The 15 most common paraphilias (and their characteristics)

We analyze the paraphilias that are most frequently seen in psychological consultation.

People have many different tastes and, of course, this is also reflected in sex. What attracts people sexually can be very diverse or occur in striking and unconventional situations.

Paraphilias are unusual patterns of sexual behavior where the source of pleasure may be the where the source of pleasure can be an object, a specific situation or a particular type of person. Thanks to the media and works such as "50 Shades of Grey" by E. L. James, general knowledge about them has been increasing.

They have also been the subject of controversy, especially in the field of psychology and psychiatry, since there has been discussion about whether they should be considered pathological behaviors.

While some paraphilias involve crimes, such as voyeurism and pedophilia, most are not harmful and are part of human sexual diversity, most of them are not harmful and are part of human sexual diversity..

• Recommended article: "Philias and paraphilias: definition, types and characteristics".

What are the most common paraphilias?

There is an infinity of paraphilias, practically one for each imaginable situation or object. The following is a description of the most common paraphilias.

1. Exhibitionism

This is the pleasure of exposing one's genitals to strangers in an unplanned manner.. Showing one's private parts without warning generates a situation of sexual gratification for the exhibitionist.

This practice, which implies a crime, is more common in men than in women, and has been related to having been raised in a strict environment and having an unassertive and shy personality, with poor social skills.

Fetishism

Fetishism is defined as the set of sexual behaviors, fantasies and needs in which the use of an inanimate object is required for pleasure. the use of an inanimate object is required to feel pleasure.. Some of the most common objects among fetishists are shoes, lingerie, leather and rubber.

Anything that is done with the object and generates sexual pleasure is considered fetishism, such as stealing it, masturbating with it or simply looking at it. This paraphilia has become so common that there are specialized websites where you can buy objects to satisfy the fetish.

3. Frotism or froteurism

Involves feeling sexual pleasure when rubbing the genitals of an unknown person and that she has not consented to it.

It is more common in men than in women and is a behavior that implies sexual harassment. Rubbers can take advantage of situations where there are large crowds of people, such as on public transportation or busy streets, and rub on their victims.

4. Pedophilia

Pedophilia is defined as the strong desire to have sexual relations with a minor, especially one under the age of 14.especially one who is under 14 years of age. Those who carry out this criminal behavior benefit from the inequality of power between the child and the adult.

The profile of the child sexual abuser has been related to a difficult childhood, in which he was a victim of this type of violence, especially from a male member of the family, however, it is important to keep in mind that not all people abused in their childhood will end up being pedophiles when they reach adulthood.

5. Sexual masochism

Sexual masochists take pleasure in situations where they are physically and psychologically humiliated, beaten, tortured and tied up. It is more common in women.

6. Sexual sadism

If masochism is the head side, sadism is the tail side of the same coin.. This paraphilia involves feeling sexual gratification from humiliating, dominating and torturing another person in a non-simulated way.

Sadomasochistic practices are among the most common and require that they be performed in a consensual manner and according to the degree of intensity that those who perform them agree upon beforehand.

Among the most common scenarios are whipping the buttocks and back of the victim, tying with ropes or bondage and torture of nipples and genitals.

7. Transvestite fetishism

It is common in heterosexual men and is defined is defined as taking sexual pleasure in dressing as the other gender..

It should be noted that cross-dressing fetishism and transvestism are not the same. The latter term refers in a more general sense to dressing as the other gender. Thus, transsexuals and drag queens do cross-dress, but not in a fetishistic way, since they do not do it for sexual pleasure.

8. Voyeurism

Implies sexual pleasure in observing a naked person, without the person being aware that he/she is naked.without the person being aware that he/she is being spied on. This paraphilia implies a crime against the privacy of others.

To be considered voyeurism it is necessary that the observer has planned it and has done it on several occasions. To have seen a person naked and to have enjoyed it but not intentionally would not be considered a paraphilic behavior.

9. Paraphilism

Consists of feeling sexual pleasure towards a specific part of the body, with the exception of the genitals.. It is similar to fetishism, but the nuance between these two paraphilias is the fact that in one the object of pleasure is inanimate, while in partialism sexual pleasure is felt for something that is in the body of a living person.

Partialism is quite common and can manifest itself in multiple forms depending on the part for which pleasure is felt: podophilia (feet), oculophilia (eyes), maschalagnia (armpits), nasophilia (nose), alvinophilia (navel)...

10. Necrophilia

Necrophiliacs are sexually attracted to corpses, both human and animal.both human and animal. This preference is considered pathological and implies a crime if committed.

A famous case of necrophilia is the case of Carl Tanzler, who was able to exhume the corpse of the woman in his life and have sex with her.

11. Urophilia and coprophilia or scat

In the case of urophilia, the object of desire is urine, either by ingesting it or being wet with it (golden shower). Touching, seeing, hearing someone urinating can be enough of a stimulus to generate sexual gratification.

Coprophilia is a paraphilia practically identical to urophilia, only that the object of pleasure is feces and everything related to it.

12. Zoophilia

Zoophiles fantasize with the idea of performing the sexual act with animals or even perform it. or even go so far as to perform it. This type of sexual attraction is common in rural areas.

13. Knismolagnia or tickling

It involves any erotic activity in which tickling or being tickled generates pleasure.. It is considered a paraphilia as long as tickling is used as an element to achieve orgasm.

14. Asphyxiophilia or breath control play

Consists of feeling pleasure when breathing is intentionally restricted.The most dangerous type of asphyxia, either on oneself (autoerotic asphyxia) or on one's partner. It is one of the most dangerous since it can lead to accidental death by hypoxia.

15. Gerontophilia

It is the sexual preference for persons of advanced ageor whose age is strikingly older than that of the gerontophile.

Bibliographical references:

• American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 5th edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 2013.
• Flores Colombino, A. (2002). Paraphilias and sexual variants. Editorial AyM.