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Madera SR, Pibernus AR, Vélez SO. Erotic Imagination in Latin America: Reflections on Sexual Fantasies and Coloniality. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2024; 53:2173-2188. [PMID: 38755505 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-024-02870-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2023] [Revised: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/12/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
Latin America comprises 20 countries and 14 dependent territories throughout the Western Hemisphere. It is a diverse and plural region in terms of its geography, cultures, languages, and historical experiences, with fifteenth-century colonialism as a common denominator. Two areas in which the lingering effects of coloniality seem clearly ever-present are the realms of gender and sexuality. The latter encompasses sexual fantasies, a subject of focus in this article. The examination of sexual fantasies remains a ripe area for future research, particularly throughout the Global South, where its linkages to coloniality should be explored in detail. To contribute to this larger and long-term goal, we implemented an online qualitative study designed to document the sexual fantasies of Spanish-speaking individuals living in the Latin American region. We developed a data-gathering form that included open-ended questions to document sexual fantasies. The form was available through the JotForm online platform that was linked to the study webpage entitled "A Calzón Quita'o." We conducted a thematic analysis to identify response patterns. Three main categories emerged from: (1) spatiotemporal references, (2) multiple partners, and (3) power, control, and rough sex. We relied on perspectives linked to ongoing discussions about coloniality to analyze the thematic content in the participants' responses regarding their sexual fantasies. The findings highlight the existing tensions between the reproduction of-and resistance to-the norms associated with gender roles and their embodiment within the framework of the gender binary inherited from coloniality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheilla R Madera
- Steven J Green School of International and Public Affairs, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA.
| | | | - Samuel Oláh Vélez
- Steven J Green School of International and Public Affairs, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
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Wong STS, Wassersug RJ, Johnson TW, Wibowo E. Differences in the Psychological, Sexual, and Childhood Experiences Among Men with Extreme Interests in Voluntary Castration. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2021; 50:1167-1182. [PMID: 32935176 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-020-01808-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2019] [Revised: 07/17/2020] [Accepted: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Some genetic males seek voluntary castration. We designed a survey to compare the psychological, sexual, and childhood experiences for subgroups of men with extreme interest in castration. The survey was posted on the Eunuch Archive, an online platform for individuals interested in the topic. Data from 822 individuals were included in the analyses. Respondents were divided into four groups: Interested (claiming only an interest in castration topics), Fantasy (fantasize about castration sexually, but not desiring castration), Wannabe (considering being castrated in the future), and Castrated (already castrated). More individuals desiring castration (Wannabe and Castrated groups) claimed equal attraction to both sexes than individuals in the Interested group. The Interested group was more religious than the other groups, and the Fantasy group had lower sexual guilt than those with castration desire. All groups had similar psychological well-being and body image acceptance, despite the Castrated group having lower sexual functioning than the others. Childhood trauma was more common in those with castration desire than those without. The Interested group had a lower desire for castration, lower erotic attraction to castration, and pretended to be castrated at a younger age than the others. Childhood trauma and sexual guilt are common, but not limited, predictors for castration desire and erotic attraction to castration, respectively. In conclusion, childhood experiences, as well as psychological and sexual parameters, may vary in different subgroups of males with interests in castration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha T S Wong
- Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Richard J Wassersug
- Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Thomas W Johnson
- Department of Anthropology, California State University, Chico, CA, USA
| | - Erik Wibowo
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, 270 Great King Street, Dunedin, 9016, New Zealand.
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Pihlgren EM, Gidycz CA, Lynn SJ. Impact of Adulthood and Adolescent Rape Experiences on Subsequent Sexual Fantasies. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2016. [DOI: 10.2190/pdec-f0c6-4n1n-3n9h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
This study represents the first investigation of adolescent and adulthood rape experiences on the sexual fantasies of female college student victims. Although students who reported being adulthood rape victims ( N = 44; not victimized in childhood) reported being more depressed than nonvictims who had experienced intercourse ( N = 83) and than nonvictims with no intercourse history ( N = 40), victims' sexual fantasies were generally indistinguishable from nonvictims in terms of multiple indices of fantasy [1]. Even when data analyses were restricted to only those subjects who perceived themselves as victims, significant differences did not emerge, although a number of suggestive trends were discerned. Across all subjects, fantasies were more elaborate in response to the first of two reported fantasies. Victims were generally indistinguishable from nonvictims in terms of demographic characteristics, previous sexual experiences, sex drive, sexual satisfaction, and sex guilt. In summary, the effects of sexual victimization in this sample were neither pervasive nor enduring.
