Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Anorgasmia

Anorgasmia is a form of sexual dysfunction sometimes classified as a psychiatric disorder in which the patient cannot achieve orgasm, even with "adequate" stimulation. It is an inhibition of the orgasmic phase of the sexual response cycle. For some men the disorder presents itself in terms of an inability to reach orgasm only during sex. In such cases it is often possible for orgasm to be reached but only after prolonged and intense non-intercourse stimulation.

Proposed explanations have included lack of sexual education, strong religious upbringing, lack of strength in the woman’s pubococcygeus muscle, past sexual abuse, impotence or early ejaculation in male partner, and high levels of anxiety associated with sex.

Primary anorgasmia is a condition where one has never experienced an orgasm. This is significantly more common in women, although it can occur in men who lack the gladipudendal
reflexes. Women with this condition can sometimes achieve a relatively low level of sexual excitement and may think of intercourse or other sexual activities as pleasant despite their inability to orgasm. They may get most of their reward from touching, holding, kissing, caressing, attention, and approval. However, women who regularly achieve high levels of sexual response
without orgasmic release of tension may find the experience frustrating. Emotional irritability, restlessness, and pelvic pain or a heavy pelvic sensation may occur because of vascular engorgement.

Women with this condition can sometimes achieve a relatively low level of sexual excitement and may think of intercourse or other sexual activities as pleasant despite their inability to orgasm. They may get most of their reward from touching, holding, kissing, caressing, without orgasmic release of tension may find the experience frustrating. Emotional irritability, restlessness, and pelvic pain or a heavy pelvic sensation may occur because of vascular engorgement.

Women who have not yet had an orgasm usually have some combination of the following:
* Sociocultural inhibitions that interfere with normal sexual response.
* Unresolved feelings towards a traumatic sexual experience as in sexual abuse or rape.
* A lack of knowledge about sex and sexuality, which interferes with normal sexual development.
* A lack of opportunity to practice in a safe, secure, socially acceptable, and a private
atmosphere (only two partaking) in a situation that offers approval and support.
* A partner who has primary or secondary difficulty in achieving an erection.
* Dyspareunia, or painful intercourse.
* Genital mutilation ("female circumcision") that removes part or all of the clitoris, scars the genital area, or constricts the opening to the vagina. Often, vaginal intercourse is painful not only because of scarring from this procedure but also because of associated infection.

Secondary anorgasmia

Secondary anorgasmia is the loss of the ability to have orgasms. The cause may be alcoholism, depression, grief, pelvic surgery or injuries, certain medications, illness, estrogen deprivation associated with menopause or an event that has violated the patient's sexual value system.

Situational anorgasmia

Women who are orgasmic in some situations may not be in others. A woman may have an orgasm from one type of stimulation but not from another. Or a woman may achieve orgasm with one partner but not another, or have an orgasm only under certain conditions or only with a sexual expression.

Doctors believe that a woman with situational anorgasmia should be encouraged to explore alone and with her partner those factors that may affect whether or not she is orgasmic, such as fatigue, emotional concerns, feeling pressured to have sex when she is not interested, or her partner's sexual dysfunction.

Random anorgasmia

Some women are orgasmic but not in enough instances to satisfy their sense of what is appropriate or desirable. Often such women have trouble momentarily giving up control and
allowing themselves to respond fully. Therapy can be aimed at helping them give up the need to keep their sexual feelings under control at all times.

Treatment


Effective treatment for anorgasmia depends on the cause. In the case of a women suffering from psychological sexual trauma or inhibition, psychosexual counselling might be advisable and could be obtained through GP referral.

Women suffering from anorgasmia with no obvious psychological cause would need to be examined by their GP to check for absence of disease. Blood tests would also need to be done to check for other conditions such as diabetes, lack of ovulation, low thyroid function or hormone imbalances. They would then need to be referred to a consultant specialising in female sexual dysfunction. Just as with erectile dysfunction in men lack of sexual function in women may be treated with hormones to correct imbalances, clitoral vacuum pump devices or medication to improve blood flow and sexual sensation.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Zoophilia

Bestiality/Zoophilia

Zoophilia, from the Greek (zṓon, "animal") and (philia, "friendship" or "love"), is a paraphilia, defined as an affinity or sexual attraction by a human to an animal. Such individuals are called zoophiles. Zoophilia consists of feeling for the animal, sexual activity is absent, but there is an exaggerated attachment to the animal from the part of the human. Eg: the human may want to run on all fours or to be buried near to his dog.

It is also termed as bestiality, any sexual relations between a human being and an animal. Although the practice is illegal in most countries, occasional zoophilic encounters are fairly common, especially in rural areas, where 17 percent of U.S. males in the Kinsey report of 1948 acknowledged sexual experience with animals at least once. Sexual contacts between women and animals occur less frequently.

Bestiality involves a human-animal sexual interaction, from which sexual excitement is derived. Bestiality has been long chronicled. It has been assumed that when humans lacked sexual gratification, in the pre-historic area, they searched for a substitute which often turned out to be an animal. This happened due to the lack of intellect on the part of the human beings, who did not notice much difference in animals other then shape, size and degree of threat to their lives.

