2007-12-09 15:10:08 · 10 answers · asked by Steve-O 5 in Social Science ➔ Gender Studies
It's the shorthand explanation for behavior that someone disagrees with. Is porn wrong? Well if you read the posters on this forum, If we can prove that a majority of the performers were abused as children, then it is.
Same goes for any other sexual behavior that people disagree with. Too many sexual partners? Too few? If we can prove that those people were abused as children, then the behavior is wrong.
2007-12-09 15:15:39 · update #1
Ashleigh--what is gender disoriented whatchamacalit? What question did you read?
2007-12-09 16:40:52 · update #2
Sorry; this question makes no sense.
2007-12-09 15:12:50 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 4⤋
You're actually quite right, if the person pointing to a history of sexual abuse is tacitly making that assumption. We likely would not say that nursing was an illegitimate profession if it turned out that most nurses were abused as children. (And actually, that isn't such an implausible idea!) Furthermore, given how widespread sexual abuse is beginning to seem, it becomes less statistically significant if a certain group includes many sex abuse victims: if it's as common as some say, then probably every profession includes many sex abuse victims!
And is being celibate also illegitimate if one was sexually abused? (I've actually heard that claimed!)
On the other hand, it does give me pause to hear from people who've been in "adult" entertainment ascribe their having done so, the reason they were drawn into it, to having been sexually abused. Are they making excuses? Telling people what they think they want to hear? Mistaken? I wouldn't assume that. But neither would I assume that they speak for everyone else in their field.
Still, it is troubling. But, in and of itself, it doesn't make a profession or lifestyle illegitimate.
2007-12-10 00:13:02 · answer #2 · answered by Gnu Diddy! 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Okay, so the absense or presence of past sexual abuse determines whether a subsequent behaviour is "right" or "wrong"? If so, that kind of explanation is ridiculous. Past sexual abuse has an influence on a lot of things, but it's not necessarily an inevitable indicator of future sexual activity. Sometimes people become promiscuous because they want to--maybe they see nothing wrong with it; sometimes people are into porn because they like it. So far as I know, promiscuity and pornography are still legal (for the most part). Human sexuality covers a wide spectrum of interests and behaviours and if it's not hurting anyone or anything else, go for it.
2007-12-09 23:31:26 · answer #3 · answered by teeleecee 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Well, Dan Savage will definitely tell that people have weird sexual preferences, and it has nada to do with abuse. Ever read his column? He did a whole week dedicated to health related questions of pee drinkers.
If anybody has empirical data on sexual practices and how it relates to one's past, it's him.
He is of the opinion that people are kinky, and what someone did or did not do to you as a kid has little to do with it. Abused children don't have kinks, they have dysfunctions. Meaning actual sexual hang ups that do not allow them to enjoy a sexual relationship freely, as opposed to creating specialized sexual appetites.
2007-12-10 11:11:03 · answer #4 · answered by eine kleine nukedmusik 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
In some cases it does damage but in others, including mine it does no damage on their sexuality. Most people that have been sexually abused can differentiate between the consentual sexual behavior and the non-consensual sexual behavior, but others can't do this, and that is when you find the most stricking instances of a person having and inllegtitimate sexuality. Those of us that can differentiate between the two, are faily innoucuous, and one couldn't tell they've been abused. But the one's that can't differentiate, are clear as day.
2007-12-09 23:25:36 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
What does "illegitimate sexuality" mean?
People who are abused don't always grow up to be abusers. But some do. People who are abused don't always grow up to be victims. But some do. Realistically, I suppose that being abused increases the risk that one will have unresolved issues that pertain to that abuse, and, that those unresolved issues may impact their sexuality and relationships later on. It is also reasonable to assume that some people who have unresolved issues in this area are well aware of it. And some are not. Of those who are not, is the impact of it all any less?
2007-12-09 23:23:37 · answer #6 · answered by It's Ms. Fusion if you're Nasty! 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Most don't think this. A lot of people have been brainwashed into accepting society's (the medias) and social scientist's preceptions of gender disoriented sexuality as the result of post traumatic and peer group pressure propaganda and misinformation. Be yourself and cope with your life as best as only you can. Cheers.
2007-12-10 00:37:20 · answer #7 · answered by Ashleigh 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
it goes the other way as well. i used to get this when i was with my ex-wife.
"oh youre GAY? *pause* Did something...happen to you?"
not only is it an incredibly personal and obnoxious question to ask, they were assuming that there was no way i could choose something that they saw as "unnatural" freely.
I would imagine it is similar in the situations you are outlining. Its easy to dismiss things we disagree with if we can chalk them up to trauma.
2007-12-10 05:44:43 · answer #8 · answered by bluestareyed 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Damaged goods.
A lot of people have 'kinks'... my ex tried to repeatedly suggest the only reason for my kinks were because of childhood stuff.
I explained often that many other guys (and girls) have the same kink and weren't in the same position as myself.
2007-12-09 23:15:37 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
I see what you are getting at, and you're right. Interesting point.
2007-12-10 00:18:53 · answer #10 · answered by wendy g 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