Human Sexuality Chapter 15 Part One

Transcription

1 Human Sexuality Chapter 15 Part One Introduction Most people divide sexual behaviour into abnormal and normal, most of the things discussed in this chapter are abnormal, but first what is abnormal? When is sexual behaviour abnormal? Defining abnormal The statistical definition of abnormal sexual behaviour is a behaviour that is rare, or not practiced by many people This definition does not give us much insight into the psychological or social functioning of the person when engages in the behaviour In the sociological approach the problem of culture dependence is explicitly acknowledged A social psychologist may define a deviant sexual behaviour as a sexual behaviour that violates the norms of society The psychological approach was stated by Arnold Buss, he stated that the three criteria for abnormal behaviour are o Discomfort o Inefficiency o Bizarreness The problem with the last one, is can be culturally defined (what is found to be bizarre in one culture may not be in another) The medical approach is exemplified by the definitions included in the diagnostic and statistical manual of medical disorders, it recognizes eight paraphernalia s o Recurring, unconventional sexual behaviour that s obsessive and compulsive These eight are; fetishism, transvestic fetishism, sexual sadism, sexual masochism, voyeurism, froteurism, exhibitionism, and pedophilia There are additional diagnostic criteria for each disorder, these include: o 1. The fantasies urges or behaviours have occurred over a period of at least six months o 2. They cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social occupational, or other important areas of functioning This remains controversial, Canadian psychologist Peggy Kleinplatz argues that there is no agreed upon definition of healthy sexuality Most atypical sexual behaviours are not against the law, though some are Indecent exposure: o Showing ones genitals in a public place to passersby; exhibitionism

2 An example of how community standards of taste can effect laws is when Gwen Jacobs walked topless, she was charged with committing an indecent act in a public place Court appealed that women have the right to go topless as long is it is not for commercial gain or sexual purposes 72% of Canadians think that it should be illegal, and 48% of Canadians think it should be illegal for women to go topless on a beach The Normal-abnormal Continuum It is hard to distinguish what is considered normal from abnormal For example many people have mild fetishes like silk underwear The continuum from normal to abnormal is found on the top of page 427 It could start with a mild preference for silk panties, until the man cant get off with out them A behaviour is likely to be found abnormal if it interferes with having healthy relationships or completing day to day activities and or causes harm to other people Sexual Addictions and Compulsions In the case of sexual addiction, the person has a pathological relationship to a sexual event or process substituting it for a healthy relationship with others There are differences from sexual addiction and chemical addictions; one the person doesn t experience withdrawal Another criticism is the fact that the term addiction may effect perceptions of these behaviours and become an excuse for illegal destructive behaviour Compulsive Sexual Behaviour Compulsive sexual behaviour: o A disorder in which the person experiences intense sexually arousing fantasies, urges and associated sexual behaviour It can be paraphilic or non paraphilic Approximately 5% of the population suffer from this A distinguishing feature of sexual addiction or compulsions is that the person has lost control over the behaviour The key to this is the compulsiveness, the lack of control, the obsession and the obliviousness to danger or harmful consequences A person with a sexual compulsion/addiction may spend money that her or she doesn t have, may neglect work or family to engage in the behaviour and may even risk arrest Each episode of the sexually compulsive behaviour proceeds through a four step cycle, which intensifies each time it is repeated

3 o 1. Preoccupation: the person can think of nothing other than the sexual act to which he or she s addicted o 2. Rituals: the person enacts certain rituals that have become a prelude to the addictive act o 3. Compulsive sexual behaviour: the sexual behaviour is enacted and the person feels that he or she has no control over it o 4. Despair: rather than feeling good after the sexual act is completed, the addict falls into a feeling of hopelessness and despair There is often a history of alcoholism in the family, or other addictive behaviour. There also may be a background of the disorder in the family Fetishism Fetishism: o A persons sexual fixation on some object other than another human being an attachment of great erotic significance to that object In extreme cases the person is incapable of becoming aroused and having an orgasm unless the fetish is present Media Fetishes and Form Fetishes Media Fetish: o A fetish whose object is anything made of a particular substance, such as leather There are two types, hard media fetish is made of something hard like leather, and soft media fetish is made of something soft like fur or silk Form fetish o A fetish whose object is a particular shape, such as high heel shoes Why do people develop a fetish? Learning theory: o Fetishes result from classical conditioning in which a learned association is built between the fetish object and sexual arousal and orgasm o There was an experiment where men could actually be conditioned to become aroused to shoes Cognitive psychology: o People with fetishes have a serious cognitive distortion in that they perceive an unconventional stimulus o Their perception of arousal is distorted Sexual addiction model o It occurs early in life (usually before 12 years old)

