scholarly journals “Demons to some. Angels to others”: BDSM and how Vanilla Sex Regulates Sexuality in Hellraiser and Strangeland

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandrea Fiorante

[Introduction] Setting the Mood Sex is typically seen as special, thrilling and transcendent — or, alternatively, as a menacing force with the power to upset social order and diminish us to beasts. In the horror genre, representations of sex are often expressed through the imagery of BDSM (Bondage, Domination, Sadomasochism), and are aligned with monsters, torture and scary settings. The reality of the BDSM subculture is disfigured by mainstream horror films, which demonize BDSM and use it as a portable method of garnering screams. Horror as a genre allows audiences to flirt with danger, while reinforcing boundaries between pathological non-normal sexuality and protected and privileged normal sexuality. BDSM has gained considerable scholarly attention in the last two decades within and beyond sociology, particularly in the areas of sexual deviance, identity disclosure and development, stigma management (Bezreh, Pitagora, Simula), and more recently, BDSM’s diffusion into the mainstream culture (Weiss, Scott). Further, research has examined how popular culture perpetuates misconceptions about BDSM, and frames practitioners as victims of trauma, abuse, and rape (Brock, Bezreh, Rubin). This pathologization of BDSM, in part, stems from the assumption that BDSM is a mental illness, a consequence of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders’s (DSM) historical conflation of psychological disorder and sadomasochism. Additionally, Western horror cinema has had a pivotal influence on popular discourses about BDSM. Less scholarship, however, has examined the relationship between horror and BDSM. This paper contributes to the scholarship on BDSM portrayals in popular culture by examining BDSM representations in two Hollywood horror films: Strangeland (1998) and Hellraiser (1987).

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandrea Fiorante

[Introduction] Setting the Mood Sex is typically seen as special, thrilling and transcendent — or, alternatively, as a menacing force with the power to upset social order and diminish us to beasts. In the horror genre, representations of sex are often expressed through the imagery of BDSM (Bondage, Domination, Sadomasochism), and are aligned with monsters, torture and scary settings. The reality of the BDSM subculture is disfigured by mainstream horror films, which demonize BDSM and use it as a portable method of garnering screams. Horror as a genre allows audiences to flirt with danger, while reinforcing boundaries between pathological non-normal sexuality and protected and privileged normal sexuality. BDSM has gained considerable scholarly attention in the last two decades within and beyond sociology, particularly in the areas of sexual deviance, identity disclosure and development, stigma management (Bezreh, Pitagora, Simula), and more recently, BDSM’s diffusion into the mainstream culture (Weiss, Scott). Further, research has examined how popular culture perpetuates misconceptions about BDSM, and frames practitioners as victims of trauma, abuse, and rape (Brock, Bezreh, Rubin). This pathologization of BDSM, in part, stems from the assumption that BDSM is a mental illness, a consequence of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders’s (DSM) historical conflation of psychological disorder and sadomasochism. Additionally, Western horror cinema has had a pivotal influence on popular discourses about BDSM. Less scholarship, however, has examined the relationship between horror and BDSM. This paper contributes to the scholarship on BDSM portrayals in popular culture by examining BDSM representations in two Hollywood horror films: Strangeland (1998) and Hellraiser (1987).


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 144-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gizem Çakın ◽  
Ignatius Darma Juwono ◽  
Marc N. Potenza ◽  
Attila Szabo

Abstract Background and aims Exercise addiction may be conceptualized as a behavioral addiction in which a person develops an unhealthy obsession with exercise and physical activity. While exercise addiction is not a formally recognized disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual or the International Classification of Diseases, it has been studied and connected to both personal and situational factors. Perfectionism is a feature that has been strongly linked to exercise addiction. The objective of this systematic literature review, performed by following the PRISMA protocol, was to examine relationships between exercise addiction and perfectionism while also considering the subdimensions of perfectionism in different groups. Methods Three databases (PsycINFO, PubMed/Medline, and SPORTDiscus) were examined. Sixty relevant articles were identified, of which 22 met inclusion criteria. Results The findings substantiate that perfectionism and its dimensions are weakly or moderately related to exercise addiction. This relationship has been observed in adults, adolescents, athletes, and patients with eating disorders. Of the 22 studies examined, only one did not identify an association between perfectionism or its subdomain(s) and exercise addiction. However, in most studies, the common variance between perfectionism and exercise addiction is relatively small, raising questions regarding the clinical relevance of the relationship. Conclusion Perfectionism is related to exercise addiction, but the strength of the relationship varies in different circumstances, which should be examined in future research.


