This project report analyzes the emergence of categories of sexual deviancy as they appear in selected medical treatises from the eighteenth century. Terms such as homosexual or lesbian were not yet available in medical or public discourse but the early modern writers did use a variety of other references to establish the existence of such categories. For instance, one might label deviants as hermaphrodites, eunuchs, sodomites, or monsters to describe what were perceived as unnatural forms of sexual expression which ostensibly posed a threat to the social order largely because they were not procreative, but also because of the fear that they might produce children of the same ilk. Moreover, the sudden explosion in scientific and medical knowledge during the Enlightenment created a need for the organization and classification of such knowledge, as well as a fascination with anomalies and how they might be cured. My argument is that four of these deviant categoriesthe chronic masturbator, tribades or hermaphrodites, mollies (or effeminate male homosexuals), and eunuchswere considered unnatural because they fell outside normative prescriptions of acceptable sexual conduct that was based primarily on pro-natal and pro-nutpial ideologies. I rely on experts in eighteenth-century scholarship, such as Rictor Norton, Randolph Trumbach, Thomas Laqueur, Robert Darby, Thomas A. King, and George Rousseau, to inform my discussion of writings from this period. Although contemporary scholars in this field have made significant contributions to our knowledge of early modern understandings of sexual deviancy, relatively few of them seem to have investigated how medical treatises on generation provided a scientific basis for the marginalization of specific types of people. By identifying these types under the larger category of generation, I argue that these medical texts and popular sexologies function as vehicles of social control by emphasizing that the only legitimate form of sexual expression was within the context of marriage and that its sole purpose was for reproduction.

This project report analyzes the emergence of categories of sexual deviancy as they appear in selected medical treatises from the eighteenth century. Terms such as homosexual or lesbian were not yet available in medical or public discourse but the early modern writers did use a variety of other references to establish the existence of such categories. For instance, one might label deviants as hermaphrodites, eunuchs, sodomites, or monsters to describe what were perceived as unnatural forms of sexual expression which ostensibly posed a threat to the social order largely because they were not procreative, but also because of the fear that they might produce children of the same ilk. Moreover, the sudden explosion in scientific and medical knowledge during the Enlightenment created a need for the organization and classification of such knowledge, as well as a fascination with anomalies and how they might be cured. My argument is that four of these deviant categoriesthe chronic masturbator, tribades or hermaphrodites, mollies (or effeminate male homosexuals), and eunuchswere considered unnatural because they fell outside normative prescriptions of acceptable sexual conduct that was based primarily on pro-natal and pro-nutpial ideologies. I rely on experts in eighteenth-century scholarship, such as Rictor Norton, Randolph Trumbach, Thomas Laqueur, Robert Darby, Thomas A. King, and George Rousseau, to inform my discussion of writings from this period. Although contemporary scholars in this field have made significant contributions to our knowledge of early modern understandings of sexual deviancy, relatively few of them seem to have investigated how medical treatises on generation provided a scientific basis for the marginalization of specific types of people. By identifying these types under the larger category of generation, I argue that these medical texts and popular sexologies function as vehicles of social control by emphasizing that the only legitimate form of sexual expression was within the context of marriage and that its sole purpose was for reproduction.

The major problems that this study addressed were the identification of group differences on masculinity, femininity, monthly frequency of sexual fantasy, monthly frequency of masturbation, and marital satisfaction, as well as the investigation of which predictor variables account for a significant proportion of the criterion variables monthly frequency of sexual fantasy, monthly frequency of masturbation, and marital satisfaction. BEM Sex Roles Inventory-Short Form (BSRI-SF), Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), , and Demographic Information Form were administered 200 married individuals. To test the hypotheses of the study, ANOVA and Stepwise Multiple Regression Analyses were conducted. Results revealed that, gender differentiated the groups on masculinity, femininity, monthly frequency of sexual fantasy, and monthly frequency of masturbation. However, no difference was found for marital satisfaction. Apart from that, gender, frequency of sexual intercourse, and age found to be the predictors of monthly frequency of sexual fantasy. Another finding was that, gender, the belief that masturbation is not socially accepted, marital satisfaction, and femininity significantly predicted monthly frequency of masturbation. Lastly, results revealed that monthly frequency of sexual intercourse and monthly frequency of masturbation contributed to the prediction of marital satisfaction. The findings were discussed in the light of the relevant literature.

This study aimed to assess whether differences among categories of sexual self-schemas of men and women existed for weekly frequency of masturbation and sexual activity, level of sexual satisfaction, and level of marital adjustment in the context of marital relationship. In order to evaluate this, the Sexual Self-Schema Scale (Hill, 2007) was translated into Turkish, and its psychometric quality was tested on undergraduate university students. In a sample of 204 married individuals, the interrelationship between sexual self-schema categories and study variables was evaluated through univariate analyses of covariance. Results revealed that the Sexual Self-Schema Scale consisted of three factors in the sample of university students: Loving/Compassionate, Sensual/Stimulating, and Direct/Outspoken. However, the pattern of factors differed for married individuals / factors were labeled as Loving/Warm, Direct/Outspoken, and Reserved/Conservative in this sample. For married individuals, differences among categories of sexual self-schemas were reported for frequency of sexual activity, sexual satisfaction and marital adjustment. Specifically, individuals having positive sexual self-schemas in the present study reported higher frequency of sexual activity, higher levels of sexual satisfaction and marital adjustment in their relationships compared to aschematic and negative schematic individuals. However, weekly frequency of masturbation did not result in any difference among categories. Moreover, gender differences were demonstrated. Women were shown to endorse lower levels of sexual satisfaction and to engage in less frequent masturbation than men. After findings were evaluated, limitations were discussed with an emphasis on recommendations for future research, and implications for clinical psychology were mentioned.

