An article I recently read, although over thirty years old, did provide some insight into exhibitionism and voyeurism and how these topics relate to sexuality.
According to Merriam-Webster's online dictionary:
Exhibitionism: "a perversion in which sexual gratification is obtained from the indecent exposure of one's genitals (as to a stranger)" or "an act of such exposure" (1).
Voyeurism: "one obtaining sexual gratification from observing unsuspecting individuals who are partly undressed, naked, or engaged in sexual acts" or "a prying observer who is usually seeking the sordid or the scandalous" (2).
Leonard Blank discusses nudists and the differences between "naked" and "nude" (naked being a term that implies vulnerability and shame, where nude can refer to more sophisticated states of being unclothed, such as in art). But when discussing the nudist, Leonard states, "...it is the outsider rather than the nudist whose sexual control seems threatened" (3). This can apply directly to sex in a dorm room in front of a roommate. It is hardly ever the couple engaging in the act that feels ashamed; they are the nudists who feel comfortable with not only their lack of clothes, but the display of their sexual acts. It is the roommate who feels violated, who is made uncomfortable by witnessing the nudists. It could also be said that the couple could be exhibitionists, although subjecting a "stranger" or even a roommate to such a display (without their consent)is an entirely different ethical question in itself.
Oddly enough, the article went on to discuss the fine line between what is acceptable in cinema and art, and what is not. Blank automatically diverts to the discussion of pubic hair, and how it suddenly transforms art into pornography. I immediately remembered something I had seen on Vh1 years ago...and after a ton of circling research, I came to find that it was the Black Crows album Amorica that had been featured. The album cover was nothing more then the bottom half of a woman wearing a bikini, but there was pubic hair sticking out from under it. (The image and a little information can be found here but I'm not posting it for the same reason that it stirred up controversy). None of this connects directly to the topic of my blog, except to say that it doesn't take much for something to become controversial (because once the band took out the pubic hair, the album was suddenly acceptable); mostly I just thought it was interesting.
To continue, Blank backed up some of the other articles already looked at in this blog by explaining that excitement can be associated with the forbidden, and the forbidden is what sometimes provokes compulsive looking, or voyeurism. The voyeur is able to stay passive in the situation while experiencing the forbidden which is closely linked with desire. This is quite the opposite of the exhibitionist situation, but it still explains why curiosity can be piqued by these kinds of situations.
Blank's article also covers some of the gendered stereotypes surrounding sex, which I will look at in the next entry.
(1)exhibitionism. (2008). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
Retrieved November 29, 2008, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exhibitionism
(2)voyeur. (2008). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
Retrieved November 29, 2008, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/voyeur
(3)Blank, Leonard. "Nakedness and Nudity: A Darwinian Explanation for Looking and Showing Behavior." Leonardo 6 (1973): 23-27. JSTOR.
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