Question

What are the various types of paraphilias? Do you find any of types of paraphilias disturbing? Why or why not?

Autoerotic asphyxia is a form of sexual masochism linking strangulation with masturbatory activities. Do you think this form of paraphilic behavior is gender specific and why? What is hypoxyphilia?

Do you think that labeling certain behaviors as paraphilic is a reflection of our society's effort to control or discourage what it does not want to see expressed?

What is the difference between voyeurism and exhibitionism? Is flashing a form of exhibitionism?

What type of sex crimes would a person have committed to be listed in the sexual offender registry? Knowing that the people who are in this list have generally served their sentence for the sex crime they committed; do you feel that making this information public is a violation of their rights? Why or why not? Where can you locate this information?

Answer 1

There are a number of different types of paraphilias, each of which has a different focus on the sufferer’s sexual arousal:

• Voyeurism: watching an unsuspecting/nonconsenting individual who is either nude, disrobing, or engaging in sexual activity
• Exhibitionism: exposing one’s own genitals to an unsuspecting person
• Frotteurism: touching or rubbing against a nonconsenting person
• Sexual masochism: being humiliated, beaten, bound, or otherwise suffering
• Sexual sadism: the physical or emotional suffering of another person
• Pedophilia: sexual activity with a child that is prepubescent (usually 13 years old or younger)
• Fetishism: sexual fascination with nonliving objects or highly specific body parts
• Transvestism: cross-dressing that is sexually arousing and interferes with functioning
• Other specified paraphilia: some paraphilias do not meet full diagnostic criteria for a paraphilic disorder but may have uncontrolled sexual impulses that cause enough distress for the sufferer that they are recognized. Examples of such specific paraphilias include necrophilia (corpses), scatologia (obscene phone calls), and zoophilia (animals).

There are certain types of paraphilias that I find particularly disturbing and these are pedophilia and zoophilia. This is because in these cases, the focus of sexual arousal is an innocent creature who cannot possibly reciprocate the sufferer's sexual arousal without some amount of manipulation.