Body Politics

Henley, Nancy M. 1977. Body Politics: power, sex and nonverbal communication. Drawings by D. Patrick. Englewood Cliggs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Lingid: Esteri märksõnad: kehakeel, keha, võim, sugupooled, mitteverbaalne kommunikatsioon, seksuaalsus, sotsiaalne käitumine, feminism;
Subjects on Google Books: Psychology › General; Body language; Nonverbal communication; Nonverbal communication (Psychology); Psychology / Cognitive Psychology; Psychology / General;

A feminist analysis of body language as a major means of nonverbal communication used by persons in power, primarily men, to maintain a social hierarchy.

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Sissejuhatuses soovitab järgida Albert Schefleni töid ja nimetab eeskujudena Erving Goffmani, Ray Birdwhistelli ja USA sotsiaalpsühholoogi Roger Browni. Henley kasutas ka Albert Mehrabiani , Edward Tichenell Halli, Desmond Morrise, Adam Kendoni, Mary R. Key ja Michael Argylei töid (rääkimata kohustuslikust Charles Darwini mainimisest).
Ka neid, kes on minu järjekorras: Robert Sommer (Personal Space, 1969), Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt (Love and Hate: The Natural history of Behavior Patterns, 1970), Ashley Montagu (Touching: The Human Significance of the Skin, 1971), David Efron (Gesture, Race and Culture, 1972) ja Robert Rosenthal (The PONS Test, 1974). Naljakas on see, et pärast radikaalse ökoloogia (Murray Bookchin) ja radikaalse geograafia (anarhistlik geograafia!) vaatan imestusega, et Nancy Henley on ise avaldanud artikli "The Politics of Touch" kogumikus nimega Radical Psychology (1973). Mainitudd on ka Gerald I. Nierenbergi ja Henry H. Calero raamatut How to Read a Person Like a Book (1973), millel põhines Tuurandi Ülekuulatava kehakeele järgimine. Henley mainib, et Nierenberg ja Calero kogusid mahukaid andmeid nii, et kaasasid oma publiku uurimisse, hinnates tähenduslikke ja tähendusetuid liigutusi lootuses avastada "kehakeelekogukonnad" (Morrise language-family). See paneb nende tööd küll teise pilguga vaatama (ja kui selleni jõuan, siis ka lugema), aga ka Henley leiab, et nende andmed ei ole karvaväärtki usaldusväärsed. Siis kui kolm neljandikku raamatust on juba läbi, astuvad mängu Tomkins, Izard, Ellsworth ja Exline.
Kasulikud viited:

• Messages of the Body (1974);
• Goffman, Erving. The Nature of Deference and Demeanor. Interaction Ritual (1967);
• Argyle, Michael 1970. The Communication of Inferior and Superior Attitudes by Verbal and Non-verbal Signals. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. Tasuline PDF
• Sapir, Edward 1949 [1927]. Unconscious patterning of behavior in society. Selected Writings of Edward Sapir.
• Shcheflen, Albert 1974. How behavior means.
• Scheflen, Albert E 1965. Quasi-Courtship Behavior in Psychotherapy. Psychiatry, 28, 245-57. Tasuline PDF

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This book is concerned not with sex or gender, but power. It attempts to demonstrate that the observed "sex differences," "race differences," and "class differences" in nonverbal behavior may be traced to differences in power; and that these are learned differences which serve to strenghten the system of power and privilege that exists. (Henley 1977: 2)

Ehk Henleyt huvitas samuti mitteverbaalse suhtlemise suhe võimusuhetesse (nonverbal communication in relation with social power).

But there is another side to interpersonal relationship, one that affects us greatly but which we're encouraged to pay little attention to. This is the element of status, power, dominance, superiority - the vertical dimension of human relations, signalled by our spatial metaphor of "higher-ups," "underlings," "being over," and "looking up to" others. Friendship relations make up the horizonal dimension, and the corresponding spatial metaphor refers to closeness, "being near" and "being distant." The power relation is the "other" dimension in the study of nonverbal communication: important as it is in ordering human interaction, it has received little study from investigators of nonverbal behavior. (Henley 1977: 2)

This "trivia" of everyday life - touching others, moving closer or father away, dropping the eyes, smiling, interrupting - are commonly interpreted as facilitating social intercourse, but not recognized in their position as micropolitical gesture, degenders of the status quo - of the state, of the wealthy, of authority, of all those whose power may be challenged. Nevertheless these minutiae find their place on a continuum of social control which extends from internalized socialization at one end to sheer physical force at the other.
In front of, and defending, the political-economic structure that determines our lives and defines the context of human relationships, there is the micropolitical structure that helps maintain it. This micropolitical structure is the substance of our everyday experience. The humiliation of being a subordinate is often felt most painfully when one is ignored or interrupted while speaking, towered over or forced to move by another's bodily presence, or cowed unknowingly into dropping the eyes, the head, the shoulders. Conversely, the power to manipulate others' lives, to take graft, price gouge, or plan the bombing of far-off peasants is conferred in part by others' snapping to attention in one's presence, their smiling, fearing to touch or approach, their following one around for information and favors. These are the trivia that make up the batter for that great stratified waffle that we call our society. (Henley 1977: 3)

Mikropoliitilised žestid? Milline võrratu nimetus! Mikropoliitilise struktuuri asemel saab kõneleda mikropoliitilisest süsteemist või sfäärist, kihistusest; mikropoliitilistest protsessidest vms.

Nonverbal cues, as Haley and Goffman have illustrated, play an extremely important and complex role in the maintenance of the social order: as signs and symbols of dominance, as subtle messages of threat, as gestures of submission. (Henley 1977: 5)

Minul signs of authority. Subtle võib siin olla metonymical.
Järgmisel leheküljel nöögib kehakeeleõpikuid, vihjab sellele, et verbaalset keelt õpitakse koolis, aga mitteverbaalset suhtlemist peab õppima informaalselt eluujäämise nimel (minul through self-communication).

