The Politics of Lust
Encyclopedia
The Politics of Lust – Written by John Ince
(2005 edition ISBN 1-59102-278-9 ; 2003 edition ISBN 0-9696567-1-8), argues that irrational sexual fear or “erotophobia
” is pervasive in our culture, that it is largely unrecognized, and that it affects our political orientation. Sexually repressive cultures produce rigid, authoritarian political systems.
is a lawyer, journalist, and co-founder of The Art of Loving
, a sexuality center in Vancouver
, B.C. He is also the founder of The Erosha School of erotic massage. He is a frequent, sometimes controversial public speaker who lectures at college campuses and leads sexual enhancement seminars. A member of the Bar for 23 years, he is one of the few lawyers in Canada expert in laws pertaining to sexuality. He has written four other books, including two handbooks on environmental law. Ince’s articles have appeared in over a dozen magazines and newspapers in Canada and the United States.
In 2005, with other activists, Ince founded The Sex Party (British Columbia)
, a political party based in British Columbia
, Canada
, that contests provincial elections to promote libertarian and sex-positive
attitudes towards sexual education, sex censorship and prostitution.
: "antisexualism," an irrational negative response to harmless sexual expression; "nasty sex," which includes rape and violent pornography; and "rigidity," the inability to enjoy "playful and spontaneous" sex. Ince argues that, while we are drawn to sex, it also secretly disturbs us. He claims that powerful anxieties lurk in our attitudes to every type of erotic expression, and that these negative attitudes affect our lives by stunting sexual passion, inhibiting frank and honest talk about sex, and generating shame about sexual organs. Ince believes that our attitudes to sex also influence the non-sexual parts of our lives, such as political affiliations.
” and “rationalizing.”
Ince claims that genital phobia also inspires the fear of nudity in social situations. He gives the examples of parents who avoid family nudity, and people who avoid nude beaches. Ince states his belief, in strong language, that genital phobia is contagious, describing it as a "virus" and an “infection system”; a malignant force spreading a variety of phobic sexual attitudes into the minds of almost everyone. His own belief is that public sexual expression and nudity is harmless and should be encouraged. He compares prohibitions on such activity to the institution of purdah
.
Ince goes on to discuss how the media treats images of nudity. He compares the censorship of pictures to 'defacing' images, and says this action violates basic journalistic ethics, yet is so routine that it is taken for granted. Ince thinks that the media believe they are acting in the public interest but are actually harming society by spreading phobic attitudes about normal body parts.
Ince examines social intolerance towards: non-marital sex, contraception, masturbation, oral sex, and anal sex. He uses religious injunctions against “living in sin” and laws that prohibit “fornication” and the sale of vibrators as examples. He goes on to say that lust phobia motivates enormous hostility toward youthful sexuality. He gives the examples of parents who disallow teens the right to have a “sleep-over” with their lover and U.S. federal funding for “abstinence education”. Ince's belief is that society should not stigmatize youthful sexuality, but rather encourage its development through a process of “sexual gradualism,” the same way we encourage our youth to learn to drive, ski, and do other risky activities by gradually building up proficiency and confidence.
Ince goes on to discuss monogamy, claiming it is too 'rigid', and that negative attitudes toward non-exclusive sexual conduct breeds various types of erotophobia.
Ince then claims that most people are sexually tongue-tied, and that many couples never have honest conversations about sex. He also says 'few parents can communicate intelligently to their children about sex'. Even though the media discusses sex sometimes, Ince says this does not mean western culture is sexually open enough. Ince believes that sexual silence is driven by erotophobia.
Ince looks at the use of pornorgraphy and its controversial status in western culture. Though much of the censorship of the past has gone, porn is still segregated outside the social mainstream. Ince claims that society's intolerance toward all porn leads to violent, anti-social porn and such 'nasty' material in turn generates negative attitudes toward all explicit imagery.
Though most people seek sexual privacy, some wish to behave sexually in public. Ince explores the attitudes of our society towards visible live sex, such as a child masturbating in a living room or a couple having sex in a car. He claims that family and legal prohibitions directed at the visibility of live sex are motivated by erotophobia, and that public sex is 'harmless'.
In Ince's own words, "a professional masseur offends no law or social sensibility by stroking a client’s arms... But the moment the genitals are included the service attracts enormous social wrath. Such negativity is irrational, driven by erotophobia.' He believes that blanket social discrimination against all sex workers not socially responsible or equitable. Ince says that this helps generate phobic attitudes toward both sex work and sex itself.