Bestiality occurs in both men and women, and according to Kinsey 8% of men and 3% of women admitted having sexual encounters with animals. (out of the 8% of men, 50% of men who had been reared on farms had such contacts) Bestiality signifies a sexual act between humans and animals. It does not by itself imply any given motive or attitude. It is not always certain whether acts such as kissing, intimate behavior, frottage (rubbing), masturbation, or oral sex are considered 'bestiality' in all cultures or legal systems, or whether the term implies sexual intercourse or other penetrative activity alone. In a non-zoophilic context, words like bestial or bestiality are also used to signify acting or behaving savagely, animal-like, extremely viciously, or lacking in human values. The spelling beastiality is nonstandard, yet some experts suggest that this terminology might be more appropriate.

The activity or desire itself is no longer classified as a pathology under DSM-IV (TR) unless accompanied by distress or interference with normal functioning on the part of the person. Critics point out that that DSM-IV says nothing about acceptability or the well-being of the animal, and many critics outside the field express views that sexual acts with animals are always either abusive or unethical. Defenders of zoosexuality argue that a human/animal relationship can go far beyond sexuality, and that animals are capable of forming a genuinely loving relationship that can last for years and which is not functionally different from any other love/sex relationship.

Amongst zoophiles and some researchers, the term bestialist has acquired a negative connotation implying a lower concern for animal welfare. This usage originated with the desire by some zoophiles to have a way to distinguish zoophilia as a fully relational outlook (sexual or otherwise), from simple "ownership with sex." Others describe themselves as zoophiles and bestialists in accordance with the dictionary definitions of the words.

Finally, zoosadism refers to the torture or pain of animals for sexual pleasure, and also includes willfully abusive zoosexual activity.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Troilism

Troilism Disorders

Ménage à trois

-(French) a relationship or domestic arrangement in which three people, often a married couple and another lover, share a sexual relationship, although the relationship might or might not involve all three persons having sexual relations with each other. The French phrase literally translates as "household of three".

Troilism is obtaining sexual arousal and gratification by sharing a sexual partner (or close relative) while watching or looking on. A troilist becomes aroused and gratified by the "sharing". It is any form of sexual activity where three people are involved simultaneously. Troilism is a deep desire to have sexual relations in the presence of others. This paraphilia is a distinct form of Scopophilia. Troilists gain their sexual gratification by watching oneself or/and others in sexual scenes. This person takes photos of him/herself engaging in sexual acts, uses video cameras to observe sexual scenes or uses ceiling mirrors.

A paraphilia of the mercantile/venal type in which sexuoerotic arousal and facilitation or attainment of orgasm are responsive to, and dependent upon observing one's partner on hire or loan to a third person while engaging in sexual activitie , including intercourse, with that person. Typically, a husband arranges that his wife has another male partner, so that he can fantasy her in the role of a whore, without which he cannot become aroused.

It is the act of two people performing intercourse while a third watches. A common example is a husband watching his wife have intercourse with another man. This scenario is part of the swinger lifestyle, and varies depending on the participants. Two of the parties are related, such as a married couple. The third party comes from outside the relationship, and can even be a stranger to the couple. Although the couple is usually separated, it is possible for the third party to be the observer.

Like many parts of the swinger lifestyle, there are no set rules for performing troilism. Sometimes the observer pleasures himself, other times he waits for delayed gratification; sometimes he watches from a few feet away, other times he watches in another room through a video camera. Illegal troilisms involve hiring a prostitute for the act, prostituting one member of the couple, one member of the sex act not knowing a third party is watching, and rape or forced participation of any combination of the parties. These illegal acts can often be role-playing scenarios.

Swingers gain sexual gratification by exchanging sexual partners, with another person and looking at the two engaging in sexual act. An estimated 8 million couples experienced this kind of behavior. If two couples are having sexual relations at the same time, it is also considered as Troilism.

A study by Jenks in 1985 shows that swingers and troilists;
-Are aroused by the "sharing"
-Are relatively new in the community
-Have moved often over the past five years.
-Are members of the middle class
-Are conservative in their political views
-Identify little with religion.


Thursday, January 31, 2008

Transvestism

"Cross-Dressing"

Cross-dressing by heterosexual males is called transvestic fetishism or transvestitism. The male with this fetish usually has a variety of female clothes that he uses to cross-dress. While some males will wear only one special piece of female apparel, others fully dress as a female and use full facial make-up to achieve a total female appearance. Often this disorder begins in childhood. It tends to be chronic in nature.

Transvestism is the practice of cross-dressing, which is wearing the clothing of the opposite sex. Transvestite refers to a person who cross-dresses; however, the word often as additional connotations

Diagnostic criteria for Transvestism

*Over a period of 6 months, heterosexual male patients have recurrent, intense, sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving cross-dressing.

* The fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

* Typically, patients derive sexual gratification from wearing clothes usually worn by the opposite sex, and patients typically are heterosexual married males (not a DSM-IV criterion).

Different usages and meanings of the term transvestism.

