- September 6, 2018
- Mental disorders
- Denis Dmitriev
Exhibitionism is considered a sexual deviation and is condemned in modern society. The negative attitude towards such behavior is caused primarily by the likelihood of psychological trauma in the victim of the exhibitionist, as well as non-compliance with the moral and religious principles of most modern societies. An exhibitionist is a so-called “shaker” among the people. This nickname stuck due to the fact that the majority of representatives of this activity are men.
Definition by psychologists
Science gives a very clear definition of what exhibitionism is. According to scientists and sexologists, this is the name of a pathology of a sexual nature, in which a person demonstrates his genitals in public and public places, while receiving moral and physical satisfaction.
As a rule, the individual does not plan to establish sexual contact directly. Physical satisfaction is achieved due to the fact that after demonstrating the genitals, the exhibitionist can immediately begin to masturbate and, as a result, bring himself to an erection.
Voyeurism as a defensive reaction
Early and traumatic sexual experiences can also predispose a person to voyeurism. In this case, attempts to observe the sexual lives of other people should displace worries and negative experiences, and replace unpleasant memories with something neutral.
In particularly difficult cases, a voyeur can receive sexual release only if the sexual scene he observes meets a number of certain conditions. These conditions usually represent circumstances that correspond to the basic experiences of childhood. Or they are a complete denial of them.
True and false exhibitionism
If there is a real deviation, a person commits an act of exhibitionism under the influence of an uncontrollable impulse. In turn, the occurrence of this impulse is due to strong emotional intensity and nervous tension caused by previous sexual fantasies.
A so-called false exhibitionist is a person who exhibits hooligan and rebellious intentions that result in the form of public nudity in front of other people. Another reason for false exhibitionism can often be previously taken drugs and alcohol.
The nature of exhibitionism
The essence of the phenomenon in a true disease is expressed precisely in the inability to control one’s actions. The act of demonstration becomes a peak moment, after which, as a rule, the person goes into temporary remission. During this time period, the active exhibitionist leads a completely ordinary life without any external manifestations of his own sexual dissatisfaction.
The average person with this disorder is an unremarkable man under the age of 40. The spread of female exhibitionism, according to statistics, is not so great. The exhibitionist often chooses little girls as victims, but no connection between this deviation and pedophilia has been found. Most likely, when choosing witnesses, the exhibitionist is guided partly by his own safety, and therefore does not perform the act of nudity in front of adults, especially in front of men.
Greysexuals
These are people who are on the border of asexuality and conventional sexuality. They may only be sexually attracted to a certain type of person. Alternatively, they are only aroused by people in certain circumstances. Let's say a flight attendant on a Moscow-Shanghai flight. At the same time, the flight attendants of the Kaliningrad-Magadan flight are not the same.
In this case, gender, age, nationality and other conventions do not matter. For a graysexual, only the context of the situation in which they find themselves with their sexual partner is important.
Causes of exhibitionism
In scientific circles, it is customary to explain the reasons for exhibitionistic behavior by the presence of psychological trauma in the patient that was received in childhood. For many exhibitionists, this method is the only available sexual practice in which they can achieve orgasm. Traditional sexual relations are usually completely absent.
In addition to sexual arousal, such people are driven to demonstrate their genitals by the desire for self-affirmation. Male exhibitionism is characterized by the fact that most of its representatives are weak and timid men with serious emotional problems. Significant complexities force a person with a similar diagnosis to demonstrate his genitals in this and no other way, because erect genitals in the animal world are a symbol of the courage and strength of their bearer.
Psychiatrists’ opinion about the disease9
Voyeurism is not just a feature of human behavior, but a real mental disorder. At the subconscious level, people prone to voyeurism develop the same feelings and desires as exhibitionists.
Such people, as a rule, are too immersed in their childhood and teenage experiences, cannot cope with some problems on their own and look for visual images in order to distract themselves and satisfy their hidden desires.
