The Latin word carnālis came to our language as carnal. The term is used as an adjective to refer to what is linked to meat.
It is called flesh to the muscular area of the body of an animal, including humans. This part of the body, in many species (such as cow, pig and lamb), are edible. Also called meat is the soft part of a tuber or fruit. In a symbolic sense, the idea of flesh is used in opposition to the soul or the spirit.
From these meanings of meat, the different meanings of carnal arise. The adjective is often used to describe family ties in which people share the same genetic line: first brothers, first nephews, uncles, etc. In the colloquial language of some countries, a very close and dear person is called carnal.
According to DigoPaul, as opposed to the spiritual, the carnal is associated with lust. The carnal pleasures, in this context, are called “pleasures of the flesh”, related to the physical enjoyment. For example: “I would love to have carnal relationships with that girl”, “I have carnal desires”. The carnal is also the earthly: “I am not interested in religions or philosophy: I prefer carnal issues”, “I am concerned about carnal things, such as the gas bill or paying for my children’s school. “
Despite being in the 21st century, our species cannot free itself from prejudice, a series of rigid and one-dimensional concepts that govern our lives without giving us room for doubt or room for debate. Sex, in all its aspects, is one of the most controversial issues: modesty tends to invade us when talking about the carnal plane, and that leads to unfounded criticism for fear of being related to it.
One of the most dangerous problems of the controversies that are unleashed around sex is that absolutely disconnected issues are mixed, crimes with lifestyles, tastes with perversions; In this way, many newscasts twist pedophilia with homosexuality, prostitution and child pornography, and thus the public’s rejection of all these issues is fed at the same level, even if they have nothing in common.
Pedophilia and child pornography are two of humanity’s most gruesome crimes, and there is no point of view from which to grant them a second of validity; prostitution can be the product of a deprivation of liberty but there are also people who choose to exercise it, which is why it is a very difficult subject to deal with without preparation; homosexuality is not a problem, but the taste for people of the same sex.
Regarding the link with the body, many times it is spoken of “carnal access” to refer to a sexual abuse in which the attacker violates the flesh of the victim.
In the criminal sphere, the opinion that predominates in jurisprudence and doctrine defines this concept as the act carried out by a man when he penetrates another person with his genital organ, either another man or a woman, through a normal or abnormal vessel., so that intercourse or an abnormal version of it occurs.
To typify this crime, the doctrine indicates that penetration is absolutely essential, even if it is not complete or has not allowed the attacker to achieve ejaculation. Some of the crimes that are linked to carnal access are adultery, rape and rape, among others.
In ancient times, carnal was synonymous with carnival: the days that precede Lent. By extension, carnal is the annual period that is not Lent.