Ince explores homophobia, 'the best recognized type of erotophobia'. Because homophobia is already so well documented this chapter only briefly examines it. The attitudes of families, churches, and the government toward gays and lesbians are explored.
John Ince (politician)
John Ince is a lawyer, politician, an erotic arts enthusiast, and the controversial author of a book called The Politics of Lust. He founded The Erosha School of Erotic Massage and The Art of Loving, a sexuality center in Vancouver, British Columbia...
(2005 edition ISBN 1-59102-278-9 ; 2003 edition ISBN 0-9696567-1-8), argues that irrational sexual fear or “erotophobia
Erotophobia
Erotophobia is a term coined by a number of researchers in the late 1970s and early 1980s to describe one pole on a continuum of attitudes and beliefs about sexuality...
” is pervasive in our culture, that it is largely unrecognized, and that it affects our political orientation. Sexually repressive cultures produce rigid, authoritarian political systems.
Biography
John InceJohn Ince (politician)
John Ince is a lawyer, politician, an erotic arts enthusiast, and the controversial author of a book called The Politics of Lust. He founded The Erosha School of Erotic Massage and The Art of Loving, a sexuality center in Vancouver, British Columbia...
is a lawyer, journalist, and co-founder of The Art of Loving
The Art of Loving
The Art of Loving is a book written by psychologist and social philosopher Erich Fromm , which was published as part of the "World Perspectives Series" edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen...
, a sexuality center in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, B.C. He is also the founder of The Erosha School of erotic massage. He is a frequent, sometimes controversial public speaker who lectures at college campuses and leads sexual enhancement seminars. A member of the Bar for 23 years, he is one of the few lawyers in Canada expert in laws pertaining to sexuality. He has written four other books, including two handbooks on environmental law. Ince’s articles have appeared in over a dozen magazines and newspapers in Canada and the United States.
In 2005, with other activists, Ince founded The Sex Party (British Columbia)
Sex Party (British Columbia)
The Sex Party is a political party based in British Columbia, Canada, that contests provincial elections to promote libertarian and sex-positive attitudes towards sexual education, pornography, indecency laws, and prostitution. It describes itself as "the world's first registered political party...
, a political party based in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, that contests provincial elections to promote libertarian and sex-positive
Sex-positive
The sex-positive movement is an ideology which promotes and embraces open sexuality with few limits. Sex positivity is "an attitude towards human sexuality that regards all consensual sexual activities as fundamentally healthy and pleasurable, and encourages sexual pleasure and experimentation...
attitudes towards sexual education, sex censorship and prostitution.
Synopsis
The book explores the three distinct forces that Ince believes fuel erotophobiaErotophobia
Erotophobia is a term coined by a number of researchers in the late 1970s and early 1980s to describe one pole on a continuum of attitudes and beliefs about sexuality...
: "antisexualism," an irrational negative response to harmless sexual expression; "nasty sex," which includes rape and violent pornography; and "rigidity," the inability to enjoy "playful and spontaneous" sex. Ince argues that, while we are drawn to sex, it also secretly disturbs us. He claims that powerful anxieties lurk in our attitudes to every type of erotic expression, and that these negative attitudes affect our lives by stunting sexual passion, inhibiting frank and honest talk about sex, and generating shame about sexual organs. Ince believes that our attitudes to sex also influence the non-sexual parts of our lives, such as political affiliations.
Introduction
Ince lays out a definition of 'erotophobia' which he goes on to use throughout the book: a culturally conditioned, secret fear of our own sexuality and that of other people. He believes that this condition has deep roots in western, particularly English-speaking culture, and goes on to cite the Biblical story of Adam and Eve as an example of fears of genital exposure. Ince believes that, while most are unaware of it, erotophobia powerfully affects many aspects of our lives, including how we vote.Chapter 1 Solitary Fig-leafing, Chapter 2 Social Fig-leafing, Chapter 3 Genital Purdah
The first four chapters examine attitudes toward genitals. Ince says that like Adam and Eve, many people in the modern era are averse to seeing their own genitals. They “fig-leaf” themselves even when they are alone. Example: women who fear inspecting their own genitals with a mirror. A specific type of erotophobia, “genital phobia” motivates this compulsive fig-leafing. Ince claims that an unconscious learning process imprints genital phobia and all other types of erotophobia. This chapter examines his ideas on this process, including “fear conditioningFear conditioning
Fear conditioning is a behavioral paradigm in which organisms learn to predict aversive events. It is a form of learning in which an aversive stimulus is associated with a particular neutral context or neutral stimulus , resulting in the expression of fear responses to the originally neutral...
