You've got to realise that the Dune books past Children of Dune came out at a time when books like Gravity's Rainbow were being published. The standards for what was pervy in literature were really being pushed further than ever before by postmodernist authors. So when Frank Herbert is saying that he's not a pervert that would write about certain things, it's in the context of being compared to other popular works of the time.
The VOLCEL POLICE FEDAYKIN are on the scene! PLEASE KEEP YOUR VITAL ESSENCES TO YOURSELVES AT ALL TIMES.
نحن شرطة VolCel. بناءا على تعليمات الهيئة لترويج لألعاب الفيديو و النهي عن الجنس نرجوا الإبتعاد عن أي أفكار جنسية و الحفاظ على حيواناتكم المنويَّة حتى يوم الحساب. اتقوا الله، إنك لا تراه لكنه يراك.
I must not cum. Cum is the mind-killer. Cum is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my cum. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the cum has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
Especially considering the time period they were being published in. Some of the stuff that was published in the 70s and 80s is extremely obscene to the point I don't want to finish reading the books, and I think I have a strong stomach for kind of stuff.
“Only liberals really think. Only liberals are intellectual. Only liberals understand the needs of their fellows.” How much viciousness lay concealed in that word! Odrade thought. How much secret ego demanding to feel superior.”
― Frank Herbert, Heretics of Dune
Was reading through heretics and had a laugh at this. As the books go on Herbert can't help but inject more and more of his shitty opinions and related bruised ego. Here was a good little inner dialogue where someone used the word "liberal" and a character freaked out for a moment thinking they were called a liberal and its so absurdly just herbert injecting the political concept of liberal and conservatives from american politics, I can't imagine people at any era reading this and not seeing it for exactly what it is lol