How important is power in our daily lives? We may think of power as orders, threats, and coercion, and see little evidence of its use on or by us. But as sociologist George Homans has pointed out, the noncoercive form of power is probably far more common than the coercive. These noncoercions of everyday life are often, as we shall see, in the form of gestures which signal power and assert dominance. (Henley 1977: 19)

Signs of power and power of signs.

In most cases in our experience, power and status are confounded, i.e., a person who has one is likely to have the other. Power is the concern fo this book, and a more interesting topic of study in general, but it's harder for social scientists to assess than its outward and visible sign, status. (Henley 1977: 21)

Enne seda defineeris ka domineerimise ja autoriteedi.

These findings differ somewhat from findings in similar studies, and the authors discuss the possible reasons for these differences. In a particularily interesting theoretical contribution, they point out that the loss of individuality (deindividuation) that comes with anonymity in group situations can release not only inhibited negative behaviors, but positive ones as well. (Henley 1977: 40)

Negatiivne - Konrad Lorenz karjakäitumisest; positiivne - Massid ja Võim.

Intimate Time is the most extensive (as Intimate Space is the least extensive). When longer appointments are kept, such as the typical 50 minutes for therapy, marriage counseling, and other forms of consultation, the encounter clearly takes on an intimate aspect, evidenced by the personal nature of the information passed. This is the "far" zone for Intimate Time; the "close" zone, the amount of time spent with true intimates, is limited only by our tolerance for each other. Though couples and families on vacation, or retired, may find themselves spending 24 hours a day together, I believe there is still a preferred limit, which may be no more than a few hours (even on honeymoons!). One or the other may invoke the limit kindly or violently, but it will be invoked.
For all these time zones, as with space zones, violations are perceived when the boundaries are exceeded. We grow irritated with loved ones we've been with for too long, and we grow irritated with the stranger who takes up more than a minute of our time (this is like coming too close). To spend an hour in impersonal business is an imposition also. on the other hand, we are hurt when a loved one gives us too little time, or offended when a business contact does the same. (Henley 1977: 45)

Esimest korda kohtan seda, et keegi on territoriaalset imperatiivi tõlgendanud temporaalseks imperatiiviks. Äge on küll! Põhjalikumaks lugemiseks:

Self-disclosures were ofeered upward even when First Name was not, suggesting to the researchers an exception to Brown and Ford's observation that the higher-status individual of a dyad initiates all acts that increase intimacy. What they say may be true; subordinates probably do seek a (false) sense of intimacy through disclosing personal inforamtion to superiors. But there is another interpretation of this informational relationship. It is that personal information flows opposite to the flow of authority; just as tactual, visual, and emotional information of subordinates is more available to those in power, so is personal history. Or, in the spatial metaphor of our language of disclosure, you can "get closer to," "intrude in the life of," "encroach on the privacy of," "touch on personal aspects of," someone of lower status or less power. (Henley 1977: 73)

Tundub tõene tähelepanek - õppejõud teavad õppurite eraelu kohta rohkem.

There is another set of gestures that further clarify this point, gestures used in everyday sitautions by males or females which resemble those of courtship, but which are not. These gestures, which Scheflen has described so insightfully as quasi-courting, carry some sort of disclaimer so they won't be mistaken for real courting. They signify lively engagement in an interaction, and thus (in systems theory terms) serve a system-maintaining function. Examples of these courtship-like behaviors are high muscle tonus, bright eyes, preening, direct body orientation (vis-a-vis), soft speech quality, flirtatious glances, gaze-holding, "demure gesture," head-cocking, and pelvis rolling. In addition, Scheflen cites invitational gestures specific to women (though none for men): these are crossing the legs, exposing the thigh, placing a hand on the hip, exhibiting the wrist or palm, protruding the breast, and stroking the thigh or wrist. (Henley 1977: 139-140)

Quasi-courtship märgid.

Faces are the means by which we attempt to create an impression, and they will therefore be a major focus for displaying the impression of status, power, or authority. We all have a mental image of "the stern face of authority," the jutting chin, overhanging eyebrows, the frown, the drawn muscles, the unwavering stare. These together make a formidable challenge. It may be in fact that the face is particularly implicated in hierarchical relationships. (Henley 1977: 169)

...to laugh long and hard at the boss's jokes is a clicé, but at the same time a painful reality. Both smiling and laughing are ostensibly expressions of pleasure and relaxation which, when coming from subordinates, belie the true nature of the situation. It is as if they are exhibited for the purpose of maintaining the myth of pleasant relations and equality between superior and subordinate. Those powerful and successful persons surrounded by a thousand suns are likely to see serious faces only in their peers: it's no wonder that they think of their subordinates - be they "contented darkies," "beer-loving workers," "brawling hardhats," or "flighty dames" - as happy-go-lucky and carefree. (Henley 1977: 172)

In less hierarchical situations too, we often try to keep some of our personal power by not disclosing personal information. "Cool" is nothing more than the withholding of information, that is, refusing to disclose one's thoughts and emotions. The value it gives to street people, poker players, and psychaitrists is of the same sort. Smart ones, those in power, those who manipulate others, always keep their cool, maintaining an unruffled exterior. (Henley 1977: 173)

Kokkuvõtvad punktid:

