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Concept
Paraphilia
Summary
Paraphilia is the experience of recurring or intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. It has also been defined as a sexual interest in anything other than conventional sexual intercourse with a consenting human partner.
The exact number and taxonomy of paraphilia is under debate; one source lists as many as 549 types of paraphilia. Several sub-classifications of paraphilia have been proposed, although some argue that a fully dimensional, spectrum or complaint-oriented approach would better reflect the evident diversity of human sexuality.
As of 2022, both the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and International Classification of Diseases (ICD) have taken deliberate steps to depathologize unconventional sexual interests by drawing a distinction between benign paraphilias and potentially harmful "paraphilic disorders". While the vast majority of paraphilias are harmless forms of individual sexual expression between one or more consenting adults, there are a small number of paraphilic disorders (for example, pedophilic disorder or other paraphilic disorders involving non-consenting individuals) which carry significant social, medical, ethical and legal implications.
To date there is no broad scientific consensus for definitive boundaries between what are considered "unconventional sexual interests", kinks, fetishes, and paraphilias. As such, these terms are often used loosely and interchangeably, especially in common parlance.
Many terms have been used to describe atypical sexual interests, and there remains debate regarding technical accuracy and perceptions of stigma. Sexologist John Money popularized the term paraphilia as a non-pejorative designation for unusual sexual interests. Money described paraphilia as "a sexuoerotic embellishment of, or alternative to the official, ideological norm." Psychiatrist Glen Gabbard writes that despite efforts by Wilhelm Stekel and John Money, "the term paraphilia remains pejorative in most circumstances.
Official source
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