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Vow of Celibacy
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- 84 referencing feature instances
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Some organizations require that their members refrain from marriage or sexual relations. It's particularly common in religious groups — some churches bar their clergy from such things, and most monastic traditions forbid them as well. Typically, these restrictions will take the form of a vow of celibacy (although simply making celibacy a rule, without anyone swearing anything, has basically the same effect). A note on terminology: people can mean different things by the word "celibacy" — sometimes it means not having sex, but it can also mean not being married. The fuzziness of definition may be due to the fact that traditionally, a ban on marriage equated to a ban on sex automatically since extramarital sex was forbidden. In fictional examples, however, this may not be so. "Chastity" usually means refraining from engaging in illicit sex. So a "chaste husband" would be one who doesn't cheat on his wife, for instance. An obligation of celibacy can be used in stories for a number of purposes. Sometimes, it adds a complication to a love story — two characters may be attracted to each other, yet prevented from pursuing it by such a rule. It can be a cause of inner turmoil when characters are torn between their feelings and their vows, especially if the very fact that they have sexual feelings is something they feel ashamed of. If a character is supposed to be subject to rules of celibacy but has a chance to break them, whether they do or not can be used for the purposes of characterization — it's typically portrayed negatively if they do, such as to help establish a character as a Sinister Minister, although tropes like Dirty Old Monk and Naughty Nuns can be played for laughs or used as a humanizing element as well. Whether celibacy requirements themselves are portrayed as positive, negative, or a mixture will depend on the writer. Questions about exactly what counts as a breach of celibacy may arise — in these cases, there are often parallels with Technical Virgin. In some settings, celibacy will have a practical purpose, such as to preserve Virgin Power. Being Locked Away in a Monastery can be an attempt to enforce vows of celibacy for political purposes. Vows of celibacy may become relevant when characters are Hot for Preacher (a particular hazard for a Sexy Priest), although it should be noted that not all ministers of religion are subject to the same rules. A Celibate Hero or a Celibate Eccentric Genius might be celibate because of one of these vows, but more often, their celibacy is just a personal choice or something thrust on them by circumstances. A Pedophile Priest is a character who fails his vows of celibacy in the worst way. When rules like this are applied to the whole of society, it's No Sex Allowed. See also Inappropriately Close Comrades, where the job-based sex ban applies only to people who share that job, not the wider world. Compare Can't Have Sex, Ever, where sex is prevented by something more tangible and hazardous than just obligations. Examples |
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