According to Freud, the experiences of voyeurs can be called castration. People with this deviation most often visit nightclubs and bars, and girls can see the nudity of both men and women, but men prefer to watch representatives of the opposite sex. Voyeurs know that they will not be noticed in the relevant establishments and relax, satisfying their desires and needs.
Such people have no desire to touch their “victim”. Popularly they can be called eccentrics, leaning out of the window with binoculars or “accidentally” dropping into the wrong locker room.
For a man with such a deviation, sex does not bring as much pleasure as simply watching a woman. In a relationship, they may be good lovers, but will ask their lady to give them a slow strip dance.
Danger to society
Many people know who an exhibitionist is, but cannot say for sure whether he poses a danger to other people. Among the known cases of public display of genitals, there was almost never any continuation in the form of any physical contact with the victim.
Considering that there are still exceptions to any rules, we can cite as an example several aggravated situations of exhibitionism. One such man did not like the victim's lack of reaction, which is why he hit her in the face. Another exhibitionist dragged his victim to a secluded place and forced him to perform sexual acts.
However, in reality, situations with the use of physical force among all cases of demonstrations of genitals in public places are no more than a few fractions of a percent. Most often, such actions are committed if the victim did not show due interest and ignored the exhibitionist.
Who are voyeurs
Anyone who has the habit of spying on naked people is called a voyeur. Most often, they are completely harmless and not dangerous to society, but they all bring discomfort and inconvenience to someone. Voyeurs are very afraid of being noticed, so they choose reliable, secluded places for spying.
According to psychiatrists, a voyeur has a sexual and mental disorder and therefore enjoys watching others have sex, change clothes, and masturbate. By peeping, such people not only satisfy their curiosity, but also strive to get an orgasm, experience pleasure and release. This phenomenon is typical not only for men, but also for girls, although it is extremely rare in the latter.
It is interesting that most male teenagers tend to spy on girls in the locker room, but this behavior is typical of a developing guy, so in this case we are not talking about voyeurism.
Psychological trauma for the victim
The threat of causing emotional and psychological trauma to children who have learned in practice what exhibitionism is seems more real. Statistics show that most often children under the age of 10 become victims of such demonstrations.
The recommended actions for parents are to immediately go to a psychologist who will help the child survive the emotional shock that happened to him. Without specialist support, children may become withdrawn and uncommunicative.
Sapiosexuals
If most people are turned on by watching porn, then a sapiosexual can get pleasure from watching the programs “Custom Game” or “What? Where? When?". The thing is that these people are excited by the outstanding intellectual abilities of the object of desire.
It is believed that there are more sapiosexuals among women than among men. For such couples, long philosophizing and intellectual conversations are like foreplay. According to sapiosexuals themselves, they are especially sexually attracted to people who are capable of convincingly changing their own point of view in an intellectual debate. Wasserman, your way out!
Manifestations in women and girls
Psychoanalysts comment on female exhibitionism as the desire to expose certain “forbidden” parts of the body for the sake of obtaining mixed sexual gratification. Typically, public display does not involve exposing naked genitals, as occurs in the male version of the problem. Only in rare cases do girls have a tendency to show their genitals, which also correlates with the preference for cunnilingus as one of the sexual practices.
Instinctive true exhibitionism is equally capable of development in both men and women. However, the reasons for its occurrence will be different for each gender. Experts believe that women experience infringement of narcissism due to the absence of a man’s penis, and therefore subconsciously hide this deficiency even during an act of exhibitionism, while exposing all other parts of the body.
A study by Professor G. B. Deryagina showed that a tendency towards exhibitionism among students was observed in 1.6% of young people and 4.2% of girls. It should be noted that in everyday life it is easier for girls to satisfy their passion for public nudity. For example, a striptease in a club in front of dozens of spectators or in front of a loved one can be called public nudity.
What you need to know about this disorder2
People suffering from this disorder often experience incredibly strong sexual desire and want to satisfy it. At the same time, ordinary sex does not bring them as much pleasure as simply spying on someone and self-satisfaction.
This is a mental illness, which, like many others, has several varieties. In the case of perverse voyeurism, a man or woman experiences not only desire, but also some aggression towards members of the other sex, and also seeks to cause them physical pain - this is most typical for girls.
