I was wondering about the vulcan mating rituals. as everyone knows Vulcans are compelled to mate every seven years. what I'm wondering is, is this an intended genetic modification done for population control since Vulcans can live hundreds of years. Or is it something more natural as a result of them "purging" their emotions?
Vulcan biology question
- Thread starter BlackFire3
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The violent aspect of it, you die if you don't mate respectively have to kill somebody instead of mating, seem pretty natural for Vulcans. Furthermore Kirk mentions in "Amok Time" that Spock told him that in ancient times Vulcans always fought for their mates so it does not seem to be a cultural or genetic thing.
)Yea, but maybe not every seven years is what he's suggesting.
It reminds me of auditions for the Klingon symphony orchestra. 'Play well and live. Play badly, and, well..'. That must have been a tough gig. 'It's a good day to play!'
I think holding in all those emotion must have some serious sideaffects. [laugh] You know how people that disregard their feelings and emotions and deprive themselves develop all sorts of psychological problems, such as hording animals and sexual disorder, to make themselves feel good again.
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Aw, somebody there beat me to the Jamie Farr joke.
I don't think population control is the issue. Sure they HAVe to mate every seven years, but there's nothing says they CAN'T mate in-between the occurrences of pon farr.
I just looked it up, this is what wiki said:
Pon farr (English pronunciation: /ˌpɒn ˈfɑr/) is a term used in the fictional Star Trek canonical TV series. In Star Trek, pon farr is a psychophysical condition affecting Vulcans, in which Vulcan males and females go into heat every seven years, going into a blood fever, becoming violent, and finally dying if they do not mate with someone with whom they are empathically bonded or engage in the ritual battle known as kal-if-fee. Vulcans also mate outside of Pon Farr, and with species other than Vulcan. A common misconception associated with the series (and Spock in particular) is that Vulcans only have sex once every seven years. However, pon farr is not parallel to the sex lives of Vulcans, and they are able to have intercourse without the affliction, and thus more than once every seven years.
in the ENT episode "bounty" T'Pol goes in to pon farr. She talks about it and i don't remember what she said exactly but you should watch it.... It's a good one.
Pon farr (English pronunciation: /ˌpɒn ˈfɑr/) is a term used in the fictional Star Trek canonical TV series. In Star Trek, pon farr is a psychophysical condition affecting Vulcans, in which Vulcan males and females go into heat every seven years, going into a blood fever, becoming violent, and finally dying if they do not mate with someone with whom they are empathically bonded or engage in the ritual battle known as kal-if-fee. Vulcans also mate outside of Pon Farr, and with species other than Vulcan. A common misconception associated with the series (and Spock in particular) is that Vulcans only have sex once every seven years. However, pon farr is not parallel to the sex lives of Vulcans, and they are able to have intercourse without the affliction, and thus more than once every seven years.
in the ENT episode "bounty" T'Pol goes in to pon farr. She talks about it and i don't remember what she said exactly but you should watch it.... It's a good one.
It was a convenient plot device in TOS... and unfortunately, the idea was set and continued on as-is. I personally find it kind of silly for a humanoid type species, because many people would be on different cycles. So, your marriage choice is dictated by random coincidence of Pon Farr cycles? But I think Lisa cited it best, that Vulcans have sex whenever they want but every 7 years the urge for sex is more about procreation.
I'd rather think of it this way:
A sexually active Vulcan won't go through Pon Farr, because it's not necessary. However, for Vulcans who are typically not sexually active, Pon Farr prods the sedentary Vulcan to get out and mate. And so, if a Vulcan goes for 7 years without a sexual encounter, Pon Farr comes around to get them going.
I'd rather think of it this way:
A sexually active Vulcan won't go through Pon Farr, because it's not necessary. However, for Vulcans who are typically not sexually active, Pon Farr prods the sedentary Vulcan to get out and mate. And so, if a Vulcan goes for 7 years without a sexual encounter, Pon Farr comes around to get them going.
