The denial of pleasure

I often ponder upon the question, What is at the root of our failure to interact effectively with the opposite sex? I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason has something to do with the denial of pleasure. Shyness takes away so much from us, it’s the fiercest social thief, and yet we dwell in and nurture constantly from this fountain. When it comes to pleasure, we all have been conditioned more or less to restrain ourselves. It is then of no surprise that we feel so uncomfortable in the presence of our desire. Culturally, we’re misled to believe that we shouldn’t give in to pleasure, and our feelings of inadequacy have something to do with this inner struggle between our moral views, inexperience, and our innate drive to mate and dominate. Masculinity is painted as an ogre and most males in our society have been emasculated to an astounding degree in a socially induced effort to pass off as kind and tolerant savages. To no use, really, because females can spot their pretension and fend them off mirroring the same unnatural behavior with their natural femininity as they await the arrival of a more primitive, less contrived, unabashed male.
The awkwardness we feel when we are in the presence of beauty must have its roots in infancy. As children, we were once kings of the world and we made no excuse for our behavior. Little by little, we became more sociable, for obvious purposes, and then one day we found ourselves living monotonous existences as adults. Society, in general, instills the mechanism of fear and foments the notion that we need to be financially successful, and though having money couldn't possibly hurt, the idea that with it happiness will be bought and all of our problems will be sorted out is a fallacy. Truth is, societies are not in the business of making their citizens happy; if they are to compete for supremacy and survive in the annals of history, amass wealth and prosper unrivaled, they need the most out of every single soul at their disposal. Pleasure has no place here. Take the very extreme case of it: theocratic governments, religion in general, the outlook on pleasure and fun is out of the quest, and guilt, fear, repression, anxiety, resignation, are often the real hidden agenda.
With the introduction of Christianity, Europe went centuries without bathing because the act was seen as adoration of the flesh and hence considered a sin. We may laugh at it now but we still suffer such legacy, just not as severely as in the past. Our parents were of little help, if any. Their information would probably had been too contrived, promoting abstinence, fear and men generally find themselves in a foreign land when it comes to the opposite sex. There seems to be a trace of guilt or shame when it comes to the simple action of initiating a conversation with a complete stranger. Checking her out is something we often do as soon as she turns around. We spend our entire lives wanting them, and not more than a day trying to grasp a deeper understanding of the object of our desire.
Understandably, as children, our desires were unreasonable and whenever the world did not answer to our caprice, we would normally denounce it, crying and kicking if it were necessary, in order to get our way. As adults, we may find that crying and kicking are out of the question (at least, for us males anyway) but we also have the advantage that we no longer depend on an adult to grant us permission. We could very well reign once again and claim back some of the kingdom lost to maturity. No one aside from ourselves can deny us now. So, go ahead, indulge. Part of the fun is that the vast majority of people will continue to live only to please those around them. If we are no longer masters of the universe, at least we can choose the chains to which we will be tied to and who we'll serve. Don't give up that easily; there's a world of pleasure awaiting you.