We are pleased to announce the second installment of our ongoing blog series “Survivor Voices.” This series features original pieces authored by survivors of sex trafficking, prostitution, and commercial sexual exploitation, as a testament to our belief that survivor voices are the cornerstone of the global fight against commercial sexual exploitation.
The author of this piece is David Wayne, a survivor advocate from Northeast Pennsylvania. David joined the CSE Institute Board of Advisors in November 2016. He is a 2015 graduate of the Elevate Mentoring Program, a survivor-led program developed by Rebecca Bender that provides peer assistance to victims of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking. He is also a member of the National Survivor Network and Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS).
David was recently enrolled as a psychology student at a local university. The following blog is an adapted version of a term paper he wrote which examined whether hypersexuality should be a considered an official psychological disorder. The piece explores the influencers of sexuality, including pornography and commercial sex, and their effect on the male psyche.
Please read on for David’s contribution to “Survivor Voices,” and check back regularly for the next installment of the Survivor Voices series.
To Be Or Not To Be: Hypersexuality As A Proposed Disorder
By David Wayne
Abstract
It is difficult to travel anywhere in the US without encountering some form of adult entertainment advertising or products and services for sale. From roadside billboards to magazines at gas station convenience stores, it would appear to the objective observer that American culture is more than just a little preoccupied with sexuality. Even in our home environments, the barrage continues and may be intensified through our connections to the Internet, cable television and satellite program services. One has to wonder why there is such an overwhelming supply of sexual entertainment surrounding us, and the pressure of its presence is often questioned or debated. We must bear in mind, however, that a supply of any given product or service could not generate enough profit to be cost effective without the existence of a sufficient demand. The question then becomes one of asking if the adult industry is creating the demand that leads to the potential disorder, or if hypersexuality stems from other sources that in turn drive the industry. The answer is a mixture of both, leaving us to ponder how our psychological community can agree on an approach to treatment that is successful.
To Be Or Not To Be: Hypersexuality As A Proposed Disorder
The commercial sex industry is big business. Over 11,000 adult films are released annually, generating $13.3 billion in revenue. Most adult films produced in the US originate from studios in California, and in that state alone, the industry pays $36 million in annual taxes (Statistic Brain, 2016). While pornography, exotic dancing and forms of prostitution have been controversial for decades, the volume of media related to commercialized sex exploded with the invention of high speed Internet and wireless communications.
Sexually explicit media is available in nearly every corner of America due to the ease of technological access, and some argue this has caused disturbing rates of sexual addiction. The estimated number of people in the US who suffer from sexual addiction or hypersexuality is between 12 and 30 million, according to Health Research Funding (2014). By comparison, 2.5 million people in the US suffer from compulsive gambling (Rehab International, 2016). The most recent psychiatric manual, the DSM-5, includes compulsive gambling as a disorder, yet the proposal to include hypersexuality was rejected.
Kafka’s Proposed Criteria for Hypersexuality Disorder
As specified by M.P. Kafka (2010), the criteria for a hypersexuality disorder diagnosis included the following;
- a pattern involving repetitive and intense preoccupation with sexual fantasies, urges, and behaviors leading to adverse consequences and clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning
- experiences of multiple unsuccessful attempts to control or diminish the amount of time spent engaging in sexual fantasies, urges, and behaviors in response to dysphoric mood states or stressful life events
- symptoms persisting for a period of at least 6 months and occur independent of substance use, mania, or a medical condition in order for a diagnosis of hypersexual disorder to be established
- possible problematic sexual behaviors identified such as masturbation, pornography use, cybersex, etc.
In an independent field study of the proposed diagnostic specifications (Wheeler, 2012), investigators concluded that the criteria were valid and could lead to a reliable diagnosis. However, the American Psychiatric Association still found Kafka’s proposal problematic, and the DSM-5 was published in 2013 without hypersexuality disorder.
