Book Reviews
Sex &
Sanity:
The Myths and
Realities of Human Sexuality
Author: Tom
Blaise Shepherd
Shepherd Shares His Viewpoints Regarding
Male Behavior *****
Author Tom
Shepherd’s got his own head on straight. He tells it like it is.
As for Freudian
psychology, “Rabbi Sigmund Freud, it would seem, had his own head up his own
rear end. Freud, it would seem, suffered from Freud’s own delusions about human
sexuality. His patients and disciples thus became the tragic victims of Freud’s
own thought disorder. He was an admitted cocaine addict and like all cocaine
addicts apparently couldn’t see the forest for the trees.” – a direct quote
from author Tom Shepherd
If you were
violated during your youth, says the author, you were most likely violated by a
physician or by the son or daughter of a physician or by a lawyer or by the son
or daughter of a lawyer or by a police officer or by the son or daughter of a
police officer or by a priest, minister, rabbi or sheik.
Males do not
significantly differ from each other in their underlying sexual feelings, says
Shepherd. They differ in the way they express or articulate their feelings.
Most men understandably avoid talking about their private sex lives for very
understandable reasons, the foremost reason being to avoid being publicly
humiliated or scorned.
Reality has it that
the overwhelming majority of adult males residing in New York City – 59 percent
to be exact, -- claimed to have engaged in homosexual behavior at least one
time, according to an extensive scientific study conducted in 1948 by a Dr.
Kinsey, author of The Kinsey Report.
Thus, male homosexuality
is much more commonplace than religious leaders and governmental officials have
historically wished to admit. However, men do vary widely in the nature and
frequency of their sexual activities.
Kinsey’s 1948
study – based on a sampling of men residing in cosmopolitan New York City –
indicated that 59 percent of men polled admitted to having engaged in at least
one homosexual experience, resulting in an ejaculation. Although 41 percent of
those surveyed denied having ever had a homosexual experience resulting in an
ejaculation, there would be no way of knowing how many of those polled were
being honest about their sexual history.
All mature male
athletes are no doubt savvy to the fact that male homosexuality always has been
rampant amongst athletic coaches and jocks, as well as the fact that most men
are intrinsically ambisexual in nature – capable of swinging either way, as it
were.
Also, an
aggressive male jock is much more likely to make sexual advances to a less
aggressive male than vice versa.
Thus, it is
absurd to suggest that men who find consensual homosexual behavior pleasurable
are possessed with lower levels of testosterone than other men or that their
mother’s were deficient in androgen production while still in the mother’s
womb.
In fact, over 50
years ago scientists gave testosterone supplements to a sampling of men, only
to discover that testosterone merely enhances the sex drive. It does not
determine the gender of a sex partner.
The average man
has eight times the level of testosterone as the average female. It is
testosterone that perpetuates the sex drive, although testosterone does not
determine the choice of a sex object.
The choices men
make in terms of selection of a mate or sexual partner depends largely on social
attitudes within any given population.
Shepherd’s book
merely substantiates the fact that male sexual behavior is largely a
situational response – heavily influenced by cultural or social attitudes
within any given population.
Shepherd merely
points out a variety of reasons men choose one sexual lifestyle pattern over
another.
In view of the
numerous viruses that can be spread through casual sex, wise and informed men
and women are choosing celibacy as a lifestyle.
Promiscuity is
merely a habit – and a very risky habit, which usually is tied in with
permissive cultural mores, low self-esteem and alcohol and drug dependency. The
term ‘gay’ was coined by the French and used to designate chic, bohemian
behavior – not homosexual behavior per se.
Dr. Shepherd’s Theory is a Sound Theory
of Human Sexuality *****
Dr. Shepherd
adheres to the ‘blank slate’ theory of human behavior. The blank slate theory
has it that human behavior, to include sexual identity and attraction, are the
result of the attitudes of one’s parents, surrogate parents and playmates or
classmates toward the child during his or her developmental years – from birth
through adolescence.
Hero-worship is
believed by many to be a strategic part of a child and adolescent’s formulation
of a sexual identity. The selection of a boy’s or girl’s role models are
largely determined by the attitudes of his own parents or caretakers, to
include teachers.
