Hi OHANA, this word was suggested by Ellen recently and having seen some of the posts today about what counts as a ‘healthy libido’ it feels like an appropriate word to delve into! (Note that I was very careful with my gif this week!! 🤭🫣😂)
Synonyms would be _lewd, crude, lustful, vulgar, lecherous, offensive, suggestive, immodest, depraved, pornographic, risqué_…a broad range from cheeky to downright obscene then!
Antonyms (opposite words) are _wholesome, puritanical, clean, prudish, decent, Victorian…_😇😄
You can find *lasciviousness* in 2 chapters in the repertory: *MALE* and *MIND*…
…so, are women not lascivious??
Well, from a closer look at the *FEMALE* chapter they can be but other words are used like _increased_ or _insatiable desire, nymphomania, perverted desire_ Not necessarily ‘perverted’ in the modern sense but perhaps a desire that has gone awry, out of balance and in polite society would be considered ‘excessive’.
And that’s the thing about context and what is considered a ‘healthy libido’ - to some extent what counts as cheeky or offensive is subjective. For example, in Victorian times, female sexuality and desire was to be suppressed or even unrecognised. Women were diagnosed with ‘hysteria’ when they couldn’t control their sexual sensitivities (think *PLATINA* which ‘cannot wear a napkin’ due to hyper sensitivity of the sexual organs) and hormonal women were often institutionalised so there really was little to no understanding of these things (think attitudes to same sex relationships at that time: homosexuality was illegal and according to Queen Victoria lesbianism didn’t exist!?) as far as I understand, sometimes medical diagnoses were made by the female patient pointing at a diagram or model to protect modesty rather than a physical examination (but that needs double checking)🤔
Male desire was perhaps expressed more (which is maybe why lasciviousness is associated with men rather than women in our Rep language 🤔🤷♀️) but gentlemanly behaviour still required suppression of desire too - and yet it was bubbling away under the surface - leading to novels such as Jekyl and Hyde and the poem London by William Blake mentioning the ‘marriage hearse’ because husbands were sleeping with prostitutes and bringing syphilis home to their wives. Behaviour that was turned a blind eye to as long as they behaved ‘properly’ in polite company.
The main remedies coming up for lasciviousness in both chapters are *HYOS, LACH, LIL-T, ORIG, PHOS, PIC-AC, PLAT, STAPH*
It goes to show how we shouldn’t gender the remedies because a few of those listed there are often associated with women!
I’ve not really answered what is a ‘healthy libido’ but an unhealthy one would perhaps be one that causes upset and distress to the individual and/or affects their relationships with others especially if their libidos don’t match…some of the sub-rubrics would be worth checking out to explore the topic more 👍☺️
Have a good week ahead, OHANA ☺️🙏🙌✨
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