Diss. med. dent. Zürich. / Literaturverz.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka diskurser om maskulinitet och sexualitet som förekommer i internetforumen på hemsidan Nofap.com som är en sida riktat personer med ett pornografi och onaniberoende. Hemsidans syfte är att skapa ett community för människor som lider av ett beroende som leder till att deras vardag eller sexliv påverkas negativt. Forumet ska därigenom finnas till som en stödgrupp för individen där problem kring bland annat sexuell hälsa kan diskuteras med andra individer som har liknande problem och beroenden. Forumet uttrycker sig tillhandahålla verktyg som ska hjälpa individen att komma ut ur sitt beroende och på så sätt förbättra sitt liv. I uppsatsen använder jag mig av en diskursiv analysmetod som bottnar sig i Ernesto Laclaus och Chantal Mouffes diskursteori. Genom diskursteori som analysmetod undersöker jag därefter hur diskursen kring maskulinitet och sexualitet ser ut och hur de konstrueras i forumet. Vidare studerar jag vilka maskulina utryck som värdesätts högre i den hegemoniska hierarkin och vilka uttryck som leder till en lägre hierarkisk position. Jag undersöker därefter hur diskursen påverkar vilka kroppar som förväntas delta i forumet och vilka som utesluts. I analysdelen framkom det att forumet är starkt präglat av traditionella uppfattningar om maskulinitet och sexualitet där bland annat mannen förväntas vara heterosexuell, dominant över kvinnor och ha kontroll över sig själv och sina sexuella begär. Synen på pornografi och beroendet där till är i forumet negativ där det ses som något som har bidragit med sociala problem för den enskilde individen. Den negativa uppfattningen bottnar i pornografins inverkan på individens och dess förmåga att kunna ha ett fungerande sexliv där t.ex. porrskadade personer får problem med att bli sexuellt stimulerade av verkliga sexuella interaktioner. Det framkommer även att forumets intentioner inte är att få en större samhällelig förändring där sociala följder av pornografin, så som t.ex. sexism och sexuellt våld vill motverkas. Forumet inriktar sig istället på att hjälpa den enskilde individen att bli av med sitt pornografiberoende och ställer sig därför inte kritiskt till vilka omfattande sociala följder pornografin kan innebära.

An individual's perceptions of various aspects of one's romantic relationship (irrespective of whether or not the perceptions align with reality) often play a critical role in romantic relationship satisfaction. Research has demonstrated that the accuracy of an individual's perception of his or her partner is generally positively related to the individual's romantic relationship satisfaction. However, when perceiving negative or conflictual messages from a partner, an individual's accuracy of perception is negatively associated with his or her romantic relationship satisfaction. Researchers have suggested that poor accuracy in perceiving negative messages might diffuse the negative intention in a way that is less impactful to the relationship. The present study was designed to investigate accuracy in the perception of sexual topics, specifically masturbatory habits. A sample of 93 married couples (186 individuals) responded to questions about (a) their own masturbatory behaviors and (b) their perception of their partners' masturbatory behaviors to determine the accuracy of each partner's perception of his or her partner. The association between accuracy and romantic and sexual relationship satisfaction was explored, along with one potential moderating variable: attitudes toward masturbation. Perceived reason for masturbating, perceived target of arousal during masturbation, and partner's actual reason for masturbating all positively predicted an individual's relationship satisfaction. Partner's actual openness about masturbatory behaviors moderated the association between accuracy of partner perception of openness about masturbation and both relationship and sexual satisfaction. When partners were more open about masturbation, accuracy was a stronger positive predictor of relationship and sexual satisfaction than when partners were less open about masturbation. Results, limitations, areas for future research, and clinical implications are discussed.

Pornography has increasingly become a hot topic of discussion in the United States, likely due to its increasing rate of consumption. Recent scholarship has indicated the need to account for factors such as masturbation and sexual desire discrepancy when conducting pornography research. The current study isolated the influence pornography use had on those in heterosexual romantic relationships (N=713 couples) by parsing out the effects of sexual desire discrepancy and masturbation. This was done by using a series of nested actor-partner interdependence models (APIM) to see how the relationships between pornography use and sexual satisfaction changed in each model. Masturbation and sexual desire discrepancy were also investigated as potential moderators for the APIMs to explore the effects the levels of these variables had on that relationship. Results from these analyses demonstrated that the best-fitting model included measures of masturbation, sexual desire discrepancy, and sexual engagement (i.e., controls for the values making up sexual desire discrepancy), and that adding each of these variables to the model significantly changed pornography use's actor and partner effects. Masturbation and sexual desire discrepancy were not found to moderate these relationships. A discussion of the research implications of these findings, the limitations of this study, future directions for research, and clinical implications of this study are also presented.

The current study was designed: (1) to develop an educational tool on female masturbation capable of reaching a wide audience of women with accurate and complete information on female masturbation; (2) to provide initial validation for the further educational usefulness of this tool and (3) to assess its potential ability for improving overall sexual functioning in women by possibly altering negative attitudes toward masturbation and/or by dis-inhibiting masturbatory behavior.

No description available.