Digital Scrapbook #1: Women Like Sex Just as Much as Men

“Women Struggle With Sex Addiction Too.” You Tube Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTJkfUibkIY

Sex doesn’t sound like such a bad thing to be addicted to. I mean there could be worse things in life. At first glance sexual addiction does not seem like such a bad thing. However, the term itself is somewhat of a misnomer. Sexual addiction, like other addictions is not just for the sake of doing it, or because the abuser loves partaking in that activity. Addictive behaviors as we have learned this quarter are derived from an emptiness or void that a person needs to feel. Typically, people who suffer from sexual addictions are those who experienced abuse as a child or a traumatic experience.
The other problem with sexual addiction is that we typically associate this problem with males. Many men use this as an excuse for their promiscuity. However, sexual addiction as I said before is not about the sex, its about the inability to experience intimacy and a skewed view of how to get love. The myth that only males can expience this issue is entirely false. In fact, women enjoy sex just as much as men and are
In this video we learn that 1/6 women suffer with a sex addiction. In the video clip, the doctor says that sex addiction is an umbrella term, just like alcohol is an umbrella term. (we don’t separate drug beer addict, liquor addict, etc) There are man forms of sexual addiction. It can be masturbation, anonymous sex, going man to man, or even pornography. Women especially find it more comfortable to separate the term sex addiction and make it love and relationship addict which is a much easier term for other people to process. Another disturbing figure is that 1 out of 3 women and 1 out of 5 males will be sexually abused by the time they are 18 years old. Most people who suffer from this affliction are people who are untreated sexual trauma victims. (“Women Struggle With Sexual Addiction Too”)
It is really sad that we judge and persecute these people for what they have become without considering how they became the way that they are. In the clip, there are two women who explain their tragic stories, and it makes anyone who has not experienced sexual addiction empathize with them. Megan, the first woman has a tragic tale of that began with being date raped at the age of thirteen. This invasion of her body left Megan blaming herself for what had happened and ultimately led to her sleeping around. After about five years of this sort of behavior she had an epiphany. It came one morning after a typical one night stand and her mother knocked on the hotel room that she was staying in. Megan’s embarrassment at the person she had become eventually led to her recovery.
The second story belongs to Monica, a woman whose life was plagued with sexual abuse. At the age of four Monica was molested by a stranger. The following year or so her older brother started to violate her as well. If that was not enough already, when Monica was a teen she was molested by another family member. Like Megan, she blamed herself for what had happened to her and resorted to release through sex. The line between intimacy and sex become confused when abuse happens to people at a young age. This video does a good job at explaining it. (“Women Struggle With Sex Addiction Too”)
After hearing stories like these, it bothers me to read about cheating celebrities that claim that they are addicted to sex. I am sure that a few of them may actually have a problem, but I do not believe that promiscuity can be masked by such a serious disease.