1. Nonverbal behavior is a major medium of communication in our everyday life.
2. Power (status, dominance) is a major topic of nonverbal communication; and nonverbal behavior is a major avenue for social control on a large scale, and interpersonal dominance on a smaller scale.
3. Nonverbal power gestures provide the micropolitical structure, the thousands of daily acts through which nonverbal influence takes place, which underlies and supports the macropolitical structure.
4. Because our culture considers trivial, ignores, and doesn't educat eits members to nonverbal behavior, it constitutes a vague stimulus situation. Its interpretation is then highly susceptible to social influence (e.g. explanations utilizing sex stereotypes) which further maintain the status quo. (Henley 1977: 179)
5. Nonverbal control is of particular importance to women, who are more sensitive to its cues and probably more the targets of such control.
6. Many nonverbal behaviors have the dual function of expressing either dominance or intimacy, according to whether they are asymmetrically or symmetrically used by the partners in a relationship.
7. The behaviors expressing dominance and subordination between nonequals parallel those used by males and females in the unequal relation of the sexes. (Henley 1977: 180)
8. The overwhelming bulk of sex-differentiated behavior is learned and is developed to display otherwise unobtrusive differences. (Henley 1977: 184)
9. Many nonverbal behaviors that seem meaningless and non-power-related in fact are aspects of sex privilege or reflect sociatal biases ultimately founded in power differences. (Henley 1977: 188)
10. Power is the capability of influencing or compelling others, based on the control of desired resources. (Power, status, and dominance are different, though related and often confound, concepts.)
11. The ultimate underpinning of power is force. The resources on which power is based are in demand and those who control them must defend them from others' claims. However, force is the last-ditch, not front-line defense.
12. Power is exercised along a continuum, from least to greatest application of force. This continuum, from least to greatest application of force. This continuum involves at least the following points:
    1. Internalized controls. This is colonization of the mind, achieved through socialization. The easiest way to ensure we don't challenge the establishment is to have us stop ourselves, by implanting police officers inside our heads (through childhood teaching).
    2. Environmental structuring. Should our internal police be asleep, and we forget ourselves, strategically-placed reminders in our surroundings can stop us, one point further along the way to break through the control.
    3. Nonverbal communication. Should the environmental reminders fail to stop us, other people - both "friend" and "foe" - will make us aware of our place and what we're doing, by subtle cues.
    4. Verbal communication. Are we ignoring even the nonverbal communication? Words are certainly now in order. These, too, have their spectrum, from mild surprise, cajoling, and joking through straight-forward explanations and strong threats of consequences.
    5. Mild physical sanctions. When verbal communication fails to restrain us, our fellows must restrain us physically. A girl holds back her friend's arm from throwing a snowball at a disliked teacher, the wife holds the husband back from beating the child, buddies hold back two men from fighting, the police line holds back the angry crowd from appraoching the government figure. People take us by the hand and lead us away from our contemplated action, hold our arms and hands down, place hands on our shoulders to keep us sitting, kick us under the table or put their hand ove rour mouth (or wash it with soap) for saying the wrong thing, hold us by the upper arms or around the waist to keep us from somewhere, slap our faces or punch us or beat us up. Such physical sanctions take two main forms, temporary restraint and mild punishment. (Henley 1977: 189)
    6. Long-term restraint and its ramifications. When ordinary citizens, or nonpersonally applied police power fails, the state is allower to retain, imprison, isolate, and apply physical and mental punishment to its members should they break the legal/social code (or threaten it, or be suspected of it). The main tools of this enforcement are jails, prisons, and mental hospitals.
    7. Weapons, death, war. At this point it is clear that neither reminders, nor punishments, nor threats nor restraints will work to deter the person moving against the norms. All the stops are out, and those in power will attempt to stop the behavior at all costs. (And at this point the behavior will be harder to stop.)
13. Generally speaking, the mildest form of force which is effective will be used. (Henley 1977: 190)
14. Nonverbal behavior occupies a crucial point in the continuum, between covert and overt control (and between covert and over resistance).
15. Sexual attraction cannot sufficiently explain men's greater usage of gestures which indicate both intimacy and dominance.
16. Usurpation of the nonverbal symbols of power by women (and other powerless people) may be ignored, denied, or punished by others, rather than accepted.
17. Denial of nonverbal power gestures made by women often takes the form of attributing the gesture to sexual advances rather than dominance.
18. Much of women's behavior which is interpreted as self-limiting may in reality be the end of a sequence in which assertion was attempted, and suppressed, on the nonverbal level. (Henley 1977: 200)

The Hit Is Gone, But the Hurt Lingers On. From a historical viewpoint, we may note the preponderance of dominance behaviors that seem to be remnants of actual physical conflict. Moving close to or towering over another, staring, pointing, touching, leaning toward - all are elements of actual combat, and may be residuals of an earlier time when dominance was settled in more direct and over physical ways. (Some behaviors of dominance - leaning back, turning away, relaxing - do not carry this suggestion of aggression, but rather indicate the posture of one secure in the hierarchy. In such conditions, the behaviors of subordinates - tension, physical lowering, smiling, head and eye lowering - take on the characteristics of defensive and submissive postures.) (Henley 1977: 183)

"The personal is political" is a statement of the movement that has been taken in many ways, but basically it refers to the position that there is nothing we do - no matter how individual and personal it seems - that does not reflect our participation in a power system: our politics are reflected in the way we deal with others in our personal lives; they are the way we live, as well as what we profess. This belief takes on new dimensions when viewed with regards to nonverbal communication, in which we see just how much of the seemingly personal is truly political. (Henley 1977: 198)

Self-communication and personal signs reflect power relations.

Some people will contend that changing nonverbal behavior is the way to achieve social change - if every individual is changed, we will have changed the social structure. This philosophy pops up in different contexts among well-meaning people, but I cannot accept it. This slow-but-sure idea, favored because it is nonviolent and legal and involves a minimal bucking of the system, like other such plans has weaknesses in its nondisruptiveness and its direction of energies to individual (rather than social) solutions for what are really social problems. And we seldom if ever come into face-to-face contact with those who have the most power over us, anyway. (Henley 1977: 205)

Midagi muud:

• Herdt, Gilbert, and Robert Stoller 1990. Intimate Communication: Erotics and the Study of Culture. New York: Columbia University Press.
• Jones, Stanley 1994. The Right Touch: Understanding and Using the Language of Physical Contact: Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

It's Not You, It's Biology

Quirk, Joe 2006. It's Not You, It's Biology: The Science of Love, Sex and Relationships. Running Press

Valdkond (umbmääraselt) evolutionary psychology, mitte sociobiology.

