Sexual Destruction

Sexual Destruction

Sex can be a very powerful thing. Whether it is for money, drugs, in the form of adultery, or being sold in a magazine ad can definitely have the power to make or break almost any type of relationship. The following will list scenarios from certain resources where someone was completely overtaken, whether in a positive or negative way, by sex or a sexual act. When discussing sexual destruction as we did in Research Essay #1, it is imperative that we point out a common, although quite terrible, occurrence called molestation or rape. The state of mind of many molestation victims has been referred to as “insensible” or somewhere between conscious and unconscious. (Bourke) That is exactly how destructive rape can be to another human being. “In 2010, an estimated 1% of prisoners were reported victimization through forced, nonconsensual sex with another inmate in the prior 12 months.” (Morash) The rape of inmates is a method of sexual destruction that occurs quite often within prison walls. It, like many of the other methods mentioned, can destroy a person in every way physically, mentally, and emotionally. “Rape, violation of children, sexual assassination is usually due to the concomitant action of moral idiocy and violent or perverted sexual passions.” (Forel) This doesn’t play quite the ugly role in defining rape that should be portrayed but definitely gives a clear definition. “By marriage for money we understand marriage which is based on interest and not on love.”(Forel) This goes for marriage based on anything besides love. Sex however, can be destructive in different ways as well. In addition to molestation, another way that sex can be destructive is when someone commits adultery, meaning he/she sought and attained sex outside of marriage. In just 1950, adultery was viewed as “cross-culturally and historically.

