Over time, however, the inclusivity of the Kama Sutra also became victim to the “distortion” Mitra mentioned. It even says that if a man can pleasure a woman properly, his business will do better because she won’t spend your money needlessly, and that a man would even be a better warrior."ĭespite its ancient status, believe it or not, Vanita reveals that the text also addresses queer intimacy, even devoting a full chapter to same-sex desire. "They believed that if the woman was fully pleasured, sex would go on for longer in a marriage. The Kama Sutra section on sexuality "was designed to teach a man how to make sure that the woman was fully pleasured," says sex expert Seema Anand, author of The Arts of Seduction. The ancient text even teaches that men should prioritize a woman’s pleasure over their own, by focusing on making sure she climaxes before even thinking about their own orgasm. What else does the Kama Sutra say about sex and love?Ī document ahead of its time, the Kama Sutra offers some progressive perspectives on sexuality and love. and catalogues 64 heterosexual positions for sexual intercourse,” she shares. “It describes different types of kisses, love bites, scratches, etc. Even so, Vanita does say that the Kama Sutra gets pretty detailed when it comes to its sexual suggestions. " about the art of living and loving well and obtaining and maintaining the pleasures of life-including sex and love," confirms sex therapist Debra Laino, DHS. The Kama Sutra does address sex positions, but it’s really only in one section, points out Gigi Engle, a certified sex coach. It gives advice to people on how to enjoy the pleasures of life, including sex.” Vanita explains that the text also encourages people to engage in 64 different forms of art-like cooking, music, and even flower arrangement-to experience pleasure beyond the bedroom. “The Kama Sutra is divided into several chapters. It is the first erotic treatise in the world,” says Ruth Vanita, PhD, a professor of South and Southeast Asian studies at the University of Montana. The Kama Sutra is a 4th century Hindu text written in Sanskrit. “Kama means desire, and Kama Deva is the god of love and desire. While the Kama Sutra is way more than just a sexual guidebook, it’s important to note that it was really the first erotic text of its kind. So, if the Kama Sutra isn’t just the sexual playbook many sources in Western culture have touted it to be, then what exactly is it-and what can it teach us about sexuality, sensuality, and more? Below, experts explain what the ancient text is really all about. But, she adds, "Unfortunately, people still use these reductive, racist ideas to think about Indian sexuality in the past and present." The "distortion" of the book happened "in part because the first edition of Kama Sutra in English was done by colonial enthusiast-and Orientalist-Richard Burton in the late nineteenth century," she explains.īurton "wanted to create a fantasy for his English-speaking audience by portraying people of the East as hyper-sexual and unchanging, without history," notes Mitra. The original set of texts that became known as Kama Sutra "were actually about everything from urban living to statecraft, from perfumes to gardens," Mitra says. " Kama Sutra is a book of philosophy on ethics and aesthetics, never just an ancient text on sexual positions and sexual pleasure." and other parts of the western world," says Durba Mitra, PhD, an assistant professor of women, gender, and sexuality at Harvard University, and author of Indian Sex Life: Sexuality and the Colonial Origins of Modern Social Thought. "The Kama Sutra has been quite distorted in how it has circulated in translation in the U.S. The Kama Sutra, written by Indian philosopher Vatsyayana, has developed a reputation as the ultimate guidebook to what seems like every sex position ever-but the ancient Sanskrit text is so much more than a reference book for intricate genital gymnastics.
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