Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id PAA01977 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Tue, 11 Jul 2000 15:34:07 +0100 Message-ID: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3101745911@inchna.stir.ac.uk> From: Vincent Campbell <v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk> To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: RE: Memes and sexuality Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 15:32:03 +0100 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) Content-Type: text/plain Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Yes... the name of the song escapes me also, but a fuller version of the
lyric goes-
'You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals,
So lets do it like they do on the Discovery Channel'
It's good to see todays teenagers being encouraged to watch educational
programming :-)
Undoubtedly there is an evident line of thought where people try to
avoid/deny acknowledging that humans are animals, e.g. creationists, but
many religions regard animals as gods/sacred/powerful etc.
Also sexual taboos are really rather recent in many ways. I saw a programme
recently that got me very cross indeed because it said that the trend for
children entering puberty at younger and younger ages was primarily due to
the sexualised, mediated environment kids grow up in. Quite aside from the
fact that there is no statstical evidence to show that puberty is being
reached earlier, (an endochronologist was given about 1 and 1/2 seconds to
say this)
the programme ploughed on with its 'the media's to blame' line without ever
acknowledging how sexualised many cultures in the past have been, not least
the cultures of the Ancient World, nor of the censoriousness of contemporary
Britain with regard to sexuality. (e.g. a programme in the same series
discussed a controversial sex education film from the early 1970s, but had
to cover up an erection and intercourse, despite it being nearly 30 years
on, after the 9:00pm watershed- when more adult material is allowed to be
showed).
Eygptian beliefs involved the masturbation of the universe into existence by
Amun, and statues and depections of the creation god (at least before
christian European archaeologists got there) showed him with an erection,
for example. In Ancient Greece, at the time of the city-states, homes
include plaster phalluses on the walls which were garlanded during religious
festivals.
Sex in these societies, therefore, was not only accepted but a vital part of
their belief systems. The general taboo of sex seems to have come much
later, but does seem to have been related to an attempt to distance humanity
from other living things.
BTW, many apologies for constantly referring to TV programmes, both for the
practical reason that many of you can't see them, and the intellectual
reason of a TV show not exactly being the equivalent of a peer reviewed
article. It's partly the nature of my job though, and partly the reason I
do the job I do, that I tend to pay a large amount of attention to the
media.
Incidentally, tapping into a couple of things that emerged in previous
discussions on this list, New Scientist magazine
(http://www.newscientist.com) has had a couple of recent articles on topics
discussed. One on the mirror test for self-awareness in animals, and
another on the issue of group selection.
Vincent
> ----------
> From: Wade T.Smith
> Reply To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2000 2:50 pm
> To: memetics list
> Subject: Re: Memes and sexuality
>
> On 07/11/00 08:41, Lawrence H. de Bivort said this-
>
> >I wonder if the repression of overt sexuality among humans comes to a
> >certain extent from a desire to put some distance between ourselves and
> >'mere' animals, to prove to ourselves that we are not 'animals.'
>
> There's a popular song I've heard recently (I don't know the title) that
> has the following lyric, (more or less...)-
>
> "Let's do what they do on the Discovery Channel...."
>
> - Wade
>
> ===============================================================
> This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
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This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
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