This surprise bestseller from Canada traces the groups and individuals who are
part of a timeless phenomenon that transcends culture and religion.
Joan of Arc was one. So was Sir Isaac Newton. A monk vows to be one. A prisoner has no choice. History tells of many avowed celibates, and today's society reflects a renewed interest in celibacy. But what caused -- and still causes -- people to give up sex, the very activity that drives, fascinates, troubles, and delights the rest of us?
Elizabeth Abbott's spirited and provocative exploration of celibacy debunks the traditionally held notion that celibacy is a predominantly religious concept of little concern to the secular world. With myriad examples, Abbott's lively history reveals insights not only about our religious practices but also about our sexual desires and changing attitudes toward gender and physical health.
From the vestal virgins of ancient Rome, who were entombed alive if they broke their vows, to contemporary athletes, who "conserve semen" to enhance their game, from celibacy as a guarantee for marriage to involuntary celibacy among prisoners, eunuchs, and young women cloistered against their will, Abbott puts a human face on celibacy, capturing the anguish of the castrated boy destined for an operatic career, the ecstasy of the woman whose celibacy is rewarded by visions of Christ, and the anger of the bachelor doomed by the surplus of males in contemporary China.
What didn't happen in the bedrooms of history, and why? Through stories of individual lives -- fascinating, vital, and real -- A History of Celibacy tells all.
Joan of Arc was celibate. So was Sir Isaac Newton. What causes people to give up sex? Abbott's provocative and entertaining exploration of celibacy through the ages debunks traditional notions about celibacy--a practice that reveals a lot about our sexual desires and drives.
Contents
Author's Note
Introduction: Considering Celibacy
Chapter 1: Divine Pagan Celibacy
Greek Myths
Athena, Artemis, and Hestia
Mythical Virgins
Greek Literature
Hippolytus Opposes Love
Lysistrata's Ultimatum
Classical Rituals
Thesmophoria
Cult of Isis
Oracle of Delphi
Special Virgins
Vestal Virgins
Pagan and Jewish Asceticism
The Influence of Greek Philosophy
The Essenes Prepare for Armageddon
Chapter 2: Early Christianity
Origins
A Tale of Two Women
Martyrdom Toughens the New Religion
The Second Coming
Hail Mary? The Progressive Virginities of the Holy Mother
Encratites and Gnostics Boycott the Womb
Give Me Chastity...but Not Yet
Unconventional Virgins
Church Mothers
Female Transvestite Monks
Bearded Female Saints
Celibacy Out in the Desert
The Desert Fathers' New Alphabet of the Heart St. Simeon's Chastity at Sixty Feet High Marrying "the True Man"
Chapter 3: Later Christianity
Celibacy and Clerics
Medieval Eastern Monasteries
Western Monasteries
Martin Luther on Nocturnal Emissions
Celibacy One, Lust Zero
To Wed or Not to Wed
Apostolic Women
Begin the Beguine
Women Out of This World
Mary Ward, Who Was "But a Woman"
Brides of Christ
Catherine of Siena
Hildegard of Bingen Frowns on Fasting
Mohawk Saint Kateri Tekakwitha
Committed Sisters
Convents of Joy
Unwilling Nuns
Shotgun Celibacy
An Unwilling Nun's Love Cut Short
Secular Celibates and Agape Love
The Shakers
Father Divine
Chapter 4: Other Major Religions and Rites
Hinduism
Shiva, Erotic and Celibate God
Celibacy in Stages
Modern Celibacy in Sannyasi Orders
The Daughters of Brahma
Buddhism
Buddha and His Precepts
Men and Women of the Monasteries
Jainism
Ritual Celibacy
Celibacy Charms Shamans
Virgin Priestesses of the Sun
Sex-Positive Religions: Judaism and Islam
Judaism
Islam
Chapter 5: Celibacy to Conserve Semen
Totus Homo Semen Est
Conserving the Vital Life Force
Davy Crockett and the Male Purity Movement
John Harvey Kellogg's Diet to Cure Sex
The Power of Semen in Sports
The Greeks Train Sound Minds in Chaste Bodies
The Victorians Exercise Muscular Christianity
The Cherokees Play Ball
Today's Chaste Athletes
Indian Wrestlers
Brahmacharya and the Power of Semen
Celibate Selflessness
Gandhi's Women
Semen as Patriotic Elixir
Chapter 6: Female Celibacy Transcends Gender
Cross-Dressing for Military Success
Joan of Arc
A Crow Nation Gender-Bender
Amazons of Old Dahomey
Defying the Natural Order
Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen
Florence Nightingale
Chastity with an Agenda
British Spinsters Strike against Sex
Spinsters United
Sexology versus "the Stinging Weapon of Death"
Chapter 7: Celibacy as Womanly Duty
Celibacy as a Guarantee for Marriage
Chaste Brides Guarantee Paternity
Virgins and Disgraced Maidens
Testing for Maidenheads
Exceptional Aztec and Enga Virgin Bachelors
That Pesky Double Standard
Harlots for Hire
Outraged Women Demand Chaste Men
A Five-Pound Virgin Tips the Scales of Justice
White Women, Black Men
Aids to Chastity
Chastity Belts
Female Genital Mutilation
Bound Feet
Chapter 8: Abstaining in a Good Cause
No Loving, No Baby
Postpartum Abstinence
Granny Time Ends Sex
Voluntary Motherhood
Chapter 9: Coerced Celibacy
Involuntary Celibacy
Doing Celibate Time
Vestal Virgins of St. Petersburg
Celibacy in Mao's Cultural Revolution
Celibacy in a Crowded Marriage
Celibate Victims of Skewed Gender Ratios
Widowed Celibacy
Chaste Hindu Widowhood
Suttee as the Ultimate Chastity Belt
Castrated Celibacy
Eunuchs in Greek Mythology
Chinese Eunuchism as a Career Opportunity
Byzantine Eunuch Paradise
Black African Eunuchs of the Ottoman Empire
The Hijras of India
The Castrati of the Opera
Castration to Punish Offenders
Chapter 10: Celibacy to Repress Unconventional or Sorrowful Sexuality
Leonardo da Vinci Avoids Prison
Lewis Carroll Allays Suspicion
John Ruskin Shuns Repellent Sex
Sir Isaac Newton Mends a Broken Heart
Boston Marriages Celebrate Romantic Friendship
Chapter 11: Impotent Celibacy
Unwelcome Celibacy
Limp as Yesterday's Lettuce
Testing for Impotence in Prerevolutionary France
Celibacy in Response to Vaginismus
You Can Be Too Thin: Anorexic Celibacy
Chapter 12: Celibacy in Literature
Courtly, Ennobling, and Unrequited Love
Milton and the Chaste Lady
Pamela, Shamela
Tolstoy's Kreutzer Sonata
Judith Shakespeare
Garp's Mother
Vampire Celibacy, Medium Rare
Chapter 13: The New Celibacy
Shrinking Cloisters
Vatican Decrees Celibacy a Brilliant Jewel
Misogynous Exceptions to the Papal Rule of Celibacy
Catholic Priests Vote with Their Feet
The Third Way of Sophistry and Cheating
Divorce à la Catholic Church
The Bleeding
New Age Monasticism
Celibacy as an Undivided Heart
The Power Virgins
True Love Waits
Young People's Movement
Reborn Chastity
Lesbian Celibacy versus Lesbian "Bed Death"
Celibacy in the Age of AIDS
Sex and AIDS
Celibacy and AIDS
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index