Is our sex drive killing the planet?
As if heartbreak, scandal, and STDs weren't bad enough, now we have to worry about sex wrecking the whole planet. In a column for BBC News, Matt Prescott asserts that the male need to impress the opposite sex is behind the material excess that's clogging up our earth, air and water with toxic crap, and that we crave eco-nasty bling like Hummers and gold cell phones because we still have the instincts of our Stone Age forebears. Back in those days, of course, a man's possessions (say, a stack of bearskins or a particularly nice rock) demonstrated power and strength and were a sure ticket to sexual success.
Prescott paints in pretty broad strokes, and sidesteps some big questions (such as what drives females to conspicuous consumption - men aren't especially attracted to a huge shoe closet.) And clearly, not all men and women are motivated entirely by their ancestral monkey brain. Still, his essential point is sound, as anyone can attest who's ever heard a table of drunk frat boys shouting out Pacino's iconic line from Scarface - "First you get the money, then you get the power, then you get the women!"
Fortunately it looks like the tide is turning, and green is getting sexy. It's no longer just the admirable but geeky Ed Begley Jr. who rolls around Hollywood in earth-friendly wheels, but perennial world's sexiest man Brad Pitt. And sure, climate change ditherer George W. Bush is President, but runner-up and born-again environmentalist Al Gore has got an Oscar AND a Nobel Prize. Who do you reckon gets more fan mail?
So don't worry, all you hemp-wearing, bike-riding, Inconvenient-Truth-watching dudes out there - your day is coming.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
12-07-2007 @ 5:16PM
CFE said...
It's not just what we do to attract potential mates.
It's that there are over SIX BILLION people, and we all know how to turn the earth's resources to garbage at an alarming rate.
If the sex drive has anything to do with the population (go figure), then that's a bigger part of the problem.
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12-07-2007 @ 5:22PM
Chris V said...
Wow, that's a one-sided interpretation. Were women not attracted to money and material goods, men wouldn't spend so much time working to attain them. It's female shallowness and the withholding of sex until lavished upon by material possessions that hurts the environment, not the male sex drive.
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12-07-2007 @ 6:50PM
Kristen said...
Okay, so just to be clear, it's the male sex drive, not the female sex drive, that is ruining the planet? Whew! For a moment, I was concerned there. Now that I know I'm totally not culpable, I'll got back to having lots of sex.
12-07-2007 @ 6:08PM
Chris said...
Wow. Sounds like the remains of a bitter star-crossed lover... It sounds to me that you have not done any actual research into the female side of a sexual relationship. You cannot say that women only have sex when they are "lavished upon". Believe it or not, women actually have sex because they ENJOY it just as much if not more than their male counterparts. Go figure! Maybe it is the males lack of self control and need to compensate that leads to the stereotype that women will only comply with someone who throws money and material goods at them...
12-07-2007 @ 6:30PM
Chris V said...
I never said "only" to anything. There are always exceptions to any rule.
Women are attracted to men with money and power. That's why Hugh Hefner has as many girlfriends as he does given his age. That's why women throw themselves at celebrities of all types. They why Bill Clinton got in trouble with Monica Lewinski, Gennifer Flowers, and more. Yes, that's a generalization, and generally it's true.
Yes, women enjoy sex. But, WHY pick one man over another? Self control or compensation doesn't factor into that since a woman wouldn't know those details until AFTER she had sex with the man.
Money and power and other measures of material success are huge reasons why women pick one man over another. That's why doctors look so good and why poor, uneducated, unemployed men with little chance of material success are considered losers.
12-10-2007 @ 10:40AM
kyle said...
reminds me of a great dave chappelle skit. a woman's task in life is material. a man's task in life is a woman. if a man could fvck a woman in a cardboard box he wouldn't buy a house.
12-07-2007 @ 6:22PM
Irishcult said...
I believe that actually humans are killing the planet not just are sex drive but everything in between to. R greed are wastefulness its all killing the world so instead of stop having sex maybe we should all kill our selfs before we do anymore damage.
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12-07-2007 @ 6:32PM
sinesthesia.com said...
It's not the sex drive. It's the desire to be accepted -- something that men equate to sex. This is why women who don't even have a strong sex drive are still just as bad, they want so deeply to be accepted and loved in society. From men, from other women, from their parents. The desire for sex, although very strong, for a lot of guys is more about proving his worth or societal value. Proving that the man is accepted.