Some of them contradict each other; the only thing they have in common is

* They describe a behavior of people dressing in clothes of a gender that is different from the gender they were assigned (usually at birth) or the gender they are living in. It does imply some inner motive for cross-dressing, but does not specify this motive.

* They (usually) exclude transvestic fetishism and they usually do not include transsexualism, or transgender people who completely change their gender role.

A number of phenomena are conflated under the general term of transvestitism. There became in the late twentieth century perhaps a clearer distinction than in earlier times between the transsexual — who believes him or herself to have been born into a body of the wrong gender, and may seek surgical and hormonal gender reassignment — and the transvestite, who cross-dresses but does not desire to change his or her physical body.

For some men wearing female clothes is a form of fetishism: the clothes are experienced as sexually arousing; this form of cross-dressing is a specifically sexual act, either leading to masturbation, or being a requirement for successful intercourse. The converse is seldom the case in women. Other (male) transvestites lead a double life as normal heterosexual males, with an alternative identity dressing and passing as women. There are also homosexual transvestites who cross-dress, but in such cases there is often an element of deliberate impersonation and even caricature (‘drag queens’): this can be deployed as a critique of existing gender norms but can also be an expression of misogynistic hostility.

Possible explanations

The influence of social and cultural factors is more marked: cross-cultural research indicates that discomfort with biological gender is more common in societies with rigid expectations about appropriately gendered behaviour. Thus the inability of the accepted male role to incorporate qualities perceived as ‘feminine’ may lead to various forms of identifying with the appurtenances of femininity.

Boys who later become transvestites or transsexuals may manifest ‘feminine’ behavioural characteristics from early childhood. In a significant minority of cases, being cross-dressed as a child by a parent or other relative seems to play a part. What is not clear is why in some cases this ‘feminization’ leads to the development in the adult male of a homosexual identity, in other cases to transvestitism with heterosexual orientation, and in others to full transsexualism.

As with many categories of sexual behaviour, ‘transvestitism’ as a classification is a lumping together of diverse phenomena, not only in the different sexes, but among members of the same sex obeying different biological, social, or psychic imperatives resulting in phenomena which are only apparently similar.


Thursday, January 24, 2008

Wet and Messy Fetish

A wet and messy fetish (WAM) is a form of sexual fetishism that has a person getting aroused by substances which are deliberately applied on the body like mud, shaving foam, custard pudding, chocolate sauce, squirty cream, jelly and the likes.

Messy and wet substances can include whipped cream, mud, shaving foam, custard, pudding, chocolate sauce, Japanese-style lotion, paint, oil or gunge/slime, etc. Wet substances are mainly water but can also include other liquids such as fruit juice or milk.

It could also involve wet clothes, or any combination of the above. The arousal occurs when the substance is generously applied to the naked skin, or to the clothes the person is wearing. It also could occur when seeing someone else getting wet and/or messy.

Four Categories of WAM

*Messy - the applying of substances not usually used in this fashion. This may include food, shaving cream and mud. A major subdivison of food play involves striking people with cream pies or cakes in films. This category also includes wrestling in mud, oil or gelatin.

*Wet - The major varieties are of images of people in completely soaked clothing, usually involving full clothing ensembles.

*Quicksand - images of people sinking in quicksand. In drawn images, the stage where female characters sink up to their chests and their breasts are pushed up in response is a favourite.

*Underwater - (Aquaphilia). Involves images of people swimming or posing underwater. Some subsets of this category are underwater fashion (models posing underwater, often while fully clothed), scuba, rubber (people in skin-tight rubber wetsuits), simulated drowning, and underwater sex.

Theories of WAM

*One presented theory is that the feeling of wet and messy substances on the skin is a surrogate for the feeling of touching a partners' skin while having sex.

*Another theory is that getting wet and messy amplifies or exaggerates the feelings of lust. Yet another theory is that seeing another person or yourself getting wet and/or messy is arousing, because it reminds of the natural moistures the body excretes when sexually aroused.


Part of the current awareness of wet and messy fetishism is due to the British fetish magazine Splosh!, which until production recently slowed featured pictures of, and stories about, women in wet and messy situations. This has lead to the word 'Sploshing' being used as a kind of shorthand, especially in mainstream media, for the Wet and Messy fetish. Websites were also created that allow forums and exchange of information showcasing WAM.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Fetishism

Sexual fetishism is the sexual attraction for material and terrestrial objects while in reality the essence of the object is inanimate and sexless. Body parts may also be subject to sexual fetishes in which the preferred body part for the fetishist takes a sexual precedent over the owner. Sexual fetishism may be regarded as a disorder of sexual preference, or as an enhancing element to a relationship. It is the compulsive use of some object, or part of the body, as a stimulus in the course of attaining sexual gratification, as a shoe, a lock of hair, or underclothes. Usually the fetish begins in adolescence and tends to be quite chronic into adult life.


