“You may want to make up a pseudo name,” I’m told as the silver Honda pulls up to my house. My friend and I slip into the car and I feel uneasy. We ride in silence, though she occasionally glances over to give me a reassuring smile. After what feels like a forever, the car stops in a dark, empty parking lot, and our Uber driver gives me a curious, almost frightful, look. As we walk inside the bright room, covered wall-to-wall with padded mats and floor-to-ceiling with mirrors, my friend is greeted by unfamiliar people. She tells me later that she knew them from the Internet and they must have recognized her from her profile. My heart races while I nervously shake everyone’s hands with my sweaty palms. We sign in, using manufactured personas and begin a round of small talk until the teacher calls us into the center of the room: “Alright, who’s ready to learn how to tie?” …show more content…
But was I feeling this way because of an innate sense of right and wrong, or because of a standard of sexual preference that society has constructed? Alternative sex practices, such as bondage, domination and sadomasochism (from now on referred to as BDSM) are not inherently deviant. However, the contrast between these acts and society’s heteronormative, soft-core and monogamous portrayal of what sex should be directly influences the negative connotation, definition and ultimately the medicalization of anomalous sexual
During the late 19th century, the ideals of middle-class, respectable sexuality were in a state of flux. Published findings by renowned psychiatrists such as Richard von Krafft-Ebbing and Sigmund Freud helped to recreate and build upon sexual knowledge, establishing never before heard of terms for a variety of sexual behaviors. Often, therein lies an implicit bias when codifying topics of study. Therefore, due to the major shifts during the late 19th and early 20th century in how sexuality is classified scientifically and medically, psychiatry plays a primary role in creating concepts such as “normal” and “abnormal” sexuality.
The world now becomes a state of change or flux. Human beings act toward others and objects on the basis of the meanings that such things have for them but meanings are being continually constructed and modified through interaction. The fundamental approach is simple put: nothing is sexual but naming makes it so. Sexuality is a social construct learned in interaction with others. This is not to deny biological facts. It is simply to assert that things do not have sex meanings in their own right. They have to be bestowed upon them through sexual encounters. The mind has to define something as sexual before it is sexual in
I decided to visit a sex shop for this assignment. In particular, I chose to go to the Cirilla’s in Lafayette. I chose this location because it was the closest to us, and I had never visited a similar store. As it is an adult store, I expected them to have lingerie and sex toys, but I was not sure what else they would carry. I figured that there would be some items for people with certain paraphilias. Like I said, I have never been to a store like this. For this reason, I assumed that I would feel uncomfortable. I thought that I would see items for sale that made me feel uneasy. I thought I might see things that were offensive to me. I also thought that I might see couples that were ready to go hit up the bedroom. I was worried that there might
One of the most common misconceptions about BDSM practitioners is that these individuals are psychologically disturbed. Through symbolic interaction it can be understood that the general public perceives BDSM practitioners as deviant and mentally ill. BDSM practitioners are portrayed to have a lot of emotional baggage; therefore, to non practicing individuals, people who practice BDSM have major psychological issues. Due to this misinformation, the general public has created a negative image of the BDSM practitioners, and this image has lead the general public to fear BDSM. However, it is important to note that BDSM is not rooted from abuse or domestic violence, nor does participating in BDSM mean that one enjoys receiving abuse or abusing. According to Holt’s (2015), when it came to the question concerning the stereotype that BDSM practitioners had been abused in the past, several did report history of abuse during childhood and young adulthood. However, Holt (2015) noted that several participants expressed mixed emotions when asked about one’s history of abuse that ties with one’s participation in BDSM. In contrary to common belief, people who practice BDSM are as psychologically healthy as the general population. In a cross-sectional study conducted in the Netherlands, 902 individuals who practice BDSM were recruited, and compared to 434 control participants who had absolutely no experience with BDSM (as cited in Lehmiller). The participants filled
Human sexuality is a common phrase for all, and anything, pertaining to the feelings and behaviors of sex for the human race. Sexuality has been a topic that has been discussed and studied for as far back as 1000 years B.C. and is still being studied today. As the discussion of sexuality has progressed through history, theories have been created based on research and experiments that scholars have implemented, based on their own perceptions of human behavior. Out of the many theories that pose to explain sexual behavior, Sexuality Now explained ten that are seemed to be the most overlapped, and built off of theories. Of these theories, two that were discussed in the text were the behavioral and sociological theory. These two theories cover some of the basic ideas of what could possibly influence a person’s sexuality.
