Illusion is the Rotten-Thighed Whore

Psychological well-being is known to be intimately connected with the maintenance of certain illusions, or positively skewed distortions of reality. These illusions that help promote psychological health are routinely applied by the average person in the service of coloring perceptions of the self, others, and the larger group with which one identifies (e.g. culture). Social psychologists have accumulated a vast amount of evidence supporting the role of three specific illusions on increasing psychological well-being: unrealistically positive self-evaluations, exaggerated perceptions of control, and unrealistic optimism (Taylor & Brown, 1988). The literature also suggests that people with lower self-esteem and overall higher levels of depressive symptoms are typically less prone to using such illusions. This evidence begs for a careful analysis of the broader implications of apparently healthy self-deceit and its implications with regard to the basic goals of psychotherapy.

Although positive illusions have been shown to promote psychological well-being, there is also evidence that a loss of imagined hope for the future is associated with suicide risk (Beck & Weishaar, 1990; Conner, Duberstein, Conwell, Seidlitz, & Caine, 2001). In this respect, an illusory view of one’s future can be detrimental to psychological health when the illusion is no longer maintained. Should the goal of psychotherapy then be to cultivate positively skewed illusions in patients or to help them view their lives more realistically? Perhaps a more important question to ask is to what end do such positive illusions serve on a global scale in terms of human behavior. It could be for example, as Terror Management Theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski & Solomon, 1986) research supports that the positive psychological effects of illusions on the individual also work to promote more violence towards others in the service of maintaining said illusions. One thing is for certain however; illusion is of paramount importance to the human animal. Indeed, in his book The Denial of Death (1973), Ernest Becker elaborates on the existential meaning of illusions in human life by stating the following:

‘Illusion’ means creative play at its highest level. Cultural illusion is a necessary ideology of self-justification, a heroic dimension that is life itself to the symbolic animal. To lose the security of heroic cultural illusion is to die (p. 189).

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The principle benefit of employing positive illusions in everyday life is witnessed in the self-fulfilling prophecy. For example, holding an exaggerated view of one’s ability in some domain can simultaneously decrease anxiety and increase self-confidence, which in turn boosts performance and thereby ensures the increased probability of confirming one’s positive bias with a successful outcome (e.g. better performance at a job interview). A similar type of self-fulfilling prophecy may also be employed in the service of maintaining a cultural illusion, in that a positive bias towards one’s cultural worldview can be reinforced when the culture defeats or gets one over on a rival (e.g. through war). To this end, Taylor and Brown (1988) argue that “faith in the inherent goodness of one’s beliefs and actions may lead a person to trample on the rights and values of others” (p. 204). Such a possibility seems to support the potentially less destructive effects of the depressive position with regard to the world at large. If positive illusions were much less commonplace, a good many people would then likely suffer from a lowered sense of psychological well-being, but alternatively would be less prone to inflicting harm on others.

An analysis of the research on illusion and mental health therefore leads to the conclusion of its likely being a double edged sword. Psychotherapy is but one area that should take heed of this. It would seem that the therapist’s job is in part to help the patient strike a balance of illusions. Clearly, self deception is necessary for effective psychological functioning, but too much reliance on self-deceit may have negative outcomes on the individual through the risks associated with the loss of illusion, and on the societal level through one’s relationships with different others. Positive illusions should thus be employed with the utmost caution.

References

Beck, A.T. & Weishaar, M.E. (1990). Suicide risk assessment and prediction. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, 11, 22-30.

Becker, E. (1973). The denial of death. New York: Free Press. Connor, K.R., Duberstein, P.R.,

Conwell, Y., Seidlitz, L. & Caine, E.D. (2001). Psychological vulnerability to completed suicide: A review of empirical studies. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 31, 367-385.

Greenberg, J., Pyszczynski, T. & Solomon, S. (1986). The causes and consequences of a need for self-esteem: A terror management theory. In R.F. Baumeister (E.D.), Public Self and Private Self (pp. 189-212). New York: Springer-Verlag.

Taylor, S.E. & Brown, J.S. (1988). Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health. Psychological Bulletin, 103, 193-210.

Scat Play: Is It Only A Japansese Thing?

There is perhaps no area of human life that lends itself to such a plethora of neuroses and depravities than the realm of sexual behavior. All kinds of bizarre and seemingly offensive (to most) sexual acts have been performed by our species ever since our consciousness evolved to the point that made us an intelligent, yet simultaneously insane species. It is common knowledge that certain sexual acts which are deviant and thus considered perverse within a given culture are referred to as fetishes. In psychological jargon, the most extreme or obsessive versions of fetishes are referred to as paraphilias. Psychologists will typically diagnose deviant sexual practices as paraphilias when engaging in the act(s) causes significant impairment in the life of the individual (e.g., law trouble, social functioning, financial problems, health problems, etc). Most of us have at least heard of, if not personally known individuals who exhibit at least one of the more common fetishes (e.g., the foot fetishist, golden shower enthusiast, rim job extraordinaire, etc). Although I personally consider myself fairly open-minded in matters of sexuality, I share a general disgust and bewilderment when it comes to what may be perhaps the most taboo act of perversion known to civilized man. The fetish I speak of is technically referred to as coprophilia, but most may be more familiar with the colloquial term, scat lovers. People with coprophilia derive sexual pleasure from being in some form of physical contact with human fecal matter. Such acts that fall under the umbrella of coprophilia include: the “dirty sanchez,” (the act of smearing feces under the nose of a sexual partner in such a way that it resembles a shit mustache), the “small town traffic,” (when two sexual partners simultaneously shit into each other’s anal cavities), and the most extreme form of the fetish, which involves the actual ingestion of one’s own or another’s feces (technically called coprophagia).

