Beginning with the diagnosis of nymphomania in the 19th Century, there has been widespread and continued interest across the mental health and bio-medical realm of what constitutes normality of female sexual behavior, and of the boundary at which sexual desire is deemed to be excessive, and thus abnormal. However, research questions that specifically investigate the subjective female voice and perspective in considerations of so-called hypersexuality or sex addiction remain understudied. This research project proposes to examine the cultural pathways and systemic foundations which have historically in the West problematized female sexuality by investigating women's own perceptions of sexual addiction and their experiences in seeking (or not) addiction treatment. In addition, this research project proposes to investigate the perceptions of therapists (psychologists and psychiatrists) who treat hypersexual female patients, in order to examine their beliefs about the cultural and biological genesis of the disorder, and its appearance in female patients. Theoretically, this project aims to move away from the concept of individualized bodies suffering singularly from (dis)ease and abnormality, and investigate the ways in which Western cultural notions of normal female sexuality shape women's self-perceptions and notions about sexual deviance.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-5362 |
| Date | 01 January 2010 |
| Creators | Douglass, Megan |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
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