Sexual Taboos Research Articles

The taboo of sexuality and the desire for parenthood of people with intellectual disabilities living in care facilities in France

How do the support staff and the families of the residents with intellectual disabilities of care facilities in France perceive the latter’s sexual life and desire for parenthood and how is this taken into account in their interactions? Life-history interviews conducted with seven family caregivers and four focus groups using Photolanguage® conducted with the support staff were analyzed using a thematic and a psychodynamic analysis. Both institutional rules and families’ concerns impact the sexual expression of the residents. Their sexual and intimate lives are primarily perceived as an ‘additional problem’. Fearing the reactions of the families, support staff tend to keep residents in the dark about reproductive and sexual health issues These findings reveal an urgent need to change the paradigm in these institutions: a vision of residents as fully-fledged adults who can make choices and who have the right to clear information in their sexual and intimate life.

An Investigation of the Determinants of Child Sexual Abuse in Tanzania: A Case of the Kilwa District-Lindi Region

Child sexual abuse (CSA), which includes assault and rape, encompasses all sexual activities involving a child. Internationally, there has been a recent surge in reports of CSA and other forms of violence against children. This substantiates the global significance and gravity of the matter, given its magnitude and impact on children. The current study on assessing CSA determinants in Tanzania for the Kilwa–Lindi region is presented as a case study, intending to uncover the socioeconomic determinants of CSA. The primary data were collected from 32 parents/guardians, who were systematically selected from 384 individuals who had reported CSA to social welfare offices. The presented findings were based on the observed meanings and realities that family members and the community ascribed to CSA through the lens of social construction theory. The qualitative data were analysed using Atlas.ti, and the quantitative data was analysed using Microsoft Excel. The following factors influenced CSA in the study area of Kilwa district: the socioeconomic status of women; the belief of community members in witchcraft as a method of purging misfortune and acquiring wealth; the use of remedies for HIV and other incurable diseases; the excessive workload and passivity of parents or guardians; the apathy of community members; the prevalence of myths and sexual taboos among parents or guardians; the ignorance of parents or guardians regarding indicators of CSA; and the scarcity of parental competence. Having the presented findings, it is therefore timely for the government to consider investing in prevention measures such as the early warning signs of CSA among children and parents and the reporting points, among others. The study recommends a comprehensive study on the awareness of CSA warning signs among children and parents in Tanzania

The Psychological and Physical Effects of Sex Taboos

The objective of this investigation was to find the physical and psychological effects that sex taboos directly or indirectly cause in individuals. This investigation's importance is reflected in how sex taboos are such an integral part of everything, from culture, art, clothing, architecture, medical care, teachings, and language. Sex taboos are present in almost every person's life, and it is essential first to illustrate the effects they have on people to be able to take the first step into helping individuals and irradicating sex taboos. This investigation proves that sex taboos, or situations caused by the upholding of these norms, lead to anxiety, depression, shame, guilt, risky sexual behavior, higher HIV infection rates, higher teen pregnancy rates, incorrect sex ed, damaged parent-child relationships, emotional distress, mistreatment and misdiagnosis of malnutrition, prejudice, isolation, medical professionals perpetuating misinformation and myths, violent sexual behavior, and suicide.

Plastic bodies: Petra Hůlová on the Banality of Desire

The Czech novelist, playwright, and screenplay author Petra Hůlová breaks social and sexual taboos with a sense of abandon. Her female narrators’ stories unfold within historical narratives inscribed along political binaries of East and West, socialism and capitalism. This article investigates the context of Hůlová’s narrator in Umělohmotný třípokoj (2004), a novel written at the nexus of neoliberalism, postsocialism, and feminism. A sex worker’s sustained interior monologue intensifies tension between economic and political geographies driven by the banality of desire and its virtual and plastic construction.

