to jack...
scribble pad.: a reply .....
dear jack,
to answer you, if i were taking at face value what our history books say, i would merely state (disapprovingly!) that the indus valley civilisation worshipped a figure called the mother goddess, and that we have excavated several statues of her. what the religious beliefs were, why they worshipped her, the way society was organised then would not be part of the story at all. my reference to history is simply to highlight the fact that such a viewpoint existed from ancient times. plus to drive home the point that even in the education system, significant facts are glossed over, and important issues are not pointed out, explained or discussed. my facts are drawn from a curry of fields like feminist philosophy, history, anthropology... (and i assure you, im suspicious of my sources - i do not trust our saffronised and several-times-rewritten text books any more than you do!)
"is sex a celebration of life only when it is clothed by prudery and sanctified beyond meaning?" NO : which is why it wasnt that way before!! please. youre talking about a culture that depicted bare breasted women in temples. what was that about clothed in anything, leave alone prudery?! also, if you are talking about sancitity yes, i would say that treating the body as a temple is an important and beautiful concept, relevant always. in fact, according to hinduism, each part of the body is governed by a different god - check out your vedanta. also, if you think that that in any way diluted or ignored the sensual, physical angles, please do read a translation of soundarya lahiri. it deals at great length with the parts of the female body, about the breasts, the vulva, the changes during sexual arousal, orgasm etc. so much for being clinical huh. i presume thats about as "raw" as you had in mind? if you mean did they crack lewd jokes and make obscene comments - no. they didnt. sex was above and beyond that.
the open minded honest and practical attitude to sex is seen in so many things - how can you forget the kamasuthra! did you know we also had a very practical take on prostitution? the arthashashthra deals with (amongst other things) prostitute colonies, codes of conduct for prostitutes and their clients, contraception methods to be followed - and benefits and facilities to be provided to the colonies by the state!
we may be the modern generations time-wise, but our ancestors were a damn sight more modern in thinking! :-)
m.
dear jack,
to answer you, if i were taking at face value what our history books say, i would merely state (disapprovingly!) that the indus valley civilisation worshipped a figure called the mother goddess, and that we have excavated several statues of her. what the religious beliefs were, why they worshipped her, the way society was organised then would not be part of the story at all. my reference to history is simply to highlight the fact that such a viewpoint existed from ancient times. plus to drive home the point that even in the education system, significant facts are glossed over, and important issues are not pointed out, explained or discussed. my facts are drawn from a curry of fields like feminist philosophy, history, anthropology... (and i assure you, im suspicious of my sources - i do not trust our saffronised and several-times-rewritten text books any more than you do!)
"is sex a celebration of life only when it is clothed by prudery and sanctified beyond meaning?" NO : which is why it wasnt that way before!! please. youre talking about a culture that depicted bare breasted women in temples. what was that about clothed in anything, leave alone prudery?! also, if you are talking about sancitity yes, i would say that treating the body as a temple is an important and beautiful concept, relevant always. in fact, according to hinduism, each part of the body is governed by a different god - check out your vedanta. also, if you think that that in any way diluted or ignored the sensual, physical angles, please do read a translation of soundarya lahiri. it deals at great length with the parts of the female body, about the breasts, the vulva, the changes during sexual arousal, orgasm etc. so much for being clinical huh. i presume thats about as "raw" as you had in mind? if you mean did they crack lewd jokes and make obscene comments - no. they didnt. sex was above and beyond that.
the open minded honest and practical attitude to sex is seen in so many things - how can you forget the kamasuthra! did you know we also had a very practical take on prostitution? the arthashashthra deals with (amongst other things) prostitute colonies, codes of conduct for prostitutes and their clients, contraception methods to be followed - and benefits and facilities to be provided to the colonies by the state!
we may be the modern generations time-wise, but our ancestors were a damn sight more modern in thinking! :-)
m.
Labels: brownskinspeak, feminist issues
scribbled by m. at 4:11 am
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