Marriage’s physical intimacy can deepen rather than cure a bride’s dread of death

Evidence

Ernest Becker was right then when he proclaimed that “sex and death are twins.” Thinking about death makes the physical aspects of sex unappealing, and considering the physical aspects of sex nudges death thoughts closer to consciousness. — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 595 (#expands, via linked claim)

Thinking about death had no effect on participants’ impressions of the romantic aspects of sex. However, they found the physical aspects of sex less appealing after a death reminder. … Although pondering the romantic aspects of sex had no effect on the word-stem task, death-related words were more frequent after considering the carnal aspects of sex. — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 593 (#complicates, via linked claim)

However, we can now see that there is an indissoluble relation between sexuality and death to the extent that death is prefigured in castra­ tion. Haunted by the fear of loss—loss of a member, a part of the body, or loss of self—sexuality is itself structured by the anticipation of separation and death. The fear of death is thus not an affect that draws the psyche beyond or away from sexual causality, but rather is the immanent manifesta­ tion of the distinctive feature of both sexuality and death: separation. — Catherine Malabou, The New Wounded, 2724 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Thinking about death and about physical sex each activate the other — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core: On the Role of…, 595; Death thoughts and physical sexuality suppress each other in a reciprocal loop — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core: On the Role of…, 593; Fear of death is immanent to sexuality through shared separation — Catherine Malabou, The New Wounded: From Neurosis to Brain…, 2724

Broader Connections

• Thinking about death and about physical sex each activate the other #expands (0.85) — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 595
• Death thoughts and physical sexuality suppress each other in a reciprocal loop #complicates (0.80) — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 593
• Fear of death is immanent to sexuality through shared separation #complicates (0.78) — Catherine Malabou, The New Wounded, 2724