Misc psych reading

[rachelmanija]

I will make a filter for this shortly. Until then, cut to spare you, and also for sexual content including some hilarious romance novel excerpts. These are my brief notes, for my own benefit with the exception of the throbbing pistons which are for yours, on today's reading.

Comments

[rosefox]

He also points out that in both "porn" for men and "romance" for women (yes, he also points out that the distinction is often just marketing), the emphasis in sex scenes is largely on men's action and women's pleasure. Men bang away, but you don't get much of their inner feelings. (Not always true, but I think he's looking more at older books.)

Wow, yeah, modern romance is very different. I'm frequently surprised by how many sex scenes are written from the man's perspective.

Of course, to quote a paper presented at this year's International Association for the Study of Popular Romance conference, "I love you" is the money shot of the romance novel.

[rachelmanija]

He was going off of the Harold Robbins/Danielle Steele era.

[sovay]

Nowhere does one read about a penis that quietly moseyed out for a look before springing and crashing into action.

Points to Zilbergeld.

[movingfinger]

I would like to read that one, myself.

[thomasyan]

I forget how close Chintsubuou (sp?) gets. Then again, it was pretty over the top, so maybe not so much, but a reconnaisance run seems like it would fit in pretty well.

[juliansinger]

...- If it's not inherently bothering you or hurting others, it's not a problem. Sexuality is hugely variable, and "normal" is a very wide range.

Man, the DSM (and/or my abnormal psych textbooks) could learn a hell of a lot from this guy.

re: the Somatization thing, and it being especially common in folks not from Europe or North America -- really? There's a lot of syndromes/etc that seem to be trauma related around these parts, too. Or do you just mean the folks you're talking about don't even think they have reason to have psychological issues at all?

[rachelmanija]

Not exactly that - they may well connect their physical symptoms with the trauma - but that they often report solely physical symptoms with no self-reports of anxiety, depression, etc, whereas Americans, etc, are more likely to additionally have "mental" symptoms.

It sounds like it involves cultural narratives of what's likely to happen as a result of trauma: if you think it'll cause physical pain, it causes physical pain; if you think it'll make you have nightmares and be anxious, you'll have nightmares and be anxious.

There may also be varying ideas about what's physical/mental/spiritual at play here, not to mention how therapists and doctors in other countries interpret what their patients say.

[asakiyume]

Heh, how reassuring this entry would have been if I read it in my 20s! So much stuff I sort of came to realize must be the case, but it's a discovery I made on my own, without feeling free to corroborate with anyone else.

[sartorias]

I wonder if he read any of those older novels in which women's boobs had similiar startlingly growing, darting, arching, and thrusting abilities as the SuperCocks. (pause to remember intense visuals of wildly oscillating naughty bits.)

[oracne]

When Nipples Attack!!!

[rachelmanija]

SPUNG!