[Opinion] Cicci and Hussein

After waiting long for their husbands to return from the ongoing war, exhausted wives gather together. And they begin to talk about ways to end what seems to be an endless war. A clever woman from Athens named Ryusistrate suggests that women go on a sex strike. Rampito, a strong-built woman from Sparta agreed, saying General Menelaos, the king of Sparta, threw his sword away seeing the full bosom of beautiful Helena. It’s a part of ancient Greece story “Rusistrate.” Men, torn between two basic desires, quest for power and sex, succumb to their wives and sign a peace treaty.

▷While Ryusistrate, a fictional character some 2400 years ago, provoked a sex strike to bring about peace, Mul La Cicciolina, a woman living in present day Italy, offers sex to maintain peace. Porno actor-turned activist who once served as a lawmaker said, “I am willing to offer my body to Hussein for peace of the world.” Of course, no one thought that Iraqi President would take the offer seriously. It was more like a joke given Cicciolina made the remarks during a porno film festival. But maybe, just maybe, Hussein, might have thought for a moment about the offer, given the allegation by his ex-mistress that he sometimes takes Viagra to increase his libido.

▷Even respectable scholars have been studying seriously the correlation among sex, violence, war and terror. Australian political scientist Dennis Altman said in his book “Global Sex” that “former president Bush (father of incumbent George W. Bush) attacked Noriega, dictator in Panama, to make up for his lack of manliness in bed with another kind of manliness.” Aggression is a basic desire running in blood of men who are eager to reproduce their species, scientists point out. And the more repressive a society about sex and women, the more aggressive it becomes about violence, terror and wars. In fact, during wartime, men repeatedly trampled down women in the enemy state citing retaliation or ethnic cleansing.

▷That’s why we listen to the former porno star when she says, “My breast has never hurt anybody, but the war against terror and Bin Laden took away thousands of lives.” When she said, her breast was a symbol of motherly love, life and protection. Then, she must think again about her offer. The man seeking to wage a war against the world’s voice is neither Hussein nor Bin Laden. It is no other than George Bush. Cicciolina needs to consider making a new offer, this time to Bush.

Kim Sun-deok, Editorial Writer yuri@donga.com