The role of reticence in the comprehension of metaphorical taboo expressions in the foreign language

AbstractThe present study focuses on the influence of L2 learners’ attitudes toward and perception of sexual taboos on their comprehension of metaphorical taboo expressions. Other aspects such as the presence of contextual information and the L2 learners’ stay‐abroad experience were also included in the study design. A total of 53 students of Spanish as a foreign language were presented with metaphorical taboo expressions from the MadSex corpus. They also were asked to rate their reticence to talk about sex and to use sexual taboo expressions. The results show that a higher degree of reticence to talk about sex is associated with a worse performance on the metaphor comprehension test. Furthermore, learners with a stay‐abroad experience outperformed their counterparts on the comprehension test, but they did not guess the meaning from the context more successfully. Finally, participants with stay‐abroad experience found it more acceptable to use sexual taboo expressions.

Development of Perceived Sex Taboos Scale

There are many taboos, especially those connected to sexual features of societal standards, yet little is known about how they affect people's private lives. For the better understanding of these perceived taboos, there is need to assess their impact on sexual behavior. Therefore, the aim of the study was to explore the sex taboos prevailing in our society and develop a tool to measure them. Focus group was conducted including 6 participants who were Muslim married men and aged 25 and above. Developed scale was then administered on 340 participants. Sample was selected by purposive sampling strategy. The results showed that the Perceived Sex Taboos scale has 33 items in total, with two variables discovered by Exploratory Factor Analysis. Significant correlations between all components were found by comparing the subscales. Findings have practical implications for the identification of taboos, to provide new dimensions for future researches and to help in developing a sense of strong emotional connection with the spouse.

A Study of the Development of Sexual Cognition in China

This study aims to discuss the evolution of the existence, form and internal structure of sexual taboos in Chinese society, the current state of sexual taboos in social culture, and how sexual taboos are reflected in people's real lives and how these traces affect people by combing and comparing the development process of sexual ecology in ancient China to the present. By using a combination of data analysis and semi-structured interviews, the study concluded that although sexual culture is now being talked about more in China than ever before, the taboo parts of sexual taboos have shifted from vague concepts to more specific issues, such as gender identity, harmony in sexual relations, and gender-based violence. These taboos have had an impact on people's perception of sex and self, and society and are issues that are worth and need time to address.

Pixies and Sexuality: The (Literary) Analysis of the Lyrics of an Alternative Rock Band

This study delves into the lyrics of three songs by the North American band Pixies. These lyrics explore the subject of sexuality, but they present a series of non-standard or traditionally unaccepted sexual practices related to sexual taboos, otherness, sexual objectification, sexual violence, and the body. Literary analysis is the approach used to examine the lyrics and the subjects explored by the band. Given that the central focus of the analysis is rock lyrics, which is a non-traditional subject of literary analysis, this study also addresses fundamental questions related to the nature of literature and literary expressions. In this sense, this article aims to demonstrate the value of rock lyrics as literary texts with a connection to poetry, both of which have music as the foundation of their form.

(518) Common Ancient and Modern-Day Religious Teachings Regarding Sexual Dysfunction

