4 ms·
I find it interesting that if you have odd/unusual sexual preferences, then you are often considered mentally ill, but if you have some odd/unusual preferences
by jensen123 11y ago
I find it interesting that if you have odd/unusual sexual preferences, then you are often considered mentally ill, but if you have some odd/unusual preferences for other things (like operating systems, for example), then that is in most cases not considered a mental problem.
What's so special about sex? I guess psychiatry basically took over and continued the old Christian religious prejudices.
- chc 11y agoEven outside of psychiatry, sex is widely held to occupy a special place in the psyche. This is why forcing somebody to have sex with you is a very serious crime, but forcing somebody to use Windows is not.
- jensen123 11y agoSexual preferences that psychiatry considers mental disorders, like BDSM, fetishism and transvestism, or previously homosexuality and masturbation, usually have nothing to do with forcing anybody. Seems like much of psychiatry basically boils down to "we don't like this, so we consider it a mental disorder". As for the sexual stuff, I guess it comes from the old Christian idea that sex that is not for procreation is wrong, which is probably a result of agriculture. In an agricultural society, you want the maximum amount of children, I guess. I find it fascinating that so many people are holding on to these obsolete beliefs (I mean, there are probably already too many people on this planet from an environmental point of view), although these beliefs do seem to gradually crumble as we speak.