A male child
that is educated in the home with masculine socialization skills reinforced by a
highly visible and non-rejecting father during his early developmental years is
more likely to develop a healthy capacity for interacting well with other adult
males and females.
Males who are
not beneficiaries such developmental skills are likely to find themselves
rejected by their peers – both male and female – and are not likely to cement
healthy sexual and affectional relationships with the opposite sex.
Ongoing
expressed hostility by a mother towards males-in-general and/or towards her
child’s father can thwart a male in achieving a confident and stable male
sexual identity and thwart a female child’s ability for developing healthy
affectional relationships with the opposite sex, as well as with her own sex or
gender.
It is the
sensory stimuli, positive or negative, that individuals receive from other
sentient beings or environmental situations that conditions one’s sexual
responses, according to the author’s theory.
Dr. Shepherd,
who is highly critical of Freudian psychology, and psychiatry, believes that
the practice of identifying individuals by a so-called sexual orientation
is a very destructive practice and a contributing factor in the development of
widespread neurotic or psychotic behaviors.
Genetic
inheritance, says Shepherd, indeed does affect morphological characteristics;
however, it does not affect behavioral characteristics in any significant ways,
except for the fact that an individual viewed as unattractive by one’s peers is
likely to be rejected and subjected to a variety of forms of aberrant
conditioning early on in life, which can indeed affect his or her
self-confidence and self-esteem as either a male or female.
Sexuality, of
course, is expressed in a variety of ways that do not conform to Freudian
theories or to religious doctrines. The creation of art is a universally
accepted method for expressing one’s sexuality, as is athletic performance of
various kinds.
Dr. Shepherd
emphasizes that celibacy is a desirable and healthy state of mind. Celibacy and
self-control is preferable to promiscuity in view of world overpopulation and
infectious diseases transmitted through sexual promiscuity.
Dr. Shepherd’s
theories about human sexuality provide a valuable contribution to the fields of
neurobiological science, psychology, psychiatry and sociology.
This is the first no-nonsense book on
human sexuality I have ever read. It views all so-called heterosexual people as
intrinsically ambisexual or as having a capacity for bisexual behavior,
yet feverishly and systematically attempting to suppress any homosexual
thoughts due to the historical criminalization of homosexuality.
Criminalization of homosexuality has its
origins in Jewish, Christian and Muslim law. The Torah or the Old Testament of
the Bible views man’s homosexual dimension as an abomination and as
“unnatural.” The Bible also views heterosexual promiscuity as an abomination.
The New Testament of the Bible also claims that anyone that even looks at a
female to lust for her has committed adultery.
The New Testament, as the author points
out, also teaches that (1) a wise man does not touch a woman: (2) that a strong
man practices celibacy; and (3) that those men unable to control their sexual
desires should marry a woman and that the husband and wife should thus remain
faithful to each other. Thus, celibacy is considered the most honorable way of
life for both males and females in the Christian community. In the Kingdom of
God, so state the authors of the New Testament, celibacy is universal – sexual
desire is extinct.
The author, who
was reared in the Presbyterian and Episcopal churches, was elected president of
the Episcopal Church Young Peoples Service League, of which he was a co-founder.
His mom was a sponsor or the organization. Shepherd was also appointed by
church leaders to serve as president of UCYM, an inter-racial Protestant youth
council during his teen years. He led the integration of protestant churches in
Missouri.
The author
obviously is NOT promoting homosexuality, nor is he promoting sexual
promiscuity. He is promoting celibacy.
The author is
also trying to get the reader to be guided by reason, not fear, and to accept
the reality that the capacity for developing homosexual feelings is a natural
component of the psychosexual makeup of all people, albeit purposefully
repressed in most people, and that there is no such thing as a so-called “third
sex” or “homosexual” per se. People are drawn into the “gay” lifestyle because
of the hypocrisy of mainstream society and because of the refusal of even
clinical psychologists to be honest with their clients.
Being a mature
adult necessitates, according to Shepherd, learning to control one’s sexual
urges, not be a hypocrite. Shepherd cautions adolescents to not allow gay and
lesbian counselors to coerce them into adopting a “gay lifestyle” merely
because they are aware of their “homosexual attractions,” which all people
experience, but which MOST people very purposefully deny they experience.