Fetishism is a fixation on an inanimate object or body part that is not primarily sexual in nature, and the compulsive need for its use in order to obtain sexual gratification. The object of a fetish is almost invariably used during masturbation and may also be incorporated into sexual activity with a partner in order to produce sexual excitation. The sexual acts of fetishists are characteristically depersonalized and objectified, even when they involve a partner. The focus of attention is exclusively on the fetish, whereas non-fetishists may at various times make a particular body part or an object part of their general sexual arousal and expression with another person, but not be fixated on it.

Inanimate object fetishes can be categorized into two types:

In a form fetish, it is the object and its shape that are important, such as in the case of high-heeled shoes.

In a media fetish, it is the material out of which the object is made that is important, such as silk or leather. Inanimate object fetishists often collect the object of their favor, and may go to great lengths, including theft, to acquire just the "right" addition for their collection.

Festish Objects

Although the list of objects that fetishists can use for sexual gratification is inexhaustible, among the more common inanimate objects are panties, bras, slips, stockings or panty hose, negligees, shoes, boots and gloves. Common media objects include leather, rubber, silk, or fur.

In some cases drawings or photographs of the fetish object may arouse fetishists, but more commonly the fetishist prefers or requires an object that has already been worn. The worn object does not serve as a symbolic reminder of the former owner, however, because it is the object that the fetishist relates to, not the person attached to it. Sometimes it is a body part, such as hair, feet, legs or buttocks that become fetish objects.

In some cases, the fetishist can become sexually aroused and orgasmic only when the fetish is being used. In other instances, a sexual response may occur without the fetish, but usually at a diminished level. When the fetish object is not present, the fetishist often engineers sexual arousal by fantasizing about it.


Symptoms

*The fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

*Over a period of at least 6 months, patients have recurrent, intense, sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving nonliving objects.

*Patients do not limit the fetish objects to articles of female clothing used in cross-dressing or to devices designated for the purpose of tactile genital stimulation.

*Patients may have a particular pathological displacement of erotic interest and satisfaction for their entire lives (not a DSM-IV criterion).

Causes

The causes of fetishism are not clearly understood. Some learning theorists believe that it develops from early childhood experiences, in which an object was associated with a particularly powerful form of sexual arousal or gratification.

Other learning theorists would not focus on early childhood, but on later childhood and adolescence and the conditioning associated with masturbation activity. Researchers have shown that in general fetishists have poorly developed social skills, are quite isolated in their lives and have a diminished capacity for establishing intimacy.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Sadomasochism


'S&M'

Sadomasochism is a paraphilia that combines both sadistic and masochistic sexual behavioral patterns. The main characteristic of sadomasochism is the eroticizing of pain. What appears to the outsider to be painful, even very painful, is experienced as somewhat painful but mostly pleasurable and very sexually arousing to the sadomasochist.

The sadist in the sadomasochistic pair is the person who inflicts the pain or punishment; the masochist is the person who submits to the pain, humiliation or control of his or her partner. Sadomasochistic sexual encounters usually occur in the context of scripted scenes that simulate interactions between master or mistress and slave, employer and servant-maid, teacher and student, owner and horse or dog, and parent and child.

Sadomasochists may wear black leather or rubber attire. Some gay males and heterosexuals engage in a genre of sadomasochism known as "leathersex", wearing key chains or colored handkerchiefs symbolizing the role being played. Wearing keys on the left side indicates that the individual is a sadist; on the right indicates that he or she prefers the role of masochist.

Sadomasochists tend to alternate between the masochistic and sadistic roles. In milder form, without overt cruelty or bodily punishment, dominance and submissive behaviors may be found in many relationships, or may be an element of fantasy life.

Although sadomasochistic acts in their extreme forms can be physically and psychologically dangerous, the majority of people engaging in these behaviors do so with an understanding of the risks and stay within carefully predetermined limits.

Sadomasochism seems to be in fashion these days. Paperbacks on brutal passions involving pain, physical restraint and servitude are published in large numbers. Sex shops have tons of sex toys and gear for inflicting pain. The web sites destined for the lost and brokenhearted are rife with announcements posted by submissives looking for dominants and vice versa.

Being involved in dominant/submissive relationships on a regular basis is often referred to as being “in the lifestyle.” It would be wrong to imagine a lifestyler as a submissive person handcuffed to a radiator, someone who is continually humiliated by a dominant. In actuality, the above practices fall under the category of roleplaying. The partners who are “in the lifestyle” may resemble a somewhat old-fashioned couple of like-minded individuals.

Terminologies

- B&D is Bondage and Domination involving physical constraint, tying, role plays, servitude, humiliation and punishment;

- D&S is Dominance and Submission involves non-play dominant/submissive behavior that exceeds the limits of “sensation play”. The partners usually agree on a dominant/submissive pattern prior to engaging in such an activity.

- S&M means Sadism and Masochism i.e. practices in which physical pain is inflicted for mutual enjoyment.

- Vanilla, derivative from “vanilla ice cream, is a term used for referring to anything unrelated to BDSM e.g. vanilla man, vanilla relationship, vanilla sex etc.

- The emphasis on informed consent and safety is known as SSC (safe, sane and consensual), though others prefer the term RACK (Risk-Aware Consensual Kink), believing that it places more emphasis on acknowledging the fact that all activities are potentially risky.

