Sex and Culture

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Sex and Culture
"Sex and Culture" by J.D. Unwin.png
Cover with a photo of Unwin
Author J. D. Unwin
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Publisher Oxford University Press
Publication date
1934
Media typePrint
Pages676

Sex and Culture is a 1934 book by English social anthropologist J. D. Unwin concerning the correlation between a society's level of "cultural achievement" and its level of sexual restraint. The book concluded with the theory that as societies develop, they become more sexually liberal, accelerating the social entropy of the society, thereby diminishing its "creative" and "expansive" energy. [1] [2]

Contents

According to Unwin, after a nation becomes prosperous, it becomes increasingly liberal concerning sexual morality. It thus loses its cohesion, impetus and purpose, which he claims is irrevocable. [3] Unwin also stated that absolute monogamy required legal equality between men and women. [4]

Content

Unwin's study of 80 native cultures and 6 civilizations led him to conclude that the operant factor behind the cultural decay of a society is largely due to the loosening of sexual conventions and the lessening of monogamous relationships. He purports that through stricter sexual conventions such as abstinence, nations channel their sexual energy into aggressive expansion, conquering "less energetic" countries, as well as into art, science, reform and other indicators of high cultural achievement. [5]

By 'civilized' societies the book refers only to the following sixteen historical peoples: Sumerians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Assyrians, Hellenes, Persians, Hindus, Chinese, Japanese, Sassanids, Arabs (Moors), Romans, Teutons, and Anglo-Saxons.

Unwin divides the civilisations into four groups in order to compare how far along each one is in terms of progress. The categories are, from the lowest level of sexual restraint to the highest, 'zoistic', 'manistic', 'deistic' and 'rationalistic'. Unwin bases his categories on certain social phenomena that he observed in his study of the 86 world cultures, phenomena that he found coincided with varying levels of prenuptial chastity:

The book concludes with the assertion that, in order to maintain a rationalistic society, sexual drive should be controlled and shifted to more productive work. Unwin notes that women should enjoy the same legal rights as men and that the condition for a high level of cultural achievement lies in restricting prenuptial sexual opportunity rather than a state of patriarchy, although the two have historically coincided.

The books states that the effect of sexual constraints, either pre or post-nuptial, has always led to increased flourishing of a culture. Conversely, increased sexual freedom always led to the collapse of a culture three generations later. The highest flourishing of culture had the most powerful combination: pre-nuptial chastity coupled with “absolute monogamy”. Rationalist cultures that retained this combination for at least three generations exceeded all other cultures in every area, including literature, art, science, furniture, architecture, engineering, and agriculture. Only three out of the eighty-six cultures studied ever attained this level.

From a superficial study of the available data it might be thought that the questions of female subjection and parental power are indissolubly allied to that of female continence; but actually their alliance in the past has been due to the chance factor that sexual opportunity has never been reduced to a minimum except by depriving women and children of their legal status. It is historically true to say that in the past social energy has been purchased at the price of individual freedom, for it has never been displayed unless the female of the species has sacrificed her rights as an individual and unless children have been treated as mere appendages to the estate of the male parent; but it would be rash to conclude that sexual opportunity cannot be reduced to a minimum under any other conditions. The evidence is that the subjection of women and children is intolerable and therefore temporary; but we should go beyond the evidence if we were to conclude from this fact that compulsory continence also is intolerable and therefore temporary. Such a statement, indeed, is contradicted by the tenor of the whole story. [9]

Reception

Aldous Huxley described Sex and Culture as "a work of the highest importance". [10] A contemporary review in 1935 was positive. [11]

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References

  1. Carnot, Sadi (2017). "Joseph Unwin". www.eoht.info. Hmolpedia. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  2. Unwin, Joseph D. (1934). Sex and Culture. Oxford University Press. p. 412. ISBN   1979867046.
  3. Unwin, J. D. (1927). "Monogamy as a Condition of Social Energy,” The Hibbert Journal, Vol. XXV, p. 662.
  4. Unwin, J. D. Sex and culture, page 431-432.
  5. Huxley, Aldous (1938). Ends and Means: An Enquiry Into the Ideals and Into the Methods Employed for their Realization. Transaction Publishers. p. 362. ISBN   9781412847001.
  6. Unwin, Joseph D. (1934). Sex and Culture. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. p. 34. ISBN   1979867046.
  7. Unwin, Joseph D. (1934). Sex and Culture. Oxford University Press. p. 376. ISBN   1979867046.
  8. Unwin, Joseph D. (1934). Sex and Culture. Oxford University Press. p. 434. ISBN   1979867046.
  9. Unwin, Joseph D. (1934). Sex and Culture. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. p. 384. ISBN   1979867046.
  10. Huxley, Aldous (1946). "Ethics". Ends and Means. London: Chatto & Windus. pp. 311–312.
  11. "Review of Book: Sex and Culture". The Downside Review. 53 (3): 408–412. July 1935. doi:10.1177/001258063505300319. ISSN   0012-5806.