Li Yinhe talks about sex

Chapter 4 Seven Meanings
The meaning of sex: to procreate, to express emotion, to enjoy the body, to prolong life, to maintain livelihood, to establish or maintain some kind of interpersonal relationship, to express power relationship.

In my opinion, the meaning of sex can be summarized into at least the following seven types: first, to procreate; second, to express feelings; third, to enjoy the body; fourth, to prolong life; fifth, to maintain livelihood ; Sixth, in order to establish or maintain some kind of interpersonal relationship; seventh, in order to express power relations.

The first meaning of sex is for reproduction.Various cultures in the world regard reproduction as one of the purposes of sexual activity.Traditional sexual morality especially emphasizes reproduction, and even obliterates all purposes other than reproduction, which is considered improper.This point should be quite related to the awareness of species conservation.The ancestors' society was full of disasters, and the living conditions were scarce. Preservation of the species was a top priority, and the reproductive function of sex was naturally placed in an important position.However, in today's population explosion around the world, it is too foolish to still regard reproduction as the primary function of sex.

The second meaning of sex is to express affection.This is a modern concept.Love is not an important reason for sex until the modern era.Due to the widespread spread of this meaning of sex, many people in modern times have held the view that love should be the only reason for sex, although in real life, not many people can really follow this concept—for example, those who People who live in marriage relationships without love fail to do this, and neither do those who seek casual or short-term sexual partners.

The third meaning of sex is for physical pleasure.Due to the development of contraceptive technology and the general implementation of population control policies in countries around the world, the separation of reproduction and sex has become the practice of most people in the world.If sex is only for pleasure, only for its own sake, then not only does procreation cease to exist, but even the purpose of love is not absolutely necessary.Love leads to long-term relationships, but sex can be short-term, or even a one-off.It can be a game, a pure enjoyment of physical pleasure, a pure sensory experience.

The fourth meaning of sex is to prolong life.This is the sexual concept of many ancient societies, especially those in the East.The concept of health preservation in ancient China includes such views: sex can prolong life until immortality; the concept of collecting yin to nourish yang, and collecting yang to nourish yin;

The fifth meaning of sex for some is to make ends meet.The commercialization of sex has been a practice for some people since ancient times.Prostitution has long been called one of the oldest professions in the world.This situation has developed to the modern day, and the sex trade has become the most profitable industry in some societies.The pornographic industry includes all kinds of nightclubs, strippers, prostitutes, companionship, pornographic publishing, pornographic film and television, etc.Sexual activity becomes a source of livelihood for practitioners in this industry.

The sixth meaning of sex is to establish or maintain some kind of human relationship.Some scholars have suggested that sex is not just an activity for physical pleasure, but an activity of human communication.In some cases, it can even play a role in alleviating intra-group conflicts and maintaining group unity.

The last meaning of sex is to express power relations.As far back as ancient Greece and Rome, sex has become a symbol of power.At that time, sexual partners were divided into two categories, not male and female, but dominant and submissive.Powerful men ruled, and their sexual objects were all kinds of powerless people—women, children, foreigners, and slaves.Thus, a male master would not be disrespectful for having same-sex sexual intercourse with the same male slave, but it would be a loss of status if he became a passive party in such sexual activity.

Because sex has different meanings for different groups of people, there are huge differences in sexual norms that exist in different cultures and different societies.Here, the most important thing is not to treat sexual norms as a universal, fixed, and "natural" thing, but to fully pay attention to its partiality, plasticity, and "artificial" nature.

(End of this chapter)