Eroticism in times of crisis
18
Nov
The subject is difficult when it does not deviate towards general liberalism,
defense of the erotic at any price or “freedom of the body”, but what happens is that among the various civilizing crises, human love is also in crisis.
I find little literature exists about it that does not go to laisses faire or to unhealthy moralism, what happens is that, recognizes the philosopher Byung Chul Han, we live The agony of eros, the inability to love, and in the diagnosis of the Korean philosopher- German, we are destroying relationships based on the erosion of the Other, which affects all areas of life and goes hand in hand with a “sick narcissism” that invades our lives.
He writes his most profound diagnosis: “The fact that the other person disappears is a dramatic process, but it fatally advances, in a sneaky and barely noticeable way”, an indication is the number of selfies where people try to show their different faces, without choosing a situation and anywhere.
If we do not recognize the other person as an “other”, we become unable to love, and thus to reach a living and liberating experience of love, it is liberating even from ourselves, from our frustrations and inconsistencies, summarizes Han is the other who saves us from ourselves.
In times of crisis, love, affection and true interest in the Other is what can make the crisis less serious, if we are living the opposite, more selfishness, more narcissism and more competition (Han argues as the society of efficiency and appeal success) means more crisis and less eroticism.
There is no way to develop love and joy around these situations, even those who have a love relationship suffer the consequences of the violent environment and calls for attitudes contrary to love and affection, even friendly relationships that require empathy are at stake .
I also make a reflection beyond Han, because precisely the society that most exalts eroticism suffers from his agony, perhaps what we see as erotic goes beyond the limits of privacy, of some modesty and of respect for the limits of the Other and of the body itself.
The discourse of respect is not outdated, after all, what are the frightening numbers of domestic violence of all kinds, but the absence of respect, André Groz’s “Inside and Outside” (1929) image gives interesting outlines on the connection aspect of eroticism with a lack of sensitivity;
