Dr. Nathan Hare and his student Marvin X
photo Adam Turner
Marvin,
That’s a heavy question and you said a mouthful.
To the question, should everyman confess sex guilt, I’d say every man and every woman, if not in the service of sexual equality at least to keep it real. Sex has broken up more happy homes than the law allows. The law now allows you to be married to one spouse, while polygamy allows you to be married to one spouse too many), not to mention its variations, polygyny and polyandry -- and now headed for what Eldridge Cleaver suggested we call “omnigamy” (where everybody would be married to everybody else). Meanwhile a fellow in Psychology Today more recently bemoaned the fact that over half of the marriages are breaking up and if half of the hamburgers were spoiling the people would be up in arms about it and the government would pass laws against it. But looks like everybody who is not in a marriage is trying to get in it, and everybody who is in a marriage is trying to get out of it.
The overwhelming majority of people will break their marital vows on some dark night. I promise you. Thus the number one problem with marriage as we know it is the fact that marriage is based on society’s wish to regulate sex in the service of family and social stability though the control and management of reproduction. For instance fixing paternity and the functions and obligations of the production and feeding of children, their care and socialization.
Tina Turner’s question was correct in so far as it goes: “What’s love got to do with it” She just failed to acknowledge it works both ways, what’s sex got to do with it, love, that is; for that is the question society miscues when it makes love dependent on the absolute control of the natural If not universal and inherent (instinctive?) sexual impulses with which love is almost never completely coterminous nor equal or congruent to.
The ultimate test of the mechanics of the continuity of a marital bond (being marriages aren’t made in Heaven (i.e., they may have been conceived there but have to be worked out down here in Hell) is the ability of the couple to compromise and forgive. That would presume or best include anything, not to mention the more or less pervasive sexuality of both men and women, though differing in some respects perhaps.
Ebony magazine had an article a year or so ago where the incomparable couple Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee had an agreement that if you want to be with somebody go ahead, it’s alright, just do it in a way as not to hurt the family.
My sociological impression is that Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee were ahead of their time, that marriage today is caught in the stranglehold of an anti-biological cultural lag. In other words, the mythology of which you speak (forgive my selective mutism, but you may not know that I am a son of a preacher). No myth.
Nathan Hare
Phone: 415-474-1707
Fax: 415-589-7983
415 672 2986 (backup)
Marvin X reply:
Marvin X reply:
Well, you said a mouthful too, Dr. Hare. As per my Mythology of P and D, when interviewed at the Philly Lock's Conf by Junius Stanton (see YouTube), I told him I was not suggesting marriage for all the reasons you listed. I think my mother told me not to get married for artistic reasons, instead she said I needed a maid, secretary and mistress. In my essay on Creativity and Sexuality, I tell of a lifetime confusion regarding creative and sexual energy. I think this misreading caused partner violence on my part due to my creativity being stifled and misplacing aggression upon my partner instead of kicking myself in the ass!
Marvin X
Subject: should everyman confess sex guilt?--comments welcome
Should Everyman Confess Sex Guilt? Perhaps it will be the great leap forward so badly needed in the deconstruction of the Mythology of Patriarchal domination, aka White Supremacy, although in the present Global Village, patriarchal domination is, shall we say, colorless, odorless, yet cunning and vile because some are addicted to this mythology that is often hidden in the deep structure of tribal, national, cultural, religious and political mythology and ritual.
No matter what, the matter of sexual improprieties is symptomatic of a most pervasive toxic condition known as white supremacy, yet can appear in white face, black face, brown and yellow faces. Diop would say the Southern Cradle, African/Asian, version was not as toxic as the Northern Cradle patriarchal mythology. The Kemetic myth/ritual was grounded in the male/female balance or Maa'at, a recognition of the equality of god and goddess, man and woman.
In the Maa'at concept, inheritance was matriliniel or through the mother. We say Mama's baby, Daddy's maybe! But even matrilineal descent did not prevent struggle over what son of which mother shall assume the throne? For a current example of this myth/ritual crisis or quagmire, look at the House of Saud in Saudi Arabia: two thousands princes vying for the throne with traditional court intrigue, often violent struggle over hesitance rights/rites. The crown prince has jailed his royal opposition at the elegant Ritz Hotel. As per women, the crown prince says they can drive cars soon.
We cannot await the endgame of the crown prince.
Shall we look at the situation in Zimbabwe with the 93 year old president for life, stuck in the pre-colonial sacred king for life myth/ritual? The old snake did resign and now it is possible Zimbabwe will strive forward in harmony with the global deconstruction of the white supremacy patriarchal mythology, for the African patriarchal system must also be broken and smashed despite the dysfuctional feminine balance of Maa'at, alas, shall we call it a simple case of not listening to our women, queens,sisters, wives, partners, co-revolutionaries, thus leading to domestic and political chaos, destabilization, migration, flight, as Destruction of African Civilization taught us. Chancellor Williams added other factors such as drought, famine, struggle over grazing rights, etc that lead to migration as the central theme in Pan African culture, including and most especially North American Africans who run north, south, east and west to no avail in our freedom quest. White Supremacy has met us at every turn, every nook and cranny, again, it is cunning and vile!
Dr. Nathan Hare says,"...Richard Wright concluded that 'flight' was the theme of the black males existence, always 'on the run,' trying to get and keep a foot outside the cage.'"
But how great is the difference between Northern and Southern Cradle sexual rights/rites? No matter what color, nation, suffering patriarchal addiction, men of power and men with no power, become delusional and feel they have rights and privileges to women's bodies that they don't have.
