A phobia is an anxiety disorder, defined by an irrational, unrealistic, persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. Phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear and are usually present for more than six months. Those affected go to great lengths to avoid the situation or object, to a degree greater than the actual danger posed. If the object or situation cannot be avoided, they experience significant distress. Other symptoms can include fainting, which may occur in blood or injury phobia, and panic attacks, often found in agoraphobia and emetophobia. Around 75% of those with phobias have multiple phobias.
Psychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of human mental functions and behavior. Occasionally, in addition or opposition to employing the scientific method, it also relies on symbolic interpretation and critical analysis, although these traditions have tended to be less pronounced than in other social sciences, such as sociology. Psychologists study phenomena such as perception, cognition, emotion, personality, behavior, and interpersonal relationships. Some, especially depth psychologists, also study the unconscious mind.
Biphobia is aversion toward bisexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being bisexual. Similarly to homophobia, it refers to hatred and prejudice specifically against those identified or perceived as being in the bisexual community. It can take the form of denial that bisexuality is a genuine sexual orientation, or of negative stereotypes about people who are bisexual. Other forms of biphobia include bisexual erasure.
A sexual inhibition is a conscious or subconscious constraint or curtailment by a person of behavior relating to specific sexual matters or practices, a discussion of sexual matters or viewing certain sexual material. To some extent such inhibitions may arise from cultural and social influences and conditioning, as well as from personal factors, including sexual orientation. In most partner relationships, the level of inhibition tends to decrease the higher the level of trust that develops between the partners. Such inhibitions also tend to decrease with improvements in a person's confidence in their sexuality. A person may take a drug, such as alcohol, to reduce their level of inhibition.
Self-hatred is personal self-loathing or low self-esteem which may lead to self-harm.
Antisexualism is opposition or hostility towards sexual behavior and sexuality.
The Sex Party was a political party based in British Columbia, Canada. The party was guided by the philosophy of the sex-positive movement. Among other points, the party advocated for reform of sex education in schools so that sexual issues are taught more gradually over time and included a more comprehensive coverage of them. They advocated for the repeal of laws that promote antisexualism, such as prostitution laws and censorship. They also supported making Valentine's Day a statutory holiday and renaming Victoria Day to Eros Day.
A prude is a person with a very sensitive attitude and narrowness towards custom and morality. The word prude comes from the Old French word prudefemme also prodefemme meaning loyal, respectable or modest woman, which was the source of prude in the 18th century. According to Pierer's Universal Lexikon in 1861, prudery is "modest in an exaggerated and affected way; seeming delicate, squeamish". In a broader sense, prudery refers to an attitude of mind that aims to largely exclude sexual expressions of any kind in public and sometimes also in the private sphere. This applies above all to the portrayal or even suggestion of eroticism in tone and image form, fashion, mass media, literature, historical testimonies, and conversation.
Sexual anorexia is a term coined in 1975 by psychologist Nathan Hare to describe a fear of or deep aversion to sexual activity. It is considered a loss of "appetite" for sexual contact, and may result in a fear of intimacy or an aversion to any type of sexual interaction. The term largely exists in a colloquial sense and is not presently classified as a disorder in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual.
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or antipathy, may be based on irrational fear and may sometimes be attributed to religious beliefs.
Fear of commitment, also known as gamophobia, is the irrational fear or avoidance of long-term partnership or marriage. The term is sometimes used interchangeably with commitment phobia, which describes a generalized fear or avoidance of commitments more broadly.
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.
Sexual orientation discrimination is discrimination based on a person's sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy.
The Riddle scale was a psychometric scale that measured the degree to which a person is or is not homophobic. The scale was frequently used in tolerance education about anti-discriminatory attitudes regarding sexual orientation. It is named after its creator, psychologist Dorothy Riddle.
Sexual stigma is a form of social stigma against people who are perceived to be non-heterosexual because of their beliefs, identities or behaviors. Privileged individuals, or the majority group members, are the main contributors of placing sexual stigmas on individuals and their minority group. It is those who hold a higher status that determine within a society which groups are deemed unworthy of a higher status by labeling their specific actions or beliefs. Stereotypes are then produced which further the debilitating effects of the label(s) placed on group members with non-heterosexual beliefs or practices.
Fear of negative evaluation (FNE) or fear of failure, also known as atychiphobia, is a psychological construct reflecting "apprehension about others' evaluations, distress over negative evaluations by others, and the expectation that others would evaluate one negatively". The construct and a psychological test to measure it were defined by David Watson and Ronald Friend in 1969. FNE is related to specific personality dimensions, such as anxiousness, submissiveness, and social avoidance. People who score high on the FNE scale are highly concerned with seeking social approval or avoiding disapproval by others and may tend to avoid situations where they have to undergo evaluations. High FNE subjects are also more responsive to situational factors. This has been associated with conformity, pro-social behavior, and social anxiety.
Eurotophobia is the aversion to or dislike of female genitalia.
In feminist theory, heteropatriarchy or cisheteropatriarchy, is a socio-political system where (primarily) cisgender and heterosexual males have authority over other cisgender males, females, and people with other sexual orientations and gender identities. It is a term that emphasizes that discrimination against women and LGBT people is derived from the same sexist social principle.
Discrimination against asexual people, also known as acephobia or aphobia when directed at aspec people, encompasses a range of negative attitudes, behaviours, and feelings toward asexuality or people who identify as part of the asexual spectrum. Negative feelings or characterisations toward asexuality include dehumanisation, the belief that asexuality is a mental illness, that asexual people cannot feel love, and the refusal to accept asexuality as a genuine sexual orientation. Asexuality is sometimes confused with celibacy, abstinence, antisexualism, or hyposexuality. Since discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation belongs under the wider social concept of kyriarchy, any acephobic acts due to intentional discrimination are a form of kyriarchy.
