De ce barbatii nu pot scrie despre Anymore de sex – Quillette

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La inceputul anilor ’90, eram unul dintre miile de tineri americani idealisti de gen X care s-au mutat la Praga postcomunista libera pentru a retrai versiunea lor „Parisul anilor 20”. Inainte de aparitia telefoanelor inteligente, YouTube si Netflix, romanele erau inca considerate forma artistica preeminenta, iar majoritatea expatilor care s-au aflat in tara lui Vaclav Havel erau obsedati de scrierea „Marelui roman american”. Icoanele literare pentru generatia noastra – cei care au fetisizat boemia absinta-nuantata din Parisul lui Hemingway – au fost in mare parte scriitori masculini precum Henry Miller, F. Scott Fitzgerald si Bret Easton Ellis.

Henry Miller (1891-1980)

Desi au fost o multime de femei printre masivii nostri expulzati de vinuri din masivul nostru de expat, afirmatia lui Henry Miller ca „Sexul este unul dintre cele noua motive pentru reincarnare, iar celelalte opt sunt lipsite de importanta”, a fost imbratisat de noi, indiferent de sex. Barbatii au citit poezii numite „Femeile care se plang” la lecturi de expat, in timp ce fetele au scris despre experientele lor cu iubitorii cehi de doua ori.

Sexul era moneda sociala a comunitatii noastre literare stranse, iar scrisul cu onestitate brutala despre sexualitate era un ecuson de onoare. Pana la urma am fost in Praga decadenta, unde scriitorul Milan Kundera a tras inapoi Cortina de Fier pentru a-si dezvalui jaluzea, senzuala, subterana, in romane precum Lume insuportabila a fiintei .

Inaintati cu repeziciune un sfert de secol si se pare ca am devenit cu totii personaje din romanele Samizdat distopice, actiunile noastre proscrise de politia cu gandire progresista care detine puterea asupra vietii si carierei noastre. Sexualitatea, care a fost odata vazuta ca eliberatoare si cea mai pura expresie a unei societati libere, este acum perceputa prin lentila hartuirii sexuale si a miscarii #metoo. Dorinta de sex masculin a fost legata de problema contenciosului consimtamantului, astfel incat fiecare expresie a acesteia are potentialul de a fi exploatator. A face sex pentru un barbat in America este ca si cum ai fi condus beat: lucrurile ar putea merge bine in ciuda riscului, dar s-ar putea sa te prabusesti si sa arzi la fel de usor.

Cand am fost la New York luna trecuta, prietenii apropiati de sex masculin au reevaluat intreaga lor istorie sexuala si m-au intrebat daca vreuna dintre actiunile lor trecute ar putea fi vazuta ca viola conform standardelor de azi. Aceasta a fost in timpul audierilor controversate privind confirmarea justitiei de la Curtea Suprema, Brett Kavanaugh, care a fost acuzat de posibile infractiuni in liceu! Nu este de mirare atunci ca i-a facut pe barbati sa-si cerceteze trecutul priapic cu teama urgenta. Un prieten care scria un eseu nevinovat si dulce despre pierderea virginitatii sale pentru o revista americana cu nume mare acum ani se temea ca ar putea fi folosit impotriva lui in acest nou climat de inchizitie sexuala.

Nu este de mirare ca scrisul masculin de baiat rau a disparut aproape complet din literatura contemporana. Nu exista niciun tanar Phillip Roths care sa creeze eroi literari mincinosi, precum profesorul David Kepesh, de la Animalul care moare, care-si invata elevul de 24 de ani cum sa fie „curva lui micuta”. Nu exista Henry Miller care sa glorifice in aventurile sale sexuale in Parisul hedonistic din anii 1920. Junot Diaz a fost unul dintre putinii scriitori masculini contemporani care au indraznit sa scrie cu sinceritate despre sexualitatea sa in povesti precum „Cum sa intalnesti o fata maro (Fata Neagra, Fata Alba sau Halfie)”, dar reputatia sa a fost tatuata recent de acuzatiile de Hartuire sexuala. Desi si-a pastrat pozitia de profesor la MIT, ghearele sale au fost taiate deocamdata.