Now there are women often willing to do any means necessary to become a Star! For sure, many women may have been consensual initially but did not like the outcome of the sexual encounter so they are claiming sexual assault; some were gold diggers from the git!
Surely some of these women simply encountered a monster who was so psychotic and delusional with power that he became demonic and satanic, no longer human in thinking that he could dominate and violate the bodies of men, women and children.
Again, this is a global phenomenon today, not local, regional, national, and it transcends race and class, and yes, gender! This toxicity is pervasive in all institutions,e.g., political, military, educational, media, religious, and most especially the daily round in the houses of husbands, wives and partners, no matter what gender configuration. See my Parable Marry A Tree and Parable of Why I talk with Cows, Wisdom of Plato Negro, parables and fables, Marvin X,Black Bird Press, Berkeley CA. 2012.
Our most esteemed historian, J.A. Rogers, in Africa's Gift to America, delineated Northern Cradle White Supremacy patriarchal domination and the resultant psycho-social pathology exhibited in the behavior of the Pilgrims, eventually accompanied by the scum of Europe, rejected, despised sociopaths that emptied the jails ad prisons just as Castro sent boatloads of criminals to the US a few years ago.
North American Africans suffer oppression by the worse human beings one can imagine! And you think they are the good guys in the white hats!
The good guys in the white hats have been exposed by their women and children, men as well, as vipers, cobras and other snakes of the jungle. We would think that men of means would have themselves and their houses, including play houses, together, yet in the patriarchal mythology a man seeks to put his penis is every hole, even a hole in the ground. He is, as we have seen, totally out of control, psychotic or experiencing a break with reality.
Let me confess my guilt! When I taught drama at a certain college, one student told me, "Marvin, I ain't giving you no pussy because you got enough pussy already!" And she was right. How much does a man need? Now we know men do have different bio-chemistry, so we cannot say there should be a limit! But we can say nothing should be taken from anyone who doesn't want to give it! This is a violation.
How many men will stand to say I am guilty of sexual, verbal and emotional assault on women, including my wives, girlfriends, mistresses and sex workers!
I, Marvin X/El Muhajir, stand as guilty. But one of my former wives told me, "You have suffered enough, you have paid your dues. I have forgiven you, so sit on your throne without feeling guilty! Osiris is he who takes the throne, so take the throne!"
In this discussion, let us move pass the holy men who have never violated women, and of course never lusted in their hearts, minds or souls,i.e., never looked at a beautiful woman walking pass and lost it; yes, in the presence of his wife who often witnessed his reckless eyeballing! Surely this is lust and total disrespect of the wife. Don't no wife want hernigguh looking at another woman because in the white supremacy patriarchal culture, and globally speaking as well, their marriage is a contract of chattel real, i.e., personal property agreement. I am your slave and you are my slave for life! If you violate our vows and betray our trust, nigguh I will kill you! Now nigguh what?
Globally, marriage is an agreement between two people. In reality, marriage is a contract of two families coming together and blood will ultimately tie them together, thus marriage transcends the couple. This unity of families can be a great force in making a cohesive society.
But the marginalized sacred king or man of power, deludes himself beyond family and blood relations, trampling on marriage and blood relations because his actions are incestuous thus psychotic. If he is dual diagnosed, i.e., suffering mental illness and drug abuse, there is no telling how far his psychosis will take him into the black hole or white hole or any hole.
If he was a sexually abused child, it is almost a simple matter for him to repeat learned behavior, for him to violate the bodies of any and everyone, man, woman and/or child. Sometimes to violate others is a kind of revenge, an attempt to get even with the world.
Love is totally lost in this equation, no matter the person's social sphere, whether art, spirituality, economics, politics, after all, the psychopathy is full blown, severe and thus out of control. The person is now a danger to himself and others and must ultimately be confined!
For those mild and moderate sexual assaulters, let us get a mental grip that we own ourselves only and a woman's body is hers to give or not depending on her feelings and it is her prerogative to change her mind. Has a woman ever told you, "Oh, I was going to give some pussy until you said that, now I ain't givin' up shit, you got to go!"
Mao said it best in his Red Book, "Do Not Take Liberties With Women!"
If a woman truly respects you and desires you as a wonderful human being, surely she will give herself to you willingly, there will be no need to force. And why would you want something that does not desire you?
Shall we ask Everyman how many women did he truly enjoy? How many does he think enjoyed him? We never bother to ask the girl/woman if she has she suffered sexual trauma? Is the trauma mild, moderate or severe? She will tell you and it may blow your mind, yet answer all those questions about the person you claim you love.
This trending issue I long ago called The Mythology of Pussy and Dick, BBP, 2009. This matter is not a headless monster but is going for the jugular vain of white supremacy capitalism and slavery.
This sexual pathology is only a symptom, the root of the problem lies in the deep structure, yes, in the DNA, of those enjoying the surplus capital and white privileges of Northern Cradle European Patriarchal Mythology. As Dr. Nathan Hare says we, North American Africans suffer addiction to white supremacy type II, the Northern Cradle Europeans suffer type I.
