Paganism and Fertility

Another late-ish post. Sorry everyone. I saw my cousin today. Thanks to everyone for sending your healing thoughts. She's doing great. You can't tell she was in the hospital only two days ago.

This is another prompt from LJ. I wrote it yesterday, but for some reason after visiting my cousin, as much as I love her to death, I feel like I need to share this post.

What do you think about (most forms of) Paganism including celebrations of fertility into it's scared year? Do you think that the Pagan celebration of fertility offers something positive to the culture? If so, what, and if not, why not?

We are, currently, a culture obsessed with sex and “sexiness” and sex appeal. There is a book by Ariel Levy that I think every woman should read called Female Chauvinist Pigs.
What was almost more surprising than the change itself were the responses I got when I started interviewing the men and -- often -- women who edit magazines like Maxim and make programs like The Man Show and Girls Gone Wild. This new raunch culture didn't mark the death of feminism, they told me; it was evidence that the feminist project had already been achieved. We'd earned the right to look at Playboy; we were empowered enough to get Brazilian bikini waxes. Women had come so far, I learned, we no longer needed to worry about objectification or misogyny. Instead, it was time for us to join the frat party of pop culture, where men had been enjoying themselves all along. If Male Chauvinist Pigs were men who regarded women as pieces of meat, we would outdo them and be Female Chauvinist Pigs: women who make sex objects of other women and of ourselves. (http://www.ariellevy.net/books.php?article=2)

Fit that in with conservative views on sex, especially teenage sex, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.
These conservative views in the (sorry American friends) South, fed by the Christian Right Wing have made any religion that sees sex in a positive regard is, well, sinful. And God forbid the woman get any pleasure from sex; she’s not the important one here.

Pagan cultures offer a positive view on sex. Not the “Stupid Spoiled Whore” ideals that seem to be ingrained into the culture. Every time I turn on Spike TV to watch CSI, I get commercials filled with skinny, leggy, “sexy” woman who have breast implants, shaking their ta-tas to see some foul smelling shampoo (yes Axe, I’m talking about you!). Whereas these ads are telling you, a woman, to be next to naked ALL THE TIME and be thin enough that a child could break you, Pagan cultures are telling you, a woman, that you are a crucial part of the world, and that your sex appeal should not be flaunted. This isn’t to say that you have to wear a sack, but it says that you have to be careful about who you sleep with.

Sex is a powerful thing. Just like any powerful thing, if it’s used in the wrong way, the results are disastrous.

While fertility is a beautiful thing, we are a fully developed nation and there is no reason that you have to run the risk of getting pregnant, or getting someone else pregnant, each time you have sex. Sex ed, not just abstinence only, needs to be taught. They started us at grade six. Sure, I was grossed out, and when I was in grade ten I was glad to be done with it, but it has taught me so much. I even had a more risqué dream, and the only thing I could do in said dream was go buy condoms.

Fertility is just as powerful as sex, and with the lack of sex ed, fertility is being abused just like sex is being abused.

I think that most Pagans understand that sex and fertility are the things that keep, well, everything surviving, however we also know that not taking control of our own sexuality and fertility are dangerous things and can lead to unforeseen consequences.

It’s like breaking a horse. You get a wild horse and indulge it; you’re going to end up with a lot of problems. Sex and fertility is that horse. If you properly break that horse, you’re going to get the greatest animal you’ve ever had. Just like sex: if you understand sex and fertility, and know what you and your partner want—both long and short term—you’re going to have a wonderful ride.