Читать книгу Sex Rules! - Janice Z. Brodman - Страница 25

You may kiss the brides…

The Oneida Perfectionists, a Christian sect founded in 1848, figured marriage is just an excuse for jealousy and possessiveness—two singularly unattractive personality traits. The solution? Simply declare everyone in the community “married” to everyone else. Women picked a desirable partner for the night (or the moment). Same with men.

No ageism in this crowd. Every older woman—ideally after menopause—took on the tough job of introducing teenage guys to sex. She was always such a skilled teacher that her student got a taste of heaven, and she became his religious role model.

Must be all that practice.

No slouches, elderly men were always willing to step up and do their duty teaching late-teen gals.

The founder of the Oneida community, John Noyes, also introduced stirpiculture, selective breeding. Sure, all adults could have sex with all other adults. But only some of that bumping and grinding should produce offspring. If you wanted kids, you had to apply for the privilege. If you had spiritual superiority, Noyes and his committee matched you with the right breeding partner. Magically, Noyes himself passed the test so often he fathered 20 percent of the kids born in the community.

Alas, this utopia didn’t last. Noyes absconded to Canada to avoid arrest in New York. The other members peeled away over time. But the Oneida community didn’t die; it just faded into a corporation, Oneida Silverware, still one of the world’s largest silverware manufacturers.

Oneida Community of New York, USA