- In BDSM, a top is a partner who takes the role of giver in such acts as bondage, flogging, humiliation, or servitude. The top performs acts such as these upon the bottom, who is the person receiving for the duration of a scene. Although it is easy to assume that a top is dominant and a bottom is submissive, it is not necessarily so.

Switching stands for playing both dominant and submissive roles, either during a single scene or taking on different roles at different occasions with different partners. A switch will be the top on some occasions and the bottom on other occasions.

Case

Sadomasochism Bondage Death in Massachusetts Raises Legal Questions

Thursday, October 11, 2007 Fox News

LYNN, Mass. — Adrian Exley was wrapped tightly in heavy plastic, then bound with duct tape. A leather hood was put over his head with a thin plastic straw inserted so that he could breathe, and he was shut up in a closet.

That, apparently, was the way Exley liked it. But the way it ended — with Exley suffocating — was not what he had in mind when he traveled from Britain for a bondage session with a man he had met through a sadomasochism Web site.

Exley's body was discovered in the woods last year, two months after he was bound up in the bondage "playroom" Gary LeBlanc had built in the basement of his suburban Boston home. LeBlanc, a 48-year-old Gulf Oil sales executive, detailed his responsibility in the fatal bondage session in a five-page suicide note, just before he put a gun to his head and killed himself.

Now the question is: Since Exley consented to the sex play, can LeBlanc be held responsible for his death?

Exley's family is suing LeBlanc's estate for unspecified damages, claiming wrongful death. Many bondage enthusiasts are watching the case closely, seeing it as lesson in where to draw the line of responsibility on consensual but dangerous sex.

Exley and LeBlanc met through an online forum for gay men into rubber, leather and bondage. Exley, a 32-year-old stripper, used the screen name "Studpup," while LeBlanc called himself "Rubrman" and built a chamber with rubber mats on the floors and walls, chains, leather restraints, rubber suits and a hospital gurney.

Exley arrived at LeBlanc's house in Lynn in April 2006 after the pair had exchanged e-mails in which they discussed plans for LeBlanc to play the "master" and Exley his "slave," according to the lawsuit.

John Andrews, a lawyer for LeBlanc's estate, said Exley knew the risks going in. "What occurred was an act or actions between two consenting adults, both of whom knew what they were doing, and it had a tragic end," he said.

The lawsuit describes a three-day bondage and discipline session that ended when a third man, Scott Vincent, discovered Exley was not breathing. Exley had been put in a closet while bound in plastic up to his neck and left alone for several hours, according to the lawsuit.

In his suicide note, LeBlanc admitted that Exley at one point had trouble breathing. But he said that after "cooling him down," Exley improved. LeBlanc said that he went to sleep about 3 a.m. but was woken up a few hours later by Vincent, who told him Exley was not breathing and was turning blue and cold.

LeBlanc said he panicked, and he and Vincent drove to Rhode Island, where they buried the body and threw away Exley's clothing and identification.

The Rhode Island medical examiner determined that Exley suffocated. Vincent said in a sworn statement that the straw had fallen out of his mouth in the closet.

"The law says if a person causes the death of another person by an act which is either negligent or reckless, that person is liable," Cook said. "You have a duty to behave reasonably. I think it's the same thing here, albeit a very strange set of facts."

It was Exley's mother, Maggie Horner, who decided to sue LeBlanc's estate.

"We decided that we didn't want Gary's last wishes being granted when Adrian's couldn't be," she said. "Why should Gary be able to kill my son, bury my son, shoot himself and still get his own way?"

Necrophilia

"love of the dead"

Necrophilia is a paraphilia characterized by a sexual attraction to corpses. The word is artificially derived from Ancient Greek nekros- "corpse," or "dead" and philia- "love".

Necrophilia can best be described as sexual arousal stimulated by a dead body. The stimulation can be either in the form of fantasies or actual physical sexual contact with the corpse.

The DSM-IV-TR criteria for necrophilia are the presence, over a period of at least six months, of recurrent and intense urges and sexually arousing fantasies involving corpses which are either acted upon or have been markedly distressing.

Even in its truest form, necrophilia can be quite varied, ranging from simply being in the presence of a corpse to kissing, fondling or performing sexual intercourse or cunnilingus on the body.

For psychologist Erich Fromm, necrophilia is a character orientation which is not necessarily sexual. It is expressed in an attraction to that which is dead or totally controlled. At the extreme, it results in destructiveness and a hatred of life.

For Fromm, necrophilia is the opposite of biophilia, that it is not biologically determined but results from upbringing. Fromm believed that the lack of love in the western society and the attraction to mechanistic control leads to necrophilia.

Cultural Aspects

Necrophilia was practiced in some ancient cultures as a spiritual means of communicating with the dead, while others employed it as an attempt to revive the recently departed. The evidence of necrophilia practices can be found in the artifacts of the Moche civilization of South America, where pottery depicting skeletal figures engaged in coitus with living humans are among the ruins.