Childhood helplessness on korrelatsioonis parental investment-iga. Mida abitum on laps, seda rohkem peavad vanemad hoolt kandma tema eest. Inimese areng on primaatide hulgas kõige pikem, ergo inimesed peavad investeerima lastesse kõige rohkem.

Despite the sperm and egg problem that created radically different breeding strategies, our prolonged childhoods meant we evolved to form intense attachments to whomever we happen to be boffing.
Biologists call this the pair-bond. We’ve institutionalized it as marriage. The bad news is our pair-bond is designed to last for as long as it takes our offspring to reach some level of independence. Genes aren’t designed to make us happy. They design us to make more copies of themselves. To last “until death do us part,” sexual relationships must develop the natural bonds of friendship and affinity that we also evolved on the Pleistocene savanna. How lifelong friendship evolved is a subject we will explore later. (Quirk 2006: 15)

If all the men in the world dropped dead except that pimply teenager at Kinko’s, and women organized a global round-robin to make him repopulate the earth, the young man would heroically shoulder his responsibility to humanity without complaining.
A female would be less excited to be in his position. Anybody who bears the baby is going to want one prime choice for a sperm donor. And the turn-ons are different. A man is attracted to a woman’s ability to grow a baby inside her. A woman is attracted to a man’s ability to grow a baby outside him. How does he do that?
Resources. (Quirk 2006: 26)

"Female macaque monkeys are attracted to power, but even more so to signs of potential power." (Quirk 2006: 27)
"Among all hierarchical primates, females are attracted to ambitious males." (Quirk 2006: 27)

Hominids still displayed their expensive possessions - before SUVs there were seashell necklaces—but what they really wanted was respect. How much crap you owned was less important than how many people wanted to do you a favor. The real natural environment of hominids was less the savanna than the social group. If you were a hominid male, and people paid attention to you, craved our approval, shut up and listened when you spoke, that meant you were a leader. Men who commanded attention commanded access to community support. That meant a good nest-maker. (Quirk 2006: 41-42)

Even among Homo sapiens with our prolonged childhoods, male feelings will be structured to love the primary mate and children, but still be capable of supplemental sex without emotional commitment. Over the millennia, male Homo sapiens evolve to look at some women as potential wives, others as potential concubines. Women’s concern that they are still “respected” after sex suddenly sounds like their genes asking, “Am I a potential wife or concubine?”
This is the female bind. Women know that to entice men, sexual behavior is necessary. Yet they also know that if men perceive them as promiscuous, they may put them in the concubine category and not the wife category. A man’s desire to assure paternit means he is less inclined to invest his resources in a woman who is promiscuous. (Quirk 2006: 51)

Skin with fur likes to be scratched. Skin without fur likes to be caressed. Naked skin on apes is generally reserved for the genitals. Not so for Homo perverto. Our skin stays hairless and baby-like all through our breeding years. We have sexual nerves going to extraneous hot spots all over our bodies, like our inner thighs, the backsn of our knees, our toes, our nipples, our necks. This is all located a long way from our genitals. A Homo sapiens, really, is built to be one giant genital. When you see a naked woman, you’re basically seeing a giant clitoris. Men are dicks, but in a good way. (Quirk 2006: 75)

I define Murphy’s Law as the tendency for humans to notice what doesn’t go right. Let me also define Quirk’s Law: almost everything in civilization is perpetually and simultaneously going right, and nobody will ever notice. (Quirk 2006: 90)

Cross-cultural variability in beauty tastes reveals one constant: prestige is beautiful. Symbols of status change. Attraction to status does not, even if rich teens decide the true mark of status is connection with the gritty streets.Third-world men like ’em fat and fair. Industrialized men like ’em thin and tanned. Whatever symbolizes high status, we try to screw it. (Quirk 2006: 186)

Anarchism and other essays

Goldman, Emma 2003 [1969]. Anarchism and other essays; with a new introduction by Richard Drinnon. New York: Dover

Väga soovituslik lugemine igaühele, kes otsivad anarhismi ja feminismi seost. Goldmani esseid on meeldiv ja lihtne lugeda, hoolimata kirjutamise ajast (~1917, peaaegu sajand tagasi). Hea kõnepidamine teeb ka hea kirjutaja. Pean ära märkima, et internetis leiduvad viited sellele raamatule märgivad ilmumisaastaks ainult copyright-i aastat (1969), kuigi TÜ eetikakeskuse riiulil oleval koopia on (ühe ainsa allika järgi) pärit 2003. aastast. Asja kallale:

