When did s*x (and the human body) become "dirty"?

Question

And why?

I'd like for you to take into consideration various art forms before you answer as well - literature, painting, sculpture and film in particular. If you have been exposed to foreign art, discuss the similarities and or differences.

(Ex - s*x in European films vs Hollywood, Joyce's Ulysses etc.)

Answer 1

It has been dirty ever since the female species existed.

Answer 2

Probably shortly before the time the Old Testament was written.  After all, that's probably what the "Tree of Knowledge" story from Genesis is all about.  Adam hid himself because he was naked - before that, it wasn't a problem.

Answer 3

Good question. Back in ancient times s*x and the human body was something that was in no way considered "dirty". It was considered completely natural and it was viewed with a "no big deal" attitude. Just take a look at all those ancient sculptures and paintings--naked bodies and sexual acts (including things like orgies and homosexuality) were abundant.

I'd say the attitudes began to shift during the rise of Christianity and religious spiritual insight period and the Victorian era. People were beginning to have less liberal views towards s*x and instead began to to see the subject as something that should be considered strictly private and "wrong" if seeing as something other than reproducing. As the long years passed this new conservative attitude towards s*x was for the most part still prevalent in peoples minds but things began to change once again and people were starting to see s*x and the naked human body as something other than just simple reproduction. Liberal attitudes were beginning to resurface in the minds of many but this time it was different than what it had been in ancient times: This time it was considered something that was taboo and as a result people were no longer seeing it as something that was just "natural" but they saw it as more "erotic" because of it's taboo nature and remember the religious conservative view teaches that having s*x for anything other than reproduction is "dirty" and "shameful" etc, so the new liberal attitudes towards s*x was something that was considered a dirty fantasy because according to their teachings they aren't supposed to be thinking these things. You understand what I'm saying?

In the United States it stayed like this for a while ( the conservative view was dominate and the liberal view was not, when regarding s*x) up until the 1960's which as we all know was the big period of all out sexual revolution and the liberal views exploded into mainstream society. So now we got things like swingers, open marriage, orgies, etc that are prevalent in today's society and that all those years ago people would have probably fainted from all the these shocking acts lol.

Hope my answer helped somewhat.

Answer 4

Always in my case.  I am a proud and hairy and dark and smelly and stout Hindu man and I sweat a lot.

Answer 5

Probably when God plagued the Earth with AIDS because he had to get the point across that having s*x with multiple partners over and over is wrong.  The sad part to this "lesson" is that we still don't hear what He is trying to tell us. Do we?

Answer 6

Probably about the same time organized religions started to try and control the human race.

Answer 7

It depends on which kind of s*x

but the human body is certainly mot dirty it is axctually very beautiful and has been celebrated in art for centuries

Answer 8

Shortly after they learned it was natural they needed to find something to make them feel "bad".

Answer 9

When some pompous religious person abuse his/her "moral" authority because he/she wasn't getting any.

s*x is a natural thing. There is nothing wrong or dirty about it.

IMBO: People should be allowed to have s*x on anyway they like, and everywhere they want as long as they don't endanger others and take responsibility for their actions. And that includes any venereal disease gotten for being promiscuous.

Answer 10

October 12, 1917.

Answer 11

most recently it was the Victorian Era, increasing focus on hygiene and personal virtuosity was accompanied by sexual denial

Answer 12

mudd wrestling..... because they couldn't afford jello. lol  

Actually in biblical times.....Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife....    forbidden.

Answer 13

Maybe when p**n started showing on TV in when people under the age of 18 started doing it

Answer 14

If it's not"Dirty" you are not doing it right.

Blame St Paul. He thought people should not be breeding.

Answer 15

i dont know but its ridiculous i mean saying f*** is like totally immoral...why? cos of all the sensitive ******* i mean i say poo on here and i get reported! :O

Answer 16

It's not dirty enough.

Answer 17

Bloody h**l Fex, do I have to struggle thinking about art to answer this?

Well, the Greeks certainly didn't shy away from nakedness, although naked women in reality (not sculpture) were far less common to that society. All cultures have had a major or minor taboo, but religious cultures more so.

This is no place for a treatise, but the puritan protestants stand out as do the victorians (but they had double standards). Islam stands out currently (and curiously there is no representations of people in their art, so I doubt enters into it at all).

