Thomas Nagel’s (birth and death date) article on Sexual Perversion questions the ‘natural’ and ‘unnatural’ sexual behaviours and boundaries of it. Natural and unnatural sexual behaviours are dependent on the society, culture, and time. Something natural in one’s society and culture might change with respect to time. Nagel explains the ‘natural’ and ‘unnatural’ behaviours by using “sceptical argument” of appetite, just as appetite can be satisfied in a number of ways can sexual desire. Hunger is interaction with the food to satisfy one’s needs; however, with sexual desire one needs to interact with other person who is dependent on reactions and impulses person by oneself and the other person. Sexual desire may change, people may desire different …show more content…
character in same person, such as one may be attracted to the eyes; other may be attracted to the lips. Nagel used the analogy of an omelette to describe this specific sexual desire- some may desire an omelette for its fluffiness, others for its mushrooms, etc. The general condition of sexual perversion is that one must perceive or sense the partner, the partner must perceive you, and you must perceive that the other is sensing you, the other senses you perceiving them.
Nagel uses Romeo and Juliet to explain the cycle of sexual perversion. Nagel’s Romeo and Juliet are at an opposite end of a cocktail lounge in a room with many mirrors. Romeo notices Juliet sipping her cocktail in the mirror; however, Juliet is not aware that Romeo is noticing her. Romeo is aroused sexually, an unaroused object arouses however, i.e. Romeo’s the sexual perversion is broken, as Juliet is not sensing Romeo. However, if the Juliet senses Romeo in the other mirror and neither of them knows that the other is noticing them, Juliet becomes aroused as well. When Romeo realizes that Juliet is noticing him, he may be aroused more. Sexual arousal may begin with a person sensing the other, the other sensing the person, and then the person knowing that the other is sensing him and the other knowing his partner is sensing the person. The more the person spends their time on the perception of arousal, the more he is …show more content…
aroused. According to Nagel, sexual perversion is not related to reproduction and it does not apply to lower animals. It is not related anything to do with reproduction, such as sterilization, miscarriage, contraception, or abortion as this does not meet Nagel’s general criteria of sexual perversions. However, sexual perversion does apply to higher animals whose psychology and anatomy is similar to humans. According to his theory to be considered as sexual perversion, one needs to have a sexual desire or practices, which is considered unnatural; this could be foot fetish, bestiality, sadism or masochism. Secondly, certain practices will be perversion, perversion are unnatural sexual inclinations rather than traditional practices. Nagel could be criticized on his general conditions for sexual perversions, as this is a very basic definition and conflicts with other societies and cultures.
A person could debate if the eye contact between partners in heterosexual relationships is sexual perversion, as this satisfies all Nagel’s criteria on sexual perversion. One could also argue if masturbation is sexual perversion or not, some societies see masturbation as sexual perversion and others societies may not. Masturbation could be regarded by traditional or religious society as sexual perversion, as they may only have sexual pleasure with their partners, not by themselves. However, masturbation does not satisfy the Nagel’s criterion of sexual perversion as there is no partner to perceive sexual desire. Adult or child pornography could also be debatable, as it does not satisfy Nagel’s idea of sexual perversion. In some societies, pornography is regarded as sexual perversion while in others it is not. Nagel’s sexual perversions are debatable as some topics are controversial as they are based on the morals of one’s society. Adult pornography may be moral but child pornography may not be moral in one society or both may be moral or not moral in other societies. Thus Nagel’s idea of sexual perversion is ambiguous and may not applied for everything related to sex
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He introduces basic conditions that an act must meet in order to be deemed a perversion. The sexual acts must be unnatural, a fetish or unnatural inclinations (Nagel, 1). Nagel goes further to discuss a basic definition of a normal sexual relationship and he claims that the general basis of that relationship is two people noticing each other. The relationship initiates through one person’s arousal and then the arousal of the other person. Mutual arousal must precede physical contact, these mutual perceptions establish a normal, natural sexual
Lust or Love: An Essay Analyzing the Relationship of Romeo and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet
Who would be willing to die for their loved ones? Romeo and Juliet would and did. Romeo and Juliet’s love and death brought two families together who could not even remember the origin of their hate. When the parents saw what their children's love for each other, they realized that their fighting had only led to suffering and insoluble conflict. Romeo and Juliet loved each other to an extent that they killed themselves rather than live apart. They did it with no hiatus. Juliet says before she kills herself, “O happy dagger, This is thy sheath. There rust and let me die.”( 5, 3, 182-183) demonstrating how she would rather die than not be with him.
