Antisexualism is opposition or hostility towardssexual behavior andsexuality.[1]
Other terms whose meanings overlap or are synonymous or interchangeable with antisexualism includesex-negativism,[2]sex-negative movement,[3]sex-negativity,[4]antisexuality,[5]demonization of sex[6] or as an adjective,anti-sex orsex-negative.[7][8] In a broader scope, it may refer to a general opposition to sexuality,[9] especially tending to reduce or eliminate thesex drive or sexual activity[10] or a force in society that suppresses sexual freedom and disseminates antisexual opinions.[11][12] When such an aversion involves hatred, it is sometimes calledmiserotia ormiserotism.[13]
Some forms of early asceticGnosticism held all matter to be evil, and that unnecessary gratifications of the physical senses were to be avoided. Married couples were encouraged to be chaste.[14][15] In the first century,Marcion of Sinope held an antisexual andascetic outlook.[16] TheSkoptsys were a radical sect of theRussian Orthodox Church that practicedcastration and amputation of sexual organs. The Skoptsy believed that Christ had been castrated during his crucifixion, and it was this castration that brought about salvation.[17]Boston Corbett, who was involved in killing John Wilkes Booth, castrated himself after being mocked and tempted by prostitutes.[18]Ann Lee was the founder of theShakers, a radicalProtestant sect that opposed procreation and all sexual activity. The Shakers were more opposed to pregnancy than anything else.[19][better source needed]Father Divine, founder of theInternational Peace Mission Movement, advocated religiousabstinence from sex and marriage and taught that sexual objectification is a root cause of undesirable social and political conditions.[20]
James Baldwin inThe Fire Next Time refers to the United States as an antisexual country dominated by awhite culture that regards sensual or soulful behavior byBlack Americans as suspect. This contributed to a crisis of Baldwin's Christian faith, showing that the world did not accept him, and that Christianity had not made white people accepting.
PhilosopherImmanuel Kant viewed humans as being subject to the animalistic desires of self-preservation, species-preservation, and the preservation of enjoyment. He argued that humans have a duty to avoid actions that harm or degrade themselves, including suicide, sexual degradation, and drunkenness.[21]: 225 This led Kant to regard sexual intercourse as degrading because it "makes of the loved person an Object of appetite",[22] rather than focusing on their inherent worth as rational beings, which violates Kant's second formulation of thecategorical imperative, a philosophical concept he created to judge the morality of actions. He admitted sex only within marriage, which he regarded as "a merely animal union".[23]
Variousfeminist views on sexuality have been described as anti-sex or sex-negative. In particular,second-wave andradical feminist viewpoints and thinkers have been subject to this, including from other feminists.[24][25][26]
Prior to the second wave of feminism, which introduced such slogans as "The personal is political" in the 1960s, the subject ofwomen's sexuality had rarely been addressed as apoliticized subject, although the subjugation of women by aspects ofmale sexuality had been discussed. Major feminist organizations, such as theNational Organization for Women (NOW) in the United States, primarily focused onmale supremacy in the public sphere. It was not until the earliest radical feminist groups began to form in the late 1960s that feminist analysis of women's sexuality started to become widespread.[27]
According to radical feminist theory, sexuality is the primary sphere ofpatriarchy, withsexual activity, especiallyheterosexual sex, as the basis of women's oppression by men. Sexuality, according to radical feminists, only serves to revoke theagency of women. Radical feminists oppose thesexual objectification of women, for their sexual andreproductive labor, and hold the view that in a male-dominated society heterosexual practices involve an imbalance of power and serve tosexualize the oppression of women.[28]Ti-Grace Atkinson wrote of heterosexual sex as a socialinstitution serving the needs of men but not necessarily of women. This analysis led some radical feminists to call for women to stop having sex with men altogether, with some advocating forcelibacy and others advocatingpolitical lesbianism.[27] This led to the second wave polarizing around two camps in what would become known as thefeminist sex wars.[29]
Radical feminist writerJulie Bindel described femalebisexuality as a "fashionable trend" pushing for sexual hedonism. She writes, "if bisexual women had an ounce of sexual politics, they would stop sleeping with men."[30]
Several authors have objected to radical feminists on this front. Margaret Hunt criticizedSheila Jeffreys for praising women involved in the 19th-centurysocial purity movement, whose "concern with women's victimization" Jeffreys admired.[31]
Naomi Wolf identified a form of feminism she calledvictim feminism, which she described as "sexually judgmental, even antisexual".[32]
Antisexualism drew sharp criticism fromBertrand Russell in hisMarriage and Morals:
Westermarck gives many instances of what he calls 'the curious notion that there is something impure and sinful in ... sexual relations.' ... It should be said to begin with that it is useless to look to beliefs as the source of this kind of attitude. Beliefs of this sort must be in the first place inspired by a mood; it is true that when once they exist they may perpetuate the mood, or at any rate actions in accordance with the mood, but it is hardly likely that they will be the prime causes of an anti-sexual attitude. The two main causes of such an attitude are, I should say,jealousy and sexualfatigue.
— Bertrand Russell,Marriage and Morals[33]
According to Bertrand Russell, an anti-sexual attitude must be regarded as purely superstitious and those who first inculcated antisexualism must have suffered from a diseased condition of body or mind, or both.[34]
John Harvey Kellogg, the inventor of the corn flakes variety of breakfast cereal, was opposed to all forms of sexual activity, especiallymasturbation.[35]The Road to Wellville satirized his life and practices.[36] According to some sources, the early Christian theologianOrigen castrated himself to avoid temptation and remain pure.[37]
consists of any negative response directed at sex organs or harmless sex expression
The current anti-sexual crusade is only the top of the iceberg. Under the guise of a moral renaissance,Russian Orthodoxy and its allies are trying to restorecensorship and administrative control over private life.
.svg)
{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)All disciples subscribed to Father Divine's teaching that sex was a sin that drained the body of "spiritual energy", making the individual vulnerable to disease and death. Even followers who lived outside 72 Macon Street practiced celibacy.