Sublime

But if a man was not up to this level of heroism and self-denial, if he did not possess what the Church called ‘the gift of continency’, then he might marry; it was better to marry than to burn. But it was seen as a concession for the weak.

In total, 20 sex therapists were interviewed, a group consisting of 11 men and nine women.

Sex is as much or more of an energetic event as it is a physical experience.

For the reasons enumerated above and below, participants recruited for this study consisted of (1) individuals over the age of 60 who had been in a relationship for 25 years or more, (2) self-identified members of sexual minority groups and (3) sex therapists.

In reality, none of us approaches sex as we are meant to, with the cheerful, sporting, non-obsessive, clean, loyal, well-adjusted outlook that we convince ourselves is the norm. We are universally eccentric around sex, but only in relation to some highly and cruelly distorted ideals of normality.