In some cases the use of dead bodies for the purposes of sexual gratification is purely opportunistic, an activity encountered among those who have professional dealings with corpses in the course of their daily work, for example undertakers and morgue attendants. The practice was rumoured to be prevalent among the embalmers of ancient Egypt to such a degree that the bodies of highly-born women were not embalmed immediately after death but allowed to become slightly putrid as a deterrent. There is, however, no evidence that a desire for sexual relations with corpses leads individuals into these professions. Those who come into constant routine contact with corpses soon acquire a familiarity with them which might lead to using them as what could be considered an extremely bizarre masturbatory aid.

Causes

- The necrophile develops poor self-esteem, perhaps due in part to a significant loss. He (usually male) is very fearful of rejection by women and he desires a sexual partner who is incapable of rejecting him and or he is fearful of the dead, and transforms his fear — by means of reaction formation — into a desire.

-He develops an exciting fantasy of sex with a corpse, sometimes after exposure to a corpse.

-Other factors include; the impact of modern weapon systems, idolotry of technology, and the treatment of people as things in bureaucracy.

-Minor modern researches conducted in England have shown that some necrophiles tend to choose a dead mate after failing to create romantic attachments with the living.

According to reports of sample of 'necrophiliacs,' 68 percent were motivated by a desire for an unresisting and unrejecting partner; 21 percent by a want for reunion with a lost partner; 15 percent by sexual attraction to dead people; 15 percent by a desire for comfort or to overcome feelings of isolation; and 12 percent by a desire to remedy low self-esteem by expressing power over a corpse.

"When the wife of a distinguished man dies, or any woman who happens to be beautiful or well known, her body is not given to the embalmers immediately, but only after the lapse of three or four days. This is a precautionary measure to prevent the embalmers from violating her corpse, a thing which is actually said to have happened in the case of a woman who had just died." (de Selincourt)


Notable necrophiles

+Carl Tanzler

Carl Tanzler was a radiologist in Key West, Florida who developed a morbid obsession for Elena Milagro Hoyos (1910-1931). She was one of his patients, and she died from tuberculosis in 1931. With her parents' permission, Tanzler had an above ground mausoleum built for her, so she wouldn't decompose underground. He visited the tomb almost every night, but in 1933, his obsession apparently overcame him, as he took Hoyos' corpse home with him and kept it in his bed. He restored her body as best he could and kept a full wardrobe to dress her. As her body decomposed, he replaced the skin with wax and plaster of Paris, and bought copious amounts of perfume, often several times a month. In 1940, one of Hoyos's surviving sisters became suspicious due to omnipresent rumors of Tanzler's necrophilia, and eventually confronted Tanzler at his home. She entered Tanzler's house and found Elena's corpse lying in his bed in an elegant dress, almost fully decomposed. Tanzler was later arrested and charged with "wantonly and maliciously destroying a grave and removing a body without authorization," but he was ultimately released, as the statute of limitations on the crime had expired.

Necrophilia has also been a motive for some serial killers, including Richard Chase, Ed Gein, Winston Moseley, Dennis Nilsen, John Reginald Halliday Christie, Bruno Lüdke, Jerry Brudos, Gary Ridgway, Ted Bundy, and Jeffrey Dahmer, who ate his victims after killing them (although Dahmer had only confessed to eating the bicep of a male); the technical term for this particular variant activity is necrophagia. Several other murderers have described drawing sexual excitement from killing, as well, such as Karla Faye Tucker, who claimed to have an orgasm with each swing of the axe she used to kill Jerry Lynn Dean. The guilty-plea testimony provided by the recently captured (2005) serial killer Dennis Rader provided a rare public glimpse into the workings of such a controlling mind.




Monday, January 14, 2008

Exhibitionism

"exposing self"/"indecent exposure"/"flashing"

Exhibitionism, known variously as flashing, apodysophilia and Lady Godiva syndrome, is the psychological need and pattern of behavior to exhibit naked parts of the body to another person with a tendency toward an extravagant, usually at least partially sexually inspired behavior to captivate the attention of another in an open display of bare "private parts", parts of the human body which would otherwise be left covered under clothing in nearly all other cultural circumstances. A disorder in which the act of exposing the genitals to an unsuspecting stranger produces sexual excitement with no attempt at further sexual activity with the stranger." Law enforcement people invariably call it "indecent exposure".

Involves intense, recurrent and sexually arousing fantasies involving the exposure of the individual's genitals. This may, in turn, translate into putting this fantasy into action and engaging in these behaviors. However, a key feature of this need is that the individual be a stranger or unsuspecting. This disorder is characterized by either intense sexually arousing fantasies, urges, or behaviors in which the individual exposes his or her genitals to an unsuspecting stranger. To be considered diagnosable, the fantasies, urges, or behaviors must cause significant distress in the individual or be disruptive to his or her everyday functioning.

Typically, the part(s) of the body exposed when referring to "flashing" are bare female breasts and/or buttocks. In theory, however, flashing and exhibitionism can also involve the genitalia or buttocks of either gender. A "male flasher" stands in stark comparison to this definition as the latter usually refers to a male indecently exposing his penis to an unwilling observer.

