Guest guest Posted March 11, 2003 Report Share Posted March 11, 2003 Wilhelm Reich has given one of the most interesting analyses of the psychological processes involved in the reproduction of authoritarian civilizations. Reich said that, far from being of divine origin, moral codes are derived from the educational measures used by our parents, the most effective of these being the ones opposed to childhood sexuality. By studying Bronislaw Malinowsli's research on the Trobriand Islanders, a matriarchy in which children's sexual behaviour was not repressed and in which neuroses and perversions as well as authoritarian institutions were almost non-existent, he came to the conclusion that patriarchy and authoritarianism originally began when society was stratified into ruling and subordinate clans based on wealth. The suppression of natural sexuality creates various anti-social drives which also have to be suppressed through the imposition of a compulsive morality, which took the place of the natural self- regulation that one finds in pre-patriarchal societies. Sex began to be regarded as "dirty", "diabolical" and "wicked"; which it had indeed become through the creation of secondary drives. ``…the primary basis of authoritarian ideology consists in depriving the women, children, and adolescents of their sexual freedom, making a commodity of sex and placing sexual interests in the service of economic subjugation…`` Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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