The pleasure of looking. The erotic gratification of watching another. The sexual vigour of a secret participant. One, in which the subject being watched, is unaware of or aware of.
I tried to find a non-sexual term for voyeurism, I am in belief we are all voyeurs. However, not always sexual. The thirst for movies and books is a prevalent example of acting in a voyeur manner. The word I found was by Freud, which I have mixed feelings on research by him. I have since fallen into a linguistic rabbit hole. Let’s follow down…
Medical Definition of scopophilia
A desire to look at sexually stimulating scenes especially as a substitute for actual sexual participation
– Merriam-Webster
I could not find any non-sexual equivalent. Enjoyment without sexual drive. Instead, I find the Psychiatry term and active scophilia is voyeurism, while passive scophilia is exhibitionism. Pardon? Wouldn’t it be the opposite? I began to read into the word most relevant to cinema, the male gaze, and female objectification. Didn’t expect that.
Go back to what does voyeur mean,
“Someone who obtains sexual gratification from observing unsuspecting individuals who are partly undressed, naked, or engaged in sexual acts broadly : someone who habitually seeks sexual stimulation by visual meansb: a person who commits the crime of 2: a prying observer who is usually seeking the sordid or the scandalous” – Merriam-Webster
It’s the secrecy, a fetish of secrecy really. Who are the consumers of porn then? Hedonists and voyeurs? No specific cause has been found for those with a clinical voyeuristic disorder. Too much of anything is bad for you, dear.
Side thought here, people who practice BDSM have higher socioeconomic functioning, in other words, they’re healthier.
Those pursuing their fetishes in porn can be a healthy behaviour. There does seem to be an ethical porn movement, with indie, amateur, POV, pay per clip artists, a humanism approach is preferred for the pleasure sought. While porn for educational means falls flat in helpfulness, the distal feeling between viewer and performer has been cut. Intimacy, what a concept. Is the world healing?
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