Much of the complexity of sexuality has to do with the fact that this area of life is almost never approached objectively and dispassionately.
Over the centuries, the sexual experience has been perceived through a strong element of morality and even superstition, due to its importance. Whether associated with the divine or the evil, sex has been a battlefield between ways of understanding life and nature.
That is why sexology, as a discipline of scientific study of sexuality, has had to put on the table for the first time the need to understand sex through systematic and objective research, refuting deeply rooted myths and erroneous beliefs based on prejudices. and tradition. Taking this into account, Let’s see what are the pillars on which sexology is based today ; ideas on which this sub-branch of science is built.
Here we will take a brief tour of the fundamental ideas on which sexology is based.
1. Sexual attraction and sexual desire are not the same
This distinction between sexual attraction and sexual desire is key, since it helps to understand the system of motivations that predisposes human beings to feel interest in sex. While sexual attraction is toward a person or type of people, sexual desire does not have to be directed towards a particular subject and simply consists of the desire to engage in sexual activities in general.
Many feces assume that the existence of an orgasm is always an indication of sexual pleasure, which even leads to denying cases of rape. However, today we know that The psychophysiological response of orgasm can arise even without experiencing this type of pleasure in its entirety, although in practice they tend to appear together. Consequently, there are cases in which rape causes an orgasm, without this implying that the person enjoys or consents to the relationship, which is essentially violent.
3. Sexual activity goes beyond genitality
Living sex going beyond intercourse and stimulation of the genitals is essential to not be limited to a reduced vision of eroticism. This type of pleasure and stimulation can be based on caressing many other parts of the body. Besides, Taking into account this entire range of possibilities allows you to have more satisfactory relationships without having to conform to social conventions that revolve around heterosexuality.
4. Not feeling sexual attraction is not always a problem
Although it is true that it is often understood that the lack of sexual attraction is a problem that must be addressed through sexual therapy, this is not always the case. One of the pillars of sexology that has emerged in recent years is to validate the experiences of asexual people, given that they can be just as happy as everyone else as long as they are not discriminated against. Thus, the absence of sexual attraction is only associated with problems within the framework of an emotional relationship in which there are expectations associated with sex and the interests of both members are not aligned.
5. We must distinguish between reproduction and eroticism
Although sex has emerged as an evolutionary mechanism to enable a type of reproduction in which there is gene variability, that does not mean that we should currently consider it only as an activity to have offspring. Since the 20th century, sex has been destigmatized as an experience independent of the desire to have children and continuing to work in this direction is necessary to live sexuality fully and without a feeling of guilt that, in addition to worsening relationships, causes dynamics of discrimination.
6. Sexuality and self-esteem are linked
In practice, sexuality is such a delicate topic that it is usually associated with the way we perceive ourselves, usually through gender roles. For this reason, many sexual problems have forms of discomfort based on self-esteem behind them, and vice versa.
7. Most sexual problems have psychological causes
Finally, we must not forget that Most people who face problems in the sexual sphere do so due to psychological problems, such as poor anxiety regulation or low self-esteem when exposing one’s body. This means that it is not always necessary to intervene in organic alterations in the face of phenomena such as vaginismus or erectile dysfunction.
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