Sexual intercourse between a married woman and a man other than her husband was a crime and, if it occurred, the husband was often entitled to damages, violent revenge, or divorce.”(Serran) “Historically, according to Asian legal traditions and Roman law, and even as recently as 1974 in Texas, a violent revenge by the victimized husband upon the adulterers was legitimate.”(Serran) When this happens, not only does it, statistically more often than not, destroy the marriage but most people also seek some kind of counseling after enduring a divorce. It is a choice as to whether one part or the other in the marriage will participate in the act.
How one acts can be sexually destructive or manipulative as well. “Morality, involving the modification of the conduct of the individual in view of the presence of others, is already highly developed in the tribal stage, since the exigencies of life have demanded the most rigorous regulation of behavior in order to secure the organization and the prowess essential to success against all comers.” (Thomas) This quote is in reference to the North American Indians. The tribe regulates a young male’s behavior so that people, “all comers,” will view him as sexually bountiful, manly, and strong. This could also be referred to as the way one “struts” across a room. It is a showing of how one carries themselves to project the appropriate vibe or understanding by others. They want other to see them projected as manly and attractive just like the North American Indians.
Another way that sex has been known to be destructive may be in the form of one’s sexuality within a marriage. They may not be physically cheating but one may be fantasizing about another person or even a person of the same gender. In my experience with the gay community, it is quite common that many have children or have been previously married and could not find happiness within that marriage because of a constant yearning or urge to be with someone of the same gender. Many men and women deal with these urges differently. Some seek affection outside of their marriages and commit adultery as mentioned above. Some hide or suppress their temptations and endure the struggle. Many of these marriages, sadly, end in divorce when the lie about who one really is becomes more than can be handled. One point of view that should be observed is that sex and sexual acts or thoughts come from the mind. The mind is a very powerful thing and can ultimately control one’s body, emotions, and everything about them. “Rising higher in the scale of being, we find that, with rare exceptions, reproduction is the result of the union of two dissimilar elements. These elements do not, in higher organisms, as in lower forms of life, constitute the individuals, but are produced by them; and being unlike, they are produced by special organs, each adapted to the formation of one kind of elements.” (Kellogg) Reproduction, or sex, being the “result of two dissimilar elements” is interesting because it is almost like the beginning of sexual destruction. It has been stated that sex is instinctual which means that it is birthed in us and in our minds. Claims of infantile masturbation site that sex and the urge to have it is merely a natural feeling or emotion that we as human beings are drawn to. A case of a girl has been recorded –“very bright for her age, though excessively shy and taciturn—who began masturbating spontaneously at the age of two; in this case the mother had masturbated all her life, even continuing the practice after marriage, though she succeeded in refraining during pregnancy, her thoughts still dwelt upon it, while the maternal grandmother had died in an asylum from "masturbatory insanity." (Ellis) Apparently, the family had what one might refer to as an addiction to masturbation. It destructed the grandmother.
People also use sex within marriage to gain or achieve their desires. For instance, a family member of mine tells her husband that she will have sex more often if he helps more around the house. This is a way of using sex as control in a marriage. Right or wrong, it does occur. Sex can be a very powerful manipulation tool when used in this manner. Some people feel so uncomfortable sexually that they feel they need to modify their bodies to be the appropriate gender. Some men have breast implants, hip and butt implants, or extensive facial surgeries to make their bodies appear more feminine. (James) Some naturally born females take Testosterone injections that enable their voices to deepen and them to grow facial hair. Many of these transsexual women have their breasts removed and eventually they have what they refer to as “bottom surgery.” (Remondino) This means that their genitals are actually altered so that they are male rather than female. These people live their lives in bodies that they feel most comfortable in. In this method of sexual destruction we see one that is willing to physically destruct their genitalia and other parts of their body in order to conform to being the sex or gender they feel they should have been. One story mentions a man who “grasped the fated prepuce with a revengeful glee, and, with all his powers concentrated in his good right hand, he must have closed the remorseless blades of the scissors on the unlucky prepuce.” (Remondino) He actually cut his penis off to become the gender he felt he should be. Many people make a living selling their own sex for cash or drugs or both. Prostitution dates back to around 2400 B.C. Thus, although illegal in most of our country, it has been around for centuries. While still quite common in today’s society, it could be considered sexually destructive by some. Another way that sex can be destructive is through pornography. Although illegal in some areas, it is widely accessible on the Internet and is a multi-billion dollar industry. Pornography “artificially excites the appetite. (Forel) Some people are even addicted to pornography and use or watch it many times a day and may or may not accompany it with masturbation.
It could be stated that the music industry is controlled by sex and sex appeal. For instance, if Britney Spears were less sexually desirable, she surely would not have sold nearly as many records. This is also referred to as “sex sells.” (Wikipedia) Sexual destruction could also be interpreted in a completely different way than any of the ways listed above. Some participate in monogamous group sexual fetishes. Some of them involve feet, dominatrix, role-playing, and many other sexually fantasized fulfillments. Another method of sexual destruction that has yet to be mentioned is human sex trafficking. “A Department of State estimate indicates that although between 700,000 and 1 million women and children are trafficked each year across the globe, 50,000 of them are imported into the United States.” (Wilson) This is going on right here in America. People are buying and selling these young women and forcing them to participate in sexual acts in order to attain their freedom again. Some of them survive the horror and fear they felt being trafficked as they feared for their lives daily through prostitution and some other illegal acts they were forced to commit. Sex became so rampant in the Medieval Times that the Church, which was extremely prominent in the lives of most at that time, began attempting to patrol it. “Pope Innocent III decrees that all Christians must confess their sins to a priest at least once a year. Sex was the largest category of sins as catalogued in confessors ' manuals. Christians are permitted to have sex on average of once a week.” (Royden) In conclusion, there are many ways that sex can be destructive. It seems as if wherever sex is involved, it can cause destruction depending on the person and how they choose to utilize their sex. They can choose to enhance or demolish a relationship, a human being, a hope, a dream, or even a child. Sex is definitely a human act that, aside when one is victimized, is a based on chosen participation.