Through reading William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the reader finds details, diction, and symbolism to convey the theme regardless of being motivated by love or fear, deceptions and secrets can be destructive. In the beginning of the play, Shakespeare creates a conflict in which Romeo, a son of the Montague family, and Juliet, a daughter of the Capulet family, are in love with each other but have the obstacle of their families being in contention with each other. The conflict becomes oblivious to them due to their passionate love for each other. One night when the lovers first meet each other, Romeo is already trying to commit his life to her and Juliet replies “If that thy bent of love be honorable, / Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow, / By one that I’ll procure to come to thee, / Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite; / And all my fortunes at thy foot I’ll lay / And follow thee my lord throughout the world” (II.ii.143-148). Shakespeare’s details in this quote distinctly show the eagerness Juliet has for Romeo, especially if she is willing to follow him the rest of her life. Romeo and Juliet want to get married but come to realize that their families will not approve of their marriage. They then choose to elope in secrecy so their families do not find out. It is obvious that Juliet will lay down her future in Romeo’s hands because of her love for him and they are motivated to do anything no matter the consequence just to be with each other. Romeo and Juliet are driven by love to keep this a secret from everyone because of the hatred between the two families and do not use their conscience to notice the consequences that will come ahead. In the next Act, the deep passion for each other between the two lovers continues and causes Romeo to act abnormally. Another way Shakespeare develops his theme is with diction. Act III begins with Tybalt looking for Romeo because of his anger for Romeo attending a Capulet party. Romeo shows up and Tybalt wants to fight Romeo in which he resists and says that he has a reason to love and to not feel the rage that he normally should. Tybalt says that Romeo’s words can’t make up for what he had done to him and he wants to fight.
In the article “An Anthropological Look at Human Sexuality” the authors, Patrick Gray and Linda Wolfe speak about how societies look at human sexuality. The core concept of anthology is the idea of culture, the systems of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors people acquire as a member of society. The authors give an in depth analysis on how human sexuality is looked at in all different situations.
Through the flaws in the characterization of his characters, Shakespeare allows their weakness to manipulate and cloud their judgment. This fundamentally leads to the outcome of Romeo and Juliet, with each weakness presenting a conflict that alters the characters fate. Being especially true with the star-crossed lovers, William Shakespeare leads their perfect love into tragedy with these conflicts. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet, Friar Lawrence, and Tybalt all contribute to conflicts that enhance the plot. From destructive flaws in their characterizations, Juliet, Friar Lawrence, and Tybalt are all consequently controlled by their weakness, therefore affecting the outcome of the play.
Milstein, Susan A. Taking Sides Clashing Views in Human Sexuality. Ed. William J. Taverner and Ryan W. McKee. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.
Sexual objectification refers to the way in which a person sexually reduces another by treating them as a mere sex object (Halwani). Sexual objectification is rarely referred to as a benign topic, though throughout this evaluation, an enlightened, thou broad range of opinions are discussed emphasising the ambiguity of the term in relation to the morality of sexual objectification. Halwani’s definition only embraces ‘treatment’ and or the ‘behavioural’ aspects of sexual objectification, nevertheless Halwani recognises that the process by which someone is sexually objectified occurs most frequently throughout the following scenarios: During casual sex, as the parties desire nothing more than the others body party, essentially their sexual parts. When we look at naked pictures of people and become intrigued by their sexual aspects. Engaging in pornography, as the material already objectifies it’s actors as models (Halwani). Perving on a person’s bodily features such a “her booty” as he or she walks by. Catcalling, by reducing the person solely to their physical appearances and lastly, fantasising about someone, as it objectifies them solely on their physical appearances and can in turn symbolise men or women holistically (Halwani, 2010, pp 186). Allowing for a broader discussion in relation to when sexual objectification is morally permissible (if ever), idea’s constructed by Immanuel Kant, Martha Nussbaum and David Soble are broadly evaluated in order to construct when sexual objectification is permissible.
A Psychological Analysis of Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet was obviously not written to fit the psychoanalytic model, as the theories of Freud were not developed for centuries after Shakespeare. Shakespeare wrote about Renaissance England, a culture so heavily steeped in Christianity, that it would have blushed at the instinctual and sexual thrust of Freud’s theory. However, in order to keep literature alive and relevant, a culture must continually reinterpret the themes and ideas of past works. While contextual readings assure cultural precision, often these readings guarantee the death of a particular work. Homer’s Iliad, a monument among classical works, is currently not as renowned as Romeo and Juliet because it is so heavily dependent on its cultural context.
