26 22:11 (UTC)Well...given that "sex-negative" is a variously definable term, I'd still have to disagree with regard to Islam. Throughout most of Muslim history (in the Middle East, at least), attitudes toward sexual pleasure have been far more liberal than in, say, Christianity -- assuming you're talking about the behavior of married men and women. Granted, Islam shares many other religions' intolerance of homosexuality and of sex outside the marriage bond, though there are exceptions and social workarounds in many Muslim countries for both: in Saudi Arabia, for example, male homosexuality is seen as a relatively normal adolescent behavior; and in Iran, day-long marriages are legal and allow otherwise uncommitted men and women to have sex together.
But (and I realize this is a big qualification), assuming you're talking about heterosexual marriage, Islam is aggressively sex-positive. From the hadith advocating oral and anal sex to the sharia rulings that guarantee women a legal right to sexual pleasure and birth control, Islam's historical relationship to sexual gratification is a far, far better one than, oh say, the Roman Catholic Church's.
Granted, that's not saying much. But I at least like that the Qu'ran proposes that God invented sex for the same reason He made fig trees and cool breezes: for the pleasure of His creations. A far cry from original sin, anyway.