The Evolution of Sex

Everything and everyone must change and evolve if it, they, are to not only survive but thrive.

The concept of evolution has often been used when speaking about the origin of humankind and the evolvement of a particular species. But have you ever thought of the evolution of sex?

As human beings evolve from being homosapiens to becoming homospiritus, then it would naturally follow that something as important and significant as sex, and the way we choose to perceive and use it would evolve as well.

For thousands of years in our Western Culture sex has been thought of as only a means for procreation, recreation and sport and now a way to evolve spiritually, as in Tantra.
The earliest misinterpretation of the sex act comes from the story of Adam and Eve. Here we are told that it was because Eve bit the apple of knowledge, which is the knowledge of her sexuality, and then seduced Adam to do the same that sex and womankind were doomed. With this story, they made sex shameful.

Christian doctrine began to teach in the 3rd and 4th Centuries that sex was the root of all evil and that it was because of man’s awakening to his sexuality by woman, that humankind was dammed for all eternity. Sex was given a bad rap and was banned by Christendom, except for the act of procreation in the marriage bed. This doctrine today is still followed by many fundamentalist religions and in fact, has been the underlying premise for all of our sexual behavior.

Now it may seem to you that what we think about sex has not evolved much in the past hundred years, even with the sexual revolution of the 60’s, but it has. The women’s Liberation Movement in the 60’s and 70’s, along with the advent of the flower children, brought sex out of the closet. It was because women were finally given permission to enjoy sex that sex actually evolved beyond its former limitations and was allowed to be talked about. This set our sexuality free and introduced the idea that having sex was an act of supreme pleasure and fun. In many areas of the country the shackles of sexual repression were loosened and in some, such as my very own home town, San Francisco there was wild abandon and everyone began to have more sex with more partners. We all got drunk on this new sexual freedom. Our viewpoint of sex had finally shifted from one of just being an act of procreation to one of recreation.

The U.S. is really a teenage culture when it comes to how sex is viewed. This was demonstrated to me many years ago when I began to give pleasure parties for women. When I was demonstrating sex toys to women at these parties, it would always amaze me how the women would behave. They acted as if they were teenagers, giggling and laughing, as if they were doing something so very naughty. Their level of immaturity was astounding to me and proved that we, as a nation, had only evolved just past sixteen when it comes to sex talk.

The evolution of how we as a society think about sex is also reflected in our media. Today, and for the past decade, it seems that we have gone in the opposite direction of sexual repression to sexual obsession. Everywhere our media is selling sex, sex, sex... Does the music, MTV, movies and the availability of porn on the internet tell us that we have evolved into a more progressive and open society around sex? Does sexual obsession and over exposure to sex in the media and in marketing really tell us that we have as a nation evolved our views about sex? I think not.

What it is telling us is that sex is still the hottest way to sell anything. Our inclinations to mask the sell of sex as being sexually progressive are highly questionable and only say that we have regressed into exploiting sex as a commodity.

But there is still hope for our society and although it is not yet in the mainstream it has nevertheless taken root through the Neo-Tantric movement. For over 30 years the revival of Tantra and Sacred Sexuality in the West has been slowly gaining momentum. It may in fact be our only saving grace. For it has been through this movement that our views on sex are truly beginning to evolve.

The way in which sexual energy is defined and used in Neo-Tantra have taught us the importance of understanding how to use our sexual energy to not only increase our ability for sexual pleasure but for our spiritual evolution as well.

We will soon be able to say that as a nation we have finally matured and have come to see sex no longer as a commodity but as our vital life force energy, the energy that is creation itself and an expression of our divinity.
The evolution of sex is an on-going process that reflects the consciousness of the culture we live in. This being said, as we approach the second half of this momentous year we can safely say that we are well on our way to a second sexual revolution.