Living in a small, conservative town in rural Illinois, I knew there would be many people opposed to my decision to simply exist as I would. However, I knew I couldn’t internalize this. My sexuality was like some sort of horror
Picture a room full of whips, rope, floggers, a wooden St. Andrew's cross, riding crops, and handcuffs. To some, the thought of this room is disturbing and atrocious. To others, this could be their sanctuary and a pleasure palace. In light of a certain pop culture phenomenon, the once taboo and hidden bondage/discipline, domination/submission, and sadism/masochism (BDSM) lifestyles have been unearthed. E. L. James’s Fifty Shades of Grey series brought the unique relationship between Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey into the homes of millions of average individuals. A once secret lifestyle was now written out upon countless pages, sitting on the best seller’s table for the world to pick up and read. The
With the rise of books like Fifty Shades of Grey, there are many questions being asked about what the real effects of BDSM (bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, sadism and masochism (sadomasochism)) relationships are on participants (Turley et al 123, McDonald). There’s the question of where the boundary between abuse and recreational play is drawn, where the psychological implications of the relationship becomes too much for the individual, but all of that can be boiled down to just a few points to explore. In order to really understand what all comes with these relationships, we must look at the experiences of participants, seeking to understand what BDSM is, and what it means. We must
Is the need for acceptance of one’s sexuality as important as other issues like poverty, unemployment, global warming, natural disasters and proper health solutions for Ebola, Lyme that put our survival itself at risk? When meditating on this question, let us also analyse our own sexual fabric. We set the standards of our own yardsticks to measure a sexual identity as valid/ invalid, normal/ abnormal, natural/ unnatural, acceptable/ unacceptable, moral/ immoral and finally good/ bad.
There is no definitive way to determine which fetishes are normal and which ones are abnormal, however, the commonality of these fetishes can be evaluated by society and the frequency of them. A study was done to attempt to define what makes up an unusual sexual fantasy. The experiment was done through an internet survey of over 1,500 participants. The goal was to determine sexual fantasies that were common and narrow down the ones that were rare according to the statistics. One of the most important statements from this article discusses the difficulty in categorizing fantasies as normal or abnormal. The conclusion of the experiment is that “Care should be taken before labeling an SF as unusual, let alone deviant. It suggested that the focus should be on the effect of a sexual fantasy rather than its content”
BDSM stands for bondage, discipline, submission, and masochism and is a type of sexual act that is considered “deviant” in our society since these acts violate social norms we have towards how sexual acts should be performed. BDSM is often performed by a dominatrix which is described as “a woman who takes the dominant or sadistic role in sado-masochistic sexual activities” while the man is subjected to the submissive role (Oxford English Press). This project seeks to understand the views on where BDSM stems from and the health benefits and drawbacks of BDSM. Two of the articles viewed BDSM as a healthy relationship while the other two articles argued that this act was unhealthy. In addition, two of the articles viewed BDSM as conforming to societal roles while the other two viewed it as being a social deviation.
Throughout history, definitions of sexuality within a culture are created and then changed time after time. During these changes, we have seen the impact and power one individual or group can have over others. In the Late Nineteenth Century into the Early Twentieth Century, we see multiple groups of people and or authorities taking control over the idea of sex and how they believe society is being impacted by sex. At this point in time, society had groups of people who believed they had the power to control how society as whole viewed and acted upon sex. Those particular groups and ideas changed many lives and the overall definition of sexuality within that culture.
The case of Miguel presents various challenges that should be addressed immediately and assessed accurately in ways that are culturally valid, effective, and in accordance with diagnosis criteria listed in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders (DSM-5, 2013). Delamater & Hasday (2007) stated that various disciplines contribute to an understanding of human sexuality including biology, evolutionary psychology, psychology, anthropology, women’s studies, communications, family studies, and sociology. However, while the field of humanities addresses the range of behaviors like thoughts and feelings associated with human sexuality, it is the sciences that seek to create and assess principal explanatory
Almost all human behavior has symbolic value to it, including sexual behavior. Biologically , we are driven to reproduce, but this does not dictate who, when, where, what and how by which we choose to do so;(Arany, 2013) social interaction is the driving force behind this. These characteristics are then determined by what we have learned through our culture. BDSM community might stem from mutual sexual fantasies but really its our first non-exclusionary group. When outside the bedroom most of these kinksers would blend in with the rest of society.
Throughout various societies, cultures, and different situations, people have their own opinions and ideas on what is normal and abnormal sexual behavior. It