Abstract Introduction Sexuality and religion are intricately intertwined. Although religion is associated with sexual taboos, religious texts are among the first and most consistent sources to discuss sex, and more specifically, sexual dysfunction. Sexual dysfunction has always been widely prevalent, and a cause of individual, social, and spiritual distress. As sex and society continue evolving within frameworks of religious thought and practice, it is important to understand what religions have historically taught regarding sexual dysfunction and how it may impact their communities today. Objective To provide a broad overview and comparison of how clinical literature illustrates major world religions’ understanding and management of sexual dysfunction, both in their historical texts or traditions and in the modern day. This study aims to illustrate that sexual dysfunction has been addressed by religions since their inceptions. Due to their widespread and historical popularity, we explore Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Methods We conducted a literature search through the OVID (Medline) database using the terms “sexual dysfunction,” “erectile dysfunction,” “religion,” “Islam,” “Christianity,” “Buddhism,” “Judaism,” and “Hinduism,” with a particular focus on articles that addressed foundational ancient texts, historical teachings, or what is being taught today. From these findings, we identified any articles that explored specific religions’ perceptions and teachings (modern day or ancient) regarding sexual dysfunction. Due to the expansive and idiosyncratic nature of religious belief and practice, we cannot fully represent the unique complexities and perspectives that any of these religions may offer with respect to this topic. Instead, we emphasize the common denominators generally shared within and between religions, as well as those which were available in the literature. Results The religions of Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, and Hinduism all acknowledge sexuality as an integral part of human society and individual expression. These religions all address sexual dysfunction as a potential threat to the ideal participation of the affected person within their community. This is universally true, despite variances in the specific statutes and guidelines defining ideal sexual practice for each religion. In addition, despite frequently opining on the management of women’s bodies, particularly the bodies of women of reproductive age, we found a relative deficit of discussion regarding sexual dysfunction among women in religious literatures. Also, we identified a possible tendency to conservativism, with religious discourse acknowledging the changes in sexual medical and surgical practice over time, but often delaying (or less frequently, declining) their integration with religious mores. Finally, we highlight the cyclical nature of many religions' discussion, or lack thereof, regarding sexual dysfunction. Conclusions Ultimately, our findings identify a constant concern with sexuality and sexual dysfunction across major religions worldwide, which is characterized by a cyclical progression and regression in the incorporation of secular biomedical attitudes, diagnostic, and therapeutic options for sexual health. Awareness of these patterns and religion-specific beliefs about sexual dysfunction has potential to optimize patient-centered care and advocacy within and on behalf of different patient populations. Disclosure No

Of Ants and Men

Of Ants and Men

Sexual taboos and penis cracking: The practice of Taqaandan causing penile fracture

Sexual taboos and penis cracking: The practice of Taqaandan causing penile fracture

Eros and Trumpism: A Marcusean Interpretation

An explanation for Donald Trump’s political appeal is developed, drawing mainly on Herbert Marcuse’s study Eros and Civilization. Trump does not represent the authority of a strong father-leader so much as filial rebellion. His rebellion against the father-rule, now transmuted into an impersonal “rigged system,” permits and even encourages the explosive release of suppressed sexual and aggressive drives. However, this release does not constitute the liberation of Eros that Marcuse envisioned. Instead, Trumpism explodes suppressed sexuality within the institutions of the performance principle, gives sadistic expression to the sexual drive, conditions the abolition of sexual taboos on the creation of new objects of humiliation, and turns a collectivized sense of guilt “against those who do not belong to the whole, whose existence is its denial.” In sum, Trumpism was a betrayed revolution from the beginning; what it really represents is the political utilization of sex and aggression to reinforce social domination.

A Black Feminist Analysis of Patient Provider Concordance in Sexual Health Care

Racial disparities in gynecological health have persisted over time. Interestingly, there is a dearth of research that centers Black women’s experiences with gynecologists and even less research that uses Black feminist theory and methods. We use semi-structured interviews ( N = 39) to understand the sexual health care related experiences of Black women at a Predominately White Institution (PWI) and a Historically Black College or University (HBCU). We found that the following themes captured Black women’s experiences: (1) Feeling Ignored, (2) Having Their Intelligence Insulted, (3) Receiving Proper Help and Education, (4) Benefits of Concordance across Race and Sex Categories, (5) Discomfort Due to Sexual Taboos, (6) Perceived Medical Racism, (7) Impact of other Intersectional Identities, and (8) No Impact. Implications for enhancing experiences with sexual health care appointments and improving patient provider relationships are discussed.

