Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality Imagery

Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality Imagery

“Normal Sexual Aim versus Perversions”

Freud explains, “The normal sexual aim is regarded as being the union of the genitals in the act known as copulation, which leads to a release of the sexual tension and a temporary extinction of the sexual instinct—a satisfaction analogous to the sating of hunger.” Freud means that ordinary sexual aim is attained by genitals. Copulation enables a couple to experience satiation once their hunger for sex is satiated. Bodily contact between couples contributes to the standard aim.

In respect to perversions, Freud remarks, “Perversions are sexual activities which either (a) extend, in an anatomical sense, beyond the regions of the body that are designed for sexual union, or (b) linger over the intermediate relations to the sexual object which should normally be traversed rapidly on the path towards the final sexual aim." Perverse sexual tendencies are abnormal because they extend beyond the ordinary sexual boundaries. Perversions result in sexual satisfaction derived from other avenues part from the ordinary sexual organs.

“Mouth as a Sexual Organ”

Freud expounds, “The use of the mouth as a sexual organ is regarded as a perversion if the lips (or tongue) of one person are brought into contact with the genitals of another, but not if the mucous membranes of the lips of both of them come together…The limits of such disgust are, however, often purely conventional: a man who will kiss a pretty girl's lips passionately, may perhaps be disgusted at the idea of using her tooth-brush, though there are no grounds for supposing that his own oral cavity, for which he feels no disgust, is any cleaner than the girl's." The sexual instinct rises above disgust because a man would engage in the perverse act of kissing a girl , a mouth is not a conventional sexual organ, but would not be willing to use the same tooth brush as her. The possibility of using a pretty girls' toothbrush disgusts because it would not contribute to sexual satisfaction. However, kissing a girl, regardless of whether her mouth is clean or not, offers sexual satisfaction.

“Touching and Looking”

Freud explains, “A certain amount of touching is indispensable (at all events among human beings) before the normal sexual aim can be attained. And everyone knows what a source of pleasure on the one hand and what an influx of fresh excitation on the other is afforded by tactile sensations of the skin of the sexual object. So that lingering over the stage of touching can scarcely be counted a perversion, provided that in the long run the sexual act is carried further." Erotic touching can result in orgasm before the genital organs of a couple are involved. Touching of erotic zones contributes to sexual excitements. The hands involved in the touching facilitate sexual gratification which would have been used to facilitate the intimacy. Similarly, looking at sex scenes can result in sexual incitement which perhaps explains why individuals watch and are hooked to pornographic films.

Sadism

Freud elucidates, “Thus sadism would correspond to an aggressive component of the sexual instinct which has become independent and exaggerated and, by displacement, has usurped the leading position. In ordinary speech the connotation of sadism oscillates between, on the one hand, cases merely characterized by an active or violent attitude to the sexual object, and, on the other hand, cases in which satisfaction is entirely conditional on the humiliation and maltreatment of the object." Sadism is an avenue of perversion that prompts an individual inflict pain on his sexual object; the infliction of the pain causes excitement in the invert. Extreme cases of sadism would result in one assaulting or degrading their sexual object in the course of intimacy. For the deviants, their sadistic acts offer them for satisfaction more than the conventional copulation.

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