It
is interesting that love and sexuality
are frequently viewed as separate entities. For the Victorians,
love was ethereal, a subject for romanticism, offering a promise of
bliss, often at the price of martyrdom. The dark side of love,
however, was sex. The mere mention of the word "sex" was
considered sufficient to send a "lady" of this historical period into a
state of shock. Nonetheless, sexuality existed then, as now; and
there was an underground of sexual activity in society at large, just
as there was an undercurrent of sexual feeling in the individual,
including those ladies for whom the mere mention of sexuality was
abhorrent. Indeed, it was precisely the repressed sexual impulses
which came so prominently into view for Sigmund Freud during this
period, in the guise of the hysterical and obsessive traits of his
early patients and in the presence of neurasthenia as a common
problem. As one writer has remarked: "Most 'neuroses' were
thought to stem from weak and delicate nerves, literally stretched or
lax, overworked or overexcited." [19] Freud's perspective
suggested, on the other hand, that "neuroses" were the product of
unconscious sexual desires struggling to find expression in the face of
repression. In this manner, Freud indicated that the problem of
the neuroses was based upon the denial of sexuality and the undue
sublimation of sexual desire. In Freud's words: "If one passes
over the less definite forms of 'nervousness' and considers the actual
forms of nervous disease, the injurious influence of culture reduces
itself in all essentials to the undue suppression of the sexual life in
civilized peoples..." [20]
Today, after the passing of the
Victorian period, sexual ignorance and squeamishness have been
supplanted in large part by
sexual "sophistication," in terms of which the subject of sexuality is
not only permitted to emerge in open conversation but has become almost
a necessary part of conventional small talk. [21] This situation
reflects in part, the liberalizing effects of psychoanalysis, while in
a larger sense it is indicative of broad social and cultural changes
which have taken place during the past century. The age of sexual
sophistication has given way, in turn, to an emphasis on pornography
and sexual violence. Evidence that such an emphasis is widespread
can be found in the entertainment media such as television, movies,
and mass publications, as well as in the accumulation of
sociological data regarding incest and other forms of sexual abuse of
children. Present trends, however, are subject to alteration,
just as were previous trends. The real question that must be
asked is: what issues are central to healthy human sexual
functioning? One such issue, it may be suggested, is the
relationship between love and sexuality. The importance of this
issue has been underscored by Alexander Lowen in his observation that
"Sexual behavior cannot be divorced from the overall personality of the
individual." [22] To understand the significance of this
viewpoint, it is helpful to consider the evolution and development of
the human species.
Of all animals, human beings
are perhaps the most in need of
love. This need for love is the result of the helplessness and
dependence on adult nurturance of the newborn infant, a dependence
which extends over a considerable period of childhood. In the
animal kingdom, the nearest living relatives of human beings are
considered to be the chimpanzees. The chimpanzee baby in
the wild nurses from four to five years and is very reliant on
nurturing social contact with the group. What is true for the
young chimpanzee is equally true for human children, if not more so, in
the sense that the young human is helpless and is dependent upon the
social group - especially the parents - for nurturing. The
difference between human beings and chimpanzees is that in humans there
is a greater plasticity with respect to personal development, due in
part to neurological complexity and increased sensitivity to
environmental factors. The science writer, Herbert Wendt, has
attempted to explain the bond between parents and children in terms of
the evolutionary pressures of natural selection. He writes: "It
is no easy matter to bring up young apes and monkeys. Because of
their keen intelligence, their insatiable curiosity, their playfulness
and spirit of enterprise, they can become a veritable torment to
anxious parents. Thus the intense affection of grown primates for
all the young animals of their family group, or herd, whether or not
these are their own offspring, is dictated by bitter necessity."
[23]
Wendt's point is that among
primates, affectionate care of the young
has selective advantage. Those members of the species not
engaging in such behavior would not produce offspring that would
survive. In reference to human beings, Wendt writes: "...this
instinct to care for the young applies not only to his [i.e., mankind's] own babies but to
all young animals which have large eyes, look plump and soft, and make
clumsy movements. At the sight of such creatures every normal
person is stirred to tenderness and affection. [24]
In human beings, the growth and
development of the organism are
functionally identical to growth and development of personality.
