Resumo de Kama Sutra

The Kama Sutra was written by one Vatsyayana Mallanaga,
about whom nothing else is known. However, from the text,
it's clear that he was upper-class. He takes servants for
granted, and assumes his readers have the leisure time to
seduce virgins and other men's wives, and the money to buy
the gifts he recommends giving to do so. man seduces a virgin. In Book 4, he marries and sets up a
household for his wife and servants. By Book 5, he has grown
sexually bored with his wife, and turns to seducing other
men's wives. Eventually, as he ages, the effort necessary
for such dalliances loses its charm, so in Book 6, he takes
up with courtesans, who work to please him - but for a price.
Finally, in old age, he fears he is losing his potency and
attractiveness, so Book 7 contains recipes for herbal potions
to preserve them.
Although Vatsyayana was a man writing for
men, some of the Kama Sutra speaks directly to women: Book
3 tells virgins how to attract husbands. Book 4 instructs
women how to be good wives. Book 6 deals with the skills required
of courtesans - including how they should provide for their
own old age by stealing from their patrons. This information
does not seem odd until you realize that in fourth century
India, few if any women could read. It's not clear how they
obtained the Kama Sutra's information. Apparently, some did.
Presumably literate men read it to them, as clergy a few centuries
ago read the Bible to illiterate congregants.
Book 2, the sex manual, recognizes women
as full, lusty participants in sex, and exhorts men to learn
ejaculatory control to last long enough to bring them to orgasm:
"Women love the man whose sexual energy lasts a long
time, but they resent a man whose energy ends quickly because
he stops before they reach a climax." (Apparently, Vatsyayana
didn't know that many women never reach orgasm solely from
intercourse no matter how long it lasts.) Nonetheless, the
Kama Sutra is very attentive to women's pleasure, a view that
arrived in our culture only a few decades ago, a view still
lost on many men.
Book 2 also instructs men to treat women in such a way "that
she achieves her sexual climax first." How can a man
do this? By following Book 2's extensive discussion of the
fine points of what today we called "foreplay" --
embracing, kissing, and other types of touch calculated to
heighten sexual arousal. The "Kamasutra" gets a
little wild here. It touts slapping and spanking with accompanying
shrieks and moans, and is particularly enamored of scratching
and biting: "There are no keener means of increasing
passion than acts inflicted by tooth and nail." It even
sings the praises of scars caused by erotic scratching. It
considers them advertisements of erotic prowess: "Passion
and respect arise in a man who sees from a distance a young
girl with the marks of nails cut into her breasts." Book 2
advocates use of sex toys, and suggests sex while bathing. It also
describes hon can best satisfy two women at the same time (fondle one while having intercourse with the
other), and how two or more men should comport themselves
when sexually sharing one woman (take turns having intercourse,
and while one is inside her, the others should fondle her).
Earlier I mentioned the Kama Sutra's unexpected aversion to
oral sex. Vatsyayana declares, "It should not be done
because it is opposed to the moral code." But apparently,
he understood that ancient Indian men enjoyed blow jobs as
much as men do today, because after condemning oral sex, he
provides elaborate instructions to women on how to perform
what the Kamasutra calls "sucking the mango." Then
Vatsyayana reiterates his condemnation of oral sex, saying
it should be enjoyed only with "loose women, servant
girls, and masseuses" with whom a man "does not
bother with acts of civility." Finally, in an ambivalent
aside, he allows that some men enjoy sucking each other's
mangoes, and that some even perform cunnilingus: "Sometimes
men perform this act on women, transposing the procedure for
kissing a mouth." In Book 3, the Kama Sutra insists that men who seduce virgins
do so very tenderly. It advises courting a virgin for many
days before bedding her. The suitor should engage her in interesting
conversation, shower her with gifts, play board games with
her, and work to win her trust, all the while remaining sexually
abstinent to set her at ease. As the big moment approaches,
he should send her little sculptures of goats and sheep with
major erections. If she takes the hint, she should signal
her willingness by flashing him -- "revealing the splendid
parts of her body." Finally, they make a date to meet
and have sex.

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