In Sigmund Freud’s “Sexual Morality and Modern Nervousness”, contained in Sexuality and the Psychology of Love, the writer presents separate roles for men and women as it relates to sexuality, even referring to a “double code of morality” (22) for the genders. In his paper the former often takes the role of the subject while the former becomes the object. In fact, women are described as the “true sexual guardians of the race” glorified, it seems, instead of truly studied. However, in one particular section of the essay, Freud turns his focus onto the female sexuality. In specific he references the various factors that, in his eyes, can influence the female sexual formation. The primary influences being that of the society, primarily the institution of marriage, and that of the family, which would include both a woman’s parents and children. After discussing these elements, Freud then
Based on what I know of love, I believe that the attraction between Romeo and Juliet is exaggerated quite extensively. The first time they had met they had shared nothing but eye contact and claimed they were in love with one another, they hadn’t shared anything about themselves including age, religion or anything for that matter. Juliet believes Romeo is ‘the one’ and almost completely disregards the idea of marrying Paris who is financially stable and seemingly a kind and charming gentleman which manners- Whereas Romeo gave in to peer pressure of his friend, Mercutio took drugs and crashed his parent’s rivals party.
Sexuality is a fundamental part of our self-discovery, involving much more than just being genetically or anatomically male and female and it is not defined solely by one 's sexual acts (Ministry of Education 1989, p.79 cited in Gourlay, P 1995). The notion that sexuality is fixed and innate disregards the social aspects that impact ones’ sexualities. Gagnon and Simon (1973) further commented that sexuality is a feature of social
In my perception, throughout Act 2 it is lust not love. The couple, Romeo and Juliet, instantly fall in unacquainted love with each other’s looks and beauty. Falling in love straight way or in other words, “love at first sight” sounds strange in our modern days as it takes a longer time to fall in love. Romeo’s lust instead of love for Juliet is apparent where he speaks of how exhilarated he is to take Juliet’s virginity in a sexual soliloquy, ‘Her vestal livery is but sick and green, and none but fools do wear it. Cast it off!’ (2.2.8-9). The vocabulary Shakespeare has used, positions the reader to imagine how Romeo is implying that only fools hold onto their virginity and that Juliet’s virginity makes her look sick and green. It is obviously
The issues of sexual ethics in relation to morality and perversion have been addressed in depth by each of the gentleman at this table. Sexual activity as described by Solomon and Nagle is comprised of a moral standard and ‘naturalness’ aspect. So, in claiming an act is perverted we must first examine it through a moral framework and understand how this interacts with the ‘naturalness’ of a particular act. Solomon makes the distinction as follows “Perversion is an insidious concept…To describe an activity as perverse is not yet a full blown moral condemnation, for it need not entail that one ought not to indulge in such activities.” Along with the examination of the nature of an act, there must be clear justification as to why sexual acts deserve special separate ethical principles. The question arises: does an act simply due to its sexual nature deserve a separate form of moral inquisition than other acts that occur in nature? In this essay I shall argue that perversion and immorality are not mutually exclusive. By this I mean that a sexual act that is, by my definition, immoral must also be perverted. It is also my contention that if an act is perverted we must also define it as immoral. This second part of the argument is contrary to what many of you have claimed. At the outset of this paper I would also like to state my support of Thomas Nagel’s argument holding that the connection between sex and reproduction has no bearing on sexual perversion. (Nagel 105)
Paedophilia is a concept which has changed throughout the eras the beliefs and attitudes towards paedophilia is something that is seen as a very difficult subject. Social standards are extremely influential when it comes to deciding what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour for a society and over time especially within the western world this is one of the things that have crossed boundaries and become a topic of debate for a variety of cultures. Paedophilia is considered to be an abnormal or unnatural attraction towards children. Throughout this essay there will be an attempt to discuss the constructions that surround the notion of paedophilia with focus on the social and psychological aspects. Firstly it is important to understand the history of paedophilia to be able to fully explore the explanations which we will be presented later on in this essay. Dating back to as far as the Roman and Greek eras where relationships between children and adults were accepted and portrayed as forms of mentorship. Up until the age of enlightenment, there was little more known than the naturalistic approach to maturity and sexuality. La Fontaine, (1990) states a paedophile is generally defined as a person who gains sexual gratification from contact with pre-pubescent children, this is a supported definition from various academics. According to the ICD-10 manual, Paedophilia is ‘a sexual preference for children, boys, girls or both usually of pre-pubertal or early pubertal age’. A person 16 years of age or older meets the definition if they have a persistent or predominant sexual preference for prepubescent children at least five years younger than themselves. Alter...