Apr 22 2009
Male Seed and Sacred Wombs
“Wild female chimpanzees copulate more frequently with males who share meat with them over long periods of time.” (21)
Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. (Exodus 1:4-5)
When working at my desk I sometimes listen to Internet radio. This moment it is a blues station: KOQX out of San Jose, CA. Just a few moments ago the lyrics to one song “rang a bell.” The female voice sang the chorus, “You can take my husband, but please don’t take my man.” In the verses I learned that while the husband only fed the wife rice and beans, her lover, her “man,” took her out for lobster and such.
Is the way to a woman’s heart through her stomach? Or, perhaps, is through her stomach the way to a woman’s womb? Proximally, the male interest in females is all about sexual pleasure. Just as eating feels good. But is that “the” reason we eat? Similarly, we allegedly sexually-obsessed primates are this way not for purely hedonistic reasons. Unseen behind the observable events are the evolutionary pragmatic drives and reward. Via sex, a male plants his “seed” in a womb. And a womb is the only place that seed will grow. (Yes, semen is not seed. At least not to the modern mind).
Until a Petri dish will do the trick, and perhaps a sufficient number of generations pass, males will likely continue to be obsessed with females. For their wombs. Why? A womb is THE door to human life. The same door serves both males and females. It is the only portal to the continued prosperity of your genes. And while females can exert more direct control over the portal to the next generation, males will do what they can to influence and control the gate-keeper.
Why do religions in general and the Bible particularly seem so preoccupied with sex? Because it matters. Perhaps more than anything. But sex is only one element of the real issue — procreation. But not all procreation is acceptable. That is why you will find seemingly contradictory passages in the Bible.
Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. (Genesis 1:28)
For the LORD had closed up every womb in Abimelech’s household. (Genesis 20:18)
Examining Bible teachings as they pertain to sex we find -
According to 1 Corinthians 6:9, the “sexually immoral” will not enter the kingdom of heaven. There is good sex and there is bad.
What about the Bible’s “Song of Solomon”? Does it represent sexual behavior of the good variety or bad? In it you will find mildly erotic writings about carnal desire.
[The man's perspective] Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon . . . . your mouth is lovely. . . .Your two breasts are like two fawns, like twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies. How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! . . . . How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue. (Song of Solomon 4)
[The woman's perspective:] My lover thrust his hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for him. (Song of Solomon 5)
It is believed that this section of the Bible is an erotic love poem. But hold on, it was “apparently composed to celebrate a wedding.” So the sex celebrated was of the good kind, right? But maybe not. For King “Solomon had numerous wives and was, presumably, and experienced lover.” (22)
Is it crass to suggest that males sing to convince women to allow them to plant their seed into a fertile womb? Do women sing as means of inviting men into “planting their seed”?
Of the two, seed and womb, one is much more expendable than the other. The spreading of seed may be prized, but only a womb is worth fighting over.
But again, the fruits of all wombs are not equal. The outcome of all sex, human or primate or of other species, is not always welcome. From the male perspective, fruit not planted by you or one of your loyal groupmates tends to be frowned upon if not outright rejected. A violent rejection takes the form of infanticide.
“Infanticide, therefore, is a sexually selected trait that enhances a male’s fitness, though at the expense of the fitness of one or more females. Not surprisingly, it occurs most often in sexually dimorphic, polygynous species, where male competition is intense and females find it difficult to defend themselves against a male’s attack. . . . Most immigrant males who rise to the alpha position commit infanticide.” (23)
Believe it or not, in the Bible we can find instances of condoned infanticide. (24)
How much do wombs matter? Throughout animal kingdom, males will battle almost to the death for access. Yes, they matter. For human beings they may not matter consciously. But our instincts may be another matter.
“A chimpanzee female is most fertile during the last two to three days of her monthly menstrual cycle, a time marked by dramatic ano-genital swelling. And for those two to three days aggressive competition among the males often becomes over-whelming, especially if the community’s alpha male is not supremely powerful.” (26)
Primates of all types have evolved strategies for getting and guarding wombs.
“Hamadryas are a feminist’s nightmare. Males attract females, often as young juveniles, who cuddle against the male’s silver cape and transfer their need for protection directly from mother to future mate. In adult life when a female is frightened, she runs directly to her overlord even if he is the one who threatened her. Males threaten and punish a female who strays near another male, biting her on the nape of the neck while she loudly screams.” (27)
And where two males can control a group better than one, male number two tends to get a reproductive kick-back:
“This was part of the deal: Nikkie [the chimpanzee] had the power, and Yeroen got a slice of the sexual pie.” (28)
Or, when seeking out-group females to plant their primate seed in:
“Because the distances are so great, single males cannot maintain exclusive access to a number of females. Instead, several males travel together over a large area and cooperate with each other against other males to protect their access to the large number of receptive females they engage.” (29)
The morale of this post? It’s the womb, stupid. And the Bible and monotheistic religions are rife tales of an almighty male very concerned about events behaviors that could influence the fruit of those wombs. (30)
Consider these two verses:
After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem. (2 Samuel 5:13)
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter-Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. (1 Kings 11:1-3)
It seems King Solomon had a bit of baboon to him. As did the foreign women he loved.
“DNA analysis of baboon and macaque reproductive success usually shows a correlation with the male hierarchy, but sometimes that is not clear at all. Instead, females often choose immigrant males who are, apparently, exciting because they are new.” (31)
In part, male xenophobia may be based on female sexual proclivities. Don’t let strange males into your community, for the women may mate with them. And you may not want to allow men of your group to mate with foreign women, for they may lead them away from the group.
Whether viewed from a male or female perspective, one of the major, recurrent themes in the Old Testament is this: Plant your seed but keep it pure.
We promise not to give our daughters in marriage to the peoples around us or take their daughters for our sons. (Nehemiah 10:30)
While success at sex and reproduction are very important, a group-living social species keeps an eye on who is in-group and who is not. Relationships are a resource in themselves.
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(21) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090407223640.htm
(22) Asimov, I., Asimov’s Guide to the Bible: The Old and New Testaments, Wing Books, New York, 1969, p. 518
(23) Cheney, D. L., & Seyfarth, R. M. Baboon Metaphysics: The Evolution of a Social Mind, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2007, p.47 & 58
(24) See these previous posts from my Almighty Alpha project — RP) God’s Love for His Own Children (Part I) ; RP) God’s Love for His Own Children (Part II) ; RP) Sexual Pride & Sexual Jealousy
(25) Wrangham, R. & Peterson, D. Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence, Houghton Mifflin, NY, 1996, p. 144
(26) Jolly, A. Lucy’s Legacy, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1999, p. 165
(27) de Waal, F. Our Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why We Are Who We Are, New York, Riverhead Books, 2005, p. 43
(28) Anne E. Pusey, “Of Genes and Apes: Chimpanzee Social Organization and Reproduction” in de Waal, F. B. M., (ed.), Tree of Origin: What Primate Behavior Can Tell Us About Human Social Evolution, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2001, p.16
(30) My androgenic perspective is the result of three things: 1. I am male. 2. hierarchical phenomena seems to be more of a male thing among primates, at least overtly. And sex and status do seem to be intertwined. 3. Bible writers were most likely male, so attempting to understand their “male nature” may shed light on the Bible itself.
(31) Jolly, A., 1999, p. 171