Lose Your Father

Lose Your Father

Yearning for Freedom in a Prison without Bars in Two Novels: Ṣamt al-Farāshāt/ Silence of the Butterflies by Laylā al-ʿUthmān and Lam ʾAʿud ʾAbkī / I Do not Cry Anymore by Zaynab Ḥifnī

The crisis of freedom that the Gulf woman lives in under a patriarchal male culture that is biased against her and against the Arab woman in general, turns her into a prisoner who lives behind moral bars. Under these circumstances, the Gulf woman's writing becomes a conflict with the man's concepts and the patriarchal male mentality of her society. However, by writing, she reveals the issues of her scandalous oppression, and emancipates herself from her shackles. Writing is one of the forms of freedom, through which she regains her voice that has been stolen from her as a woman and a creative artist. This study seeks to reveal the manifestations of oppression that the woman is exposed to in the feminist Gulf literature in two novels: Ṣamt al-Farāshāt by Laylā al-ʿUthmān, and Lam ʾAʿud ʾAbkī by Zaynab Ḥifnī as samples. The study will reveal the woman's figurative 'prison' and 'jailor': the prison of society with its norms and traditions, and the prison of the Man and his domination as images of her oppression by marriage, and by the siege of social norms, the culture of silence, her prevention from choosing her job and her creative freedom. In return, the study will observe the features of her revolution and rebellion against all these figurative "prisons" such as her refusal of the traditional marriage, her resistance by writing, her search for love, and breakage of the sex taboo. The woman manifests herself between the character of the 'prisoner' and the 'rebellious' woman, between her 'yearning for freedom' and her 'revolt' against the 'bars' in order to realize herself and break the taboos.

"Had I been a painter": Lolita and the Perversity of Interart Relations

Abstract: Discussions of interart relations have often relied on a rhetoric of sexual perversion to reaffirm artistic borders, from G. E. Lessing's Laocoön (1766) to twentieth-century theories of medium specificity. This article considers the "perversity" of interart relations embedded in Lolita , Nabokov's novel of pedophilia. While the commingling of the arts is a key aspect of Nabokov's visual poetics, the logic of this principle is interrogated in Lolita . Whether perceiving Lolita as a visual image or imagining a mural of their sexual union, Humbert repeatedly attempts to transfigure his temporal narrative into the spatial realm of the visual as a means of preserving his "nymphet" from the corruption of time. This, I suggest, is analogous to Nabokov's own artistic efforts to escape the temporal progression imposed by sequential narrative form by appealing to the visual arts. By examining Lolita within the context of a long-standing discourse that sees relations between the sister arts as perverse, I argue that the novel's overt transgression of sexual taboos discloses an underlying aesthetic anxiety about the transgression of interart boundaries, in particular the novel's aspiration towards spatial form. Central to this is the novel's reworking of the Pygmalion myth, one of the foundational myths not only about artistic creation, but about the artist as a transgressive figure who violates aesthetic as well as erotic laws. The article ultimately concludes that, in Lolita , Nabokov revalorizes the sequential aspect of narrative (and the temporality of re-reading) as a positive attribute of novelistic form, not as something to be overcome in imitation of painting.

THE SEDUCTIVE FEMININE BEAUTY IN DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI’S SONNET “LILITH” AND PAINTING LADY LILITH

The Pre-Raphaelite movement was established in 1848 not only as a rebellion against the principles in art of the Royal Academy but also as a reaction to the values of the VictorianAge. Drawing heavily from Dante Gabriel Rosetti's depiction of the sexually attractive and seductive female character as a femme fatale, all other members of the Pre-RaphaeliteBrotherhood – such as Victorian poets, painters, designers and illustrators – began portraying female figures in their works as seductive femme fatales, which was indeed in total contrast with the Victorian idea of woman as “the angel in the house.” Hence, especially, in poetry and painting, female beauty and sexual yearning had a significant place. Given that, the leading Victorian poet-painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882), a vehement founding member of the Brotherhood, used female figures extensively, and thereby the concept of feminine beauty dominated his poems and paintings. Especially, through his widespread use of unconventional female figures like fallen women and prostitutes, Rossetti manifested his explicit opposition to the Victorian ideals. Furthermore, by emphasising seductive feminine beauty in his works, he tried to break the sexual taboos in Victorian poetry and art. Therefore, he was marginalised in the Victorian Age; yet still, he became the best representative of art for art's sake movement. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to examine the depiction of women both in Rossetti's sonnet “Lilith” and painting Lady Lilith with reference to his ballad “Eden Bower.” Moreover, this paper analyses how Rossetti introduces his femme fatale figure, and hence, concludes that through his unconventional portrayal of woman and her beauty, Rossetti brings a new insight not only to the depiction of women in Victorian poetry and art but also to the condition of women in the Victorian Period in general.

