It has occurred to me that Vulcan must have some form of sex industry to handle those going through Pon Farr who aren’t currently married or otherwise involved. Otherwise, they’d have constant issues with violence from those suffering the “blood fever” whose spouse was far away, or had died, or for some other reason had no one to mate with.
Given Vulcan attitudes towards sex, it’s probably kept out of sight, and is only “officially” available to those experiencing their “Seven Year Itch,” but it has to exist, right?
Seems logical
raises eyebrow
That is the most logical explanation Captain.
I always got the impression that Vulcan society operated similar to traditional Japanese or other societies where couples were “arranged” by families. Not sure about the one off cases though so maybe there is some kind of sex industry given the physiological toll if it’s not addressed in time
It does seem to be primarily on an arranged marriage system, but there are plenty of exceptions. Pairings that don’t come together for some reason, partners that die either due to age or accident, etc.
As I recall on Voyager with a little coaxing Tuvok was able to use the holodeck to get “relief” so I’d imagine the same goes for most vulcans who might be on long away missions
It did work for Tuvok, but not for Vorik, so not a totally effective solution.
I’m not sure that it is. Voyager likely only went with the holodeck solution because they were stranded in the delta quadrant, and no other alternatives were available.
Within the Federation, a Vulcan who felt the Ponn Farr would take leave, like Spock tried to do, or couples would try to serve on the same ship/station together to minimise issues.
It seems like a Vulcan Mind Meld can cure just about anything.
In “Flashback” from Voyager Tuvok melds with a close family member, in this case Janeway, to fix his disease.
In “Endgame” from Voyager it is implied that a meld will cure Tuvok’s disease.
In “Sarek” from TNG melding with Picard resolves Sarek’s emotional control.
I would expect rather than a sex industry they have those that specialize in mind melds. Perhaps a specific family member.
Having a backup option would still be logical, so random sex is still on the table.
In “Sarek” from TNG melding with Picard resolves Sarek’s emotional control.
In this case, at least, it was less a cure, and more temporarily offloading it to someone else to deal with. Basically the equivalent of Lwaxana affecting the entire Enterprise when she was going through The Phase, or someone with an injured leg leaning on another person to use as a crutch. Except that Sarek was relying on Picard’s emotional processing capabilities.
Presumably his symptoms would return when he ended the psychic connection.
That does seem like the simplest, most reliable, most effective solution. We’ve seen things like meditation and medical treatments fail.
Orion Slave Girls
Presumably they would have solved this issue before becoming space fairing/having Orions available. If so, I’d imagine they’d be most likely to stick with their original solution out of tradition and simplicity.
Becoming space fairing creates a diffusion of mates necessitating such a solution
Sure, but it wouldn’t be the first thing. When humans became seafaring the same diffusion of mates happened. It was then exacerbated by the invention of the train. And then even further with airplanes. And in the digital age people meet each other online despite living thousands of miles away.
Becoming space faring would also exacerbate the issue, but it wouldn’t be the start.
They have meditations they can do with a group of fellow Vulcan’s to help suppress the urge in the case of not being able to procreate with their mate. It comes up in Voyager.
I see the logic in your approach but you are also thinking in pretty human categories to begin with. Just giving in to the urge and going to a sex worker for quick and easy relieve does seem neither very disciplined nor particularly Vulcan, doesn’t it? Specialized monasteries where Vulcans go to sit it out while meditating and if that fails, mind melding with celibate monks who are specialized in extreme mental discipline, sounds more like it imo.