"The charge that Anarchism is destructive, rather than constructive, and that, therefore, Anarchism is opposed to organization, is one of the many falsehoods spread by our opponents. They confound our present social institutions with organization; hence they fail to understand how we can oppose the former, and yet favor the latter. The fact, however, is that the two are not identical.
The State is commonly regarded as the highest form of organization. But is it in reality a true organization? Is it not rather an arbitrary institution, cunningly imposed upon the masses?
Industry, too, is called an organization; yet nothing is farther from the truth. Industry is the ceaseless piracy of the rich against the poor.
We are asked to believe that the Army is an organization, but a close investigation will show that it is nothing else than a cruel instrument of blind force.
The Public School! The colleges and other instutions of learning, are they not models of organization, offering the people fine opportunities for instruction? Far from it. The school, more than any other institution, is a veritable barrack, where the human mind is drilled and manipulated into submission to various social and moral spooks, and thus fitted to continue our system of exploitation and oppression.
Organization, as we understand it, however, is a different thing. It is based, primarily, on freedom. It is a natural and voluntary grouping of energies to secure results beneficial to humanity.
It is the harmony of organic growth which produces variety of color and form, the complete whole we admire in the flower. Analogously will the organized activity of free human beings, imbued with the spirit of solidarity, result in the perfection of social harmony, which we call Anarchism. In fact, Anarchism alone makes non-authoritarian organization of common interests possible, since it abolishes the existing antagonism between individuals and classes. Uner present conditions the antagonism of economic and social interests results in relentless war among the social units, and creates an insurmountable obstacle in the way of a co-operative commonwealth.
There is a mistaken notion that organization does not foster individual freedom; that, on the contrary, it means the decay of individuality. In reality, however, the true function of organization is to aid the development and growth of personality.
Just as the animal cells, by mutual co-operation, express their latent powers in formation of the complete organism, so does the individual, by co-operative efforts with other individuals, attain his highest form of development.
An organization, in the true sense, cannot result from the combination of mere nonentities. It must be composed of self-conscious, intelligent individualities. Indeed, the total of the possibilities and activities of an organization is represented in the expression of individual energies.
It therefore logically follows that the greater the number of strong, self-conscious personalities in an organization, the less danger of stagnation, and the more intense its life element.
Anarchism asserts the possibility of an organization without discipline, fear, or punishment, and without the pressure of poverty: a new social organism which will make an end to the terrible struggle for the means of existence, - the savage struggle which undermines the finest qualities in man, and ever widens the social abyss. In short, Anarchism strives towards a social organization which will establish well-being for all. (Goldman 2003 [1969]: 34-36)

A natural law is that factor in man which asserts itself freely and spontaneously without any external force, in harmony with the requirements of nature. For instance, the demand for nutrition, for sex gratification, for light, air, and exercise, is a natural law. But its expression needs not the machinery of government, needs not the club, the gun, the handcuff, or the prison. To obey such laws, if we may call it obedience, requires only spontaneity and free opportunity. That governments do not maintain themselves through such harmonious factors is proven by the terrible array of violence, force, and coercion all governments use in order to live. Thus Blackstone is right when he says, "Human laws are invalid, because they are contrary to the laws of nature."(Goldman 2003 [1969]: 58)

Lühidalt: riik ja loomuseadused ei ole harmoonias.

The political superstition is still holding sway over the hearts and minds of the masses, but the true lovers of liberty will have no more to do with it. Instead, they believe with Stirner that man has as much liberty as he is willing to take. Anarchism therefore stands for direct action, the open defiance of, and resistance to, all laws and restrictions, economic, social, and moral. But defiance and resistance are illegal. Therein lies the salvation of man. Everything illegal necessitates integrity, self-reliance, and courage. In short, it calls for free, independent spirits, for "men who are men, and who have a bone in their backs which you cannot pass your hands through." (Goldman 2003 [1969]: 65)

Anarhism on otsene tegevus võtta vabadust nii palju kui soovid, hoolimata seadustest ja piirangutest.

Weapons = implements of civilized slaughter. (lk 136)

Intiimkäitumine

Desmond Morris - Intiimkäitumine. Mondo, 2002. 226 lk

Laenutasin selle raamatu vist septembris. Tundus nii hea, et temast sai öökapiraamat. Nüüd otsustasin suure lugemistuhinaga lõpp peale teha ja pean tõdema, lõpus midagi väga ootamatut ei olnud.
Inglise keeles avaldati see 1971. aastal ja originaalkeelne versioon on raamatukogus isegi olemas. Tõenäoliselt võtan ka selle millalgi ette, sest AS Ühiselu tõlge on üpris ebardlik - mind huvitab, kuidas keegi oma jalga käega sugeb (harjab)? Ühtlasi on Desmond Morrisel üpris kaval sõnakasutus ja on tunda, et paljud osavad torked on tõlkes läinud kaduma.
Raamatu sisu on... põhjalik. Intiimkäitumise teema ümber jalutades jõuab ta naermisest ja kallistamisest vesivoodite, lemmikloomade, loomkatsete, suitsetamise ja masturbeerimiseni. Oma aja kohta on raamat üpris insightful, kuigi paljud asjad tunduvad taibukate oletustena ja nii mõnigi "uus asi" (vibraatorid näiteks) on tänapäeval juba üpris tavalised. Kombekuse suhtes võrdleb ta 60ndaid tihti viktoorianliku ajastuga (kaks äärmust?)
Segadust tekitab ka Desmond Morrise valdkond. Wiki ja teda tsiteerivad autorid väidavad, et ta on etoloog ja zooloog; selle raamatu (tõlgi) järelsõna ütleb aga, et ta on etoloog, sotsioloog ja antropoloog. Tõenäoliselt on kõik need määratlused õiged, sest ta on kirjutanud inimeste ühiskondlikust käitumisest võrdluses loomade käitumisega. Seetõttu on rõhutatud käitumuslikele sarnasustele inimeste ja evolutsiooniliselt lähedaste sugulaste vahel: ka šimpansid suudlevad, kummarduvad ja teevad kätlemisele sarnanevaid tervitusi.
Kokkuvõttes väga huvitav lugemine, mis pärast peaaegu neljakümmet aastat on endiselt loetav ja kehtiv. Kahju vaid, et Desmond Morrise uuemaid raamatuid (viimane ilmus eelmisel aastal) pole kerge kätte saada. Ülikooli raamatukogus on veel kolm tema raamatut, mis väärivad lugemist. Üks neist on sama raamatu ingliskeelne versioon, mille võtan ette suurima heameelega.