I assume that that the taboo predates the use of the taboo in art.

I like nakedness, but I wouldn't want to walk in the streets naked, or have s*x in the market square.

Answer 18

America is a puritan country.

Answer 19

I believe it was the Victorians who classed s*x/ the naked female form etc as dirty.

Answer 20

The jist of someone elses view,

Teaching men to murder is all perfectly moral, saying f*ck is dirty and immoral but is only a word describing procreation. Our society is screwed up.

I believe thats from the man abehind 'lawrence of arabia', arguably a man of 'interesting' tastes, from a bygone era.

Nothing sporting about this sort of thing is there.

Answer 21

In america- some time around the time puritans founded it

in Europe- Victorian Era

America looks especial to fit this mindset because freedom of speech lets conservatives voice out against the "anything goes" mentality of modern liberalism

Answer 22

What Louise C said.

Plus:

I imagine the closest anyone has got to the Utopian ideal of free love is the Tantric approach to enlightenment, but how widespread this has ever been I really don't know. However Aldous Huxley wrote a great book about a community that incorporated this approach to life called 'Island'. A great book, and his last.

Answer 23

It's not dirty, but you have to admit that there are real consequences for what you do.

Answer 24

its called religion, look up the bible and look through that.

Answer 25

s*x and the human body were generally seen as natural parts of life until the Victorian era, although the idea that s*x should wait until marriage started well before that.  As to *why* people suddenly decided the human body was something to be ashamed of, I have absolutely no idea.  It is worth noting, however, that body shame and the denial of sexuality even then were generally things expected of women, but not men.

Answer 26

All societies throughout history have imposed standards of behaviour when it comes to s*x.  Usually women are more strictly restrained than men, because women are the ones who have the babies.

The ancient Greeks were quite happy to admire the naked male form, for instance, but respectable women were generally expected to keep themselves covered up, and a wife could be divorced for adultery.  In ancient Rome, a woman could be put to death by her male head of family (pater familias) for adultery.  Married men could have s*x with prostitutes, or with their slaves, but women, married or single, were expected to be chaste.

Although women have generally been punished more severely for sexual misconduct than men, it was generally assumed through most of history that a woman needed to be kept satisfied. The Puritans in Colonial America actually had quite a robust attitude towards s*x.  Satisfying a woman sexually was thought to be very important, because they believed that a woman would only conceive if she had an o****m.  They may not have gone in for nudity in art etc, but they certainly believed in sexual satisfaction in the bedroom.  s*x manuals like the popular Aristotle's Masterpiece gave tips on how to arouse a woman ("Women choose rather to have a thing done well than to have it often").

It was in the 19th century that the notion became popular that women were not interested in s*x, and that they were morally purer than men (prior to that time, it was taken for granted that women were morally weak and liable to stray).  Nudity in art however continued to be acceptable, Queen victoria for instance gave a painting of a nude goddess to Albert as one of his wedding presents, and she and Albert both used to sketch nude subjects.

In the twentieth century, depictions of sexuality in art have been subjected to varying degrees of censhorship. As regards film, in Hollywood films of the early 30s for instance, it was possible to have films that featured heroines who were less than pure, but whose stories nevertheless had a happy ending (for instance, Mae West in She Done Him Wrong, Greta Garbo in Anna Christie, Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express).  But then stricter censorship meant that if a woman had a past she had to be shown suffering for it, a happy ending for her was no longer possible.  And the Marx Brothers' films suffered from the conesorship, Harper's lecherous pursuit of every woman in sight was dropped, making him into a more innocuous character.

Lterary censorship meant that novels like 'Ulysses' and 'Lady Chatterly's Lover' were banned in the UK for decades, explicit descriptions of sexual activity being considered unacceptable in novels at that time.  

Nowadays, s*x is thrust in our faces in films, novels, TV, and even on the computer.  Whether this is a good thing or not I could not say, but personally I can't think of any novel, film, or TV show that is actually improved by the addition of such scenes.  Light-hearted innuendo of the kind that Mae West and the Marx Brothers excelled at seems to me much more amusing than detailed and graphic s*x scenes.  s*x is something that is fun to do, but not particularly interesting to watch other people doing.