The Ordeal by Fire
It has been long understood that men, women and children will put themselves on the casting couch of sexual depravity to advance their careers. I call it the Ordeal by Fire in the house of the shaman, and it can be dreadful for the neophyte caught in this rite of passage. The ordeal by fire may include sexual depravity, or any other ritual to debase the supplicant to recognize he/she is entering a sacred ritual order and you either pass or fail. Yes, career advancement is the mission many have been on when facing the casting couch, not only in Hollywood but globally. Some play the game and advance to higher ground, never looking around at the debauchery until now. But have no doubt the sexual abuse of men, women and children has a lasting effect and recovery is the order of the day, although some may be constitutionally unable to recover because their trauma was severe. One brother said such trauma victims are sometimes unfixable! We pray this is not so.
Let this moment be a critical step in the liberation of human beings from the animal plane. Let us dispose our negrocities (Amiri Baraka term) to enter the Upper Room of our Father's House and Mother's House with many mansions, an abundance of good, wherein rivers flow....
--Marvin X/El Muhajir
11/21/17
Harvey is Everyman, part one
"FIND ME ONE RIGHTEOUS MAN AND I WILL SAVE
THE WHOLE TOWN!"--GOD
We must begin this discussion in the deep structure of human myth/ritual, in the foundation of culture and socialization. We must examine the manhood and womanhood rites of passage for a clearer understanding of why men and women are caught in this global quagmire of sexual pathology now being exposed as Pandora's box has never seen. And yet we cannot put all the blame on Hollywood, even though Hollywood is one of the chief myth makers in the modern world. Thus the sexual improprieties can be seen as the rite of passage for those neophytes seeking advancement in the medium of film, to become the new high priest and priestess of the celluloid world of make believe.
And so the neophytes must appropriately endure the ordeal by fire to prove themselves worthy of advancement. Sexual debasement thus is a well known procedure in most myth-ritual based societies and institutions, whether tribal, religious, fraternal and sororal. Even the marriage rite began with having sex with the bride but has been reduced to kissing the bride. The prostitute evolved from the temple priestess who traded sexual favors for strangers who in turn gave love offerings to the temple god, the priest and herself. At some point in time immemorial the priestess's activity was deemed immoral, although we know the "church ho'" is yet alive and well today. And the priest/preacher/imam/Babalawo, et al., is yet known to take full advantage of his position as chief of the spiritual order,i.e., the ritual master.
As per sex with boys in the Catholic Church, we know it is an economic rather than sexual matter. In order to preserve property in the name of the Church, marriage had to be banned to prevent inheritance from flowing outside the church. Boys were sacrificed on the altar of economic prosperity and longevity. On the fifth century anniversary of the Protestant Reformation of Martin Luther, we know one of his objections was Papal sex with boys, along with his main objection, paying one's way into heaven
Let's be fair and balanced, Muslims have long been known for their right/rite to have sex with boys, most recently in madrassas or religious schools. The US has allowed soldiers in the Afghanistan army to have sex with boys since it is their cultural and religious rite/right! Of course the glaring contradiction is the Islamic ban against homosexuality, including beheading and/or stoning to death. This latter sentence is given to women for adultery, but not men. Such gender discrimination is obviously the product of the patriarchal society. Alas, this entire discussion is about the myth/rituals embedded in patriarchal culture and socialization.
We say Harvey is Everyman because almost every man is socialized in patriarchal culture!
No matter than many of our children are raised in matrifocal households, i.e., mother in authority, she is herself a victim of patriarchal mythology and socialization and thus either consciously or unconsciously transmits this culture to her sons and daughters. When she tells her son to be a man, what is she talking about except the patriarchal definition of manhood. The problem today is that when the son is so violently hostile to his absent and abandoned father, he often emulates the feminine behavior of his mother, verbally and physically in hand gestures and gait, and yet we heard this from a young man at a recovery meeting of men, "Let me say this, some of my friends you might think are gay but they are not gay, they just sound gay because they have never heard a man's voice!"
It is not simply a matter of pathology with men of power, after all, we grew up powerless in the hood yet engaging in gang rape we called "pulling a train on a bitch." And this occurred every Sunday at the movie theatre, sometimes behind the screen while the film was showing, then afterward as we crossed the tracks going home, literally on or near the freight trains. This was a cultural phenomena that seemed absolutely normal to us, as normal as beating up Mexicans in the movie house men's restroom during intermission, not because we hated Latinos but because they were a reasonable facsimile of the white boy who would/did not attend White's Theatre that was for blacks and Latinos only. Few whites went to White's Theatre!
But the sociology of sexual pathology was pervasive in our young adult male/female relationships, after all, did we not own our mates and they owned us, thus a perfect prescription for violence upon any violation of chattel (personal, i.e., sexual) property rights/rites.
Of course this madness continued into our marriage rites, especially after sexual rites/rights were codified with death do us part! In the patriarchal social psychology, men were absolutely convinced they now owned the pussy and must have it at their beck and call. The wife had no choice in this matter since the man was paying the cost to be the boss, yes, he was paying his pussy bill, thus he owned the pussy and could go in and out as he pleased, no matter if and when the poor wife cried, "Can you let my pussy rest for 24 hours, just 24 hours, Baby, please let my pussy rest!"
His response was the Cave Man Supreme, "Bitch, you better hurry up and give me some of your good pussy! I don't want to hear bout yo pussy need a rest!"
Por favor, let us go global with this madness: we pray for the women of the world at this hour. In this entire discussion, we are tempered by the fact we have three daughters and now granddaughters, not to mention we have six sisters, and most importantly, the mothers of my children, who themselves were victims of my patriarchal madness. I bow down in praise to the wonderful mothers of my children, Patricia, Barbara and Nisa, and the other women partners in my life who endured my psycho-pathology that sometimes became physical. I know I am truly blessed to have been in relationship with some of the most beautiful, spiritual and intelligent women any man could want on this earth!. I give honor and praise to all the women in my life! They were all angelic, if anything, I was the devil!