Usually, flashing is done as a momentary "thrill" to inflate the ego of the flasher while having the "added bonus" of increasing the sexual arousal of the recipient(s). Exhibitionists who view exhibitionism as a lifestyle as opposed to a rare thrill, however, more carefully select their target audience and make the exposure brief, inconspicuous and apparently unintentional. While all exhibitionism is, whether on the end of the giver or the receiver, ultimately a sexual fetish, many practitioners see it as an art form. Night clubs and goth bars encourage mild exhibitionism to enhance the venue's atmosphere. This all contrasts with non-sexualized social nudity, in which the exposure is not connected with sexual expression, such as sunbathing or swimming at nude beaches or other participation in public nudity events where nudity is the norm.

Some exhibitionists wish to display themselves sexually to other people singly or in groups. This can be done consensually as part of swinging or group sex. When done non-threateningly, the intent is usually to surprise and/or sexually arouse the viewer, giving the exhibitionist an ego rush. Some people like to expose themselves in front of large crowds, typically at sporting events; see streaking. A similar phenomenon is when, at the conclusion of a sporting event, a woman may flash her breasts while sitting atop someone's shoulders in a dense crowd of people. Other exhibitionists like to go beyond physical exposure and use the internet to distribute their stories and pictures on websites, sometimes using webcam feeds and other amateur methods. A further purpose here could be to further sexually arouse the recipient by giving the impression that the exposure is "first time" and/or "innocent."

Many mild and considered acceptable forms of exhibitionism are considered normal in our culture. Children often have a natural curiosity about their genitals and the genitals of others. Young children may like to try to shock adults or other children by showing their genitals or underwear. This is typically a passing phase and only calls for professional treatment if it persists. Similarly, adolescents have been expressing disapproval through "mooning" for years. Wearing suggestive clothing or strip teasing for a significant other are common activities.

In order to be correctly diagnosed with this condition, you need to meet two criteria:
- Over a period of at least 6 months, recurrent, intense sexually arousing fantasies, sexual urges, or behaviors involving the exposure of one's genitals to an unsuspecting stranger.
-The person has acted on these urges, or the sexual urges or fantasies cause marked distress or interpersonal difficulty. This causes clinically important distress or impairs work, social or personal functioning.

One expert in the field of treating paraphilias has suggested classifying the symptoms of exhibitionism according to level of severity, based on criteria from the DSM-III-R(1987):

* Mild. The person has recurrent fantasies of exposing himself, but has rarely or never acted on them.
* Moderate.The person has occasionally exposed himself (three targets or fewer) and has difficulty controlling urges to do so.
* Severe. The person has exposed himself to more than three people and has serious problems with control.
* A fourth level of severity, catastrophic, would not be found in exhibitionists without other paraphilias. This level denotes the presence of sadistic fantasies which, if acted upon, would result in severe injury or death to the victim.

Causes
These could be things such as traumatic experiences or chance associations and stay with us for the rest of our lives.

* Biological theories. These generally hold that testosterone, the hormone that influences the sexual drive in both men and women, increases the susceptibility of males to develop deviant sexual behaviors. Some medications used to treat exhibitionists are given to lower the patients' testosterone levels.

* Learning theories. Several studies have shown that emotional abuse in childhood and family dysfunction are both significant risk factors in the development of exhibitionism.

* Psychoanalytical theories. These are based on the assumption that male gender identity requires the male child's separation from his mother psychologically so that he does not identify with her as a member of the same sex, the way a girl does. It is thought that exhibitionists regard their mothers as rejecting them on the basis of their different genitals. Therefore, they grow up with the desire to force women to accept them by making women look at their genitals.

* Head trauma. There are a small number of documented cases of men becoming exhibitionists following traumatic brain injury (TBI) without previous histories of alcohol abuse or sexual offenses.

* A childhood history of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The reason for the connection is not yet known, but researchers at Harvard have discovered that patients with multiple paraphilias have a much greater likelihood of having had ADHD as children than men with only one paraphilia.






Sexual Aversion Disorder

Sexual Aversion Disorder

Definition of Sexual Aversion Disorder

An avoidance of or aversion to genital sexual contact. It is a psychological disorder where the person seeks to avoid sex and undertakes various behaviors to avoid sex. This disorder includes the older sexual condition known as "frigidity". It is characterized characterized by disgust, fear, revulsion, or lack of desire in consensual relationships involving genital contact.

It is sometimes referred as Inhibited sexual desire (ISD), sometimes called frigidity, sexual aversion, sexual apathy or hypoactive sexual desire, refers to a low level of sexual desire and interest manifested by a failure to initiate or be responsive to a partner's initiation of sexual activity. It may be a primary condition (where the person has never felt much sexual desire or interest), or secondary (where the person used to possess sexual desire, but no longer has interest).

