Libidinous Celibacy

Silken on Sex #66: Celibacy has been in the news lately, and I don't just mean the pious form of celibacy. I'm talking grown women and men choosing celibacy as a form of their sexual self-expression. Yes, that's right: Celibacy is a form of sexual self-expression - it is possible to be celibate without being chaste. (Can you say masturbation boys and girls?) I am an advocate of the practice of libidinous celibacy. At first the juxtaposition of those two words would appear to be paradoxical, but I know from personal experience that such is not the case. A libidinous person may be someone who has lustful thoughts or is otherwise preoccupied with the drives of the libido...without necessarily acting upon them with a partner. Few adults can abstain from sexual intercourse (ie, be celibate) and not experience rising frustration at the sublimation of such a primitive and instinctual biological drive. As time passes, this biological drive manifests as a psychological one as well, and the mind becomes preoccupied with libidinous thoughts. Thus, the term libidinous celibacy is not an oxymoron, but an apothegm. About 5 years ago I found myself newly single. Newly single, and with more than a [...]