Erotic American Morality | Greek Values

It’s time for a lesson on Eroticism, compliments of photographer Mariano Vivanco, photographing Sessilee Lopez, Charlotte Di’Calypso and Tara Gill for Wonderland, in an editorial called ‘Control’.

If you believe this debauchery will render you devoid of all moral values, then you can leave now and have another art lesson: The Duchess’s Glorious Book, and a review of Demons & Devotion: The Hours of Catherine of Cleves, at the Morgan Library & Museum here in New York.

The highly-independent, maverick mother of six, Catherine of Cleves nevertheless sought to terrify readers into godliness with images like ‘Mouth of Hell’. Strong women can have this effect on a population.

In my case, I prefer less foreboding themes, ones that express eros without harm to body or psyche, and definitely no guilt.

Having read a stupendous essay this morning on religion and morality straight out of Islamabad, a forthright statement of facts confirming what I already know — that the godless Scandinavians are the most caring, moral, honest people on the planet — I’ve dug deep into the Danish and Swedish quarters of my soul, saying ‘Let’s take the plunge today, Anne. It’s time to up the eroticism quotient.”

We follow the lead of photographer Mariano Vivanco Wonderland Magazine, tipped by Fashion Gone Rogue, photos from Team Vivanco blog and a primitivel education on eroticism by Wiki. I will amend their post, correcting errors where necessary.

In Pursuit of Eros

The Greek god of love Eros is described as the priomordial god of unhinged desire, in addition to heteroeroticism, which is the yearning of sexual desire from the opposite sex.

In the Platonic ordered system of ideal forms, Eros corresponds to the subject’s yearning for ideal beauty and finality. It is the harmonious unification not only between bodies, but between knowledge and pleasure.

Eros takes an almost transcendent manifestation when the subject seeks to go beyond itself and form a communion with the objectival other. The French philosopher Georges Bataille believed eroticism was a movement towards the limits of our own subjectivity and humanity, a transgression that dissolves the rational world but is always temporary.

Yet an objection to eros and erotic representation is that it fosters a subject/object relationship in which the object of desire is mere projection of the needs of desiring subject.

Love as eros is considered more base than philia (friendship) or agape (self-sacrificing love). But erotic engagement paradoxically individuates and de-individuates the desirer.

The third kind of love, physio, is directly related with the amount of sex drive that the brain feels upon encountering an erotic moment. It seems that both testosterone and dopamine drive physio, which is fueled by a lack of the mundane, no matter how gorgeous the suject/object players in a sexual drama.

Some believe defining eroticism may be difficult since perceptions of what is erotic fluctuate. For example, a voluptuous nude painting by Peter Paul Rubens could have been considered erotic when it was created for a private patron in the 17th century.

The writer assumes that true eroticism is driven by cultural mores in the above example, that we all pursue the same body politics, probably dictated by the fashion industry — Ralph Lauren or Karl Lagerfeld.

In reality, eroticism is a private matter, highly individualistic in its sensual preferences, which also evolve with a maturing psyche and life experience.

Any maturation of sensual sensibility can be stopped dead cold by the authorities, a topic that consumes me in other channels of this website, where women are caned, flogged and mutilated. This very moment I was tipped about three women being caned in Malaysia for illicit sex under Section 23 (2) of the Federal Territory Syariah Criminal Act 1997, and so I must run shortly back to reality.

In Private Studio, eros reigns and a certain decadence is allowed. Let us continue with our grownup, sensual eploration of eroticism.

Erotic possibilities inspire or repulse us, based on many factors — some personal and others pertaining to church or state. In fact, caning inspires proponents of BDSM of both sexes. It’s a known insider fact that Wall Street bankers have a special penchant for BDSM, and I am not joking with you here.

If it’s forbidden and especially it declared immoral in America, we absolutely positively must have the experience or sensation. Then we are consumed with guilt, seeking proper atonement for our sins, with sentences not always very different from Malaysia’s caning.

Given our Christian view that suffering and penance are good for the soul, the American scenario isn’t as illogical as it seems to foreigners.

In the US, the most officially  moral creatures consume the most pornography, a fact I’ve written about lately, given America’s growing demands that we return to being a truly Christian nation.

The truth about what people say and what we do in America is the real scandal, just as bad as anything that goes on in Washington. I’ve always considered myself to be a truth-seeker and so I’m joining the conversation outside the Beltway.

These degrading habits of lying and hypocrisy didn’t consume the Greeks, with their more enlightened view of sexuality.

The Middle Ages saved the day for humankind, which is why I decided to offer you a bit of darkness and debauchery this morning. Fashion editorial has a certain influence and and therefore legitimacy in the growing collision of sexuality and religion.

For someone who used to cry when she heard the song ‘America the Beautiful’, I’m astonished to read that  the great Mahatma Gandhi wrote: “Hypocrisy and distortion are passing currents under the name of religion.” Now we must watch India’s growing power to influence eroticism, along with the Europeans’.

Reflecting, I suppose we can ask ourselves what we expect from a nation that’s home to the Kama Sutra? And of course, Ghandi was talking about the British, who came to enlighten the Indian continent, not us.

America is God’s country, and I am committed to keeping her safe from transgressions, offering my friends respectability and intellect, while we take just a small walk on the wild side of Internet eroticism.

Mine is such a minor offence, compared to the mess Pope Benedict is trying to straighten out with another set of Catholic clerics molesting children — this time in Ireland. Come to think of it, His Holiness Pope John Paul II, and also Mother Theresa self-flagellated, which is what I would recommend for these guys.

Reluctant to fire the Irish bishops who also won’t take action, as Catholics are demanding, perhaps Pope Benedict can send the bishops to Malaysia or better yet Saudi Arabia, where they will be properly brought to atonement for not standing up for abused Catholics.

Reflecting further, there’s a strong tradition of Celtic goddess women in Ireland. Perhaps one of them can don a leather jacket, black stockings, high boots and mete out some kind of just punishment in Dublin’s public squares.

Being on the receiving end of humiliation may be even more thrilling than dishing it out. Just ask Gordon Gekko, who surely hung out in a New York dungeon or two in his notable career.  Anne