In schimb, icoane literare masculine contemporane precum Jonathan Franzen, Paul Auster si Don DeLillo scriu romane cinice, deznadajduite, care citesc ca un lament asupra instrainarii si anomiei Americii moderne. Unde este joie de vivre , rasul, mirtul si sexualitatea bruta a predecesorilor lor? Acum revine unor romancieri de sex feminin precum Gone Girl ‘s Gillian Flynn sa scrie deschis si periculos despre sex si dorinta. Este un comentariu despre Occident astazi ca scriitorii de fete proaste sunt mai raspandite decat omologii lor de sex masculin.

Many would argue, of course, that this is a positive development. Who needs more novels about aging men fantasizing about dirty adventures with young women? Who needs the lascivious male gaze anymore? Isn’t it time for women to write about their desires and feelings without being judged by the patriarchy? Yes, such arguments deserve to be heard.

However, by tarnishing male desire as “exploitative,” the conversation today has become too one-sided, with the pendulum swinging to the other extreme. Today, men are fearful of writing about their darker desires and urges, and rightfully so. Ian Buruma, the former editor of the New York Review of Books, was ousted for publishing an article hostile to the #metoo movement. In this fearful and inquisitorial atmosphere, sex is dangerous, and writing about sex is doubly dangerous.

The neutering of male desire in literature and the arts has, however, also spilled out into real life. There has been a rash of articles recently in publications like the Atlantic—and even the New York Times, which has been a tireless cheerleader for the #metoo movement—bemoaning the decrease in sexual activity among Millennials and other Americans. The Atlantic article was originally entitled “The Sex Recession,” while Ross Douthat’s New York Times column was headlined “The Huxley Trap” and talked about the taming of the sexual revolution.

According to a November 2017 Economist/YouGov poll, 17 percent of Americans ages 18-29 now believe that inviting a woman out for a drink constitutes sexual harassment. It’s no wonder that sex has been tamed in this climate of fear. The U.S birth rate has hit a record low for the second year running this year: half a million fewer babies were born in 2017 than ten years earlier in 2007. The number of children born to an average American woman has fallen from 2.1 in the early 2000s to 1.76. At this rate, America will desperately need more immigrants to sustain its population, President Trump’s loud anti-immigrant rhetoric notwithstanding.

Over 1/3 of American young adults think it’s “always/usually” sexual harassment if a man who not a woman’s romantic partner compliments her looks.

About 1 in 4 young women say it’s always/usually SH if he asks her out for a drink.

Doomed.https://t.

co/V4ULCAt7r0

— Cathy Young (@CathyYoung63) November 20, 2017

What went wrong in America? While the New York Times talks about various factors, including the alienation caused by technology and social media, the criminalization of male sexual desire is surely a powerful factor to explain the fall in marriages, and birth rate. In today’s climate of fear and incessant talk about sexual harassment, we desperately need more—not less—graphic, lewd, and dangerous writing about sexuality from confident men unafraid to bare their fantasies without fear of retribution. That writing could set an example for young millennial men unsure of how to express their burgeoning sexuality, and perhaps help foster healthier relationships among America’s alienated youth.

A contemporary Henry Miller is just as needed today as he was almost 100 years ago in the America of the 1930s. While his writings are unlikely to be suppressed by the courts—Miller’s Tropic of Cancer was banned in the United States until the early 1960s—more ominously, his career could be snuffed out even without a trial by “whisper networks” and reflexive #metoo-ers.

It’s a sad comment on contemporary America that a young Henry Miller’s salacious writings would be just as “shocking”—and possibly “cathartic”—today as when they were first published in the 1930s, in the shadow of rising fascism and Freudian repression. Hopefully, a young male novelist today will take up the challenge and pen a powerful novel that’ll remind us all of the desperate need today for a brutally honest work about the oldest of human urges: sexuality.

Vijai Maheshwari is a former editor-in-chief of Russian Playboy, and writer for Politico Europe based in Moscow. He has recently launched Alfalfa, a platform in defense of masculinity. You can follow him on Twitter @Projectalfalfa

De ce barbatii nu pot scrie despre Anymore de sex – Quillette

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