Goldstein Martin - The sex book : a modern pictorial encyclopedia

aberration (or deviation) Specifically: sexual aberration or deviation. A term sometimes used to describe a perversion.

The use of the words aberration, deviation, and perversion is not entirely unproblematical. Occasionally, such terms are employed for moralizing purposes rather than for the benefit of scientific enlightenment. They imply certain value judgments that are not always made explicit. The terms sexual aberration and sexual deviation imply the existence of a right way of sex from which one can go astray; perversion implies that there is a right sexual drive that can be corrupted. However, the fact of the matter is that the criteria for right sex vary considerably from one time and culture to another. Even within one and the same culture, there are often wide differences of taste and opinion.

For instance, most people believed in the past, and many believe today, that only those sexual acts are right (moral) that serve the purpose of procreation. Consequently, any kind of sexual activity that, by its very nature, could not lead to pregnancy was considered perverse and an aberration (immoral). This blanket condemnation covered such varied activities as masturbation, fellatio, cunnilingus, anal intercourse, and coitus interruptus.

While most medical authorities today would no longer approve of this classification and its underlying assumption, some have replaced it with new value judgments of their own. For them, the only right (healthy) kind of sex is that which takes place between two members of different sex. Accordingly, everything that varies from this norm, such as homosexuality or group sex, is considered to be a sign of perversion or aberration (sick).

There are others who would subscribe to the same definition with the added restriction that right (normal and therefore legal) sex can only mean genital contact. Logically, they conclude that oral and anal intercourse, even between husband and wife, must be perversions and aberrations (abnormal and therefore illegal). This opinion is the basis of most sex legislation in the United States.

All three of these views are challenged as arbitrary and unscientific by still other authorities, and so the argument about the right kind of sex continues. The only way to resolve such disputes is by spelling out all underlying value assumptions, and by subjecting them to the test of critical rationality. (See also deviant, unnatural sex.)

abnormal Different from the familiar, usual, and customary.

Some abnormal behavior may be indicative of physical or mental illness. However, this can be determined only by a professional diagnosis. In such a case, only professional treatment can help.

abortifacient Medical term for a food, herb, liquid, chemical, drug or other agent which is believed to induce an abortion.

There is no oral medication known to induce abortion without harm to the mother. Supposed abortifacients such as hot baths or hot douches are also quite harmful and do not bring about the desired result. The same is true for physical self-abuse that is meant to lead to abortion, such as jumping up and down, lifting heavy weights, beating the stomach, or similar violent exercises. (See unwanted pregnancy.)

abortion a term applicable to both the unintentional and the intentional premature termination of a pregnancy.

The unintentional termination of a pregnancy is called abortion if it occurs within the first 4 months; after that time it is usually called miscarriage. However, this distinction is not always strictly observed, and sometimes the terms abortion and miscarriage are used interchangeably.

The popular use of the term abortion normally restricts itself to the intentional termination of an unwanted pregnancy, an issue with numerous social, medical, legal, and moral implications.

An unwanted pregnancy can create many difficult problems. One of the most serious of these problems is the temptation on the part of the expectant mother to endanger her health and, indeed, her life, by desperate and ill-considered actions aimed at terminating the pregnancy. The real or imaginary difficulty of obtaining a legal abortion thus leads many women to experiment with useless, but quite harmful abortifacients. Others may consult criminal abortionists who often lack the professional skill or equipment to perform a medically safe abortion. Under these circumstances, an abortion can be a highly dangerous and degrading experience.

In recent years, many of the 50 states have liberalized their abortion laws with the result that today most American women should be able to have competent and safe medical abortions. Information about this possibility can be obtained from the local affiliates of Planned Parenthood, which also provide effective birth control help to avoid future unwanted pregnancies. However, since a number of states still retain their old, restrictive abortion statutes, many women may have to travel to another state w. order to obtain a legal abortion.

It should also be noted that, according to certain religious views, abortions are immoral, because they involve the killing of a fetus or embryo which, for them, is a living, if unborn, human being. The Catholic church in particular considers an abortion to be murder, and many Catholic doctors therefore refuse to perform the operation unless the mothers life is clearly in danger.

abstinence Avoidance of certain substances (such as foods or drugs) or of certain activities (such as masturbation or sexual intercourse).

Sexual abstinence can be the result of a voluntary decision, when for certain reasons a person decides that sexual activity is inappropriate at a given time or place. Abstinence can also be forced and involuntary (for example, in prison, army barracks, or hospital). Finally, sexual abstinence can stem from a conscious or unconscious fear of sex.

Our public morality demands sexual abstinence of all unmarried persons. One can safely assume that, on the whole, this moral demand cannot be, has never been, and is not now being met, because sexuality is an integral part of human life which cannot permanently be suppressed by public opinion or individual effort. Many young people experience personal conflicts as they do not know exactly how to use the period of adolescence for their sexual, personal, and social growth. There is no easy solution. Some people believe sexual abstinence to be the best preparation for marriage. Others admit that this is not true for everyone. However, adolescents who do not abstain from sexual activity can encounter considerable difficulties. (See premarital sex.) For single adults, and particularly for homosexual men and women, the official demand for their sexual abstinence also carries special hardships. (See sex legislation.)

In contrast to certain traditional religious views, many people today feel that the demand for sexual abstinence does not necessarily imply an abstention from masturbation, which they consider a kind of necessary safety-valve even for otherwise abstinent persons. Nevertheless, in the final analysis, this attitude amounts just as well to a denial of sex and its capacity for creating human contact.