The feeling that we're not good enough, and that we need to do and buy "stuff" to be accepted is the root of all the problems.
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12-10-2007 @ 9:27PM
BonerStabone said...
That's the biggest bunch of bullshitzu I've ever heard. You've provided no signifiers or clues about your gender in your comment, but based on your thesis, I will wager my life on the fact that you are a woman. Women as a whole (excluding rare outlying cases) need a reason to have sex. A man's reason to have sex: WOMEN. That's it. We carry penises around that hunger for vagina. It's no more complex than our stomachs hungering for food.
Women for the most part, live their lives without this mind-controlling drive.
12-07-2007 @ 7:38PM
Rob Jones said...
Yes we are to blame. We are always to blame. We really have to start pushing the empirical scientific data rather than the dogma we are immersed in every day. This is getting ridiculous.
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12-07-2007 @ 8:05PM
ivy said...
No, it's not all the sex and the flashy stuff one has to get it that is damaging to the environment. It's the product of all that sex - CHILDREN - that is damaging to the environment. Look at all the disposable things one 'needs' to raise them. All the diapers, tiny jars of food, clothing they grow out of in a few weeks, toys that break in a day and the packaging that goes with it, on and on...Then they grow up and need things too!
There are way too many of us. Quit having babies, bring the population down then we can all have the fancy schmancy fun stuff that leads to blissful sex and have a healthy environment.
So girls, make sure to take those pills and have him use a condom.
Boys, use a condom and never trust a girl who says she is on birth control!
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12-08-2007 @ 4:12AM
BillyWarhol said...
Thass Hilarious!!
+ Soooooooooooo True*
;PPP
Say Hello to my lil Friend!!!!
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12-10-2007 @ 8:43PM
Diana B. said...
Humans are the only species in which females have to compete for males.
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12-10-2007 @ 9:38PM
Pat KIbbon said...
Irishcult said...
"I believe that actually humans are killing the planet not just are sex drive but everything in between to. R greed are wastefulness its all killing the world so instead of stop having sex maybe we should all kill our selfs before we do anymore damage."
The "planet" would have no relevance without people to enjoy it.
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12-10-2007 @ 9:41PM
AnnEdyth said...
Women want security. A provider.
Hey, If I was a rich lesibian, I could get women too!
(If i had the right deoderant as well)
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12-10-2007 @ 10:01PM
John Howell said...
Is "our" sex drive killing the planet? Before that question can be answered, I want to know if the people who run this goofy site have the courage to have a close look at which areas of the world have the highest birth rate and direct their criticism in that direction? I'm guessing NO.
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12-11-2007 @ 12:00AM
Teri said...
Thank God!
The first thing that came to mind when I saw the headline stating our sex drive is ruining the planet is that condoms are a hazard to the environment.
To my relief, it's just some pathetic guy complaining about and stereotyping women.
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12-11-2007 @ 12:06AM
Hayley said...
Al Gore is not an environmentalist! And he most certainly did not deserve those awards.
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12-11-2007 @ 12:39AM
RMHOSE777 said...
I am obviously not like most women and I believe that though women want security and they do want a strong provider, I don't feel that sexuality and materialism are in any way closely related to the downfall of the ecosystem. I didn't marry my husband because of his money or the things he's bought for me. For one, he's never really bought me anything but an engagement ring. I didn't marry him because he bought is a house. I had my own apartment and was beyond self sufficient on my own. The only security that I require of him is to stand up for our marriage at all costs and I need him to provide me with endless, unconditional love. We both work, and we both make good money, so whether or not he can lavish me in the finest gifts makes no difference to me. But maybe I am just different than most women and not like those other self absorbed gold diggers... who knows?
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12-11-2007 @ 1:05AM
RMann said...
Its about both men and women, men try to say women dont controll them, but their just bull$hit, im a guy and I see it, dude was right about all the gold items and new cars and fancy clothes, guys do all that just to get the chicks, or attempt to. Unarguable, women rule the world, and that is why. And im a dude, I drive an old car, and you could say I look like a clean cut biker most of the time, and if a womens going to like me, its going to be because im real, I dont put on a front, just to take it home, as the same, I only like women that can respect that type of attitude.
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