Instant orgasm

Steve & Vera Bodansky - Instant orgasm - excitement at first touch. Hunter House, 2008. 195 lk

Otsustasin enne keerulisemate/semiootilisemate raamatute juurde pöördumist vaimu lõdvendada ja lugeda midagi kerget. See raamat oli isegi liiga kerge. Ütleksin, et lausa tühi. Järjekordne pettumus. Lugema asudes olin õhinas, et lõpuks midagi, mis õpetab kasutama seksuaalset keelt - kaanele on ju kirjutatud "With a special section on the art of speaking." Ilmnes aga, et kõnelemise kunsti all mõtlesid nad seda, et kui partnerit manuaalselt rahuldad, siis küsi küsimusi nagu "kas sulle see meeldib?"
Suured ootused langesid sügavasse ja pimedasse pettumuse kurikustikku kuna arvasin, et see raamat õpetab kasutama seksuaalset diskursust sellisel moel, et esimene puudutus viib orgasmini - umbes, nagu alapealkiri lubab. Tegelikult räägib kogu raamat "manuaalsest rahuldamisest". Põhjalikult. Enamus tekstist keskendub sellele, kuidas lubrikanti peale kanda ja naise genetaaliale sõrmedega läheneda.
Sealjuures on väga eksitav see, et mõlemad autorid kannavad uhkusega tiitlit "PhD", justkui see teeks nende kirjutistest mingisuguse akadeemilise väärtusega asja isegi siis, kui nad kirjutavad sellest, kuidas nad üksteist rahuldavad. Bibliograafia sisaldab peale nende endi raamatute veel 13 raamatut ja üks neist on Dawkinsi "Selfish Gene". Ülejäänud on sellised, mis on lisatud bibliograafiasse justkui moe pärast - mõned tsiteeriti paari filosoofilist tõika, hämati midagi segast ja mindi edasi sellega, kuidas peaks pidama päevikut oma vahekordadest. Olin pärast lugemist kahe vahel, kas üldse mainida selle - raamatu ? - lugemist (see võttis paar tundi), aga pean seda siiski vajalikuks. Olgu see meeldetuletus, et "seks müüb" isegi kõige rämpsumat rämpsu.

"When you meet the right guy, telling him you have herpes won’t prevent him from loving you."

It's Not You, It's Biology

Joe Quirk - It's Not You, It's Biology: The Science of Love, Sex and Relationships. Running Press, 2008. 272 lk

Vaimukas, sorav, hariv. Joe Quirk jutustab naiste ja meeste vahelistest erinevustest evolutsioonilise psühholoogia lainetel. Ta ei jäta raamatus mainimata, et pole hariduselt bioloog, vaid kirjanik. Enne selle raamatu kirjutamist kulutas ta seiste aastat oma raamatutulusid, uurides bioloogiat. Pettumust see raamat ei valmista: lugemine on põnev ja täis vaimukaid detaile, millest lemmikud tähendan siia eesti keeles.
Hominiidide (inimahvide?) munandite suurus on otseselt seotud sellega, kui litsakad on sama liigi emased. Jätkates Sex-Plyotationi lainel võib inimese munandite suurusest järeldada, et vähemasti meie eellaste jaoks oli mitu korda päevas erinevate parneritega vahekorras olemine normiks.
Huvitav on see, et mees kes kasvatab teadmatult teise mehe last on cuckold, aga selle naise jaoks eraldi sõna ei ole ("lits" oleks ligilähedane, aga ikkagi sobimatu). Inimene on ainus imetaja kel pole indlusperioodi. Selle asemel, et muutuda paariks päevaks nümfomaaniks (nagu see toimib teistel hominiididel) on inimnaine terve kuu kergelt erutunud, mistõttu inimnaine on alati uje (coyness) ja inimmees on alati teadmatuses (cluelessness). Palju tähelepanu on raamatus pühendatud sellele, et (enamuste imetajaliikide, sh ka inim-) naised valivad "püsisuhte" partneriks isase kel on ressursse, kuid rasestuvad enamjaolt hoopis isastest, kellega neil on "üheöösuhe". Sellest tuleneb ka diktum: Marry for resources, mate for genes.
Samal teemal tuleks meelde jätta, et pingviinid vahendavad prostitutsiooni kivide eest. Emapingviin ehitab kividest pesa ja isapingviini töö on tuua kive juurde (kakelda teiste isastega kivide pärast). Kui emapingviinil aga hädasti kive vaja on, läheb ta vallalise isase pingviini juurde, heidab selili ja laseb endaga kopuleerida, pärast mida võtab kivi ja läheb ehitab pesa edasi. What sluts! :D
Inimese päritolu arutades pajatab autor (tõestamatust) teooriast, et mingil etapil meie evolutsioonilises arenguloos olime me "aqua-ahvid". Erinevalt teistest hominiididest kes vette sattudes koheselt uppuvad, on inimbeebi ilmale tulles kohe võimeline ujuma kuna inimesel on sisseehitatud refleks hoida hinge kinni vee all; meil on vähem kehakarvu ja dushi all olemine on nauding (erinevalt karvadega kaetud ahvidest kes hakkavad samas olukorras ebamugavusest märatsema) ja midagi ütleb meie kohta ka see, et seitsmel protsendil inimpopulatsioonist on webbed varbad e kaks (keskmist) varvast mis ei eraldu üksteisest (umbes nagu uimed).
Pisut täiendasin oma teadmisi ka asjade kohta, mida lugesin kehakeeleraamatutest. Näiteks Joe Navarro omistas freeze, flight or fight response-i aju limbilisele süsteemile (imetajaajule). Siin jaotatakse ajuprotsessid hoopis mõistlikumalt: reptilian hypothalamus vastutab FFF-i eest, imetajaaju kontrollib lootusi, hirme, armastust, viha, suhtlemist ja kõike muud "naiselikku" ja neocortex vastutab filosofeerimise ja muu "kõrgema" eest.
Olen korduvalt lugenud Ekmani kuuest universaalsest emotsioonist (kuigi tema enda raamatuni alles jõuan). Käesolevas teoses on neile paar tükki lisatud ja osutatud sellele, kuidas igale põhiemotsioonile vastab filmi- ja kirjandusmaailmas kindel žanr.
Feromoonid - neist kõnelev raamat on järjekorras ja siit sain mingisuguse täiendava alusbaasi: šveitsi bioloogiauurija Claus Wedekind tegi 1995. aastal sellise katse, et lasi 44-l mehel kanda sama t-särki mitu ööd järjest ja asetas need siis kottidesse. Seejärel palus ta naistel nuusutada neid kotte ja öelda oma arvamus. Osad kotid olid eemaletõukavad, aga osad intrigeerisid neid. Wedelkind võttis seejärel neilt naistelt vereproovid ja tuvastas, et kui mehe immuunsüsteem oli liialt sarnane naise enda omale, siis olid mehe feromoonid talle eemaletõukavad. Kuid kui tegu oli immuunsüsteemiga mis oli tema omast erinev (aga mitte liiga erinev), siis pani see neid naeratama ja itsitama. Kõige õudsam asi selle uurimuse juures oli aga see, et beebipillid muutsid naiste eelistused otse vastupidiseks.
Raamatu parim (autobiograafiline) lõik: "I came of age under Reagan and Stallone. I spent my testosterone-fueled teenagerhood preparing for World War III. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, it took me three years to sleep with a Russian. Not long before, I was prepared to march to war against her brothers. But something about her dogmatic Socialist accent made my genitalia salute, and my decadent Western greed made her raise the Iron Curtain for a forbidden bad boy. We argued about ideology, called each other "commie slave" and "capitalist pig", and then had at each other like rabbits."