This process of personal growth, which is both physical and
psychological, is widely acknowledged to occur in its most formative
stages during the first several years of life. In the language of
psychoanalysis, this epoch is referred to as the oral stage;
Feldenkrais has characterized it as the dependency period. Both
designations are accurate. It is the case that for the infant,
nursing is a primary need, and the oral zone represents a localization
of feeling and a center of awareness for the new human
being. The need of the infant to nurse and the young child's
dependence on adults for support and care during this time are
essential factors which influence the growth of personality. One
of the features of personality development that can be described in
terms of the satisfaction or lack of satisfaction experienced by the
young person during this period is the establishment and unfolding of
the capacity to love. What, however, is meant by the word "love"?
From a bioenergetic vantage
point, love involves the expansion of the
living organism toward contact with another living being who is
recognized as a source of pleasure. The first great source of
pleasure for the infant is the mother, and she is recognized by the
infant as a source of gratification. A mother may remember her
baby's first smile of genuine recognition. Such a smile stems
from the identification of the mother as a source of pleasure by the
infant. We might say that the child "opens up" in the presence of
the mother. This opening up is an expression of love, just as
love, for the infant, is an embodiment of life. The relationship
between love and life can be appreciated based upon the etymologies of
the two words. The term "love" is derived from the Latin root
word lubere, which means "to
please." The English word "life" can be traced to the Icelandic
term lif and the German Leib, both of which mean
"body." Pleasure in life is embodied in love. If we wish to
be more specific, however, we may ask: is there a center in the body
that is a focus of experience for the emotion of love? The answer
to that question is found in the heart.
It is clear, based on the
investigations of various researchers as well
as on common sense, that the heart is an organ of the body that is
very sensitive to the well-being of the person. This sensitivity
has been described in some detail with respect to the phenomenon of
stress. The thesis that undue stress on the cardiovascular
system - owing to emotional and behavioral factors such as a
"chronic sense of time urgency" and "excessive competitive drive" - may
lead to heart disease has gained considerable medical acceptance.
[25] The relationship between oxygen deprivation and heart attack
is well known, as is the relationship between stress and inhibited
respiration. Norman Cousins has called attention
to vasospasm as a possible major component of heart
attacks. [26] Interestingly, William Harvey, the discoverer
of the circulation of the blood, may be credited with having drawn
attention over three hundred years ago to the heart's sensitivity to
emotional factors. According to Harvey, "Every affection of the
mind that is attendant with either pain or pleasure, hope or fear is
the cause of an agitation whose influence extends to the heart."
[27] One psychologist has emphasized the sensitivity of the heart
to emotional and stress factors by suggesting that, in his view, "...an
inner tactile sensation in the sensory nerve endings of cardiac
tissue...reads the environment for its anxiety potential." [28]
Granted that the cardiovascular system is sensitive to
emotional factors and stress levels in the individual, the question
remains: to what extent and in what sense is the heart a center of love
in the individual? An answer to this question bears upon the
issue of human sexuality.
If we wish to evaluate the
heart as a center of feeling in the human
being, it is necessary to take into account the responsiveness of this
organ to pleasure. Alexander Lowen has commented: "We must
realize that the heart is probably the most sensitive organ of the
body. Our existence depends on its steady, rhythmical activity."
[29] With respect to the heart's responsiveness to the
environment, Lowen writes: "The primary channel of communication for
the heart is through the throat and mouth. It is the infant's
first channel, as it reaches with its lips and mouth for the mother's
breast." [30] The second avenue of communication, according to
Lowen, "...is through the arms and hands as they reach out to
touch. In this case the image of love is the gentle, tender and
caressing touch of a mother's hand." [31] In the same manner,
love is involved in the reaching out and touching of the mother by the
infant and young child. Because such contact between the child
and mother is pleasurable, the organism of the young person opens up
and expands. The heart itself opens, in the sense that there is a
strong parasympathetic stimulation in the autonomic nervous
system. In pleasure the heart expands, just as it contracts and
closes off in anxiety. The early experiences of the growing human
being, therefore, involve an education of the heart in which the person
learns to open up to pleasure based on the deep gratification of basic
needs. In the absence of such an education, the result is a fear
of love and a corresponding fear of life. If gratification is
obtained, based upon warm and caring contact with the mother and others
in the formative environment, the result is the ability to love and the
courage to live.
How, then, are we to define
love? It is difficult to define love,
since love - like life - is a primary experience. Moreover, love
is not normally considered a subject appropriate to the rigorous
requirements of scientific analysis, since the basis for knowing love
lies in subjective awareness. R.D. Laing has called attention to
this dilemma in the preface to one of his books. He comments:
"The main fact of life for me is love or its absence... When one
studies biology, one will hardly ever come across the term or concept
and very little evidence of it. Here is a contradiction."
