Shuffle, Shuffle, Shuffle – Now that I’m on my soapbox, I will say that I have absolutely no sociological or psychological background. However, in pursuing my degree, I did lean heavily on sociology in supporting my primary degree.
Defining a differential between sex and love is quite easy. Prostitutes have been doing it ever since the barter system was established. Slaves and Masters did it frequently, and doubt if there was love on either side, she was the victim, he was the one getting relief.
The reverse is true too. You can love someone intensely but not have sex with them. Combat wounded remain married to their wives – or even get married – with both parties understanding they can’t have sex. People with medical conditions (both men AND women) remain together with sex effectively zero as well.
Hence, the two issues aren’t tied together. But I will say that one enhances the other. If you love someone, you’ll probably end up having sex with them.
That being said, the established social norm of a monogamous relationship is losing ground; for one reason only – the advent of the Birth Control Pill.
Throughout history, men have been having affairs, enjoying mistresses and what have you without a second thought, they can’t get pregnant. If the woman did fall pregnant, then (if it was an affair on her part) then the husband unknowingly raised the baby. If he was a nobleman, then the boy would be raised, and freely acknowledged as a Bastard (see Game of Thrones for examples). But if the girl was just a simple peasant, then she was left to her own resources. Look up ‘baby farming’ in the 1800 for examples of this in the US, Australia and GB.
So, we have one side of society having sex for fun, and the other running scared over unwanted pregnancy. This led to another development, widespread belief. It behooved the men (who ran everything) not to worry about the peasants running around having the fun they were having. After all, the men (who ran everything) could afford Bastard children, the peasants couldn’t. Either way, no one wanted to raise another man’s baby. So the condemnation of sex, coupled with the concept of women actually enjoying sex, became frowned upon within the Western Churches. Whew.
Now two concepts are coming together. On one hand, we have The Pill. On the other hand, we have a diminished reliance on religion. One the third hand (?) women are becoming more self-aware, confident and able to have affairs as they are now outside of the home in professional settings. Women are now enjoying sex as much, if not more than their male counterparts. ((SHOCKING!))
Add to this the increase in pornography catering to women; more sexual encounters in general and affairs in general on mainstream movies and television and the dalliances of Hollywood/Washington blasted throughout the media all contribute to put the idea in our heads. “Hey, they’re doing it… That guy in accounting is cute… Hubby is out of town….”.
Also, the factors outlined above; Pill, Less Reliance on Religion; Women becoming more self-aware, all contribute to fantasies. Where they had been kept unvoiced, people are becoming more inclined to discuss fantasies, which leads to discussion and probably exploration.
So, to answer the question, can one have sex without love? Of course. I like my Black playmate, we don’t love each other. But we’re having fun nonetheless. And isn’t that what it’s all about anyway?
Donna