Hi, Kat - these comments of yours were in the "Hummer" thread, but my response fits better into this one.

Annap, it's because, in the patriarchal world of old, and even of today in some places, enjoying sex was against the control of the church. It meant women, might choose to be free, instead of subservient wombs.
In all cases, the church wanted to have complete control of its "sheep", esp. the women. By making sex, for anything other than procreation, supposedly dirty, evil, and abhorrent, people lived in fear and under the thumb of their priest or church elders. Some still do.
Some are so rigidly into the only for procreation bit that they actually never experience the pleasure of it; they approach it as a necessary duty; then, if they are brave hypocrits, they fly in the face of their convictions and go have sex with a "filthy whore" without ever admitting any pleasure. All the while, their women at home remain "pure" in the eyes of them and their "lord".
The Puritans were great at such self-denial; effectively cutting themselves off from any physical pleasures. I believe our country still suffers from such a legacy.
katonasoapbox'causeitsalwaysbeenwonderfulforme,too!

Gee, Kat, it seems to me that you may have swallowed some propaganda. I guess you don't realize that what you've been saying over and over this week is full of bigotry against men and against traditional religious beliefs. There is truth in what you say, but you've taken it to an irrational extreme.
I can't believe that it's all that simple, that men and church were so totally evil in the "unenlightened" age of our ancestors. Certainly, there was sexism in our culture and in churches, but that does not totaly negate the value of the wisdom of the last two or three millennia.
In the past, there were many corrupt leaders in our culture and in our churches. Well, by golly, the same is true today. I think there may be something about the essence of leadership that invites corruption. Maybe it's because you often have to sell your soul, your ideals, to become a leader. On the other hand, many leaders in the past, and in the present, did not compromise their ideals or their integrity.
I believe there's a difference between the leaders and the thinkers in any organization or culture. It's the thinkers who maintain the ideals and who have the more profound effect on us. You sometimes have to look to find them, but every age and every culture has had inspired writing and thinking from both both women and men. It's the leaders who cause suffering - the thinkers give us hope. If you look at the sacred writings of most major religions that have endured though the ages, you will find much beauty and idealism and truth. Traditions endure because of the truth they embody. If your goddess beliefs provide a valuable and valid perspective on that same truth, then those beliefs will also endure the test of time. Religious beliefs that endure are those that express truth and love and beauty and a spirit of wonder for the mystery of life. When people do evil things in the name of religion, what they do is usually in direct contradition the the religious beliefs they claim to espouse.
Yes, it's true we are coming out of an age that was dominated by men. It's true that women suffered greatly in that age. Nonetheless, there were many men in that age who were good, loving husbands, fathers, and friends. There were many women in that age who overcame male domination and accomplished wonderful things - both on a large scale and within their families and communities. Women were oppressed, but they certainly were not powerless.
If you study literature, you will also find that there were women in past ages who had good sex.
So, I'm asking you to stop and think a moment, and don't be soo quick to condemn.
-Joe Offer-