Mirrors of Desire: Marc Gafni

This blog seeks to unpack the beautiful text we cited in this mornings post.

The myth understands that the erotics of desire is the dynamic that arouses the impulse to freedom and human dignity. Slavery is about the deadening of Eros and desire. The slave of course can have a great job, be highly successful financially and sleep with many sexual partners.

But this enslaved individual, whom we moderns recognize so well, has lost touch with the erotics of desire. The wonder of being on the inside — the sense of yearning which goes beyond passing sexual need, the sense of the erotic sexual that softens the harsh dividing lines of existence and allows us to feel the interconnectivity of being — all these are virtually lost to modern men and women. So the myth invites us back into desire as a way of counteracting Pharaoh’s decree. Raw lust is not foreign to the experience of the slave. However the playful desire which arouses union between committed partners- this is the mark of freedom.

marc gafni
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