[32]
It may be that the
contradiction to which Laing refers owes not merely
to the limitations of contemporary scientific methodology, but to the
relative scarcity of a thoroughly loving childhood as an aspect of
modern civilization. Alexander Lowen has offered a description of
the hero as "...a person who has no fear of life, who can face life
squarely." [33] In order to embody such an attitude, one must be
able to love life, and only on the basis of the experience of love
itself can such a
capacity unfold. Precisely for this reason it is necessary to
comprehend not only the importance of love in human life, but the
manner of its genuine expression. The foundation for the capacity
to love is laid during the dependency period of infancy and early
childhood. It may well be, as Lowen suggests, that the
consequence of loving care and guidance during this period of early
growth is, quite literally, a heart capable of remaining
relatively open in spite of the pressures and vicissitudes of
life. In bioenergetic terms, such a heart beats freely, expanding
and contracting without the burden of chronic anxiety so characteristic
of contemporary personal experience.
The relationship of love to
human sexuality becomes apparent based on
the primacy of the dependency period in human life. While it may
be argued that there is an erotic component for the infant in such
activities as breastfeeding, this is not an expression of sexual
feeling as an adult would comprehend it. It is more accurate to
say that the infant experiences pleasure during nursing and that such
pleasurable nursing results in gratification. Sexuality proper,
involving pleasurable sensations strongly focused on the genitals,
emerges at a later time. The importance of love in relation to
sex is that sexuality in human beings follows upon a dependency period
during which the expression of love is crucial to the development of
uninhibited functioning. Disturbances during the dependency stage
will necessarily interfere with later sexual experience and
behavior. Lowen writes: "The love of an infant for his
mother is the prototype of all later love relationships... Since
the pattern of growth and development in the child is from the head
downward, any lack or deprivation of these supplies will seriously
affect the functions of the lower part of the body, that is, those
functions associated with the legs and genitals." [34]
Lowen's observations concerning
the importance of love during the
dependency period of individual human development are complemented by
the outlook of Moshe Feldenkrais. Feldenkrais writes: "In
general, the later the new patterns of doing are called into action,
the greater our tendency to use the old, established ones with as
little change as possible. Because of this, sex relationships and
the social function and adjustment of people are the two domains
of activity in which maladjustments are the most frequent." [35]
Just as we learn to crawl before we walk (with the pattern of the
latter activity building on the pattern laid down by the former one) we
also learn to experience and express our sexuality based on
patterns of behavior and awareness that have been acquired in the
period of early dependency. The expression of our sexual urges
thus finds its orientation, at an important level, in the capacity for
love that has grown out of our closeness and connectedness with another
human being as the principal source of our gratification in life.
If, on the other hand, our early love relationships, particularly with
the mother, have been disturbed, it is inevitable that the disturbance
will affect sexual functioning in ways that are specifically related to
the nature of the early deprivation. When coupled with the
problems that arise during the period of sexual apprenticeship per se, these
early experiences contribute to the determination of specific character
types which may be classified more or less in terms of the degree of
sexual maturity that has been attained. [36] Since the genital
sexual function is established following the earlier apprenticeship of
the dependency period, sexual functioning is a mirror of the
general functioning of the person. The recognition of this
developmental sequence is related to Wilhelm Reich's emphasis on
the central nature of the function of the orgasm as an indicator and
expression of the degree of integrated functioning of the
individual.
Consideration of the importance
of orgastic potency, as formulated by
Reich, raises interesting questions regarding the human need for sexual
intercourse. The role of love in sexuality, however, can at this
point be clarified to a significant degree in terms of the importance
of the dependency period for growth and development of the human
individual. We may say that for humans the meaning of love is
life. Without some love, there can be no joy in life.
Without the experience of unconditional love, there can be no real
trust in life. The natural foundation for human life is love.
Thus the significance of love is life itself, just as the meaning of
life is found in love.
The
Function of Sex
A
consideration of the dynamics of human
sexuality must take into account the fact that sexual behavior and
experience, in humans, entail a biological drive filtered through a
cultural apprenticeship. As cultures vary in their particular
aspects, so human sexuality manifests itself in differing
modes of expression. Yet it must be true that some modes of
sexual expression are more gratifying than others. The standard
for making a judgment in this regard must be based on biological
considerations, for culture is simply the medium in which human beings
grow. That medium may be conducive to sexual gratification, or it
may impede sexual development and satisfaction. It is not enough
to say that there is any number of modes of sexual behavior that are
satisfactory in terms of meeting the needs of human beings, since
sexuality is a basic aspect of human biological functioning. In
order for the needs of the organism to be met, satisfactory sexual
experience must be enjoyed at the biological level. The organism
may survive without such experience, yet we may question whether it can
thrive in such circumstances. The issue, therefore, presents
itself: how may we satisfy the needs of the organism with respect to
sex, and precisely what are those needs? Another way to pose
this question is to ask: what is the function of human sexuality with
respect to the needs of the organism? This is a biological
question with social and cultural implications.
