Sigmund Freud analyzed perversion and linked it to sexuality.
The word perversion comes from Latin perversĭo and refers, according to the Royal Spanish Academy , to the action and consequences or results of perverting. This verb, in turn, refers to altering good taste or customs that are considered healthy or normal, through deviations and behaviors that are strange .
The term is also used to refer to the alteration of the natural condition or the usual order of things . For example: "I will not endorse such a perversion in my family," "Science has committed a perversion by creating animals in laboratories that are condemned to a horrible death," "The victim was viciously beaten, revealing the perversion of the kidnapper." » .
Perversion in psychoanalysis and literature
One of the main meanings that the word perversion has had over the centuries has been related to sex . Thus, for example, one of the great thinkers of the 20th century, Sigmund Freud, already spoke about it and did so by defining it as any set of sexual behaviors that do not have any reproductive objective but are simply carried out with the clear objective of to seek pleasure.
Precisely this type of behavior mentioned can be studied or discovered, for example, through literature. And throughout the centuries there have been authors who have carried out their works betting on perversion. This would be the case of the famous Marquis de Sade who wrote a series of very controversial books at the time such as "Justine or the misfortunes of virtue" (1787) where several episodes described as sexual violence are established.
But he would not be the only author because along with him we find others who have also at some point been described as writers who contain sexual perversion in its purest form in their stories. We are talking about Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch with his work titled "Venus in Fur" (1870) or Georges Bataille with "The History of the Eye" (1928).
Perversion is usually associated with paraphilias.
Conduct of a sexual nature
Another definition states that perversion is a behavioral anomaly that involves deviation from a natural psychological tendency. Although the concept is often automatically related to sexuality , psychology refers in these cases to paraphilias .
The term is made up of two Greek words: para ( "apart from" ) and filía ( "love" ). Therefore, paraphilia is a type of sexual behavior where the person does not enjoy the intimate relationship: instead, they obtain pleasure from another related action.
Specialists point out that paraphilias are harmless , except when they cause harm or pose a risk to any of the people participating in the sexual act.
Perversion and paraphilias
In this sense, one of the most frequent paraphilias is the one known as fetishism . This concept encompasses the fact that a person has frequent sexual fantasies and a lot of desire for certain parts of the body or for the use of a series of objects such as, for example, high-heeled shoes.
In many cases, paraphilia depends on the social conventions of the time and region. Homosexuality was considered paraphilic at the time, but over time it came to be understood as a simple individual choice of sexual behavior. It should be noted that it has never been possible to demonstrate the existence of an organic or psychological alteration that explains the origin of a paraphilia.
Among paraphilias, there are zoophilia or bestiality , coprophilia , fisting , necrophilia and pedophilia .