Sex & God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality by Darrel Ray Page B
Authors: Darrel Ray
Tags: Religión, General, Psychology, Christianity, Atheism, Sexuality & Gender Studies, Human Sexuality
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most likely focus on as adults. If the culture tells girls that the best bear hunter or the best singer on
American Idol
is the most desirable, that may impact them.
Secondary sexual preferences can come to dominate entire cultures
and
determine what genes get passed on. We see the evidence in female body types. Women in some cultures have large bottoms. Over thousands of years, these characteristics have been sexually selected. The genes do not tell a man to choose a woman with a large butt, but genes program the brain to look for cues in the environment and in certain areas of the body. Just as the human brain is programmed to recognize the human facial configuration but not any specific face, we are programmed to recognize parts of the body that have sexual significance. The culture then tells you what that significance is.
The ebb and flow of sex hormones impacts the brain at all ages, but especially before age 20. If something happens while the brain is being inundated with sex hormones, it may have a permanent impact on sexual behavior and preference. If it happens consistently within a culture, it can literally shape the body type of an entire people.
Learning Social Cues for the Map
The social environment tells our sexual map when to increase or decrease hormones. This part of our sexual map runs automatically. Much of it waslearned early in life. The male duck learns to recognize his dominance level and where he fits into the duck hierarchy. Humans do much the same. When we walk into a party, we unconsciously evaluate the people and cues and adjust our behavior to fit the social structure of the group. We unconsciously look at how many men or women are in the room, how they are dressed, where they are standing and the posture and nonverbal gestures they use. With these signals, we often determine who the most important people are and act accordingly.
Were we to look at hormone levels, we would find that high-status men and women in the room have higher testosterone than lower-status individuals. Research has also shown that testosterone and other hormones can increase or decrease when perceived status changes. 90
Research on male aggression and competition shows that men engaged in sports or in watching sports evidence a testosterone surge when their team wins. Further, many men experience a strong need to have sex after the victory. If they lose, testosterone declines. Winning primes men to compete and losing primes them to be less aggressive in the face of a superior foe. 91
In this regard, humans are like many other species. Males experience changes in hormonal levels in the presence of competition and aggression, and want sex when they win. Women also show changes in testosterone levels in response to watching or participating in sporting events and in risk-taking behavior.
Is it possible that religion impacts hormones? Could testosterone increase or decrease in response to religious activities? No one has researched this, but most religious services are based on the idea of submission and evoke submissive behavior such as the following: 92
Bowing the head during prayer
Kneeling
Prostrating on a mat during prayer
Singing songs about submission
Women covering their head or men taking hats off
Listening silently, without question to the priest or minister
Using submissive language when speaking to the deity
Engaging in rituals of supplication
– all of these acts are acts of social submission, particularly for women
.
Going to church may reduce testosterone levels through constant submission. Not everyone’s testosterone levels will be lowered, however. At least one person’s hormones in the group will likely go up – the priest or minister’s. Standing on a podium, telling hundreds, even thousands of people to submit is not much different than a gorilla or chimp doing a dominance display. I have interviewed many former ministers in my research. All tell of the emotional high they got from standing in
American Idol
is the most desirable, that may impact them.
Secondary sexual preferences can come to dominate entire cultures
and
determine what genes get passed on. We see the evidence in female body types. Women in some cultures have large bottoms. Over thousands of years, these characteristics have been sexually selected. The genes do not tell a man to choose a woman with a large butt, but genes program the brain to look for cues in the environment and in certain areas of the body. Just as the human brain is programmed to recognize the human facial configuration but not any specific face, we are programmed to recognize parts of the body that have sexual significance. The culture then tells you what that significance is.
The ebb and flow of sex hormones impacts the brain at all ages, but especially before age 20. If something happens while the brain is being inundated with sex hormones, it may have a permanent impact on sexual behavior and preference. If it happens consistently within a culture, it can literally shape the body type of an entire people.
Learning Social Cues for the Map
The social environment tells our sexual map when to increase or decrease hormones. This part of our sexual map runs automatically. Much of it waslearned early in life. The male duck learns to recognize his dominance level and where he fits into the duck hierarchy. Humans do much the same. When we walk into a party, we unconsciously evaluate the people and cues and adjust our behavior to fit the social structure of the group. We unconsciously look at how many men or women are in the room, how they are dressed, where they are standing and the posture and nonverbal gestures they use. With these signals, we often determine who the most important people are and act accordingly.
Were we to look at hormone levels, we would find that high-status men and women in the room have higher testosterone than lower-status individuals. Research has also shown that testosterone and other hormones can increase or decrease when perceived status changes. 90
Research on male aggression and competition shows that men engaged in sports or in watching sports evidence a testosterone surge when their team wins. Further, many men experience a strong need to have sex after the victory. If they lose, testosterone declines. Winning primes men to compete and losing primes them to be less aggressive in the face of a superior foe. 91
In this regard, humans are like many other species. Males experience changes in hormonal levels in the presence of competition and aggression, and want sex when they win. Women also show changes in testosterone levels in response to watching or participating in sporting events and in risk-taking behavior.
Is it possible that religion impacts hormones? Could testosterone increase or decrease in response to religious activities? No one has researched this, but most religious services are based on the idea of submission and evoke submissive behavior such as the following: 92
Bowing the head during prayer
Kneeling
Prostrating on a mat during prayer
Singing songs about submission
Women covering their head or men taking hats off
Listening silently, without question to the priest or minister
Using submissive language when speaking to the deity
Engaging in rituals of supplication
– all of these acts are acts of social submission, particularly for women
.
Going to church may reduce testosterone levels through constant submission. Not everyone’s testosterone levels will be lowered, however. At least one person’s hormones in the group will likely go up – the priest or minister’s. Standing on a podium, telling hundreds, even thousands of people to submit is not much different than a gorilla or chimp doing a dominance display. I have interviewed many former ministers in my research. All tell of the emotional high they got from standing in
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