#ambisexuality

Multiplatonic flag!

There are aspects of ambisexuality that we have only glimpsed or guessed at, and which we may never grasp entirely. The kemmer phenomenon fascinates all of us Investigators, of course. It fascinates us, but it rules the Gethenians, dominates them. The structure of their societies, the management of their industry, agriculture, commerce, the size of their settlements, the subjects of their stories, everything is shaped to fit the somer-kemmer cycle. Everybody has his holiday once a month; no one, whatever his position, is obliged or forced to work when in kemmer. No one is barred from the kemmerhouse, however poor or strange. Everything gives way before the recurring torment and festivity of passion. This is easy for us to understand. What is very hard for us to understand is that, four-fifths of the time, these people are not sexually motivated at all. Room is made for sex, plenty of room; but a room, as it were, apart. The society of Gethen, in its daily functioning and in its continuity, is without sex. Consider: Anyone can turn his hand to anything. This sounds very simple, but its psychological effects are incalculable. The fact that everyone between seventeen and thirty-five or so is liable to be (as Nim put it) “tied down to childbearing,” implies that no one is quite so thoroughly “tied down” here as women, elsewhere, are likely to be—psychologically or physically. Burden and privilege are shared out pretty equally; everybody has the same risk to run or choice to make. Therefore nobody here is quite so free as a free male anywhere else. Consider: A child has no psycho-sexual relationship to his mother and father. There is no myth of Oedipus on Winter. Consider: There is no unconsenting sex, no rape. As with most mammals other than man, coitus can be performed only by mutual invitation and consent; otherwise it is not possible. Seduction certainly is possible, but it must have to be awfully well timed. Consider: There is no division of humanity into strong and weak halves, protective/protected, dominant/submissive, owner/chattel, active/passive. In fact the whole tendency to dualism that pervades human thinking may be found to be lessened, or changed, on Winter.

The medieval Muslim world in which Rumi lived, was “ambisexual,” meaning that men were expected to marry, but also to love boys and/ or have “intense friendships” with other men. Because Rumi never wrote anything to the contrary, we can assume that their relationship was chaste. Seyyid Hossein Nasr would say, “Shams was like the sun, and Rumi was like the sea; as the Sun passed quickly overhead, its gravitational force drew great waves of love from the sea, which cast up pearls upon the shore.” Shams was the beloved, Rumi the lover. Shams was Rumi’s muse. But more than that, “Shams and Rumi were friends.” This passionate friendship allowed Rumi to mature spiritually, but it was Shams’ absence and Rumi’s longing for his friend that transformed him. After Shams second and final disappearance, Rumi was devastated, and several years passed before he gave up hope of seeing his friend again. During this period of his life, Rumi became one of the greatest poets of the Persian language.

Hello, everyone! This is a brand new blog designed to raise awareness of those sexualities, races, and genders which are usually erased. It is also designed to be a safe space for everyone of color.