Works Cited
James, Sharon L., “Learned Girls in Male Persuasion,” In Joan Palevsky Imprint in Classical Literature. University of California Press. 2003. Web ebook
Bourke, Joanna. “Theory, Culture & Society.” Sexual Violence, Bodily Pain, and Trauma: A History 29:25 (2012): 33. Sage Journals. Web. 7 June. 2012.
Ellis, Havelock. “Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 1” (2004) Project Gutenberg. Web. e-book 13610. 8 October. 2004.
Forel, August. Marshall, C.F. “The Sexual Question.” A Scientific, psychological, hygienic and sociological study Chapter 5 (2009) Project Gutenberg. Web. e-book 29903. 4 September. 2009.
Forel, August. Marshall, C.F. “The Sexual Question.” A Scientific, psychological, hygienic and sociological study (2009) Project Gutenberg. Web. e-book 29903. 4 September. 2009.
Kellogg, John Harvey. “Plain Facts for Old and Young” (2006) Project Gutenberg. Web. e-book 19924. 27 November. 2006.
Morash, Merry. Jeong, Seokjin. Bohmert, Miriam Northcutt. Bush, Daniel R. “The Prison Journal.” Men’s Vulnerability to Prisoner-on-Prisoner Sexual Violence: A State Correctional System Case Study 92:290 (2012): 33. Sage Journals. Web. 21 March. 2012.
Remondino, Peter Charles. “History of Circumcision from the Earliest Times to the Present.” Moral and Physical Reasons for its Performance (2007) Project Gutenberg. Web. e-book 23135. 21 October. 2007.
Royden, Maude A. “Sex and Common-Sense” (2004) Project Gutenberg. Web. e-book 11965. 8 April. 2004.
Serran, Geris. Firestone, Philip. “ Agression and Violent Behavior.” Intimate partner homicide: a review of the male proprietariness and the self-defense theories 9:1 (2004): Science Direct. Web. January-February. 2004.
Thomas, William I. “Sex and Society” (2005) Project Gutenberg. Web. e-book 15015. 13 February. 2005.
Wilson, Deborah G. Walsh, William F. Kleuber, Sherilyn. “Global Trafficking in Women and Children.” Training and Services in American Law Enforcement Agencies: Chapter 12 p.146 (2007) CRC net Base. CRC Press 2007.
H.W. Long, M.D., “Sane Sex Life and Sane Sex Living,” Eugenia Publishing Company, 1912,1922, Chapter outline

Cited: James, Sharon L., “Learned Girls in Male Persuasion,” In Joan Palevsky Imprint in Classical Literature. University of California Press. 2003. Web ebook Bourke, Joanna Ellis, Havelock. “Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 1” (2004) Project Gutenberg. Web. e-book 13610. 8 October. 2004. Forel, August. Marshall, C.F. “The Sexual Question.” A Scientific, psychological, hygienic and sociological study Chapter 5 (2009) Project Gutenberg. Web. e-book 29903. 4 September. 2009. Forel, August. Marshall, C.F. “The Sexual Question.” A Scientific, psychological, hygienic and sociological study (2009) Project Gutenberg. Web. e-book 29903. 4 September. 2009. Kellogg, John Harvey. “Plain Facts for Old and Young” (2006) Project Gutenberg. Web. e-book 19924. 27 November. 2006. Morash, Merry. Jeong, Seokjin. Bohmert, Miriam Northcutt. Bush, Daniel R. “The Prison Journal.” Men’s Vulnerability to Prisoner-on-Prisoner Sexual Violence: A State Correctional System Case Study 92:290 (2012): 33. Sage Journals. Web. 21 March. 2012. Remondino, Peter Charles. “History of Circumcision from the Earliest Times to the Present.” Moral and Physical Reasons for its Performance (2007) Project Gutenberg. Web. e-book 23135. 21 October. 2007. Royden, Maude A. “Sex and Common-Sense” (2004) Project Gutenberg. Web. e-book 11965. 8 April. 2004. Serran, Geris. Firestone, Philip. “ Agression and Violent Behavior.” Intimate partner homicide: a review of the male proprietariness and the self-defense theories 9:1 (2004): Science Direct. Web. January-February. 2004. Thomas, William I. “Sex and Society” (2005) Project Gutenberg. Web. e-book 15015. 13 February. 2005. Wilson, Deborah G. Walsh, William F. Kleuber, Sherilyn. “Global Trafficking in Women and Children.” Training and Services in American Law Enforcement Agencies: Chapter 12 p.146 (2007) CRC net Base. CRC Press 2007. H.W. Long, M.D., “Sane Sex Life and Sane Sex Living,” Eugenia Publishing Company, 1912,1922, Chapter outline