You’ve almost certainly heard feminist rants about impossible cultural ideals of femininity: how standards of femininity are so narrow and rigid they’re literally unattainable; how, to avoid being seen as unfeminine, women are expected to navigate an increasingly narrow window between slut and prude, between capable and docile, between moral enforcer and empathetic helpmeet.
Here’s what you may not know: It works that way for men as well.
Eric, I was very enlightened when on a post a few days ago you said that men do not have an “orgasm” necessarily even though semen is released–I was not aware of that and it made me think of the article written by Susan Lydon, “Understanding Orgasm.” It was written long ago but I find it still very comprehensive. She points out that the orgasm by masturbation for women is much more intense than any other orgasm, which I have found true. (She also rightly states that there are many other factors beyond intensity which contribute to a woman’s sexual enjoyment with a partner.)
I am really happy you are opening up your side (the male perspective side) of this dialogue. You are eloquent and passionate about your sexual experiences (and your everyday experiences) as a man. I want to hear about it. The world needs to hear about it. I have three sons. (And a daughter.) I want someone like you to be leading the way for them into a life they can embrace fully if they choose to. Thank you.
Human beings are creatures of habit – and that is why these mind laundering techniques work so well.
For humans to extract certitude from transactions they impose templates upon them and make a ‘valid’ reality one that triggers a socially dominant, frame of reference. There are different templates for various situations and a conformist’s job is to accurately match and align – or else be permanently unhappy and deficient in their self-valuation as well as likely censured by peers.
It is tough to individuate against this fast flowing torrent of such signifiers.
In fact, the huge difficulty we all face in these matters is that a cohort of surrogate categories take the place of what might otherwise have been natural attractions, desires and affinities that we had explored ourselves. It seems to me that these punishing perfections have a strong relationship to Neptune and that a heavy dose of Uranus is a necessary antidote!
On this particular observation (in real time) it occurred to me to check the chart for the inception of TV.
Voila!!
It seem that we are in an interesting phase: Philo T. Farnsworth was the first person to successfully demonstrate what we understand as modern television, in his lab in San Francisco on September 7, 1927. If we seek to fix a reliable date on which television was invented, that’s the date.
Interestingly today, Neptune is retrograde, remaining in opposition to where it was forward moving at that time; while Uranus remains conjunct (and forward moving) to where it was retrograde at TV’s invention date.
The message feels clear. We have now reached a point where we can overturn the use of media disseminations to deceive the masses (Mr Assange show us the way!) and where the innovative potential that struggled to spawn all of its most progressive possibilities in Uranus’ last cycle, finally gets forward thrust.
The tools of news dissemination now grace OUR hands. We can co-create reality like never before and give the lie to all those deceptions that have told us that life is a prefabricated building that we must inhabit.
Now really IS the time to be yourself and proud of it and to shout it from the rooftops of your own personal space – a space that now pervades the great “We are”