The author
considers the practice of labeling individuals as either ‘straight’ or ‘gay’ as
absurd and dehumanizing and as a root cause of neurotic and psychotic
behaviors.
The difference
between people is not that some people experience homosexual attractions and
some don’t, but that most people suppress and sublimate their homosexual
thoughts or fantasies in a variety of different ways.
Most mature
people sublimate their homosexual dimension through socialization with others
of the same sex in heterosexual bars and coffee houses and through their
hobbies, work and contact sports. They also, for the most part, sublimate their
heterosexual dimension when out of the bedroom.
The author
stresses that the risk of contracting an incurable virus should be of primary
concern to all people, and that incurable viruses include herpes, certain new
strains of gonorrhea and AIDS. Rectal hemorrhaging is also an ever-present
danger when engaging in rectal intercourse and is reason enough to avoid rectal
intercourse altogether, whether with a male or female partner.
The basic
content of the book is excellent. The author is courageous, brilliant and
articulate.
The above listed
edition of Sex & Sanity has been superseded by a larger 60-page revised
edition.
It is the thesis
of Mr. Shepherd that while the sex drive is inborn, the choice of a sex object
is determined by social attitudes and behavioral conditioning.
The Spartans of
Ancient Greece, a militaristic culture, viewed male homosexuality as the
manliest form of behavior. They considered male-female romantic relationships
to be emasculating.
Ancient Greece
and other cultures (i.e., the Sambian people and some South American native
people) that have not been influenced by Jewish and Christian doctrine are more
likely to accept male and female homoerotic feelings and homoerotic attractions
as very normal and matter-of-fact. In such cultures, all members of the culture
are ambisexual in their orientation. Male-male attachments, void of mutual
sexual penetration, are viewed as necessary in order for boys to develop into
men. Male-male attachments are thus viewed, not as a sign of effeminacy, but
rather as a sign of masculinity.
Boys and young
men reared in such cultures are encouraged to form superficial relationships
with each other until such time as they are prepared to take on the
responsibilities of marriage to a female and of fatherhood.
Even in
modern-day Greece, Italy and Spain men are generally more confident and less
self-conscious about expressing their affectionate feelings for other men,
through the abrazo and through ethnic dancing, than are men in other cultures.
Paradoxically, Greek, Italian and Hispanic men are also more at ease with
women.
However, because
of the violent condemnation of homosexuality by Old Testament Torah Scripture
(Leviticus 20:13) and by the Koran, in which homosexuality is considered an
“abomination,” punishable by death, children reared in Orthodox Jewish,
Fundamentalist Christian and Muslim homes tend to have conflicting views of
human sexuality.
While people
reared in an Orthodox Jewish or Fundamental Christian or Muslim environment no
doubt privately recognize their homoerotic feelings, they understandably are
reluctant to acknowledge the existence of their feelings.
The penalty to
be paid in our moralistic society for being open and honest is severe!
An individual
stands a much better chance of being convicted of a crime by merely being open
and honest with his lawyer and the judge. Fact is that the lawyers and judges
most probably have commited the same crime for which you are being charged –
whatever it may be – a hundred or thousand times – yet he/she was never
charged. That’s the reality of justice and civilization in the Twenty-First
Century.
The only
criminals in our society are the millionaires and billionaires that make laws
and enforce laws that perpetuate social and economic inequality.
Ironically,
virtually all males are introduced or indoctrinated into homosexual behavior by
more dominant, athletically inclined heterosexual males – usually married men
with wives and children. To presume that a professional or semi-pro athlete who
has a wife and eight or nine children at home did not engage in clandestine
homosexual behavior during the 50s, 60s and 70s (the advent of the sexual
revolution) is a very naďve presumption, says the author. However, since the
AIDS epidemic surfaced in about 1980 promiscuous homosexual behavior among
intelligent, well informed men has dramatically diminished, hopefully to zero
percent.
Shepherd’s
bottom line is that although testosterone is the hormone responsible for the
sex drive in BOTH males and females, testosterone does NOT determine the CHOICE
of a sex object. Socialization (peer pressure) and economics are the primary
determinates in anyone’s choice of a sexual partner.