4 Transvestism Transvestism: o The practice of deriving sexual gratification from dressing as a member of the other gender, trasvestic fetishism Drag queen: o A gay man who dresses in women s clothing Female impersonators: o A man who dresses up as a women a part of a job entertainment A lot of younger boys may dress up in women s clothing, this does not mean that the behaviour will continue, it just may be that they are exploring their gender or sexuality A transvestite is a heterosexual man who dresses in female clothing to produce or enhance sexual arousal Cross dressing is often done in private Transvestic fetishism is almost exclusively a male sexual variation There was a survey done of cross dressers, most of them are men, and only 14% said that they would do it in public In one sample, 50 heterosexual male cross dressers, of them 60% of their wives were supportive, and even told their children For many people it occurs in a mild form and so it is one of the harmless, victimless, sexual variations Sadism and Masochism Sexual sadist: o A person who derives sexual satisfaction from inflicting pain, suffering, or humiliation on another person Sexual masochist: o A person who derives sexual satisfaction from experiencing pain These are seem as a pair as one inflicts as the other receives There are two styles of interaction: o Bondage and Discipline: the use of physical or psychological restraints to enforce servitude from which both participants derive sensual pleasure o Dominance and submission: the use of power consensually given to control the sexual stimulation and behaviour of the other person Sexual Sadomasochistic Behaviour Sadomasochism (S-M) is a rare for of sexual behaviour although in its milder forms it is probably more common than most people think S-M fantasies are more common, New Brunswick study found that 65% of university students have sexual fantasies of being tied up and 62% have fantasies of tying someone up

5 Another study providing questionnaires found that 33% of men and 28% of women preferred the dominant role, 41% of men and 40% of the women preferred the submissive role and 26, 32 respectfully were versatile Women prefer bondage, spanking, and master and slave role playing There are four clusters of behaviour that people usually participate in: o 1- hyper masculinity (dildo) o 2- physical pain o 3- physical restriction o 4- humiliation (slapping) According to S-M club websites; the rules include no touching of another s body without consent, giving players the room they need to enact a scene, not intruding physically or verbally on a scene in progress and sometimes no sexual penetration Causes of sexual Sadomasochism Learning theory points to conditioning as an explanation (little girl caught masturbating and spanked) A related theory points to childhood sexual abuse that causes sadistic fantasies, for example of revenge as the root of at least sadistic violence If sexual arousal is paired with the fantasies, they may influence sexual behaviour The masochist is motivated by a desire to escape form self-awareness, that is the masochist behaviour helps the individual escape from being conscious of the self in the same way that drunkenness and some forms of meditation do Sexual masochist activity allows the person to escape from being autonomous separate individuals Bondage and Discipline Is the use in sexual behaviour of retraining devices that have sexual significance, has been a staple of erotic fiction and art for centuries BDSM (bondage S-M) munch is an informal gathering of people who are interested in BDSM often at a restaurant so they can eat, socialize and meet other people with similar interests Its hard to get statistics on who does this, but in a study where people intercepted messages online, 75% were male, most heterosexual, and 185 said they were gay Of these people, people said that they did it for play, of for the poser trip Most men and women, regardless of there sexual orientation prefer the bottom (passive) role Dominance and Submission This is a social behaviour embedded in a subculture and controlled by elaborate scripts D-S is not a wild outbreak of violence, but rather a carefully controlled performance with a script

6 Within play, people take on the roles of things such as master, slave or naughty child How do people let themselves be tied up and whipped, they could be seriously injured- complex social arrangements are made to reduce the risk First initial contacts are usually made in protected territories Next the basic scripts are widely shared, so that everyone understands what will and will not occur When participants are strangers, the scenario may be negotiated before it is enacted Third as the activity unfolds very subtle non verbal cues are used to control the interaction so that even the passive person has some control Voyeurism Voyeurism: o A sexual variation in which the person becomes sexually aroused from secretly viewing nudes Scoptophilia: o A sexual variation in which the person becomes sexually aroused by observing others sexual acts and genitals Voyeurism is of interest to paraphilia s, but also to individuals without paraphilia s There was a study done, where most of the people would watch another undress, no matter the risk involved People who engage in voyeurism are typically men who want the women they view to be a stranger and do not want her to know what they are doing