Sexual Exhibitionism as ‘Sexuality and Individuality’: A Critique of Psycho-Medical Discourse from the Perspectives of Women who Exhibit

Abstract

Exhibitionism is defined by the DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) as a paraphilia involving exposing one’s genitals to a stranger. Within psycho-medical discourse, exhibitionism is defined as abnormal and devoid of sexual motivation, and ‘normal’ female sexuality is often construed as passive. This study sought to explore the ways in which women exhibitionists themselves construct their activities. Six women were interviewed online about their motivations to exhibit and the perceived effects of exhibitionism. Using discourse analysis, we found that the women promoted and normalized their exhibitionism utilizing repertoires such as ‘personal fulfilment’, ‘self as responsible’, and ‘exhibitionism as socially supported’. Notably, the women tended to deploy traditional psycho-medical discourse around male exhibitionists to augment their own, more positive, self-constructions. The alternative constructions of women’s exhibitionism are discussed as well as the unitary conceptualization of paraphilia.