” and “rationalizing.”
Ince claims that genital phobia also inspires the fear of nudity in social situations. He gives the examples of parents who avoid family nudity, and people who avoid nude beaches. Ince states his belief, in strong language, that genital phobia is contagious, describing it as a "virus" and an “infection system”; a malignant force spreading a variety of phobic sexual attitudes into the minds of almost everyone. His own belief is that public sexual expression and nudity is harmless and should be encouraged. He compares prohibitions on such activity to the institution of purdah
Purdah
Purdah or pardeh is the practice of concealing women from men. According to one definition:This takes two forms: physical segregation of the sexes, and the requirement for women to cover their bodies and conceal their form....
.
Ince goes on to discuss how the media treats images of nudity. He compares the censorship of pictures to 'defacing' images, and says this action violates basic journalistic ethics, yet is so routine that it is taken for granted. Ince thinks that the media believe they are acting in the public interest but are actually harming society by spreading phobic attitudes about normal body parts.
Chapter 5 Lust Phobia, Chapter 6 The Enemies of Playful Sex, Chapter 7 Attacking Youthful Lust, Chapter 8 Mandatory Monogamy, Chapter 9 The Sexual Hush, Chapter 10 Porn War, Chapter 11 Secluding Sex, Chapter 12 Prostitution Prohibitions, Chapter 13 Homo Hatred
Chapter 5 introduces a new concept, “lust phobia” - irrational fears about the experience of sex, consisting of aversions to erotic sensations, and delusions about lustful behavior (such as the myth that sexuality is overpowering and uncontrollable, or that sex is somehow “dirty”.) Each of the next eight chapters illustrate specific types of antisexual action that help cause lust phobia.Ince examines social intolerance towards: non-marital sex, contraception, masturbation, oral sex, and anal sex. He uses religious injunctions against “living in sin” and laws that prohibit “fornication” and the sale of vibrators as examples. He goes on to say that lust phobia motivates enormous hostility toward youthful sexuality. He gives the examples of parents who disallow teens the right to have a “sleep-over” with their lover and U.S. federal funding for “abstinence education”. Ince's belief is that society should not stigmatize youthful sexuality, but rather encourage its development through a process of “sexual gradualism,” the same way we encourage our youth to learn to drive, ski, and do other risky activities by gradually building up proficiency and confidence.
Ince goes on to discuss monogamy, claiming it is too 'rigid', and that negative attitudes toward non-exclusive sexual conduct breeds various types of erotophobia.
Ince then claims that most people are sexually tongue-tied, and that many couples never have honest conversations about sex. He also says 'few parents can communicate intelligently to their children about sex'. Even though the media discusses sex sometimes, Ince says this does not mean western culture is sexually open enough. Ince believes that sexual silence is driven by erotophobia.
Ince looks at the use of pornorgraphy and its controversial status in western culture. Though much of the censorship of the past has gone, porn is still segregated outside the social mainstream. Ince claims that society's intolerance toward all porn leads to violent, anti-social porn and such 'nasty' material in turn generates negative attitudes toward all explicit imagery.
Though most people seek sexual privacy, some wish to behave sexually in public. Ince explores the attitudes of our society towards visible live sex, such as a child masturbating in a living room or a couple having sex in a car. He claims that family and legal prohibitions directed at the visibility of live sex are motivated by erotophobia, and that public sex is 'harmless'.
In Ince's own words, "a professional masseur offends no law or social sensibility by stroking a client’s arms... But the moment the genitals are included the service attracts enormous social wrath. Such negativity is irrational, driven by erotophobia.' He believes that blanket social discrimination against all sex workers not socially responsible or equitable. Ince says that this helps generate phobic attitudes toward both sex work and sex itself.
Ince explores homophobia, 'the best recognized type of erotophobia'. Because homophobia is already so well documented this chapter only briefly examines it. The attitudes of families, churches, and the government toward gays and lesbians are explored.