The Manipulated Man

Esther Vilar - The Manipulated Man. Pinter & Martin, 2005. 155 lk

Esmakordselt avaldatud aastal 1971. Käesolev raamat on eellane Sex-Plyotationile ja sisu paljuski kattub. Sisuliselt vaidleb Esther vastu feministidele, kes väitsid, et naist on rõhutud ja ära kasutatud ning selgitab kuidas olukord on tegelikult hoopis vastupidine. Naine kasutab ära meest ja seda kõige alatumail kombeil.
Esther ütleb, et tänapäva mees vajab feministe rohkem kui tänapäeva naine, kuna feministid kujutavad mehi nii nagu mehed ise: egotsentriliste, võimuhullude, jõhkrate ja piiranguteta kui asi puudutab nende loomalikkude vajaduste rahuldamist. Mehed vajavad taolist brutaalsuse aurat. Osaliselt selleks, et tunda ennast positsioonis kus nad enam ammu ei ole. Naistel on rohkem eeliseid ja väidetavalt ka 80% maailma rikkustest.
Näiteks tuuakse see, et naistele pole sõjaväeteenistus kohustuslik. Kuigi meeste keskmine elupikkus on lühem, lubatakse neid hiljem pensionile. Mehed võivad "laenata" oma lapsi, naised võivad lapsed endale jätta. Mehed toetavad majanduslikult naisi, naised mehi väga harvadel puhkudel. Ja mida igaüks teab peast: kui vanem naine on seksuaalsuhtes noormehega, siis on ta tema "ära võlunud"; kuid kui vanem mees mängib samasugust mängu alaealise tüdrukuga, siis on tegu seksuaalkuriteoga.
Täielikult nõustuda oskan vaid ühe lausega sellest raamatust: USA majanduslik ülemvõim ei mõjuta mitte ainult poliitikat, teadust ja kultuuri teistes kapitalistlikes riikides aga ka suurel määral nende riikide rahvastiku ühiskondlikku käitumist. Käesoleva raamatu kontekstis tähendab see, et USA-s välja kujunenud soonormid on üle kandunud ka meile Ida-Eurooplastele.
Kuna autor on sotsioloog, on raamatus tegelikult ka nii mõnigi insightful tähelepanek, mida varem pole kohanud. Näiteks see, et inimesi huvitavad nümfomaansed naised just tänu nende vähesusele umbes samal kombel nagu enamus filme ja raamatuid kõnelevad rikastest inimestest kuigi nad moodustavad ühiskonnas väga väikese osaku. Kopeerin siia raamatu lõplikku järelduse, mille tähendust on raske mitte väärtustada:
"Only woman can break the vicious circle of man's manipulation and exploitation - but she will not do it. There is absolutely no compelling reason why she should. It is useless to appeal to her feelings, for she is callous and knows no pity. And so the world will go on, sinking deeper and deeper into this morass of kitsch, barbarism, and inanity called femininity. And man, that wonderful dreamer, will never awaken from his dream."

Feminism: A Very Short Introduction

Margaret Walters - Feminism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2005. 160 lk

Väga lühikeste sissejuhatuste seast on see minu jaoks esimene, kuigi järjekorras ootab juba mitu. Esmamulje seeriast on hea. Feminismist endast väga palju arvata ei oska. Ootasin midagi äärmuslikumat. Ehk ei vastanud see minu ootustele, kuna raamat keskendub inglise feministidele ja seda läbi Oxfordi monokkli. Raamat alustab keskaja erandjuhtumitest e naistest kes avaldasid arvamust kirjasõnas. Ja sealt edasi jätkab Margaret samal lainel ja jutustab 17nda, 18nda ja 19nda sajandi naiskirjanikest, kes oma kirjutistes kõnelesid naiste kannatustest. Alles 19nda sajandi lõpus ja 20nda sajandi alguses läheb asi huvitavamaks, kuna hästiorganiseeritud naised jõuavad tänavale protestima ja rüüstama.
Mida tänapäeval peetakse feminismiks e selle fundamentaalsem (pooleldi lesbiline) vorm 60ndatest ja 70ndatest saadik saab vähem tähelepanu kui oleksin lootnud ja selle tühimiku täitmiseks tuleks lugeda veel mõni raamat fenimismist. Viiteid neile on selles teoses palju, kuna põhirõhk on kirjutajatel. Silma torkas Simone de Beauvoir-i raamat The Second Sex, kuid see on prantsuse keelest inglise keelde tõlgitud konarlikult (alles eelmine aasta tuli uus tõlge välja, mida niipea mina vist kätte ei saa) ja on 800 lehekülge pikk pluss pooleldi autobiograafiline.
Mitmed teemad tõepoolest haakusid Sex-Ploytationist loetuga: glass ceiling, pornograafia, koduvägivald ja naistehaigused (rinna- ja emakakaelavähk). Paralleele tuua veel ei oska, sest väga lühike sissejuhatus ei kaldunud olema niivõrd radikaalne kui spektrumi teises otsas jalgu trampiv Sex-Ploytation. Soovin sel teemal lugeda veel.