Ok, I am known for glaring generalizations, hyperbole, but in truth, we know every man is not Harvey, that there are many men who've never contemplated the imaginings of Harvey and his ilk, but surely we know men of power throughout the world have enacted Harvey's ritual of sexual impropriety at every possible moment, whether in the arts, academia, religion, corporation, fraternity, home life or any other social situation.
Harvey is Everyman, part one
"FIND ME ONE RIGHTEOUS MAN AND I WILL SAVE
THE WHOLE TOWN!"--GOD
We must begin this discussion in the deep structure of human myth/ritual, in the foundation of culture and socialization. We must examine the manhood and womanhood rites of passage for a clearer understanding of why men and women are caught in this global quagmire of sexual pathology now being exposed as Pandora's box has never seen. And yet we cannot put all the blame on Hollywood, even though Hollywood is one of the chief myth makers in the modern world. Thus the sexual improprieties can be seen as the rite of passage for those neophytes seeking advancement in the medium of film, to become the new high priest and priestess of the celluloid world of make believe.
And so the neophytes must appropriately endure the ordeal by fire to prove themselves worthy of advancement. Sexual debasement thus is a well known procedure in most myth-ritual based societies and institutions, whether tribal, religious, fraternal and sororal. Even the marriage rite began with having sex with the bride but has been reduced to kissing the bride. The prostitute evolved from the temple priestess who traded sexual favors for strangers who in turn gave love offerings to the temple god, the priest and herself. At some point in time immemorial the priestess's activity was deemed immoral, although we know the "church ho'" is yet alive and well today. And the priest/preacher/imam/Babalawo, et al., is yet known to take full advantage of his position as chief of the spiritual order,i.e., the ritual master.
As per sex with boys in the Catholic Church, we know it is an economic rather than sexual matter. In order to preserve property in the name of the Church, marriage had to be banned to prevent inheritance from flowing outside the church. Boys were sacrificed on the altar of economic prosperity and longevity. On the fifth century anniversary of the Protestant Reformation of Martin Luther, we know one of his objections was Papal sex with boys, along with his main objection, paying one's way into heaven
Let's be fair and balanced, Muslims have long been known for their right/rite to have sex with boys, most recently in madrassas or religious schools. The US has allowed soldiers in the Afghanistan army to have sex with boys since it is their cultural and religious rite/right! Of course the glaring contradiction is the Islamic ban against homosexuality, including beheading and/or stoning to death. This latter sentence is given to women for adultery, but not men. Such gender discrimination is obviously the product of the patriarchal society. Alas, this entire discussion is about the myth/rituals embedded in patriarchal culture and socialization.
We say Harvey is Everyman because almost every man is socialized in patriarchal culture!
No matter than many of our children are raised in matrifocal households, i.e., mother in authority, she is herself a victim of patriarchal mythology and socialization and thus either consciously or unconsciously transmits this culture to her sons and daughters. When she tells her son to be a man, what is she talking about except the patriarchal definition of manhood. The problem today is that when the son is so violently hostile to his absent and abandoned father, he often emulates the feminine behavior of his mother, verbally and physically in hand gestures and gait, and yet we heard this from a young man at a recovery meeting of men, "Let me say this, some of my friends you might think are gay but they are not gay, they just sound gay because they have never heard a man's voice!"
It is not simply a matter of pathology with men of power, after all, we grew up powerless in the hood yet engaging in gang rape we called "pulling a train on a bitch." And this occurred every Sunday at the movie theatre, sometimes behind the screen while the film was showing, then afterward as we crossed the tracks going home, literally on or near the freight trains. This was a cultural phenomena that seemed absolutely normal to us, as normal as beating up Mexicans in the movie house men's restroom during intermission, not because we hated Latinos but because they were a reasonable facsimile of the white boy who would/did not attend White's Theatre that was for blacks and Latinos only. Few whites went to White's Theatre!
But the sociology of sexual pathology was pervasive in our young adult male/female relationships, after all, did we not own our mates and they owned us, thus a perfect prescription for violence upon any violation of chattel (personal, i.e., sexual) property rights/rites.
Of course this madness continued into our marriage rites, especially after sexual rites/rights were codified with death do us part! In the patriarchal social psychology, men were absolutely convinced they now owned the pussy and must have it at their beck and call. The wife had no choice in this matter since the man was paying the cost to be the boss, yes, he was paying his pussy bill, thus he owned the pussy and could go in and out as he pleased, no matter if and when the poor wife cried, "Can you let my pussy rest for 24 hours, just 24 hours, Baby, please let my pussy rest!"
His response was the Cave Man Supreme, "Bitch, you better hurry up and give me some of your good pussy! I don't want to hear bout yo pussy need a rest!"
Por favor, let us go global with this madness: we pray for the women of the world at this hour. In this entire discussion, we are tempered by the fact we have three daughters and now granddaughters, not to mention we have six sisters, and most importantly, the mothers of my children, who themselves were victims of my patriarchal madness. I bow down in praise to the wonderful mothers of my children, Patricia, Barbara and Nisa, and the other women partners in my life who endured my psycho-pathology that sometimes became physical. I know I am truly blessed to have been in relationship with some of the most beautiful, spiritual and intelligent women any man could want on this earth!. I give honor and praise to all the women in my life! They were all angelic, if anything, I was the devil!
