Sexual abstinence
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"I have known individuals who out of modesty abstained from venereal pleasures and fell into torpor; others, similar to melancholics, were seized by despair and sadness without reason,; and because of their distaste for food they develop poor digestion. [...] It seemed to me that the retention of sperm has a much more noxious influence upon the body than the retention of menses." |
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Sexual abstinence is the practice of voluntarily refraining from some or all aspects of sexual activity. Common reasons to deliberately abstain from the physical expression of sexual desire include religious or philosophical reasons (e.g. chastity), material reasons (to prevent conception (undesired pregnancy) or STD transmission), psycho-sociological reasons (e.g. clinical depression, social anxiety disorder), negative past experiences, or to conform to legal injunctions.
Sexual abstinence has been debated since antiquity, both in terms of same-sex and opposite-sex relationships. See Platonic love
Christianity
In Christianity, sexual intercourse is meant to take place within the context of marriage; therefore, abstinence is expected of unmarried people. But for married couples, the apostle Paul wrote that they should not deprive each other, except for a short time for devotion to prayer.
See also
- Asexuality
- Abstinence, be faithful, use a condom
- Abstinence-only sex education
- Antisexualism
- Celibacy
- Chastity belt
- Chastity ring
- Harmful to Minors, a book by Judith Levine which deals with sexual morality in the United States, and also discusses the issue of abstinence education
- Making sense of abstinence
- Masturbation
- Purity Ball
- Religious aspects of marriage
- Refusal skills
- Spiritual marriage
- Virginity pledge
