At the time of writing of the Kamasutra around the fourth century AD
Indian society had undergone changes since the Kamashastra commentaries
were written; perhaps the most notable aspect being the place of women
in society. Women now enjoyed more freedom and were allowed more choice
over who they slept with and married. As a result Vatsyayana
updated the text when authoring the Kamasutra. For example certain
guidelines were suggested for a man wishing to sleep with a woman;
Men were not allowed to sleep with women of a lower class. (A complex
class structure existed.) Prior to the Kamasutra it was not permitted to
marry a woman of a lower class but fine to sleep with them for the
purposes of desire and fulfilment. However prostitutes and widows were
precluded from this list; although of equally low class it was still ok
to sleep with them purely for pleasure!
The women who were deemed suitable for sex were broken down into four
main groups, the first three being; young girls, second hand women and
prostitutes. Vatsyayana considered this to be the order in which a man
should seek sexual partners with young girls being the best, especially
if they were still virgins, followed by second hand women and finally
prostitutes. The fourth group of women considered acceptable for a man
to have sex with was the married woman but preferably only if there was
some material gain! Other groups of women were also carried down from
the Kamashastra including nuns.
Thirteen groups of women were considered unsuitable to have sex with
including women that were inflicted with some disorder such as being a
leper or those suffering from body odour. There was also, however, an
important exception to this rule; if a woman had been sexually active
with more than five men the above rules no longer applied and even if
she was a married, smelly leper, she was fair game!
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