Sexual taboos and euphemisms in Igbo: An anthropolinguistic appraisal

Due to face-threatening effect of taboo words, euphemisms are used to replace them for the sake of politeness. Several studies have been carried out on sexual taboos across cultures, including Igbo, but most have centrally focused on euphemisms for sex organs, with inadequate attention paid to the sex act itself. As a result, this study examines euphemisms about sex or copulation in Igbo with a view to delineating the categories and strategies employed by Igbo to express them. Through Participant and Non-participant Observation, data (11 conversations) were collected, from 22 participants comprising 16 men and 6 women across 6 different settings in Lagos State, Nigeria. The result showed that participants used two major strategies (idiomatic expressions and symbols) and coinage to euphemise the act of sex. Two broad categories of sex found were explicit euphemisms representing the common type, and opaque euphemisms representing the uncommon type. However, both categories are existing words in the language that are imbued with new meanings to achieve the censoring objective. The alternative forms adequately serve the intended purpose because they mask and obscure the tabooed subject and hence save the face of interlocutors.

Yugoslav(i)a on the margin: sexual taboos, representation, nation and emancipation in Želimir Žilnik’s Early Works (1969)

In socialism, Yugoslav women became empowered by employment and income, but gender equality stayed rather nominal in the family domain. Such gender inequity is addressed in the works of the Yugoslav novi film/New Film (1961–72) auteurs. They occasionally turned to allegories in order to communicate political criticism. One of them was Želimir Žilnik. His most internationally lauded film, winner of the Golden Bear in 1969, is Rani radovi/Early Works (1969). It features a heroine Jugoslava (Milja Vujanović), whose name is eponymous of Yugoslav nation. Bearing in mind that in the majority of Yugoslav New Films a leading character is a man, Early Works is exceptional for having a woman as the main heroine. I will approach Jugoslava’s character: as an allegory of Yugoslavia and its revolutionary spirit, as well as a prototype of an emancipated woman, punished by rape and killing. My research studies the link in the film between Žilnik’s political critique via strong heroine as a proxy, and her objectification. By reading the film from a feminist perspective and building my arguments on close analysis, I contend that Jugoslava is concurrently empowered and disempowered, an active subject and sexually objectified object, a raped nation and a raped feminist.

Sexual Health Challenges in Iran and the Strategies for its Improvement

Objectives: Sexual health has been considered as a necessary condition for achieving reproductive health, rather than being a part of it. This study aimed to identify the challenges of sexual health in Iran and the strategies for its improvement. Methods: In this qualitative study using content analysis, a semi-structured interview was used to collect data. The participants were 16 experienced experts who were selected using a purposive sampling method. After individual interviews and theoretical data saturation, data analysis was performed using the deductive content analysis method. Results: Five main themes including the taboo of sexuality and low public awareness, unconventional sexual behaviors and emerging social ills, stigma and discrimination, lack of the political commitment of the government, and lack of statistical indicators and not utilization of existing capacities were identified as the challenges of sexual health in Iran. The strategies to address them included: Public education and empowerment with a special focus on the adolescents and young people, adopting policies and revising the related laws in line with social changes; gaining the political support of the government, promoting the right attitude with a focus on banishing stigma and discrimination against groups with high-risk sexual behaviors, collecting indicators and designing interventions using human resources and existing capacities, and promoting professional ethics and gender equity. Conclusion: For addressing the challenges and achieving the highest levels of sexual health in Iran, it requires the political commitment of the government, revising laws, and inter-sectoral cooperation to design and implement multidisciplinary and multidimensional interventions.