Ince also argues that social inequality and politics are interlinked with erotophobia and that overcoming erotophobia is one of the first steps to a truly democratic society.
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Erotophobia is a term coined by a number of researchers in the late 1970s and early 1980s to describe one pole on a continuum of attitudes and beliefs about sexuality. The model of the continuum is a basic polarized line, with erotophobia (fear of sex or negative attitudes about sex) at one end and erotophilia (positive feelings or attitudes about sex) at the other end. The word erotophobia is derived from the name of Eros, the Greek god of erotic love, and Phobos, Greek (φόβος) for "fear". Researchers occasionally use the term "sex-negative" interchangeably with erotophobia and "sex-positive" interchangeably with erotophilia.
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Researchers occasionally use the term "sex-positive" interchangeably with erotophilia and "sex- negative" interchangeably with erotophobia.
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Erotophilia is a personality trait which assesses an individual's disposition to respond to sexual cues in either a positive or negative manner. It is measured on a continuous scale, ranging from erotophobia to erotophilia.Fisher, W. A., Byrne, D., White, L. A., & Kelley, K. (1988). Erotophobia-erotophilia as a dimension of personality.
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Research on this personality dimension has shown a correlation between high erotophobia scores and a less consistent use of contraception and a lack of knowledge about human sexuality. It is also important because erotophobia has been shown to create relationship and marital difficulties in multiple studies, dating back to Kinsey.
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In the case of specific erotophobia, only the fear of something related to sex would be present without any other fears or syndromes.
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As a clinical phobia, 'erotophobia' describes an irrational and potentially debilitating fear of some object, person or act that is related to sex. This fear either impairs a person's desire or ability to have sexual relationships, or completely prevents a person's ability to have sex. Erotophobia can also in some (but not all) individual cases, be a part of larger patterns of any of the following psychological problems--social phobia, avoidant personality disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, or general social anxiety problems. Erotophobia can also, for others, be very specific to love making with another person and not be related to any of these other social anxiety disorders.
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Encyclopædia Britannica entry. The term erotophobia can also be used when describing genophobia. It comes from the name of the Greek god of erotic love, Eros. Genophobia can induce panic and fear in individuals, much like panic attacks.
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The word erotophobia has been used by anti-oppression activists to describe sex-negative attitudes as a form of discrimination and oppression (akin to homophobia). In "Disability, Sex Radicalism, and Political Agency", Abby Wilkinson argues that "constraints on sexual agency should be recognized as a hallmark of oppression." In "Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack of Sexual Conservatism" (after Peggy McIntosh's influential "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack"), TJ Bryan says, "Since power-based hierarchies in society form a matrix of domination, I understand that erotophobia occupies a supportive space adjacent to isms and phobias like classism, racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia." In his book The Politics of Lust, author and sexual activist John Ince examines three distinct cause and effect forces that fuel erotophobia: "antisexualism," the irrational negative response to harmless sexual expression; "nasty sex," which includes rape and violent pornography; and "rigidity," the inability to enjoy "playful and spontaneous" sex.
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In psychological studies, the term is often used to describe degree of (general) sexual aversion versus (general) interest in sex. In this sense erotophobia is descriptive of one's place in a range on a continuum (theory) of sexual feeling or aversion to feeling. Erotophobes score high on one end of the scale that is characterized by expressions of guilt and fear about sex. Psychologists sometimes attempt to describe sexuality on a personality scale.
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Although an average individual may have an aversion to particular bodyparts, the hallmark of eurotophobia is that it exceeds the disinclinations shown by most people, and is a trait that can inauspiciously affect both men and women. The condition is sometimes linked to erotophobia and can affect an individual's confidence in social and professional interactions. The condition can emanate from both a direct antipathy, to a woman's vicarious perception of what others, such as a spouse, might think of her vulva. Symptoms include anxiety, inhibition, distractions, anaphrodisia and an inability to construct a romantic relationship.
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Gerschick also argues that this stigmatization can affect the gendering process and self-representation of people with disabilities. Feminists also look into how people with disabilities are politically oppressed and powerless. Abby L. Wilkerson argues that people with disabilities are politically powerless because they are often desexualized, and the lack of sexual agency leads to the lack of political agency. Wilkerson also indicates that the erotophobia towards minority groups like people with disabilities further oppresses them, since it prevents these groups from gaining political power through sexual agency and power.
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