-----Original Message----- From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org] On Behalf Of Michael Dawson -PSU
> Masturbating, and liking sex, too. It's wired deeply into our brains,
Ken.
Just like eating, right? If enjoying sex is like eating, why do Americans shudder at eating insects and horses and dogs while consume a lion share of beef? We might have a propensity toward enjoying sex, but that doesn't tell us what sex is... and I doubt we're hardwired to know. I disagree with Marvin Harris... something has to be good to think before it can be good to eat... sex has to be good to think before it can be good sex (naturally I've exaggerated my position here for rhetorical effect). People don't just put anything in their mouths... we're very picky - and that means purity and danger when it comes to sex. If we weren't picky about sex... imagine what would accompany the phone book in a phone book!
> Fucking is fun.
** I'd have to say the empirical and historical evidence is against you on this one. Which one of the world religious traditions that form the contemporary bedrock of any number of bio-political regions do you want me to reference? The Buddha said that it would be better to stick your prick into the mouth of a snake or into a bed of hot coals than put it in a woman... shall I go on?
> Meanwhile, what does "is the advent of porn linked to modern notions of
political economy (public and private sphere)" even mean? Are you trying to
say the money economy stimulates production and distribution of porn? Heck,
yeah, it does, but who doesn't know that? Are you trying to suggest there
was no private life before capitalism? Peasants had huts and hiding places,
didn't they? The word "fornication" wasn't coined in 1848...
** Not quite. I was wondering if there is a link between the rise of surveillance and the kind of surveillance that people experienced in the 19th century and the popularity of pornography. That isn't my position, that's my question.
thanks, ken