2019 ◽  
pp. 124-166
Author(s):  
Sonia Tamar Seeman

This chapter focuses on the relationship between Ottoman social order and urban popular culture. Social upheavals contributed to the intensified display of the çingene stereotype, with the çingene representing the experience of social marginalization. Playing out the anxieties of urban audiences as they confronted problems of modernity, urbanism, social disruption, and moral decay, the stereotypical figure of the çingene remained consistent from the late nineteenth century to the 1990s. A discussion of the dramatic nineteenth century Tanzimat reforms is followed by analyses of çingene characters in karagöz shadow puppetry, kanto theatrical songs, and Ottoman literature. The çingene was portrayed in two irreconcilable types: as an essentialized, nomad in pastoral rural settings; as the polluted degenerate and potentially contagious agent of urban chaos, social disorder, and moral decadence. By portraying the “çingene” as the quintessential “other” among an array of diverse social types, these forms rendered the anxiety-producing urban social landscape in stark relief.


Author(s):  
John R. Peteet ◽  
Mary Lynn Dell ◽  
Wai Lun Alan Fung

Historical tensions between psychiatry and religion continue to hinder dialogue and restrict consensus on how to approach areas of overlap in clinical decision making. In Part One, contributors to this volume discuss concerns arising in the general areas of values, religious and psychiatric ethics, diagnosis and treatment, and the work of religious professionals and ethics committees. In Part Two, chapter authors consider these issues as they arise within various subspecialties of psychiatric practice, often using the Jonsen Four Topics (or Four Quadrants) Model. The theme of the relationship between religion and culture runs throughout and is addressed more directly than in the Outline for Cultural Formulation in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5).


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Lehinger ◽  
David E Reed ◽  
Paul Nabity ◽  
Nicole Brackins ◽  
Robert Villarreal ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Introduction Chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) comorbidity is prevalent among veterans and is associated with increased levels of pain severity and pain-related disability. An improved understanding of the relationship between these co-occurring disorders, in addition to effective integrated treatments, will develop by considering the changes to the PTSD diagnostic criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). The current study examined the relationship between the revised PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) symptom clusters (i.e., intrusion, avoidance, negative alterations in cognition and mood [NACM], and arousal) and chronic pain measurements (i.e., pain severity, interference, and disability). Materials and Methods Participants included 103 veterans (ages 26-70, mean = 45.33) participating in a randomized clinical trial examining the efficacy of an interdisciplinary pain management program for chronic musculoskeletal pain. The study was approved by a university system Institutional Review Board and affiliated healthcare system. Results The participants with a provisional PTSD diagnosis based on PCL-5 responses (N = 76) had significantly greater pain severity, interference, and disability than the participants without a provisional diagnosis (N = 23). Correlations between symptom clusters and pain measurements were mostly significant and positive with varying strengths. The avoidance symptom cluster, however, had relatively weaker correlations with pain measurements and was not significantly associated with the numeric rating scale of pain severity. Path analyses revealed that, after controlling for avoidance symptoms, significant associations remained between NACM and all the pain measurements. After controlling for NACM symptoms, however, there were no significant associations between avoidance symptoms and pain measurements. Conclusion The current study highlights a need to re-examine the leading theories about the mutual maintenance of these disorders in order to develop effective integrative treatment approaches. PTSD-related avoidance may have a relatively weaker role in co-occurring chronic pain than the other symptom clusters and may have a qualitatively different role than chronic pain–related avoidance. Future research should explore the relationship between the avoidance in PTSD and the avoidance in chronic pain as well as identify which chronic pain measurements are the most useful when examining the relationship between PTSD and chronic pain. The potential impact of trauma-related cognition and mood on chronic pain indicates that this is an important area for intervention and should be considered in the development of integrated treatments for chronic pain and PTSD among veterans.