Concerning human development, it is now generally recognized that,
roughly during the period of from three to seven years of age, the
human child goes through a stage of development in which the genitals
become centers of awareness that serve to provide the young boy or girl
with a positive sense of identity either as male or female.
[37] On the psychological level, this means that the sexual
identity of the child becomes incorporated into the self-image of the
young boy or girl on the basis of a positive identification with the
functions and sensations associated with the sexual
organs. That there is an anatomical and physiological basis for
the formation of such a positive self-awareness seems well
established. Quite apart from any cultural considerations, males
and females are different. The hormonal balance is not the same
in men as in women. The tissues of the body are basically
recognizable as male or female. This is clearly evident with
respect to the bony structure; in fact, the difference in shape between
the male and female pelves allows anthropologists examining the remains
of human beings and hominids dead for thousands or even millions of
years to determine
their sex.
Anatomy and physiology texts are replete with examples of the
biologically based differences between the sexes in human beings.
These differences in anatomy and physiology are necessarily translated
into psychological differences. The fact that such differences
have been associated with value judgments regarding the worth of men as
opposed to women - or vice versa -
is not a reason to deny the difference that exists. Men and women
are clearly not the same. This does not mean that one sex is
somehow more valuable than the other. One must grant the
reasonableness of Stanley Keleman's viewpoint: "The sensations coming
from the uterus and vagina and
the sensations coming from the penis are different. Sexual
identity is strengthened by the brain's recognition of these internal
sensations and movements." [38]
One of the basic issues relating to the development of male and female
sexuality would appear to be whether the emerging sexuality of the
child (and, later, of the young adult) is respected and affirmed.
Young children are naturally sexual, as any unbiased observer can
convince himself. There is nothing prurient or shameful about the
sexual interest of children. It is as reasonable and healthy to
be interested in the functioning of one's own body as it is to be
interested in why clouds move through the sky or what makes the wind
blow. It has been said that it is easier for a scientist to talk
to another scientist than to talk to a child, the reason being that the
child asks the important questions. One can validate this
statement for oneself by conversing with an
intelligent child and taking his or her questions seriously. The
problem that many adults face in attempting to relate honestly to
children is that the openness of the child makes the adult
uncomfortable. This seems to be especially true with respect to
issues concerning sexuality. Unfortunately, there is no simple
solution to this problem. The difficulty faced by many adults is
a lack of self-acceptance at a sexual level. Consequently, the
sexual conflicts of the adult are communicated to the child through the
adult's attitude, and not by words alone. Such an attitude may be
conveyed by means of expressive qualities of the voice and by body
movements.
It seems clear, in any event, that during the period of the child's
sexual development any suppression of the natural sexual curiosity of
the young person due to adult disapproval and coercion will result in a
repression or "holding back" of the sexual impulses, involving
inhibitions in sexual behavior. On the other hand,
over-stimulation of the child as a result of direct or indirect
seductive behavior on the part of adults will elicit sexual feelings
and impulses which are difficult to suppress and which intensify an
inner feeling of conflict with a tendency to seek relief from a state
of inner tension. [39] This interference
in the sexual life of children - as opposed to respect for childhood sexuality -
may provoke either repression or impulsiveness, or a combination of
both types of behavior. Such behavioral disturbances result from
a lack of environmental support for the natural needs of the developing
child.
Under positive circumstances, the basic sense of gender identity which
is established during the early childhood years continues to develop
during the years leading to puberty. Lowen writes that "From
about 4 or 5 years of age to puberty the child passes through a stage
which is known in analytic literature as the latent period. The
latent period is characterized by the child's growing awareness of the
genitals and recognition of its role as a boy or a girl." [40]
Freud, in introducing the term, described the latency period as one in
which sexual development is "...overtaken by a progressive process of
suppression..." and is "...organically determined and fixed by
heredity." [41] There is, however, substantial current opinion
that sexual interest during this
period, if not restricted by social and cultural factors, remains
lively. In exactly what manner the sexual development of the
child will be expressed during the latency period depends largely on
forces of a social nature. In some cultures, where sexual play
among children is permitted, heterosexual contact between children is
the norm. [42] In any event, it is during the period of puberty
(roughly between the ages of eleven and fourteen) that secondary sexual
characteristics clearly emerge. At this time, reproductive
capacity is established, and the drive for sexual intercourse is
strongly felt. It is at this time that the sexual orgasm presents
itself in human beings as the biologically natural expression of the
drive for sexual gratification.