Sexual aversion disorder represents a much stronger dislike of and active avoidance of sexual activity than the normal ups and downs in desire described above. Sexual aversion disorder is characterized not only by a lack of desire, but also by fear, revulsion, disgust, or similar emotions when the person with the disorder engages in genital contact with a partner. The aversion may take a number of different forms; it may be related to specific aspects of sexual intercourse, such as the sight of the partner's genitals or the smell of his or her body secretions, but it may include kissing, hugging, and petting as well as intercourse itself. In some cases the person with sexual aversion disorder avoids any form of sexual contact; others, however, are not upset by kissing and caressing, and are able to proceed normally until genital contact occurs.

It can also be either situational to the partner (where he/she has interest in other persons, but not toward the partner), or it may be general (where he/she has a lack of sexual interest in anyone). In the extreme form of sexual aversion, the person not only lacks sexual desire, but may also find sex repulsive, revolting, and distasteful.

Sometimes, rather than being inhibited, there may simply be a discrepancy in sexual interest levels between two partners, both of whom have interest levels within the normal range. Sexual Aversion disorder is a very common sexual disorder. The most common cause seems to be relationship problems wherein one partner does not feel emotionally intimate or close to their mate. Individuals who were victims of childhood sexual abuse or rape, and persons whose marriages are lacking in emotional intimacy are particularly at risk of Sexual Aversion Disorder.

There are several subclassifications of sexual aversion disorder. It may be lifelong (always present) or acquired after a traumatic experience; situational (with a specific partner or in a specific set of circumstances) or generalized (occurring with any partner and in all situations). Sexual aversion may be caused by psychological factors or by a combination of physical and psychological factors.

It is over-diagnosed in cases where the patient has other reasons that are interfering with sexuality, such as tiredness, fatigue, other causes of low libido, or other causes of sexual pain. Also possible is inadequate foreplay or poor sexual technique. Such a person does not have a true aversion to sex. Sexual aversion disorder can be under-diagnosed in cases of sexual pain or other apparent psychological problems with sex. Physicians may assume a history of rape or childhood sexual abuse where none exists.

Commonly overlooked factors include insomnia or inadequate amounts of sleep, resulting in fatigue. ISD may also be associated with other sexual dysfunctions, and sometimes may be caused by them. For example, the woman who is unable to have orgasm or has pain with intercourse, or the man who has erection problems (impotence) or retarded ejaculation, may lose interest in sex because it is commonly associated with failure or is not very pleasurable. As women age beyond their child-bearing years, their interest in sex may begin to decline. This may lead to frigidity. The frigidity may cause problems in a relationship where, typically, the male partner continues to seek an active sexual experience with his partner.

Symptoms of Sexual Aversion Disorder


* Infertility
* Family dysfunction
* Marital conflict

Mild symptoms include lack of interest and mild disgust. Severe symptoms can include panic attacks with all the symptoms of such an attack, including dizziness, shortness of breath, intense fear, and rapid heartbeat. People suffering from sexual aversion disorder often go out of their way to avoid situations that could end in sexual contact through any means they can think of, including going to bed at different times from the spouse, spending extra time at work, or trying to make themselves less sexually attractive.

Causes of Sexual Aversion Disorder

The most common causes are interpersonal problems and traumatic experiences. Interpersonal problems generally cause situation-specific sexual aversion disorder, in which the symptoms occur only with a specific partner or under certain conditions. In such cases, underlying tension or discontent with the relationship is often the cause. Reasons for unhappiness with the relationship may include the discovery of marital infidelity; major disagreements over children, money, and family roles; domestic violence; lack of personal hygiene on the partner's side; or similar problems. Interpersonal problems are often the cause if intercourse was once enjoyed but is no longer desired.

There are a number of reasons that people lose interest in sexual intercourse. It is normal to experience a loss of desire during menopause; directly after the birth of a child; before or during menstruation; during recovery from an illness or surgery; and during such major or stressful life changes as death of a loved one, job loss, retirement, or divorce. These are considered normal causes for fluctuations in sexual desire and are generally temporary. Changing roles, such as becoming a parent for the first time or making a career change have also been found to cause loss of desire. Not having enough time for oneself or to be alone with one's partner may also contribute to normal and naturally reversible loss of desire. Loss of privacy resulting from moving a dependent elderly parent into one's home is a common cause of loss of desire in middle-aged couples. Depression, fatigue, or stress also contribute to lessening of sexual interest.

Communication problems, lack of affection that is not associated with continuing into sexual intercourse, power struggles and conflicts, and a lack of time alone together are common factors. It may also be associated with a very restrictive upbringing concerning sex, negative attitudes toward sex, or negative or traumatic sexual experiences (such as incest, or sexual abuse).

Physical illnesses and some medications may also contribute to Sexual Aversion Disorder, particularly when they produce fatigue, pain, or general feelings of malaise. Hormone deficiencies may occasionally be implicated. Psychological conditions such as depression and excessive stress may inhibit sexual interest. Disturbed dietary mineral intakes may undermine sexual desire.


Traumatic experiences have also been found to cause sexual aversion disorder, often of the generalized variety. Some possible traumas include rape, incest, molestation, or other forms of sexual abuse. The patient then associates intercourse with a painful experience or memory, possibly one that he or she is trying to forget. Sexual aversion disorder may also be caused by religious or cultural teachings that associate sexual activity with excessive feelings of guilt.