“The individual has always had to fight not to be overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try this, you will often feel alone and sometimes scared. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself” - Friedrich Nietzsche. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay As a member of society, you are encouraged, often through the media, legislation, and cultural tradition, to meet certain social and behavioral expectations. Disdain for these social “norms,” which attempt to make human behavior more predictable through its standardization, is what made author and poet Walt Whitman controversial in his time; he challenged both individual and literary conformity throughout his work, choosing instead to personify the gap between personal desire and social expectation. In his long and intimate epic Song of Myself, Walt Whitman reflects on this divide, particularly through the lenses of religion, or lack thereof, and sexual imagery in his writings. Born and raised in the early 19th century, a time of political strife, turbulence, and white and evangelical supremacy, Whitman, influenced by notions of deism, chose to respect all religions but follow none. “Jehovah… Cronus… Osiris… Brahma, Buddha… Manito… Allah… the engraved crucifix… Odin and hideous-faced Mexitli and every idol and image, [I take] them all for what they are worth and not for a penny more, admitting that they were alive and doing the work of their days... Accepting the rough divine sketches to better compile them in myself... Discovering as much or more in a framer framing a house... Not objecting to special revelations, [I consider] a a curl of smoke or a hair on the back of the hand as curious as a revelation” (Section 41). Here, Whitman refuses to associate himself with any single organized religion, suggesting instead that all religions and deities are neither false nor absolutely true, but equally respectable in philosophy, tradition and control - a rather revolutionary notion for his time, in which Christianity and its denominations ruled the American cultural sphere. Historically, he did not allow religion to dictate his behavior like many Americans who feared “sinning.” Instead, Whitman chose to chart his own path based on his own morals and desires, rather than religious expectations, encouraging his readers to “…no longer take things second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead , nor feed on the specters [of] books,” but rather “listen to all the sides and filter them for yourself” (Section 2, both quotes). Furthermore, Whitman's rejection of religion is evident in his distaste for pious people: "I think I could change myself and live with animals... They don't sweat or complain about their condition, they don't lie awake in the dark and cry for their sins, they do not make me feel bad by discussing their duty to God… No one kneels before another, nor before those of his kind who lived thousands of years ago” (Section 32). faithfulness of devotees to their gods, churches and sacred books, finds comfort in the purity of nature and its creatures. He would prefer to live among the creatures of the Earth rather than be tormented and dictated by those of God, choosing instead to follow his own path. spiritual based on one's own principles and ambitions, free from the influence of God and the promise of Heaven. This mentality was quite revolutionary for its time, as the promise of Heaven provided the comforting benefitof death to the largely religious American population. Overall, Whitman did not yield to America's eminent religion, or religion in general, nor did he allow its doctrines to dictate his path, determine his personal moral rules, or judge and influence his behavior - all of which is further highlighted by the author's then-controversial sexuality and sexual imagery. Human beings harbor homo- and heterosexual self-desires within themselves. Sex is simply a human experience, much stronger in uniting than dividing a human being's relationships, both with his partners and with himself. Whitman himself, seeking communion with all living beings, hinted at homosexual tendencies throughout his literary work. In an early version of Song of Myself, Whitman said: “Prodigal! You gave me love! Therefore I give you love! O unspeakable passionate love! The thruster holds me tight, and I hold it tight! We hurt each other as the groom and bride hurt each other” (Section 21 of Song of Myself, The Walt Whitman Archive). By ignoring social taboos by openly discussing his lustful desires, in this case with a man, Walt Whitman ignores social expectations and instead focuses on the desires of his own soul: the desire to satisfy his human nature by connecting intimately with his partners. This overt literary eroticism was unusual for Whitman's time and often met with controversy and contempt from the conservative and outspoken mind of America, where sex was stigmatized (The Walt Whitman Archive) as an act of guilt, domination and impurity general if done outside the borders. of religious law. Whitman, however, continued to discuss sex and, ultimately, human nature throughout his work, ignoring the criticism he received because his poems deviated from the gentlemanly Eurocentric standard. An example of this is his portrait of a woman watching twenty-eight young men bathing naked in a bathroom. stream, his heart and soul filled with the desire to join them and experience the beauty of human touch. “Twenty-eight young people bathe on the shore… twenty-eight years of female life and all so alone. Which of the young people do you like the most? … There you splash in the water, but remain motionless in your room. Dancing and laughing along the beach came the twenty-ninth bather, the others did not see her, but she saw them and loved them. Even an invisible hand passed over their bodies, came down trembling from the temples and ribs” (Section 11). It is neither modest nor appropriate for a woman to bathe naked with a group of strange men. Playing on the human desire for sexual discovery, however, Whitman ignores social and religious expectations of modesty and virtue, detailing the solitary woman's ardent desire to simply enjoy herself with the group of bathing men. Whitman attempts to reveal the "forbidden voices...of the sexes and lusts" of woman (Section 24), believing that sexual guilt and fear are harmful emotions, despite the stigma surrounding their public expression. Following his own beliefs, Whitman seems to encourage women to forget the social expectation of modesty and pursue their own path, forged by their own desire, sexual ambition and timid experience with life; seems to encourage her to get into the water with men, sharing not only her body but also her emotion and desire for intimacy. Overall, openly discussing sex is, and was in Whitman's time, often considered taboo. Acting as an open-minded sexual pariah, however, Whitman attempted to normalize discussion and love of sex, both homo and hetero, sending ripples through the American conservative mindset.