It is in the work of Wilhelm Reich that one finds the first systematic
analysis of the significance of the sexual orgasm as an aspect of
integrated functioning in human beings. In Reich's account, the
orgasm is understood to involve a series of involuntary convulsions of
the total organism following upon an intense build-up of
excitation. In conventional physiological terms, the sexual
orgasm is seen as an involuntary response involving particularly the
autonomic nervous system and the lumbar and sacral areas of the spinal
cord. [43] In fact, the orgasm is a global, psycho-physical event
serving in an important way to help regulate the energetic functioning
of the person.
That there is an energetic factor involved in the sexual orgasm seems
difficult to deny. It is possible to analyze sexual functioning
in terms of the accumulation and release of tension, but it is evident
that the sexual orgasm encompasses an excitatory process. Such a
process involves the build-up and discharge of excitation. The
excitatory process, in turn, can be understood in terms of energy
dynamics. This is why researchers such as Masters and Johnson
declare that neuromuscular tension or "myotonia," occurring during
sexual activity, is to be conceived of as a "...build-up of energy in
the nerves and muscles." [44] These authors, however, do not
discuss the precise nature of the biological energy involved in the
sexual orgasm. Yet the question regarding the nature of the
biological energy expressed in the phenomenon of excitation - with its
phases of energy build-up and discharge - is a significant one.
While this subject will be discussed in greater detail elsewhere, some
consideration of this matter is called for in the present context.
[45]
One way in which the bioenergetic processes involved in human sexuality
can
be understood is with respect to bioelectrical phenomena. It is
commonly known that biological activities in human beings can be
measured in various instances by recording electrical potentials
registered at the skin surfaces. The use of such recordings in
the electroencephalogram and the electrocardiogram is a standard
medical practice. Other measures of electrical potentials at the
skin surface are taken in order to evaluate emotional states in
the human organism. The use of such measurements is one technique
employed in biofeedback programs. Wilhelm Reich suggested that
the sexual orgasm may be
viewed, in one of its aspects, as an electrophysiological discharge
following upon an intense build-up of bioelectrical charge in the
body.
According to Reich's argument, the normal course of
energy build-up in human beings leads to a state of tension and
excitation in the
organism, manifested in an increasing turgor of the body tissues.
This state of turgor - involving a
parasympathetic dominance in the autonomic nervous system - is
accompanied by an urge for sexual intercourse in which intimate contact
between male and female leads to a discharge of excess bioelectrical
energy through orgasm. Reich comments: "We may consider the
penile and vaginal surfaces as the two boundary surfaces or electrodes
of the system. The acid vaginal secretion (which is an
electrolyte) represents the contact medium (a conductor) between the
two surfaces. The male and female circulations and the mutually
stimulating plasmatic excitations in the autonomic nervous system
represent the inherent sources of electrical charge on the organs of
contact." [46]
The point of Reich's investigation into the bioelectrical phenomena
associated with sexual orgasm is that sexual contact between male and
female - even if such contact results in ejaculation for the male and
the experience of climax in the female - does not necessarily lead to a
discharge of energy and tension that can be considered adequate to the
basic needs
of the organism. The measurement of
electrical potentials at the skin surface taken at various erogenous
zones of the body during pleasurable and unpleasurable stimulation
indicates a bioelectrical response to pleasure and pain.
According
to Reich's interpretation of data derived from his investigations, such
responses vary in intensity in direct proportion to the state of
vegetative motility of the organism. Thus the degree of tension
and
energy discharged in the sexual orgasm will vary according to the
capacity of the organism to tolerate a heightened state of motility
and a high degree of bioenergetic charge. If this is true, then
the build-up and release of energy to which researchers into human
sexuality are accustomed to refer has a concrete significance with
respect to basic bioelectrical excitatory functioning.
In light of this understanding, sexual pleasure becomes comprehensible
as the direct experience of concrete energetic processes in the body,
while sexual disturbances must be seen as the result of the damming-up
or stasis of sexual energy.
