Lives of the Unconscious. A Podcast on Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy

Episode 37: Male Perversion and Sexual Violence

Apr 25, 2025
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INSIGHT

Perversion Is A Social Definition

  • Perversion historically meant deviation from social norms, especially sexual taboos.
  • Renaming it paraphilia didn't solve moral or political battles around normality and persecution.
INSIGHT

Pathology Requires Harm Or Suffering

  • Clinical pathologizing now depends on whether a preference causes suffering or danger.
  • Many unusual sexual tastes are clinically irrelevant unless they harm someone or cause distress.
INSIGHT

Perversion As Compulsive Exclusivity

  • Narrow perversion implies exclusive, compulsive dependence on a fetish or practice for arousal.
  • Such fixation rigidifies the psyche and can make other sexual expression impossible.
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