Comments on: Sensuous culture http://www.jackzen.com/2005/12/23/sensuous-culture/ ...........................just noticing Wed, 03 Dec 2008 07:17:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: Nick http://www.jackzen.com/2005/12/23/sensuous-culture/#comment-505 Sun, 25 Dec 2005 11:21:03 +0000 http://www.jackzen.com/2005/12/23/sensuous-culture/#comment-505 I think Tamara's husband's made the point: we Americans have been in the grip of a Puritanism that shuns sensuality as a vice. Food? Good. Solid. It fills you up, the better to get on with work, the true purpose of living. No time for savoring. That would be to play into the devil's clutches. Now we have fast food on every corner. What could be more utilitarian, less "sensual" in all the exquisiteness that word implies? In mass culture, sensuality has given way to sensation -- bigger, faster, louder, better. More's the pity. I think Tamara’s husband’s made the point: we Americans have been in the grip of a Puritanism that shuns sensuality as a vice.

Food? Good. Solid. It fills you up, the better to get on with work, the true purpose of living. No time for savoring. That would be to play into the devil’s clutches.

Now we have fast food on every corner. What could be more utilitarian, less “sensual” in all the exquisiteness that word implies?

In mass culture, sensuality has given way to sensation — bigger, faster, louder, better.

More’s the pity.

]]> by: jack http://www.jackzen.com/2005/12/23/sensuous-culture/#comment-504 Fri, 23 Dec 2005 19:57:51 +0000 http://www.jackzen.com/2005/12/23/sensuous-culture/#comment-504 Yes Jill, consumption is too often about quantity and ownership rather than quality of experience. Yes Jill, consumption is too often about quantity and ownership rather than quality of experience.

]]> by: Jill http://www.jackzen.com/2005/12/23/sensuous-culture/#comment-503 Fri, 23 Dec 2005 19:34:16 +0000 http://www.jackzen.com/2005/12/23/sensuous-culture/#comment-503 Jack - I have to believe that, as hinted to a bit in Tamara's comment, your observation (which I'd agree with) reflects a certain clinging to ascetic ideals, even as we consume more and more. So few people take the time to see the connections that exist or can exist between enjoying what you do and having what you do sustain you - whether it's eating, work, love, or relaxing. For me, this is the crux of the problem in American society: a tendency to make everything black and white and not recognize how much of life, of living, is not mutually exclusive. Jack - I have to believe that, as hinted to a bit in Tamara’s comment, your observation (which I’d agree with) reflects a certain clinging to ascetic ideals, even as we consume more and more. So few people take the time to see the connections that exist or can exist between enjoying what you do and having what you do sustain you - whether it’s eating, work, love, or relaxing. For me, this is the crux of the problem in American society: a tendency to make everything black and white and not recognize how much of life, of living, is not mutually exclusive.

]]> by: Tamara http://www.jackzen.com/2005/12/23/sensuous-culture/#comment-502 Fri, 23 Dec 2005 16:27:33 +0000 http://www.jackzen.com/2005/12/23/sensuous-culture/#comment-502 The first time my husband visited Italy with me, he remarked that he never appreciated how powerful the Puritan influence was in the US until he visited a country where that influence doesn't exist. Your observation that in ". . . a sensuous culture, eating is accompanied by talk about food" is spot on. I've enjoyed sumptuous, multi-course meals with my Italian relatives where at the very end, when we're stuffed to the gills with delicious food, someone will invariably ask "I wonder what we'll eat tomorrow?" Hilarious. The first time my husband visited Italy with me, he remarked that he never appreciated how powerful the Puritan influence was in the US until he visited a country where that influence doesn’t exist.

Your observation that in “. . . a sensuous culture, eating is accompanied by talk about food” is spot on. I’ve enjoyed sumptuous, multi-course meals with my Italian relatives where at the very end, when we’re stuffed to the gills with delicious food, someone will invariably ask “I wonder what we’ll eat tomorrow?” Hilarious.

]]> by: jack http://www.jackzen.com/2005/12/23/sensuous-culture/#comment-501 Fri, 23 Dec 2005 14:20:39 +0000 http://www.jackzen.com/2005/12/23/sensuous-culture/#comment-501 That's a good observation/question. If you mean individuality as isolation and opposition instead of community, I would say yes. Individuality expressed as uniqueness in community may actually add to a sensuous culture. That’s a good observation/question. If you mean individuality as isolation and opposition instead of community, I would say yes. Individuality expressed as uniqueness in community may actually add to a sensuous culture.

]]> by: Adam Harvey http://www.jackzen.com/2005/12/23/sensuous-culture/#comment-500 Fri, 23 Dec 2005 13:18:12 +0000 http://www.jackzen.com/2005/12/23/sensuous-culture/#comment-500 Do you think our focus on individuality over communality impedes our sensuality? Perhaps the smaller the radius of our personal space, the easier it is to act in the ways you are talking about... [let's use more words ending in -ity!] Do you think our focus on individuality over communality impedes our sensuality? Perhaps the smaller the radius of our personal space, the easier it is to act in the ways you are talking about…

[let’s use more words ending in -ity!]

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