Understanding Erotic Life

I got this from my Abnormal Psych textbook (it's an excellent read)
5 Layers of Erotic Life
each layer builds on top of the one before it

Keep in mind that each layer has a large range of norms, too.
My textbook just concentrates on the "abnormal" parts...The cover of the book does not lie
1. Gender Identity- our awareness of being male or female; usually coincides with genitals
gender identity disorder (transsexualism)- dissociation of gender identity and sexual organs; trapped in the wrong gender's body
male-to-female transsexual - a man who feels that he is a woman trapped in a man's body, wants to be rid of his genitals, wants female sexual characteristics, and wants to live as a woman
female-to-male - a woman who feels she is trapped in a man's body, wants to acquire male characteristics, and wants to live as a man
transsexualism is chronic- does not disappear spontaneously
therapy- sex reassignment (sex-change surgery)
2. Sexual Orientation- who do you fall in love with? Our erotic fantasies dictate our sexual orientation
no disorders at this layer
(Orientation...it's like which way are we facing?
Sexual disorders are conditions that grossly impair affectionate sexual relations between two human beings.
Being gay or bisexual does not impair affectionate sexual relations between two human beings)
Basic orientations are homosexual and heterosexual with a continuum of bisexuality in between.
3. Sexual Preference/ Sexual Interest- the types of persons, parts of the body, and situations that are the objects of your sexual fantasies and arousal
paraphilia- sexual interest is so disoriented that it impairs the capacity for affectionate erotic relations between human beings (Greek "love of [philia] what is beyond [para]")
- comprises of an array of unusual objects and situations
3 Categories
A) sexual arousal and preference for nonhuman objects including
fetishes (derive sexual arousal from nonliving objects) and
transvestism/transvestic fetishism (persistently dresses in clothes of opposite gender to achieve sexual arousal)
B) sexual arousal and preference for situations that involve suffering and humiliation including
sadism (deriving sexual arousal by repeatedly and intentionally inflicting pain and humiliation upon others) and
masochism (deriving sexual arousal from engaging in activities that repeatedly and intentionally inflict suffering and humiliation upon themselves)
C) sexual arousal and preference for nonconsenting partners including
exhibitionism (exposing genitals to unwitting and unwilling strangers),
voyeurism (observing the naked body, the disrobing, or the sexual activity of an unsuspecting victim),
telephone scatalogia (recurrent and intense sexual urges to make obscene calls to nonconsenting individuals),
frotteurism (touching and rubbing against a nonconsenting person usually in crowded places),
pedophilia (sexual relations with children below the age of puberty, the age at which we consider it reasonable for a person to be able to give mature consent)
4. Sex Role- public expression of gender identity, what an individual says or does to indicate gender
no defined categories of disorder at this level
...some women are "manly" and some men are "girly" and some conform to societal gender roles
5. Sexual Performance or Functioning- how adequately you perform when you are with a suitable person in a suitable erotic setting; Do desire, arousal, and orgasm occur?
Problems at this level are called sexual "dysfunctions"
sexual response consists of four phases
1. erotic desire
2. physical excitement
3. orgasm
4. resolution
Dysfunction is possible at the first 3 phases. There are also sexual pain disorders (extreme pain associated with intercourse). Dysfunctions can occur in either gender.