Ok, I am known for glaring generalizations, hyperbole, but in truth, we know every man is not Harvey, that there are many men who've never contemplated the imaginings of Harvey and his ilk, but surely we know men of power throughout the world have enacted Harvey's ritual of sexual impropriety at every possible moment, whether in the arts, academia, religion, corporation, fraternity, home life or any other social situation.
--continued
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Mythology of
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2017
The Mythology of Pussy and Dick, Expanded Version, Contents
Harvey Weinstein and the Mythology of Pussy and Dick by Marvin X
The matter of sexual improprieties transcends patriarchal culture, race and gender into pure power relationships between human beings. Yes, sexual improprieties are pervasive in the arts, academia, the corporate workplace, in all religions and every other social institution and/or environment. As per Hollywood and the casting couch, let us be honest, Hollywood is not the only villain, but all the arts: even in the Black Arts Movement, and alas, in the Black Liberation Movement, such sexual improprieties were pervasive, and I repeat, in academia as well, including Black studies, along with all other academic studies.When I taught English at a certain university and a student complained to my dean, and after I denied all charges, the dean made me agree to have sexual encounters with grad students only, leave the freshman girls alone. She noted that I had been under surveillance and was observed in a restaurant having dinner with the freshman student who complained about my sexual behavior as an instructor.
As a writer, director, producer, actor and lecturer and visiting professor in academia, I took full advantage of my position saturated in male privilege. If Harvey Weinstein is guilty, let me be hyperbolic: so is every man. As I examine global patriarchal culture, I conclude men are predators, women are prey. In war, we know men are expendable and disposable but women are booty or spoils of war.
But as I said at the outset, sexual domination transcends gender. We have known gay men in theatre who demanded sexual liberties with young gay actors or said in classical language, demanded the young brothers join them on the casting couch. And don't think for a moment lesbian women in the arts do not take full advantage of their power positions as per young females, demanding sexual improprieties for career advancement. Of course this madness goes on in the corporate workplace.
The American South has a sordid history of black women performing sexual acts to keep their jobs, alas, with full knowledge of their husbands! As they say in Houston, Texas, "You better AX somebody!" And not to put this madness on the "Dirty South," years ago Jet Magazine (the Negro Bible), revealed a great percentage of Black women confessed to having sex with the boss on the job!
This entire matter is about power and privilege, not gender, although in the majority global patriarchal culture, men are the villains, though other genders are on the rise. Again, this is a global pandemic that encompasses all religions, no matter Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Yoruba, Hindu, et al. Certainly, we must note the pedophilia in the Catholic church, Muslim madrassas, Yoruba manhood training rites, etc. It is well known America allows Afghanistan soldiers to have sexual relations with young boys as a cultural rite.
And it well known 30% of USA soldiers are victims of rape, alas, male and female! I asked a former female member of the US Army, why and how was she violated since she was armed when she was raped, she replied, "We are not trained to retaliate!"
So the Mythology of Pussy and Dick continues and no solution is in sight as long as the patriarchal culture dominates, and again, it is quite doubtful the matriarchal culture will deconstruct this abomination. Alas, did not Hillary Clinton, socalled champion of women's rights, defend her husband's sexual improprieties and try to destroy the women he debased? So much for the feminine mystique!
Without the total destruction of mythological religiosity in all spiritual institutions, along with the deconstruction of white supremacy capitalism and its newborn babe globalism that transcends racism, pathological sexual relations shall persist! There is a light at the end of the tunnel: women will soon be able to drive in Saudi Arabia!
--Marvin X/El Muhajir
10/10/17
Mythology of
Pussy and Dick
Collected prose and poetic writings on
the Mythology and Ritual of Sexuality
Marvin X
This book will be a great source by which young people can come to grips with their troubling sexuality. It will help move the internal conflicts from below the solar plexus to above the neck. For many young people, especially black men in their 20s and 30s, there is little more than hot amorphous vapor in that region. So-called urban lit is their bible in coming to grips with the violent urgings of their penis. I used to conceal my own risings with a jock strap. It took me sometime to train myself to sit still: running after a woman, any attractive woman, was an addictive impact on the soul. Your teachings in this matter is a kind of how-to book, much needed within our oppressed communities where inordinate violence is turned within, on our women, on our children, and our reckless unfulfilled manhood.
--Rudolph Lewis, Editor, Chickenbones.com
Comment
Brother and comrade Marvin,
As an artist i.e. truth teller-trail blazer you have always been cutting edge both in what you lived, experienced and the naked truth you bare in "emptying of Spirit out of itself" (as Hegel would put it) as did Trane's Offering. Very rare, and whether we all recognize it now or not we are fortunate to witness such openness and honesty, though it makes the smug uncomfortable in their fake comforts; show is the unessential masquerading as essential and therefore art as truth ripping off masks is often seen as dangerous expose.
I was reading Delores Nochi's Introduction to your new contribution, Mythology of Pussy and Dick: Toward Healthy Psychosocial Sexuality, and thinking of what she observed:
"Mythology of Pussy and Dick is a compilation of everything Marvin X has written on sexuality in America and the world. There are those who will miss this opportunity to receive wisdom from our brother because of the language he uses to describe the male and female anatomy, and his perceived objectification of women and men, and this is a tragedy because this information is crucial for men and women who are suffering from a psycho-linguistic crisis and inflicting actual violence upon lovers in their male/female and same gender loving relationships. These dysfunctional interactions are witnessed by children who are the next generation of couples...."