Proponents of pornography and other forms of commercialized sex have managed to establish some legitimacy by relying on the First Amendment of the United States Constitution as a means of protection and legalization for what they consider artistic expression. It is often said that art imitates life, and this may be true in some instances, yet as Oscar Wilde wrote in The Decay of Lying (1889), “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life.” The adult film industry is not just a reflection of a culture’s desires, it actually provides social scripts on how to behave in sexual situations. There is a link between sexual violence and adult entertainment and its media.
While correlation does not equal causation, Myers (2014) states in his citation of research on pornography consumers (Kingston et al., 2009) that through the repeated portrayals of sexual violence as enjoyable, the viewers are conditioned to accept this myth as reality. Our bodies experience automatic chemical responses to sexual stimuli, typically involving dopamine, (Kuszewski, 2010) which is also a main catalyst in other addictions. As most addictions commonly progress, more intense stimuli is required to produce the same satisfying feeling, meaning for those who experience hypersexuality, more intense pornography or other forms of commercialized sex are necessary to achieve sexual arousal and orgasmic completion. The brain simply becomes conditioned and numb to each new level of chemical activity. This can lead to sexual dysfunction in typical, non-commercialized sexual relations, and it also means more danger for those in the adult industry who are being filmed or performing other acts of varying severity.
The business of commercialized sex is inherently violent, and part of its agenda is to normalize sexual violence. The adult industry employs mass media in the same way our news services do, as described by Chomsky and Herman (2002, pp. 1-2):
“The mass media serve as a system for communicating messages and symbols to the general populace. It is their function to amuse, entertain, and inform, and to inculcate individuals with the values, beliefs, and codes of behavior that will integrate them into the institutional structures of the larger society. In a world of concentrated wealth and major conflicts of class interest, to fulfill this role requires systematic propaganda.”
The American Psychiatric Association may have been justified in rejecting Kafka’s proposal for the DSM 5, because sexuality is not a disorder in and of itself. Yet, most consumers of adult entertainment are male, and we are fully aware that male genetic makeup predisposes violence. In the same way that Pavlov conditioned dogs, so are we being conditioned in our culture to become not only complacent with respect to sexual violence, but also condoning and entertained by sexual violence. The solution then is to reduce or eliminate the stimulus–the commercial sex industry–rather than treat clients for having a disorder when they are responding to mass psychological manipulation.
References
Chomsky, N., Herman, E.S. (2002). Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media: A Propaganda Model (pp. 1-2). New York: Pantheon
Health Research Funding (November 7, 2014). 39 Shocking Sexual Addiction Recovery Statistics. Psychological Articles and Infographics. Retrieved from http://healthresearchfunding.org/39-shocking-sexual-addiction-recovery-statistics/
Kafka, M.P. Arch Sex Behav (2010). 39: 377. doi:10.1007/s10508-009-9574-7. Retrieved from http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-009-9574-7
Kingston, D.W., Malamuth, N.M., Federoff, N.M., & Marshall, W.L. (2009). The importance of individual differences in pornography use: Theoretical perspectives and implications for treating sexual offenders. Journal of Sex Research, 46, (pp. 216-232).
Kuszewski, A. (August 14, 2010). The Science of Pleasure: Part II- Your Brain on Sexual Imagery. The Rogue Neuron.
Retrieved from http://www.science20.com/rogue_neuron/science_pleasure_part_ii_your_brain_sexual_imagery
Myers, D. G. (2014). Exploring Psychology (9th ed.). New York, NY: Worth.
Rehab International (2016). Gambling Statistics. Addiction Center. Retrieved from http://rehab-international.org/gambling-addiction/gambling-addiction-statistics
Statistic Brain Research Institute (2016). Adult Film Industry Statistics & Demographics. Entertainment. Retrieved from http://www.statisticbrain.com/adult-film-industry-statistics-demographics/
Wheeler, M. (October 18, 2012). Science supports sex addiction as a legitimate disorder. Science + Technology. UCLA Newsroom. Retrieved from http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/how-to-prove-a-sexual-addiction-239783
Wilde, O. (1889). The Decay of Lying: An Observation. Oscar Wilde. Literature Network (2016). Retrieved from http://www.online-literature.com/wilde/1307/