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Gold SR, Chick DA. Sexual Fantasy Patterns as Related to Sexual Attitude, Experience, Guilt and Sex. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015. [DOI: 10.1080/01614576.1988.11074932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Steven R. Gold
- Psychology Department Western Carolina University Cullowhee, NC 28723
| | - David A. Chick
- Psychology Department University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg, MS
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Goldey KL, Avery LR, van Anders SM. Sexual fantasies and gender/sex: a multimethod approach with quantitative content analysis and hormonal responses. JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH 2013; 51:917-931. [PMID: 23998565 DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2013.798611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Research links explicit sexuality (e.g., physical attraction and pleasure) to high testosterone (T) and nurturance (loving contact) to low T. Engaging in sexual fantasy, which can include explicit sexual and nurturant elements, increases T in women but not in men. We examined whether individual differences in the explicit sexual and nurturant content of fantasy were linked with T or with estradiol (E2). In addition, we explored whether fantasy content differed or overlapped by gender/sex. Participants (26 women, 23 men) provided saliva samples for hormones before and after imagining a self-defined positive sexual encounter and responding to open-ended questions about the situation they imagined. We systematically content-coded responses for explicit sexual and nurturant content. In men, lower inclusion of nurturant content predicted larger T responses to fantasy. Fantasy content was not linked with T in women or with E2 in women or men. Women and men did not differ significantly in explicit sexual and nurturant content. Our findings suggest that individual experiences of fantasy as more or less nurturant affect T in men, provide support for the Steroid/Peptide Theory of Social Bonds, and highlight the value of integrating hormones and content analysis to investigate research questions relevant to sexuality and gender/sex.
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Goldey KL, van Anders SM. Sexual Arousal and Desire: Interrelations and Responses to Three Modalities of Sexual Stimuli. J Sex Med 2012; 9:2315-29. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2012.02845.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Goldey KL, van Anders SM. Sexy thoughts: effects of sexual cognitions on testosterone, cortisol, and arousal in women. Horm Behav 2011; 59:754-64. [PMID: 21185838 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2010.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2010] [Revised: 12/02/2010] [Accepted: 12/15/2010] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Previous research suggests that sexual stimuli increase testosterone (T) in women and shows inconsistent effects of sexual arousal on cortisol (C), but effects of cognitive aspects of arousal, rather than behaviors or sensory stimuli, are unclear. The present study examined whether sexual thoughts affect T or C and whether hormonal contraceptive (HC) use moderated this effect, given mixed findings of HC use confounding hormone responses. Participants (79 women) provided a baseline saliva sample for radioimmunoassay. We created the Imagined Social Situation Exercise (ISSE) to test effects of imagining social interactions on hormones, and participants were assigned to the experimental (sexual) or one of three control (positive, neutral, stressful) conditions. Participants provided a second saliva sample 15 min post-activity. Results indicated that for women not using HCs, the sexual condition increased T compared to the stressful or positive conditions. In contrast, HC using women in the sexual condition had decreased T relative to the stressful condition and similar T to the positive condition. The effect was specific to T, as sexual thoughts did not change C. For participants in the sexual condition, higher baseline T predicted larger increases in sexual arousal but smaller increases in T, likely due to ceiling effects on T. Our results suggest that sexual thoughts change T but not C, baseline T levels and HC use may contribute to variation in the T response to sexual thoughts, and cognitive aspects of sexual arousal affect physiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine L Goldey
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
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Tsitsika A, Critselis E, Kormas G, Konstantoulaki E, Constantopoulos A, Kafetzis D. Adolescent Pornographic Internet Site Use: A Multivariate Regression Analysis of the Predictive Factors of Use and Psychosocial Implications. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009; 12:545-50. [DOI: 10.1089/cpb.2008.0346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Artemis Tsitsika
- Adolescent Health Unit (A.H.U.), Second Department of Pediatrics, «P. & A. Kyriakou» Children's Hospital, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Greece
| | - Elena Critselis
- Second Department of Pediatrics, «P. & A. Kyriakou» Children's Hospital, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Greece
| | - Georgios Kormas
- Adolescent Health Unit (A.H.U.), Second Department of Pediatrics, «P. & A. Kyriakou» Children's Hospital, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Greece
| | - Eleftheria Konstantoulaki
- Adolescent Health Unit (A.H.U.), Second Department of Pediatrics, «P. & A. Kyriakou» Children's Hospital, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Greece
| | - Andreas Constantopoulos
- Adolescent Health Unit (A.H.U.), Second Department of Pediatrics, «P. & A. Kyriakou» Children's Hospital, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Greece
| | - Dimitrios Kafetzis
- Second Department of Pediatrics, «P. & A. Kyriakou» Children's Hospital, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Greece
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Landau MJ, Goldenberg JL, Greenberg J, Gillath O, Solomon S, Cox C, Martens A, Pyszczynski T. The siren's call: Terror management and the threat of men's sexual attraction to women. J Pers Soc Psychol 2006; 90:129-46. [PMID: 16448314 DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.90.1.129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Why do sexually appealing women often attract derogation and aggression? According to terror management theory, women's sexual allure threatens to increase men's awareness of their corporeality and thus mortality. Accordingly, in Study 1 a subliminal mortality prime decreased men's but not women's attractiveness ratings of alluring women. In Study 2, mortality salience (MS) led men to downplay their sexual intent toward a sexy woman. In Study 3, MS decreased men's interest in a seductive but not a wholesome woman. In Study 4, MS decreased men's but not women's attraction to a sexy opposite-sex target. In Study 5, MS and a corporeal lust prime increased men's tolerance of aggression toward women. Discussion focuses on mortality concerns and male sexual ambivalence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark J Landau
- Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ85721-0068, USA.
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