I agreed with her and at the same time recalled the fate of those who preceded you in this undertaking - for instance the social scientist and psychologist Wilhelm Reich e.g. The Function of the Orgasm, Sexual Revolution and Sex-Pol [he was thrown into an American federal prison and his books burned in 1956, he died in an American prison in 1957 http://en.wikipedia/wiki/Book_burning#Wilhelm_Reich.27s_publications_.28by_U.S._Food_and_Drug_Administration.29
Also I thought of Lenny Bruce: Bruce served in the navy during World War II (1942-45) and began performing stand-up comedy in 1946. As he gained popularity in New York night clubs, his brand of comedy shifted from impersonations to free-wheeling monologues satirizing religion and politics. He released several comedy albums and appeared occasionally on TV, especially as a guest of Steve Allen and Hugh Hefner. In 1961 he was arrested after a performance in San Francisco and charged with obscenity. Bruce was acquitted, but for the next few years he was frequently in trouble with the law for using raw language on stage -- a no-no back then. In 1964 he was convicted of obscenity in New York and jailed for a few months (in 2003 Governor George Pataki posthumously pardoned him). http://www.answers.com/topic/lenny-bruce .
Delores' take on the depth and honest language of your work also made me remember the radical 60s and the writings of early contemporary feminists, such as the analysis of sexual biology by Anne Koedt The Myth of Vaginal Orgasm http://www.uic.edu/orgs/cwluherstory/CWLUArchive/vaginalmyth.html
But more directly your artistic style and the Avante-Garde revolutionary love and rebellion poetry and music of Archie Shepp - in particular his Blase http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpE9SN81H6E
So! Your latest contribution here is evidence that the struggle continues! Thanks and stay strong!
Lil Joe
Introduction
Delores Nochi
Mythology of Pussy and Dick is a compilation of everything Marvin X has written on psychosocial sexuality in America and the world: domestic and partner violence, rape, honor killings, stoning of women, female genital circumcision, sexual anorexia, verbal and emotional abuse, manhood and womanhood rites of passage. There are those who will miss this opportunity to receive wisdom from our brother because of the language he uses to describe the male and female anatomy, his perceived objectification of women and men, and this is a tragedy because this information is crucial for men and women who are suffering a psycho-linguistic crisis and inflicting actual violence upon lovers in their male/female and same gender loving relationships. These dysfunctional interactions are witnessed by children who are the next generation of couples.They will emulate what they see elders enact.
The same people who dare judge his choice of words, his linguistic dexterity, are guilty of lingering in the comfort of their bedrooms watching shows on big screen TVs that depict graphic details of violence perpetrated against others, especially women, yet they call it entertainment. If children learn more from what they see than what we tell them, how will they process and act upon the continued sexual chaos that is manifested in our families and society?
The author has proven himself to be a leader and a teacher who has the best interest of the community at heart. Not only does he teach almost daily at his Academy of Da Corner, 14th and Broadway, downtown Oakland, but often on national book tours, speaking at such colleges and universities as Morehouse, Spelman, Howard, University of Arkansas, University of Virginia, Penn State, Temple University, Medgar Evers College, San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley, Laney and Merritt in Oakland. He speaks truth with language that can be understood by the least of us and the best of us. His credentials includes brief tenure at Fresno State University , 1969, University of California , Berkeley , 1972, Mills College , 1972, San Francisco State University , 1974, University of California , San Diego , 1975, University of Nevada , Reno , 1979.
He embraced the system and defied the system! Oriented in the Muslim tradition of polygamy or plural marriage (see his play In the Name of Love, Laney College Theater production 1981); he has conquered his own demons and held his own with associated intellectuals and psychopaths.See his memoir of Eldridge Cleaver: My friend the Devil, Black Bird Press, Berkeley, 1979.
We all have war stories about relationships gone bad. The difference between Marvin X and the rest of us is that Marvin X has lived what he is writing about, survived it and is willing to talk about it, and holds nothing back, narrated in language that will grab your attention and cause an epileptic seizure!.Each story is rich with commentary which speaks to society’s attitudes about male/ female relationships: rape, athletes, toxic love, crack house sex, women without men, language of love, religious persecution of women (a woman stoned); gay and lesbian youth, same sex marriage, and much more…
His parables are ingenious commentary about events in real time. If you are a follower of his blogs, then you know with each daily entry he not only provides us with happenings locally and nationally, but walks us through events from a historical and global perspective.See www.blackbirdpressnews.blogspot.com and www.parablesandfablesofmarvinx.blogspot.com.
Marvin X has chosen to sensitize our society by using words like pussy and dick. Language is fluid and if its primary use is communication, and if through words one fails to hit the target, then what is the point? It may be that the author is before his time, and in future generations, pussy and dick will become words of endearment, not relegated to the present negative connotations. Perhaps it will become a mantra chanted over and over as a pre-sex ritual. Why not? Lord knows we could use some more effective ways to get beyond reckless abandonment.
In his essay, The Maid, the Ho, the Cook, Marvin X demonstrates his tender side. Lil Joe describes this story as “One of the most beautiful pieces about real love I’ve ever read. The image of ‘crack-heads’ as scandalous and without human dignity is destroyed by Marvin’s recollection of this sister with whom he fell in love”. Because the object of MX’s affection is a whore, there are those, and you know who you are, who will lose the essence of this story which addresses real feelings and real interactions between a man and a woman. Perhaps, you have only loved when it was safe to do so. But all of us who have loved surely know that passion and feelings can at times be both spontaneous and unsolicited.
