Sex
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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:"Sex, as we know, is a heat-seeking missile that forever seeks out the [[new media|newest medium]] for its transmission." --(Gerard Van Der Leun, 1993) | :"Sex, as we know, is a heat-seeking missile that forever seeks out the [[new media|newest medium]] for its transmission." --(Gerard Van Der Leun, 1993) | ||
- | :"Human sexuality is, quite apart from Christian [[repression]]s, a highly [[questionable]] phenomenon, and belongs, at least potentially, among the [[extreme]] rather than the ordinary experiences of humanity. Tamed as it may be, sexuality remains one of the [[demon]]ic forces in human [[consciousness]] - pushing us at intervals close to [[taboo]] and [[dangerous]] [[desire]]s, which range from the [[impulse]] to commit sudden arbitrary [[violence]] upon another person to the voluptuous yearning for the [[extinction]] of one's consciousness, for [[death]] itself." --Susan Sontag in the ''[[Pornographic Imagination|The Pornographic Imagination]]'' | + | :"[[Human sexuality]] is, quite apart from Christian [[repression]]s, a highly [[questionable]] phenomenon, and belongs, at least potentially, among the [[extreme]] rather than the ordinary experiences of humanity. Tamed as it may be, sexuality remains one of the [[demon]]ic forces in human [[consciousness]] - pushing us at intervals close to [[taboo]] and [[dangerous]] [[desire]]s, which range from the [[impulse]] to commit sudden arbitrary [[violence]] upon another person to the voluptuous yearning for the [[extinction]] of one's consciousness, for [[death]] itself." --Susan Sontag in the ''[[Pornographic Imagination|The Pornographic Imagination]]'' |
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- "Sex, as we know, is a heat-seeking missile that forever seeks out the newest medium for its transmission." --(Gerard Van Der Leun, 1993)
- "Human sexuality is, quite apart from Christian repressions, a highly questionable phenomenon, and belongs, at least potentially, among the extreme rather than the ordinary experiences of humanity. Tamed as it may be, sexuality remains one of the demonic forces in human consciousness - pushing us at intervals close to taboo and dangerous desires, which range from the impulse to commit sudden arbitrary violence upon another person to the voluptuous yearning for the extinction of one's consciousness, for death itself." --Susan Sontag in the The Pornographic Imagination
Sex refers to the male and female duality of biology and reproduction. Unlike organisms that only have the ability to reproduce asexually, sexed male and female pairs have the ability to produce offspring through meiosis and fertilization. The two sexes attract one another and communicate their readiness to procreate through differences in their biology.
An organism's sex reflects its biological function in reproduction, not its sexuality or other behavior. The female sex is defined as the one which produces the larger gamete and which typically bears the offspring. In contrast, the male sex has a smaller gamete and rarely bears offspring. In some animals, sex may be assigned to specific structures rather than the entire organism. Earthworms, for example, are normally hermaphrodites.