Concern about the risks of contracting
an incurable virus should be the primary consideration in avoiding promiscuous
sex, says Shepherd, who points out that herpes, certain new strains of
gonorrhea and AIDS are incurable and can easily be contracted through oral sex,
as well as through rectal and vaginal sex. There is no way of knowing if your
partner is infected – and in many instances there may be no way of knowing if
you yourself are infected. Rectal hemorrhaging is also an ever-present danger
when engaging in rectal intercourse, and is a valid reason to avoid rectal
intercourse altogether.
Thus, celibacy
is the only sane policy. Celibacy defined: keeping one’s hands to one’s
self. Limiting one’s romantic
expressions to a committed partner.
Tom Blaise
Shepherd’s book, Sex & Sanity, is brilliantly refreshing, although
controversial. Shepherd is an existentialist and existentialists are decidedly
opposed to the use of labels by psychologists and psychiatrists to define and
thus stigmatize behavior, thereby making what is normal appear to be
pathological. As a result, mere homosexual attraction, which is a normal human
hormonal response, has traditionally been viewed as not only “sinful” but as
“pathological.” In Shepherd’s opinion, the psychiatric labeling process itself
is pathological, and has its roots in barbaric Biblical terminology.
Hero-worship and homoerotic arousal as a
result of casual body contact are normal aspects of an adolescent’s
maturational process. However, children enter adolescence at different ages.
Therefore, those children who mature earlier than others generally experience
these erotic awakenings earlier than others. A part of an adolescent’s
education involves learning methods for exercising control over one’s sexual impulses
in order to avoid placing one’s self or another individual at risk – primarily
for various kinds of venereal infections – many of which are incurable.
Words such a straight and gay,
as commonly used for categorizing individuals, should be avoided by
professionals, as well as by laypeople. The use of such words has the end
result of stigmatizing individuals and creating highly dysfunctional
(unmodulated) neurotic and psychotic behavior – and can exacerbate and
perpetuate psychological or psychiatric problems.
Bottom line: all people have a capacity
for experiencing romantic and erotic feelings for members of either gender. The
choices people make – in terms of sexual desire – are the result of
ever-fluctuating positive and negative living experiences – during childhood,
adolescence and the adult years. Self-control is the key to rational
living. Celibacy is perhaps the wisest choice. Society needs to grow up, says
Shepherd. So does psychiatry!
All Homosapiens Are Intrinsically
Ambi-Sexual *****
The fashionable and politically
correct artificial dichotomies – straight and/or gay –
currently used by mainstream society, as well as by psychiatrists and clinical
psychologists, are absurd, as well as dehumanizing. All people are by nature
auto-erotic and have an inborn capacity for experiencing romantic and erotic
feelings for others of the same gender, as well as for others of the opposite
gender. However, early childhood, adolescent and even young adult social
conditioning is the primary factor influencing the choices we make as mature
adults.
The author of Sex and Sanity, Tom Blaise
Shepherd, points out that males who are sequestered away from females for long
periods of time, especially during military service or while confined in jails
or prisons, are more likely to be persuaded by the more dominant and aggressive
males to engage in homosexual behavior than are males that are not confined.
The aberrant psychological conditioning
of men – by drill instructors and officers in charge – while confined and
sequestered away from females during military service and while confined in
jails or prisons reinforces homosexual conduct, alcohol and drug dependency, as
well as rape, murder and other forms of violence.
Aberrant psychological conditioning of
men in the workplace by domineering females also undermines male self-esteem
and is a precipitating factor in clinical depression, rape and other forms of
violence.
Sexual harassment of men by male
co-workers (regardless of whether or not either party identifies himself as straight
or gay) is noted by the author as a precipitating factor in clinical
depression and violence – to include murder and suicide.
The author’s bottom line is that
celibacy – refraining from any form of promiscuity – is the only sane solution
to the problem of world overpopulation and epidemic levels of AIDS, gonorrhea,
herpes and other sexually transmitted viruses. Thus, celibacy is sanity.
The Myths and
Realities of Human Sexuality