Is Marvin X the only courageous one among us who dares to “tell the truth and shame the devil”?
--Delores Nochi Cooper
Foreword
Sexuality is determined by biology and social psychology. In the socialization of humans, mythology plays a critical role in manhood and womanhood training rites. Mythology lies in the deep structure of the mental process, yet mythical notions, stories, tales, ideas, values are clearly present in the surface structure of human behavior. Ritual behavior is simply the enactment of mythology, the stories of the tribe, the values, mores, manners, morals. Myths prescribe the acceptable and the forbidden , the sacred and the profane.
Of course the Shaman often transcends tribal mythology to extend the narrative, take it to a higher level, much like a Coltrane solo, or a Miles Davis tune, connected to the past but very much into the present and future, the unknown, into the space of fear and dread, and yet it is beautiful, if we go there with Trane, Miles, Dolphy and my mentor and associate, Sun Ra. So mythology must be fluid, dynamic. There comes a time when old myths must be discarded, thrown into the dustbin of history. And so it is with the patriarchy or myth of male domination.
In the patriarchal or male dominated society, men are taught they own women, that women are their personal property or chattel real, as opposed to real estate, i.e., land, buildings. Isn't it ironic that a people who are descendants of chattel slaves would continue in the tradition upon liberation, that they would perpetuate relationship slavery, i.e., marriage, girlfriend, boyfriend.
I don't want to own nobody and surely don't want anyone to own me. Imagine, the other day a brother said, "My pussy is at home!" We tried to tell him, first of all, he doesn't have a pussy, his woman has a pussy, so his pussy ain't at home. And imagine when he arrives home and "his pussy" is gone. When he locates "his pussy" will he be happy, sad, angry, violent, for why wasn't his pussy at home, why did it leave, or does it have the right to leave? Maybe the sister was with her friends, telling them, "Damn, ya'll, I got to go home to give that nigguh some pussy." They reply, "Girl, you ain't gotta do that, that's yo pussy, girl!"
In this atmosphere, women can be verbally, emotionally and physically and sexually abused. They can be beaten and killed for violating the man's so-called ownership of their bodies, minds and souls.
Clearly, there is absolutely no difference in a woman stoned to death in a Muslim society and shot to death in a Christian society because of her supposed adultery and/or infidelity. Of course, these days women are shooting the men to death for their freedom of expression or socalled sexual transgressions.
The man is more often than not afforded hero status in Muslim and Christian society for executing "honor killings" because he was disrespected by "his" woman. These days women are exercising their right to retaliate on the man for his indiscretions since marriage myths and rites suggest ownership by both parties, though man has the ultimate authority in the patriarchal society.
Women are now attending court mandated anger management classes and receiving convictions for assault and/or homicide in the name of love. Tina asked what does love have to do with it? I ask, what kind of love is this--and if this is love I don't want it! I lost an eye in a "loving" relationship.
If we are to move toward healthy psychosocial sexuality, we must examine the myths we live by. We may discover these myths are toxic, reactionary and detrimental to our psychosocial health. We may need to transform and/or radicalize these myths/rituals.
In the present era of spiritual consciousness, we cannot behave as cave men and women. We cannot continue rearing little cave children whose behavior befits the Stone Age, bereft of compassion, willing to kill at the drop of a hat because someone dissed them, especially their girlfriend who gave up "her pussy" to a friend or stranger.
We must jump out of the box of ignorance, jealousy, envy, religiosity, narrow mindedness, insecurity and the world of make believe. We do not own other human beings. This is called slavery by any word. Partners, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, must dispel and discard mythical notions of ownership and domination.
Our bodies are the temple of God, not the property of another. No attachments but to God! We are slaves or servants of God, Abdullah (we are all Abdullah, the servant of God). This is the attitude of radical spiritual consciousness. No one owns us but God. Our life and death are for God. We are thus free to do as we will since we exist in God and God exists in us. We are indivisible from God, thus we are God, we are Divine. Man is divine, woman is divine. We are equal beings in the temple of God and the temple of God is the universe, and all in creation is of God, by God and for God.
If you desire to surrender yourself to your beloved, this is your rite/right. In love, it is indeed all for the beloved, love is the annihilation of self for the beloved. Yes, we lose our "self" in the beloved. In my play One Day in the Life, Karima says, "I sacrificed everything for you, but you blew it buddy, I'm through with you!"
We pray you shall do the will of God in your relationships. If you don't, no one can judge you but God, especially the God in you or the self accusing spirit! Certainly, no one has the right to beat or kill you, stone you to death, shoot you in the head. Nor does anyone have the right to verbally or emotionally abuse you because of your behavior that may, from time to time, cross the line of propriety. And as per sexual transgressions, pussy and dick ain't nothing but a muscle, so why are you tripping over flesh, a muscle?
Your pussy belongs to you, your dick belongs to you and you alone. It is attached to you, not your boyfriend, girlfriend, partner, husband, wife, lover, trick! Human beings are subject to do anything during the course of a day, and you are free to do so. Vows of fidelity must be thrown into the dustbin of history, along with Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, and the return of a dead man after two thousand years.
If you persist in your wretchedness, ignorance and world of make believe that you own someone's pussy and dick, your mental health shall suffer along with the general condition of society that is rapidly heading to the precipice as we write. The mental hospitals, prisons and jails shall remain full of those partner abusers guilty of assault and/or homicide.
