The Invasion of Compulsory Sex-Morality

In this volume, Wilhelm Reich calls for an end to sexual repression, and he asks how we came to organize ourselves into societies in which such repression is enforced. He finds in Malinowski's _The Sexual Lives of Savages_ a description of how man deals with sexuality prior to the establishment and enforcement of compulsory sex-morality; and he likes what he sees. In the course of his book, he treats us to lengthy selections from Malinowski. The matrilineal Trobriand Islanders are depicted as free from the Western conflict between father and son, because in their society the maternal uncle takes on the functions of the Western father. The result is a society free of perversion and sex crime. And yet, even the Trobriand Islanders are in danger of destroying their paradise. The chief imposes the institution of cross-cousin marriage on his sons and their wives-to-be, thereby enhancing his own material wealth. The participants in these arranged marriages do not enjoy the freedoms accorded the other children. The other foundation of Reich's book comes into play at this point, Frederick Engels' _The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State_. Reich uses his sources in combination with his own insights to expose the reason for compulsory sex-morality in Western societies. Compulsory sex-morality, and its denial of adolescent and pre-adolescent sexuality and enforcement of marriage, exists to establish and perpetuate the wealth, privilege and power of an elite. This book was burned at the behest of the FDA in 1956 as "labeling" for Reich's orgone accumulating devices. Reich was sent to prison in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where he died in 1957. The book is well-written, thought-provoking, and loaded with pointers to relevant literature. It is available once more, although it is out-of-print at the moment. I highly recommend it.