About Humanities, Theory, Discipline, and lack thereof...

OK, fair warning: this is going to be long, rambling, and likely really nerdish. You've been warned.

I have been in this theory class for half a semester now (egads! Half a semester - Ack! But I digress...) and I find that I have gone from enthused, to intimidated, to confused, to exasperated. I have two gripes here, and while this will make me few friends among Humanities folks, I know at least one prof who seems to agree with me. (And, no, it's not the one I am married to!)

( So here goes. )

(Edited with cut, because it got even longer than I expected!)

(Edited again to add This Article, which at least brings up much of what I am saying here... So I'm not alone in my frustration! Good to know!)

OK, OK, this has gone too far!

Saw this gem courtesy of the Planned Parenthood newsletter, but the article is from Feministing.

The Ex-Masturbator Campaign: Shaming idle hands since 2009

(quoted from the article) "You know...sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. (Not to mention an infinite number of jokes.)

Apparently the Passion for Christ Movement has a bunch of these "ex" shirts, and this is just the latest."

The author of the article quotes from another article on the campaign associated with the shirts, noting that the "shame" which these idiots associate with masturbation comes from just these sorts of tactics, like those in this article referring to "an illegal orgasm," apparently a common term among Passion for Christ members. He quotes that article:

Two things I've come to know about masturbation is this:

1. It brings shame, and...
2. It is addictive

Most people who have engaged in masturbation know that the culmination of this sexual act ends in shame. I don't have to share with you the thousands of emails of the admittance of this shame because you know all too well since you have experienced it yourself. Curled up in a fetal position, crying, because your bed is even more empty and you're lonelier than you did before you violated yourself.

What I find particularly tragic about this is that, let's face it, no one is *really* going to stop fiddling below the belt for life. (Heaven help us if they do, because they're all gonna go postal one day!) What they ARE going to do is take on, willingly, cheerfully, a boatload of guilt, shame, and psychological ass-f*cking over utterly harmless, purely natural and healthy behavior. This is psychological repression on a deeply inherent level, and it is toxic, and fer fucks sake, shouldn't we know better by now?

Once again, I am forced to ask if some of these people have noticed that it isn't 1600 anymore?