Another indicator of the capacity to achieve sexual gratification at a
fundamental biological level is the ability of the human organism to
surrender to the coordinated, involuntary movements which are
characteristic of uninhibited orgastic response. In this regard,
the sexual orgasm may be understood as a fundamental response of the
total person to the build-up of excess biological tension. In
order for an unimpeded discharge of excess biological energy to occur,
certain conditions must be met. The presence of these
conditions on a functional level is related to the existence of what
Reich has called the "orgasm reflex." The term orgasm reflex, as
it is intended to be understood in the present context, does not refer
to the sexual orgasm itself. Rather, in the words of Elsworth
Baker, it signifies "...the unitary involuntary expansion and
contraction of the total organism seen when the organism is at rest and
energy flow is uninhibited." [47]
The orgasm reflex is intimately related to the quality of a person's
respiration. In order to allow for the observation of such a
reflex, an individual may be asked to assume a relaxed posture - such
as the supine position with the knees drawn up and feet flat against a
mattress. One may then request that the individual breathe freely
and naturally. If there are no significant restrictions in the
respiratory process, a gentle wave-like motion will be seen to engage
the musculature running along the axis of the body. During
inspiration, this wave-like motion commences in the region of the
diaphragm and upper abdomen (solar plexus) and extends into both the
lower and upper portions of the body, somewhat as a wave ripples out
concentrically from the spot where a stone is dropped into a pond of
water. In this process, the body extends itself gently as breath
is inhaled. With complete expiration, on the other hand, the body
is seen to "fold up" ever so slightly. There is a soft tilting
forward of the pelvis, and at the same time there is a gentle dropping
back of the head. As these movements are noted by the observer,
the subject may report a deepening of sensation experienced as
pleasurable waves of feeling flowing through the body. Taken as a
whole, the feeling of an energetic expansion (inhalation) followed by a
soft sensation of "streaming" through the body (exhalation)
characterizes the experience of relaxed, unrestricted breathing.
The significance of Reich's discovery of the orgasm reflex is that the
presence or absence of this involuntary, integrated bodily movement
during the process of relaxed respiration is an important index of the
capacity for sexual pleasure and gratification. The actual
capacity to discharge all excess biological tension through sexual
orgasm depends upon the ability to breathe deeply and freely.
This, in turn, depends upon an absence of patterns of chronic muscular
tension in the body. In the sexual situation, such freedom of
functioning indicates an absence of internal conflicts in the
individual and the presence of an appropriate partner in circumstances
conducive to mutual self-expression. Given these requirements, it
can be appreciated that full sexual surrender under conditions of
present sexual apprenticeship and prevailing social and cultural
circumstances can in most cases only be approximated. [48]
Nevertheless, it is important to understand the fundamental basis for
integrated sexual functioning in human beings.
In terms of the human nervous system, the sexual orgasm may be seen as
a basic regulator of organismic homeostasis. The two branches of
the autonomic nervous system (parasympathetic and sympathetic) function
largely as an antithetical unity. Basing himself on the studies
of the German physiologist L.R. Müller, Reich associated the
action of the sympathetic branch with contraction of the organism
and the action of the parasympathetic branch with
expansion. In Reich's words: "Upon detailed examination of the
highly complicated vegetative innervation of the organs, one finds the
parasympathetic operative wherever there is expansion, elongation,
hyperemia, turgor and pleasure. Conversely, the sympathetic is
found functioning wherever the organism contracts, withdraws blood from
the periphery, where it shows pallor, anxiety or pain." [49] It
is known that the sympathetic system is associated with the secretion
of adrenal hormones and the alarm response (fight-or-flight) of the
organism, while the parasympathetic system is associated with the "rest
response" and the secretion of acetylcholine. The parasympathetic
system is involved in resting and conserving energy. In terms of
current physiological understanding, "When the body is in homeostasis,
the main function of the sympathetic division is to counteract the
parasympathetic effects just enough to carry out normal processes
requiring energy." [50] In Reich's view, the homeostasis of the
human organism is maintained by a smooth oscillation between the
sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous
system. It is the function of the orgasm to relieve the tension
that builds up due to the activation of the sympathetic branch.
This regulatory process taking place in the nervous system can be
understood in terms of basic biological drives.
