[Book Sip] Why the Muscular David Statue Has a Small Genitalia

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This book deals with history using sex as its subject. Sex is a human instinct and has therefore greatly influenced human history. However, due to social conventions, it has not been easy to openly discuss stories about sex, so there have been few opportunities to properly examine it. This is why a book that uses the two words 'history' and 'sex' in its title catches the eye. It is filled with explicit, bold, yet fascinating content. There is also a considerable amount of humanities content that can help build cultural knowledge. It appears to be an effort to avoid seeming vulgar.

The masterpieces called 'David' and 'Laoco?n Group' both draw attention to their modest genitalia. Most works classified as Greek statues depict the genitals unusually small. (Omitted) Ancient Greece was a land of philosophy. For them, masculinity was compressed into two things: a muscular body built through physical training and reason armed with rational thought. Although a muscular body and reason seem like starkly different elements, they are connected in that both can be beautifully shaped by human will. Ancient Greeks regarded the man who built a sexy muscular body with indomitable will and the citizen who combined reason and philosophy as the ideal man. On the other hand, those who were obsessed only with primal desires were not considered cultured Greek citizens. Since the genitals were an indicator of desire, they had to be small. They even described the undeveloped genitals of a child as the 'ideal.' Kenneth Dover, who wrote 'Greek Homosexuality,' said, "To the Greeks, large genitals were simply stupid, greedy, and ugly." (pp. 13?15, Why Are the Genitals on Greek Statues So Small?)

In 19th-century America, prostitution, carnivorism, and excessive drinking were rampant. As the world fell into desire, more people rose up against it. Since America was a nation founded by Puritans, voices calling to live according to God's original will grew louder. This was the beginning of the Temperance Movement. (There is also a sociological interpretation that this movement started as an attempt by the capitalist class to separate workers from alcohol to promote work ethics.) The early Temperance Movement began with alcohol abstinence. As this movement gained strength, many pleasures such as sexual desire and carnivorism began to be seen as subjects for correction. (Omitted) For this reason, the Temperance Movement was mainly led by religious groups. The Seventh-day Adventist Church was a representative example. They advocated vegetarianism excluding meat consumption in line with their religious beliefs. John Harvey Kellogg was also a member of this denomination. (p. 55, Was 'Tiger Power' Corn Flakes Made to Prevent Masturbation?)

Ancient Greeks considered bathing a tool for healing. Hippocrates, the father of medicine in the 5th century BCE, said, "If you immerse your body alternately in cold and hot water, nutrients are evenly absorbed by the body, and headaches are relieved." Because ancient Greeks valued bathing, they bathed newborn babies with clean water. (Omitted) While ancient Greeks viewed bathing with a sense of reverence, in ancient Rome, bathing was associated with pleasure. The power base of ancient Roman leaders was 'bread and circuses.' They won the hearts of citizens through food and entertainment. One of these circuses was bathing. Prostitution took place in bathhouses. Ancient Romans associated the pleasant languor felt when entering warm water naked with sexual intercourse. In a bathhouse in Pompeii, which was destroyed by a volcanic eruption, there remain explicit paintings depicting sexual acts among bathers. Historian Edward Gibbon said in 'The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' that "Rome fell due to hot baths," and this is why. (pp. 125?126, Prostitution in Ancient Bathhouses)

It happened when East German leader Erich Honecker met Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. At the 30th anniversary celebration of East Germany's founding in 1979, the two suddenly shared a deep kiss. (Omitted) Socialist leaders during the Cold War era expressed solidarity through kisses. (Omitted) There is a hidden context behind their kisses: religion. In communist countries like Russia and Eastern Europe, the influence of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which had been fully separated from the Roman Catholic Church for over 1,000 years, was significant. The Eastern Orthodox Church expressed religious respect through kissing. Even in the Russian Empire before the establishment of socialist states, it is said that kisses occurred between soldiers and officers. (Omitted) The Eastern Orthodox Church was lenient about kissing because early Christianity emphasized the 'kiss of peace.' In early Christianity, kissing was encouraged as an expression of spiritual devotion. The Eastern Orthodox Church retained more of early Christianity's characteristics than Roman Catholicism, so the culture of same-sex kissing lasted longer. (pp. 138?141, Why Do Socialists Kiss Each Other?)

It is said that humanity first wore clothes around 9000 BCE, just after the Neolithic period ended. (Omitted) In Egypt, many people went without clothes. It was not for fashion but because they could not afford clothes due to poverty. Most naked people in ancient Egypt were lower-class. From the New Kingdom period of ancient Egypt (1500?1069 BCE), sophisticated clothes covering the chest began to appear. It was fashion that distinguished social classes. (Omitted) While nudity symbolized poverty in Egypt, in Greece it was regarded as a symbol of 'masculinity.' Of course, they usually wore light linen clothes called chitons. But during exercise, they removed all clothing and enjoyed competitions in the nude. This is confirmed by the fact that the ancient Greek gymnasium, 'gymnasion,' derives from 'gymnos,' meaning naked. (Omitted) In ancient Rome, naked men were discouraged because they were seen as homosexuals. (pp. 170?172, Why Are There So Many Naturists in the West?)

Sex Culture in History, Reflection | Written by Kang Young-woon | Inmulgwa Sasangsa | 336 pages | 22,000 KRW