The man clearly desires the woman in Song of Songs 7 in an overtly sexual way.  He desires intimacy and he is intimate in his description of the hidden treasures of her body.  In response, though, the woman is equally eager for sexual union.  She describes the potential meeting of body and minds that they might enjoy in exalted tones.

Women’s sexuality was repressed for quite a time, but it is becoming more freely expressed in today’s society.  Female sexuality is seen as more consensual and less aggressive than male sexuality.  It is in some sense more domesticated and less wild.  In recent years vendors have sought to bring the erotic into the everyday rather than leave it in the forbidden ‘sextopia’ of the internet or pornographic shop that is prowled by male predators.  There is a line, and since the sexual revolution more women are crossing it to their despair.  The exclusive eroticism they wish for is being replaced by a serial eroticism and the intimate fascination with the body of a faithful lover is being replaced with curiosity in pornographic literature and images.  However, what women were once made ignorant of or were forced to repress is celebrated in a monogamous relationship.  Sex is to be welcomed and explored in the security of marriage – but we polarize toward repression or hedonism.

Song of Songs 7:9-13

May the wine go straight to my beloved,
   flowing gently over lips and teeth.^[b]
10 I belong to my beloved,
   and his desire is for me.
¹¹ Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside,
   let us spend the night in the villages.^[c]
12 Let us go early to the vineyards
   to see if the vines have budded,
if their blossoms have opened,
   and if the pomegranates are in bloom—
   there I will give you my love.
¹³ The mandrakes send out their fragrance,
   and at our door is every delicacy,
both new and old,
   that I have stored up for you, my beloved.

Questions

1. What condition does the woman want her lover to be in?
2. What does the woman want to be the result of her sexually arousing him?
3. Does a woman want a ‘domesticated’ form of sex while a man wants a ‘wilder’ form?
4. How should sex be conducted if it is to be exciting and fulfilling for both partners?
5. How are both partners freed to be ‘intoxicated’ in a modern relationship without being too ‘broad minded’?