If one considers biological functioning with respect to instinctual
gratification, hunger and sex may be considered the two primary drives
active in human beings. While sex is associated with survival of
the species, hunger is related to the self-preservation of the
individual. Both drives are important to the maintenance of
smooth personal functioning. The force of hunger and the
concern for self-preservation mobilize the person to struggle to
satisfy his or her basic needs. In this struggle, the sympathetic
branch of the autonomic nervous system is activated. The tension
accumulated in the process of living, however, charges the organism
with desire, and this impels the individual to seek the pleasure of
sexual release, thus bringing about the relative dominance of the
parasympathetic system. The dynamics of this
interrelationship have been described by Moshe Feldenkrais, who
comments: "For proper functioning, all nervous structure needs full
activity followed by full rest... Nothing can relieve and rest
the sympathetic more than intense stimulation of the parasympathetic
and the other way around." [51] In Reich's terms, one might say
that for the human being, both work and love are necessary, and if
conditions are satisfactory, each activity reinforces the other.
Exactly how deeply the function of the orgasm is rooted in nature
as a sexual phenomenon is a basic question of biology. Herbert
Wendt has suggested that the sexual orgasm first appears clearly
in the animal kingdom among the mollusks. He writes that "...the
curve of excitement in the sex life of snails can scarcely be
interpreted in any other way. [52] Wilhelm Reich has compared the
sexual orgasm in human beings to the contractile movements of the
jellyfish: "The most primitive and the most highly
developed plasmatic functions exist alongside of each other. The
development of complicated structures in the organism, of 'higher'
functions as we call them, does not change the existence or
function of the jelly-fish in man." [53] Reich's basis for
considering the sexual orgasm in human beings as rooted in
primitive phylogenetic functions is best understood in reference to the
involuntary nature of the orgastic convulsion.
That the orgasm is basically an autonomic response of the organism
triggered by accumulated excitation is pointed out by Feldenkrais, who
writes that the orgasm involves "...a complex reflex discharge of motor
impulses which effects a release of vegetative tensions." [54]
During the orgastic convulsion there is an automatic thrusting forward
of the pelvis which occurs simultaneously with a dropping back of the
head. These movements alternate with a retraction of the pelvis
and a movement of the head forward. The orgastic rhythm, with its
expansion and contraction phases, is serpentine in nature and can be
seen as being functionally identical to the undulating movements of the
jellyfish and other primitive life forms. In the biologically
charged context of sexual excitation, it is the natural reflexive
movement which serves to discharge sexual tension. In terms of
the human nervous system, Reich has described this process in the
following manner: "Thus we may say that during the sexual act,
excitation
shifts increasingly from the vegetative to the sensory nervous system
and finally, from the moment of climax, takes hold of the motor nervous
system and the musculature. This transition involves unburdening
of the vegetative nervous system and discharge of sexual excitation in
the sensory-motor system. The transition from the sensory to the
motor system and the ebbing of excitation into the entire body is
experienced as satisfaction." [55]
The interested reader can find in Reich's published writings a detailed
description of the various stages and phases of excitation that
constitute the natural arousal curve during sexual intercourse.
What is clear from considering issues relevant to the physiology
of sexual functioning in human beings is that such functioning is not
merely an extraneous or secondary feature of human existence. On
the contrary, it can be argued that sexual functioning reaches down
into the deep levels of human nature and that adequate sexual
functioning is integral to the furtherance of the overall,
psycho-physical well-being of the individual. Human beings,
however, cannot be reduced simply to the energetic dynamics of their
existence. A question, therefore, remains unanswered: what is the
meaning of the relationship between sex and love in the life of the
person? A response to this question may help to draw together
some of the themes of the present inquiry.
The
Force of Desire
It
is worth remembering that while human sexuality may be discussed in
terms of anatomy, physiology, comparative biology, psychology, and
anthropology, the truth of the matter lies in the realm of human
experience. Sex is important to human beings not simply because
it is a means of reproducing the species or because it provides a basis
for understanding some significant aspects of social organization or
history, but because it is the expression of a deep and abiding human
urge. In a world in which intense pressures are numerous and
existence requires considerable struggle, one might think that
sexuality would recede into the background of human concerns. Yet
this does not seem to be the case. Indeed, even in the Victorian
period when the official mores of respectable, bourgeois society
demanded that the importance of sex be obliterated from serious
consideration, both in practice and in fantasy sexual issues were of
overriding concern. It was this realization which gave rise to
the theory of psychoanalysis and prepared the soil, at one level, for
the reaction of the Roaring Twenties and the beginning of the so-called
"sexual revolution."
If one surveys the sexual scene in contemporary society as it is
reflected in the electronic communications media, the popular novels,
the advertising slogans, and the behavior of men and women when they
congregate together in public places, it seems evident that there is
much sexual ignorance, misery, dissatisfaction, and hostility.
