THE SACRED SPACE OF SEXUALITY

Sexual preference is a personal entity that is guided by sensual desires from each individual, which are feelings that are instinctive and secretive. Some issues relating to sexuality are anomalous in nature and should be kept behind closed doors - however due to the voyeuristic society that we live in, sexuality is no longer a taboo issue and matters that should be kept out of the public eye are dealt with publicly.

Teenage promiscuity is one of the greatest concerns of our society. We teach our teenagers to protect themselves from Sexual Transmitted Infections (S.T.Is), and H.I.V/AIDS with disposable condoms. We teach young girls to protect themselves from premature births through birth control pills and injections and yet society welcomes infants yearly from teenagers. Are condoms and birth control mechanisms being used? In past decades the scourge of H.I.V/AIDS has ravaged the African continent and the world at large. The rate of H.I.V/AIDS and other infections has increased and millions of South Africans are at risk of contracting this rampaging pandemic.

Rape, is one of the most inhuman, heartless diabolical ways that leads to sexual apathy, leaving its victim reaped of their dignity and pride. At times, a victim of rape is tainted with a deadly mark of H.I.V/AIDS and emotional scars for life. Rape victims find attachment and sacredness of sexuality with another person an emotional turnoff and an unwanted burden, however on the flipside; for emotional validation, rape victims use sexuality as escapism from their emotional pain they suffered, thus become promiscuous in the hope of extinguishing their pain. According to D.A Louw and D.J.A Edwards from the book, ‘PSYCHOLOGY: An introduction for students in southern Africa’ - sexual drive is said to be, “physiologically-based, in humans it is influenced, to a very large degree, by psychological and environmental factors.” (1993: 445) Rape victims after being raped, see their environment as a prison they need to escape from - therefore, to them there is no sacredness to sexuality.

Pedophilia forms a big part to sexual anomaly, which has left young boys and girls with a significant psychological laceration that impel, in most cases, some individuals to repeat the same circle that was perpetrated to them - when not dealt with through physiological and psychological healing, can set a never ending bend of abusers at times reaching far as creating serial killers.

At times verbal, physical and emotional abuse can and does contribute to sexual deviations with two people who are accustomed to a loving sacred space between them. Verbal tension or lack of communication does drive partners to commit infidelity, which places them at a risk of contracting the virus - however this is not the only factor. A number of women surreptitiously complain about how they are ashamed of their sexuality, when their husbands come home drunk to a pulp, thus go out to seek a sacred space from other man. Alcohol abuse can leave a man delusional, thinking that they are contributing fully to their spousal sexual relation, when in reality they do not - which does prove that the environment factors and psychological thinking of an individual alters their way of sexual perception and contributes to their relationship.

In Greek mythology, Aphrodite the Goddess of beauty and sexual desire was attributed to all things that are good and pleasurable to the sacred space of sexuality. The Babylonians, Assyrians, Greeks, and Romans erected sculptures of such Goddesses as Aphrodite and Venus to celebrate sexuality millenniums ago. This was done in such elegance and finesse which helped chronicle the behavioral patterns of ancient civilizations towards sexuality and the physical aesthetics to it. The Indians propel this to the art of Karma Sutra, which is a Hindu and Buddhist philosophy of celebrating the Goddess of love and procreation.

The sacred space of sexuality is a space that needs to be respected between an individual and their significant other – be it a heterosexual, bisexual or homosexual relation. This emotive factor behind sexuality, which is its fundamental role, for a man and a woman to bond and ultimately consummate their relationship and at times procreate thus help generate the human race.

WORD TO A NEW SEXUAL REVOLUTION

By Linda Sakazi Thwala