Another type is psycho-voyeurism. In this case, a person seeks not just to spy on someone. He experiences such an obsessive desire that it prevents him from living. A man or woman can hurt someone, humiliate others, and also use third-party objects to satisfy their needs. Bestiality and masochism are also characteristic of this disease.
In cinema, a similar disease is shown in several films, including the film “Experiment”. This film shows especially clearly manifestations of psycho-voyeurism.
The third type of disease is screen-voyeurism. It is this category that is most common and people suffering from such mania are difficult to notice. They carefully disguise themselves, try not to show themselves in any way, but at the same time they can observe from almost any place - in the office, at home, on public transport.
Such people can glance sideways at other people's phones, reading personal correspondence. It’s interesting that this happens not so much because of the desire to learn something new about the owner of the phone, but because of the very fact of interference in the privacy of another person, or the desire to concentrate on one thing, bright and flashing. Phone owners often unknowingly provoke voyeurs by viewing personal, colorful and attractive photographs on public transport.
Castration anxiety and exhibitionism
Among the huge number of human complexes there is the so-called castration complex. By flaunting his own genitals, a man seems to convince himself and demonstrate to others that he is not castrated. The explanation of the nature of male exhibitionism in this way has earned recognition in wide scientific circles.
Some people make a comparison when they talk about the manifestations of this deviation in men, that an exhibitionist is like a transvestite, that is, a man demonstrates his genitals like a girl who shows her penis. In addition, spending all sexual energy on exhibitionism makes it possible to displace other problems of a similar nature, for example, infantile sexuality based on the Oedipus complex.
Films about voyeurism8
Today, watching movies is one of the most popular ways to spend time. However, people strive not only to have fun, but also to learn something new and receive information. The theme of voyeurism is not as widely explored in films as the theme of superhero powers and ghosts from the astral plane, but several films have still been made that are worthy of attention.
Most often, the main character is a person watching someone with a telescope. The first film, The Obedience Experiment, was filmed relatively recently, in 2012. The plot revolves around a man who searches citizens and poses as a police officer.
The second film is called “Short film about love.” This dramatic tale of voyeurism is not for everyone. In modern cinema, this plot is used extremely rarely.
Criminal penalties for exhibitionism
The situation with police intervention is extremely ambiguous due to the fact that the demonstration of genitals in public places, according to Russian laws, is equated to unconscious activity, unless, of course, it is a consequence of hooligan behavior. The reasons that necessitated such an act are psychological, and the exhibitionist himself is, in the eyes of the law, an insane person who cannot be judged by ordinary laws.
On the other hand, these actions fall under an administrative article, which is punishable by a fine of 500 to 1000 rubles or arrest for up to 15 days. If the exhibitionist is charged with a criminal offense for “depraved acts without the use of violence,” then the punishment may be much more serious: a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles or imprisonment for up to three years.
Treatment of exhibitionism
Due to the fact that an exhibitionist is a person with a mental disorder, an experienced psychiatrist should deal with the issue of recovery. However, not every person, knowing and fully realizing their own inclinations, will decide of their own free will to visit a specialist.
As a rule, treatment is initiated either by relatives or close friends of the patient, or by law enforcement agencies. Without the desire to recover from this psychological illness in the patient himself, one can hardly count on success.
Are such people dangerous?4
Having met a stranger in the park, peeking out from behind a bench and watching a kissing couple, many will rush to run away as far as possible and rightly so, however, voyeurs are often not at all dangerous to society, but can cause inconvenience and discomfort to others.
People suffering from a mild form of voyeurism only spy on others, but do not feel the desire to touch or even cause harm. Often it is even almost impossible to find out about such peeping, because the person carefully hides. However, if the disease goes to another stage and takes another form, for example, psycho-voyeurism, then in this case you should behave more carefully and not allow the person to cause physical pain.
People with similar, more severe deviations are no longer hiding, so they are found and placed for treatment, or punished for harm caused and petty hooliganism.
