The Meme Machine

SEX IN THE MODERN WORLD 135
Whether you look at this from a sociobiological perspective, or a memetic
one, the outcome is similar. The successful practices (or successful memes) are
those that provide the greatest genetic advantage in the given environment.
The same is true for some widespread sexual taboos. Masturbation has been
seen as dirty, disgusting, revolting, and as sapping your ‘vital energy’.
Generations of boys have been brought up to believe that ‘playing with
themselves’ will make them go blind, or give them warts, or make hair grow on
the palms of their hands. Given that young men have a strong desire for sex,
dissuading them from masturbation is likely to increase the amount of vaginal
sex they will have, thereby increasing the number of their offspring to whom
they can pass on the taboo (Lynch 1996). Lynch suggests a similar explanation
for the success of the circumcision meme, because circumcision makes
masturbation more difficult, but not vaginal sex.
Interestingly, there are few, if any, taboos against female masturbation.
Recent research shows that, though women masturbate less often than men,
many masturbate once a week or more throughout most of their adult life (R. R.
Baker 1996). The lack of a taboo makes sense because generally women cannot
increase the number of their offspring by having more sex, so from this point of
view it does not matter whether they masturbate or not.
The taboo against homosexuality follows the same logic. Most homosexuals
are at least partly bisexual and can, with strongly wielded taboos, be persuaded
to marry and have children, to whom they still pass on the taboo. Similarly,
taboos against any kind of sexual practice that does not involve insemination can
spread, including those against using birth control. Taboos against adultery
work rather differently. Brodie (1996) suggests that it is in every man’s genetic
interest to persuade other men not to commit adultery while doing so
themselves. Thus both the anti-adultery memes and hypocrisy spread together.
Finally, there are many religions that make use of sex to spread themselves.
A religion that promotes large families will, assuming vertical memetic
transmission, produce more babies to grow up in that religion than one that
promotes small families. Religious memes therefore become an important
manipulator of genetic success. Catholicism’s taboo against birth control has
been extremely effective in filling the world with millions of Catholics who
bring up their children to believe that condoms and the pill are evil, and that God
wants them to have as many children as possible.
Note that I said ‘assuming vertical memetic transmission’. All the above