2021 ◽  
pp. 71-86
Author(s):  
Mathias Clasen

The horror genre has historically been the focus of several moral panics, most recently revolving around films in the “torture porn” subgenre, and before that around “video nasties,” rape-revenge films, and splatter movies. However, there is no research to support a concern that horror fans are immoral or that horror films make people unempathetic or sadistic. Horror films are more morally complex than many critics have assumed, and the relationship between horror films and moral psychology is also more complex than critics have assumed. Studies have also shown that horror films may actually be associated with a decrease in real-world violence. Moreover, horror films (with their roots in cautionary tales) are often moralizing, but their effects on viewers’ moral compasses may be limited.


Author(s):  
Hicham Laaraj ◽  
◽  
Mina Ouhamou ◽  
Omar El Omari ◽  
Jalal Doufik ◽  
...  

The relationship between the menstrual cycle and mood disturbances has been described in the literature and is linked to changes in the secretion of sex hormones. Rare studies have reported the exacerbation of obsessions during menstruation, while no case reports the onset of premenstrual Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Nosographically, obsessive symptoms are not part of premenstrual syndrome, and no specification of the menstrual cycle for obsessive disorders was mentioned in DSM 5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). We report a 39-year-old patient followed for panic disorder since adolescence, and who currently presents for obsessive symptoms that meet the diagnostic criteria for an obsessive-compulsive disorder, and which have the particularity of occurring exclusively during menstruation. Our case emphasizes the importance of establishing a new nosographic framework that takes into account the development of obsessive-compulsive symptoms related to the menstrual cycle. Keywords: Obsessive-compulsive disorder; menstruation cycle; nosography.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-110
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Fatahi ◽  
◽  
Abbas Ramezani Farani ◽  
Ahmad Ashuri ◽  
Seyed Vahid Shariat ◽  
...  

Objective: Cognitive theories and research have focused on the relationship between emotions, particularly anxiety, and the positive symptoms of psychosis. The aim of this study, based on Beck’s cognitive theory, was to compare dysfunctional attitudes and cognitive insight between patients with anxiety disorders and those with delusion. Methods: The study sample consisted of 90 participants in 3 groups (anxiety=30, delusion=30, healthy=30). The study subjects were interviewed using Structured Clinical Interview (SCID-I) for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). Then, they completed Beck Anxiety Inventory (BDI), Peters et al.’s Delusions Inventory (PDI), General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28), Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale-26 (DAS-26), and Beck Cognitive Insight Scale (BCIS). Results: The present research results indicated that anxiety and delusion groups presented significantly greater dysfunctional attitudes than the healthy subjects (P<0.001); however, there was no significant difference between the clinical groups. The anxiety group had significantly higher cognitive insight than the delusional (P<0.05) and normal groups (P<0.01); however, there was no significant difference between the last two groups. Conclusion: Dysfunctional attitudes can be considered as a common aspect and cognitive insight as a differentiating aspect of anxiety and psychosis.


Author(s):  
Katarzyna Paszkiewicz

If, as Jane Gaines (2012) suggests, instead of ‘transgressing’ the formal dictates of the industrial genre (that is, instead of ‘going against genre’), some women filmmakers ‘go with genre’, this might be particularly so in the case of horror cinema. The analysis of the much-maligned Jennifer’s Body (2009), written by Diablo Cody and directed by Karyn Kusama, demonstrates precisely this point. The chapter begins by discussing the marketing of Jennifer’s Body, in order to show how those in charge of film distribution and publicity used the director’s and writer’s gender as a promotional tool, and how the filmmakers themselves might have determined certain feminist and postfeminist readings of their film. These readings are contextualised within Diablo Cody’s broader self-promotional activities and her “commercial auteurism” (Corrigan 1991) and raise several questions about what is at stake when women practitioners make horror films and the implications should a filmmaker self-identify as a feminist filmmaker. The chapter then offers a close examination of Jennifer’s Body by rethinking the theories of Barbara Creed (1993) and Carol J. Clover (1992) and by inscribing the film within the wider context of teen movies and postfeminist media culture, making room for reflection on female spectatorial pleasures. It concludes that rather than undoing the horror genre, Jennifer’s Body explores its productive potential, participating in its continuous re-inscription of the relationship between women and violence.


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