We urge you to free yourself from the prison of your mind based on primitive mythological notions of ownership and domination. Indeed, love the one ya wit, but you don't own them. You can't force them to do anything.
Why can't we just get along, Rodney King asked? Why can't we love and be loved in return? Why must we be ugly to each other, especially in the name of love? Why can't we love without the negativity? Why must we hurt the one we love, and yet, as Dr. Nathan Hare says, there can be no master without one willing to be the slave. Just as I cannot love you unless you allow me to love you, I cannot hurt you unless you allow me to hurt you.
Love begins with self love. If and when you don't love yourself, you cannot love someone else. You can fake the funk for a time. But if you don't know yourself, you cannot know your partner and mate. You can be with them twenty, thirty and forty years, but you don't know them. This is why couples break up after ten, twenty, thirty years together. They never knew each other, they were faking the funk, but the funk caught up with them. Yes, there was abuse because in their ignorance they first abused themselves, then abused their mate or partner simply because they never followed their own bliss or purpose as Joseph Campbell taught us. Nancy Wilson said, "I Never Been To Me!"
Indeed, life is about getting to the real you, your mission and purpose. When you cannot achieve this, in your frustration, you are bound to oppress and dominate your mate and those you love. Sadly, you have been programmed by the American or Western mythology of Christianity and Capitalism. You are thus the man and woman in the box. You may deny you are in the box, yet your very existence , and clearly your behavior with your mate is evidence you are inside the box of Christianity and Capitalism. In short, you are a slave, albeit a free slave, but a slave none the less. In turn, you desire to enslave your mate and children--Capitalism has programmed you to desire cheap trinkets, things and more things, conspicuous consumption, materialism, the world of make believe.
Yet with your materialism, you have not followed your bliss, you are totally devoid of spiritual consciousness. You may be religious, yet your practice of religion is a desire for prosperity that would be alien to Mary's baby! You do not desire to liberate the captives, help the poor, the broken hearted, the hungry, the homeless. You are arrogant and wicked wearing your rocks, animal skins and plastic clothes. Yet you are not happy, nor is your mate. Even your children are little assholes, ungrateful bastards!
You hide the pain by medicating yourself with drugs, sex, video and internet games, religiosity and other escapism from your life of nothingness and dread.
We pray one day you shall awaken and throw off the chains on your brain, throw off the oppressive mythology of Christianity and Capitalism, or any other oppressive religion, including Islam, or any ideology that promotes pie in the sky or other worldism, escapism from facing reality with a radical agenda that is about seizing power from the blood suckers of the poor, the global bandits who promote the world of make believe.
How can you be at peace with yourself and your mate while you enjoy the benefits of a society that spends a trillion dollars per year to commit mass murder around the world to perpetuate a world of make believe, to keep people deaf, dumb and blind, consuming trinkets that send them directly to Yacoub's workers: the doctor, nurse and undertaker.
It is this mythological psychosocial order that has you drunk with thinking you must own and oppress somebody, especially those you supposedly love and cherish. Jump out of the box--free yourself, your mate and your children. Strive toward a radical spirituality that oppresses no one, but frees everyone. Love should not be slavery. Free your mind, free your mate, free humanity.
--Marvin X
9/9/10
Contents
Preface
Introduction
Foreword
Acknowledgment
Myth Defined
What is Love
Part One: Mythology of Pussy and Dick
Tiger Woods
Don’t say Pussy
Insanity of Sex
HIV/AIDS
Dick Slaves
Black Woman’s Tit KOs America
Sex
Sex and Race
The White Woman
In Search of My Soul Sister
Gender Studies at Academy of Da Corner
Part Two: Marriage and Family
You Don’t Know Me
Monogamy
Polygamy
Polyandry
The Other Woman
Men
For the Men
Women
For the Women
Parable of Value
Parable of a Real Woman
Parable of the Pit Bull
Parable of Woman at the Well
Parable of Woman in the Box
Parable of the Bitter Bitch
Children
Youth
Memorial Day (for young brothers)
Poem for Young Mothers
Parable of Family
Parable of the Baby Carriage
Parable of the Old Lovers
Part Three: Rape and Violence
Parable of Rape
VIP Nigguhs and Rape
Woman Stoned to Death
Confession of a Wife Beater
Parable of a Gangsta
Parable of the Dick and Gun
A Pan African Love Story
Toxic Love
Part Four: Prostitution
Same Sex Marriage, Straight Men and Prostitution
Negro Psychosocial Sexuality in the Post-Crack Society
Crack House Sex
The Maid, the Ho, the Cook
Pay the Ho to Go
Fillmore Slim on Pimpin
Part Five: Gay/Lesbian
Same Sex Marriage and Black Liberation
Love Letter to Gay and Lesbian Youth
Parable of Women without Men
Fable of Rooster and Hen
Part Six: Creativity and Sexuality
Poetically Gay
Poetic Sexuality
Poetics of Love
Part Seven: Reviews
Wounded in the House of a Friend, Sonia Sanchez
Political and Sexual Anorexia, Dr. Julia Hare
Mama at Twilight, Ayodele Nzingha
Bathroom Graffitti Queen, Opal Palmer Adisa
How to Find a BMW (Black Man Working), Dr. Julia Hare
Conclusion
Toward the Language of Love
Parable of the Moment
Parable of Letting Go
Reconciliation
Joy and HappinessOrder your copy from Black Bird Press, Call 510-200-4164 mxjackmon@gmail.com
400 pages, $50.00
Original 18 page pamphlet: $5.00