Sex-Ploytation

Matthew Fitzgerald - Sex-Ploytation: How women use their bodies to extort money from men. April House, 1999. 120 lk

The average American woman is a whore. Her vagina is a business, and this business is extortion. Esimesed peatüki esimesed laused võtavad suures plaanis kokku selle, millest see raamat kõneleb. Autor väljendab ilmekalt ja vahel ka vaimukalt oma arvamust naistest, kes kasutavad seksi tööriistana. Üldistusi on mitmeid, kuid tagamõte on õige - autor pöörab tähelepanu naise-mehe suhtele minevikus ja osutab sellele, kuidas tänapäeval on tasakaal läinud paigast ja tagajärjeks on seltskond naisi, kes tahavad soolist võrdsust, mis on kallutatud olema naiste suhtes võrdsem.
Feminismist on palju juttu ja autor räägib elavalt selle liikumise ajaloost, taotlustest ja isegi põhiväidetest, mida ta siis hoolega ümber lükkab. Mehed ja naised on vaimselt ja füüsiliselt erinevad ja raamatust hõngub mõttelaadi, et tänapäeval ei võeta seda fakti tõsiselt.
Peatükkide lõpus on leheküljed tiitliga "Man on the street", mis toob näiteid suvaliste meeste ütlustest, mis on üpris anekdootlikud. Enamus neist kõnelevad sellest, kuidas naised on rahaahned ja hindavad mehi nende majandusliku väärtuse järgi. Kohtingud ja abielu on prostitutsioon, kuna nende käigus vahendatakse väärtuste (söök, raha) eest seksi.
Mitu korda ostutatakse tähelepanu sellele, et naised tõstavad oma rindu esile kui nad soovivad midagi saada. Uus teadmine on ka see, et rindade suurus pole kuidagi seotud piimakogudega mida nad suudavad toota. Mainimata jääb muidugi see, et ka mehed tõstavad oma rindkere esile atraktiivsete vastassooliste seltskonnas, et näida suurem ja agressiivsem. Aga miks peakski ta seda mainima? Objektiivsusest ei saa selle raamatu puhul kõneleda, sest controversial põhiseisukoht on juba esimese peatüki esimeses lauses kirjas. Arutluse asemel on seisukohtade tõestamine. Lugemine on huvitav, sest see tõestamine on teostatud paeluvalt.

Undercover Sex Signals

Leil Lowndes - Undercover Sex Signals: A Pickup Guide For Guys. Citadel Press, 2006. 270 lk

See raamat on selgelt suunatud meestele (olgu, see väljendub juba pealkirjas): esimene peatükk kannab nime "You'll Never Havet to Face Rejection Again". Alguses nõuab pisut harjumist, et iga - IGA - lõik lõppeb naljaga, aga kui kord juba lugemist alustad, on raske lõpetada. Tekst on hästi koostatud, sisukas ja humoorikas. Sisaldab rohkesti huvitavaid nüansse ajaloost ja uurimustest ning tõestab autori kadestamist väärt teadlikkus aine kohta. Miinus on vb see, et just nagu mitmed teised kuidas-võrgutada-naisi või kuidas-saada-rikkaks raamatud, laskub ka see raamat (õnneks vaid korraks) eneseimetlusse (räägib eluloo).
Põhja moodustavad 26 seksuaalset kehakeelesignaali, e nö U.S.S.-i mida kujutatakse kui "tähti" mis tuleb selgeks õppida, et naiste flirtimist edukalt lugeda. Neid signaale esitatakse piltidel mille all on selgitused ja raamatu lõpus on nende peale kontrolltöö.
Lugemise teeb huvitavaks see, et pole kuiv kehakeelejutt, vaid räägitakse muustki mis puudutab seksuaalsust ja armastust. Näiteks teised raamatud mainivad mõnda allikat või uurijat (põhiliselt samad nimed: Mehrabian, Ekman, Hall, Morris, Axtell, Hess) - Leil Lowndes jutustab aga pikalt, ladusalt ja värvikalt valdkonda puudutavatest uurimustöödest, sütitades nende vastu huvi. Kahju vaid, et vähesed neist pruugivad neti kaudu kättesaadavad olla. Mis puudutab ajukeemiat, siis väljendile "It's chemistry" vastab autor amfetamiini sugulase PEA-ga (phenylethylamine) ja selgitab selle toimet. Mainimata ei saa jätta ka seda "kõike kõigemat" line-i, mis väidetavalt toimib iga naise peal (ja mille õnge üks tuttav hiljuti läks): "You're the most unique woman I've ever met".
Kokkuvõttes üks väga hea raamat. Kehakeele poolest sisaldab vähe sellist, mida eelmistest raamatutest ise ei võiks kokku pieceida, aga juba pelgalt autori selgitused ja seosed on väärt seda, et kunagi jälle lugeda.