Although times have changed greatly during the past century, the title
of one of Wilhelm Reich's books - written, in part, over fifty years
ago - seems aptly to describe the predicament of many present-day
individuals with respect to sexual matters: "People in Trouble."
[56] It is also true that sexual behavior in many segments of
society has passed through the stage of sexual sophistication into the
impulsive phase of sex linked with violence and abuse. Perhaps
sexual violence is, in part, the offspring of sexual
sophistication. In any case, despite the obsession with sex that
characterizes much of modern experience, genuine sexual feeling capable
of providing real satisfaction seems generally lacking. It may be
that this is due, to a considerable extent, to an incapacity to feel
the force of desire. D.H. Lawrence has suggested as much in his
novel The Virgin and the Gypsy.
In that work, the following passage may be found:
"I think," said the major,
taking his pipe from his mouth, "that desire is the most wonderful
thing in life. Anybody who can really feel it, is a king, and I
envy nobody else!..."
"But Charles!" she
cried. "Every common low man in Halifax feels nothing else!"
"That's merely appetite,"
he said. [57]
If the necessary
condition for sexual satisfaction is genuine desire, then desire itself
is the product of a tension which seeks gratification and release in
pleasurable merger with a member of the opposite sex. Because of
individual differences in temperament, personality, and history, not
simply anyone will do as a sexual partner. One must discriminate,
therefore, on the basis of the experience of desire and the possibility
of achieving fulfillment. But what is to be done if one
experiences only appetite, at best?
The key to desire lies in the experience of the body. Machines,
although they are capable of complex operations, do not possess
feeling, which is characteristic of life. The spirit may long for
what is divine, but sexuality can be experienced only as a bodily
state. In spite of a preoccupation with performance and with
one's physical image, a feeling experience is missing from what passes
for sexuality in the lives of many people today. Alexander Lowen
has
investigated the dilemma faced by individuals in whom the striving for
power and status has supplanted the need for human sexual
contact. In such a situation, a person may develop a self-image
of being a great lover and engage in sexual relations with many
partners; yet real contact, desire, and satisfaction are absent.
[58] Interestingly, D.H. Lawrence has described this situation
also. Lawrence writes:
"Life is only bearable when the
mind and the body are in harmony, and there is a natural balance
between them, and each has a natural respect for the other. And
it is
obvious there is no balance now. The body is at best the tool of
the mind, at worst the toy. The business man keeps himself 'fit,'
that is, keeps the body in good working order, for the sake of his
business, and the usual young person who spends much time on keeping
fit does so as a rule out of self-conscious self-absorption,
narcissism... The
body of men and women today is just a trained dog." [59]
It would be a mistake to presume that the sexual difficulties of men
and women are easy to understand or simple to overcome.
Nonetheless, we can agree with Lawrence when he writes: "Men and women
aren't really trained dogs; they only look like it and behave like
it. Somewhere inside there is a great chagrin and a gnawing
discontent. The body is, in its spontaneous natural self, dead or
paralysed. It has only the secondary life of a circus dog, acting
up and showing off: and then collapsing." [60]
From the vantage point of the present discussion, sexuality is a
central aspect of human experience, and yet it is not the only aspect
of experience, nor can it reasonably be divorced from the fabric of
life as a whole. Sex and personality are interrelated. One
cannot expect to bring about significant changes in sexual experience
and behavior in the absence of corresponding changes in overall
functioning. Deepening and expanding sexual experience is part of
the process of deepening and expanding personal functioning in
general. This means that improvements in the quality of
respiration, affecting the energy level of the individual, will have
repercussions on the sexuality of the person. The same
relationship holds between deepening sexual experience and reducing
patterns of chronic muscular tension which impede and distort the
natural movements that are integral to uninhibited sexual
expression. It is clear that an increase in personal energy and a
reduction in chronic tensions will provide a more potent quality to
sexual functioning. It follows that genuine improvement in
individual functioning and authentic personal growth necessarily
involve a sexual dimension. As Wilhelm Reich has consistently
pointed out, that dimension is a significant one.
If the depth of sexual functioning is expressed in the force of desire,
it is also true that the meaning of sexuality, in human beings, is
found in love. Indeed, based on the present discussion, we may
venture to conclude that sex, love, and life are so integrally
interwoven in the fabric of human existence as to be functionally
identical with the core of our being. Certainly, we love life,
and in sex we find an expression of both our love and our life.
Likewise, our life was conceived in sex, and the sexual act in human
beings is most meaningful as an expression of love.
