I assumed it meant 'having genitalia', either those appropriate to females or to males or to both as sometimes occurs. I'm not sure if one can not 'have sex', -- sort of like a manikin? Just don't know. Biology can be bizarre. Why there's any "reason" for having sex seems to me to be very problematic -- reproduction? fun and games? relationship building? The question seems to assume some transcendental reason in the universe and I'm not good at those kinds of questions. I'm just glad that I have sex because it's fun -- sort of like Chuck Berry's old song "My Ding A Ling" for those old enough and shameless enough to remember it. Catholic priests are not supposed to do sex. But all the seminarians that I seminaried with seemed to have sex which creates problems when you have something but can't do anything about it. I'm glad I'm not a priest. When I was in high school, we all asked each other, "have you ever done it?" "how do you do it?" "boy, I'd like to do her!" Doing seemed to be the big thing back then, not having. Making do with what you have -- that was our concern. Still is.
Mike Geary Memphis----- Original Message ----- From: <wokshevs@xxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "Andreas Ramos" <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx> Cc: "Lit-Ideas" <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 3:12 PM Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: 237 reasons? just do it
Such empirical data is quite ambiguous, at best ambivalent, without anoperationalized definition of "having sex." Awaiting further clarifications,Walter O. Department of Forms of Sexuality The Academy of Platon AthensP.S. Sophists need not reply as having "a knack for it" provides no Socraticallyjustifiable account. Quoting Andreas Ramos <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>:237 different reasons to make love... yrs, andreas www.andreas.com The Whys of Mating: 237 Reasons and Counting(July 31) -- Scholars in antiquity began counting the ways that humans have sex, but they weren't so diligent in cataloging the reasons humans wanted toget into all those positions. Darwin and his successors offered a few explanations of mating strategies -- to find better genes, to gain status and resources -- but they neglected to produce a Kama Sutra of sexual motivations. For now, thanks to psychologists at the University of Texas at Austin, wecan at last count the whys. After asking nearly 2,000 people why they'd hadsex, the researchers have assembled and categorized a total of 237 reasons -- everything from "I wanted to feel closer to God" to "I wasdrunk." They even found a few people who claimed to have been motivated bythe desire to have a child. The researchers, Cindy M. Meston and David M. Buss, believe their list, published in the August issue of Archives of Sexual Behavior, is the most thorough taxonomy of sexual motivation ever compiled. This seems entirely plausible.Who knew, for instance, that a headache had any erotic significance exceptas an excuse for saying no? But some respondents of both sexes explained that they'd had sex "to get rid of a headache." It's No. 173 on the list. Others said they did it to "help me fall asleep," "make my partner feelpowerful," "burn calories," "return a favor," "keep warm," "hurt an enemy" or "change the topic of conversation." The lamest may have been, "It seemedlike good exercise," although there is also this: "Someone dared me."The researchers collected the data by first asking more than 400 people to list their reasons for having sex, and then asking more than 1,500 others torate how important each reason was to them. Although it was a fairlyhomogenous sample of students at the University of Texas, nearly every one of the 237 reasons was rated by at least some people as their most importantmotive for having sex. The results contradicted another stereotype about women: their supposed tendency to use sex to gain status or resources. "Our findings suggest that men do these things more than women," Dr. Buss said, alluding to the respondents who said they'd had sex to get things,like a promotion, a raise or a favor. Men were much more likely than women to say they'd had sex to "boost my social status" or because the partner wasfamous or "usually 'out of my league.' " Dr. Buss said, "Although I knew that having sex has consequences forreputation, it surprised me that people, notably men, would be motivated tohave sex solely for social status and reputation enhancement."To make sense of the 237 reasons, Dr. Buss and Dr. Meston created a taxonomywith four general categories: Physical: "The person had beautiful eyes" or "a desirable body," or "was good kisser" or "too physically attractive to resist." Or "I wanted to achieve an orgasm." Goal Attainment: "I wanted to even the score with a cheating partner" or "break up a rival's relationship" or "make money" or "be popular." Or "because of a bet."Emotional: "I wanted to communicate at a deeper level" or "lift my partner'sspirits" or "say 'Thank you.' " Or just because "the person was intelligent." Insecurity: "I felt like it was my duty" or "I wanted to boost myself-esteem" or "It was the only way my partner would spend time with me."Having sex out of a sense of duty, Dr. Buss said, showed up in a separatestudy as being especially frequent among older women. But both sexes seem topractice a strategy that he calls mate-guarding, as illustrated in one ofthe reasons given by survey respondents: "I was afraid my partner would havean affair if I didn't." You can nominate your own reasons at TierneyLab. You can also submit nominations for a brand new taxonomy: reasons for just saying "No way!" Somehow, though, I don't think this list will be as long. ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
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