Thanks to the internet, scat play has become popularized over the past decade or so through a wide circulation of pornographic films. I feel that this dramatic increase in public exposure to scat fetishes should lend itself to careful study into the dynamics and possible cultural influences behind this fascinating behavior. The practice of deriving sexual pleasure from being shit on, shitting on someone else, or really, through just dealing with shit in any manner constitutes a fascinating research subject, one which should at least be tackled by the psychological sciences. Unfortunately, after a cursory literature review of the subject, I was dismayed by the pathetic dearth of any substantive information available on coprophilia. My subsequent scouring of the web proved similarly disappointing in the lack of information I could obtain. The impetus that first drove me to research this wonderful world of scat fetishes was the question of whether or not this aberrant practice was significantly more prevalent within specific cultures, or if the behavior was more or less universal cross-culturally.

Anecdotal evidence (word of mouth) seems to suggest that the practice of scat play is the most prevalent within the Japanese culture, although some also suggest that the Germans may not be far behind in this area. This theory is largely based on the fact that the majority of scat films have been produced in these two countries. Of course, the production of these films alone cannot be taken as evidence that the practice of scat play is more prevalent in these societies. I encountered a few individuals, however, who speculated that scat fetishes are indeed more prevalent in these two cultures. Their theory draws a link between the similar histories shared by Japanese and German cultures of being ruled politically by repressive brands of fascism, which quickly ended after their respective losses in World War II. Although this parallel provides for an interesting research question, it lacks any real theory for how these dramatic societal influences could have increased the need for citizens of former Axis powers to find fecal matter particularly arousing. In order to speculate how societal influences may have affected scat fetishes, we should first be able to cite some solid evidence that this phenomenon is indeed more prevalent in the aforementioned cultures. Assuming that the Japs and Huns really are the fecal kings, however, I will soon be offering some theories of my own to explain this phenomenon in a future post.

In the Japanese culture specifically, the prevalence of scat porn, alongside many other highly deviant porn genres at least seems to make clear the connection between coprophilia and BDSM (bondage and sado-masochism). The key component behind the pleasure derived from the act of shitting, or being shit on, is humiliation. Thus, if one enjoys being shit on (the shittee), they are masochistically getting off on the humiliation inherent to that act. Conversely, if one enjoys shitting on another (the shitter), they are sadistically getting off on humiliating that person. The Japanese culture certainly does have a history with its own unique brand of objectifying women, and the acts depicted in their most vile pornographic films seems to exemplify the height this objectification. Further evidence of this dynamic can be witnessed in the popular genre known as bukakke porn, which originated in Japan. For those not familiar with the term, bukkake refers to a sexual act in which one person (almost always a female in the Japanese videos) is forced to absorb (usually in the face) the ejaculate from a multitude of men. In some videos, literally 100’s of men line up to take turns spewing their sticky discharge of oppression upon the woman’s face. I tried to dig up the current world record for the bukakke, but was sadly unsuccessful. If anyone can find that out please contact me immediately.

Coprophilia, like most other deviant sexual fetishes is found in the minority of the population (roughly 1% or below of the world population is likely on the mark). Still though, the realization that 1% of your fellow homo-sapiens either fantasizes about, or engages directly with this behavior is sure to prove shocking to most. Although my limited psychological knowledge of this subject leads me to suspect that this practice does not vary dramatically across cultures, the possibility that fecal sex play is more prevalent in the Japanese and/or German cultures still intrigues me greatly. It is a legitimate question that begs to be studied by professional social scientists. Inebriated Discourse plans to get this ball rolling and will be accepting donations to help us launch the first in-depth study of coprophilia. In the meantime, we encourage everyone to raise scat awareness so that, hopefully some day soon, coprophiliacs can be more accepted in society. Brown ribbons should be adorned to show your support for this cause.

~Wolf

Back From the Dead

WE'RE BACK!

The boys from Inebriated Discourse are finally coming back from a long hiatus. We never put much effort into pitching or marketing this site in the past, so we never had any illusions about how small the number of regular readers and fans were. Even attracting a few dozen pleased us just fine though. 

Life has simply gotten in the way. For instance, Max now makes his living writing and editing content on a reputable news site, whereas Wolfgang is trying to finish a long drawn-out dissertation, among other things. This information is for the 2-3 people that might exist who would appreciate such an update. In any case, expect some interesting pieces of journalism and/or insanity soon. We will not let two more years go by again. Cheers!