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Fantasy
Fantasy
refers to the mental image of a person, object, or situation, often but
certainly not always involving a sexual component. Fantasies may be
based upon past experiences or may be entirely imaginary. Commonly they
include a combination of both. It is normal for individuals to
fantasize. Human sexuality is a dimension of social life that is often
rich with many different sorts of fantasies. Sexual fantasies often
entail mental scenarios involving persons other than one's regular
partner and include sexual activities considered culturally
inappropriate or unacceptable. People vary considerably in their ability
to fantasize and in their enjoyment of this behavior. Fantasies may
supplant reality for some or may serve as a poor substitute of sexual
reality for others. Fantasies are often triggered by external stimuli,
such as an attractive stranger or an erotic picture, movie, or story.
Researchers have varying
views on gender differences in fantasizing. Some argue that males are
more prone to fantasize while others assert that fantasy is more common
among women. Linda Wolfe studied a sample of 15,000 women ages 18-34,
and less than three percent said they never fantasize. In Western
societies, males more often use sexually explicit material as a part of
fantasy, whereas females are more likely to rely upon romance stories.
Females are more likely to prefer erotica with a "softer,"
more imaginative side rather than the "harder," more explicit
forms preferred by many males. The male fantasy world relies heavily
upon novel experiences filled with culturally-defined beautiful women
who are always sexually available and free. Pornographic magazines such
as Playboy and Penthouse, as well as a wide array of
so-called harder publications (because they depict explicit sex acts),
attempt to capitalize upon such fantasies. Women often base their
fantasies upon previous sexual experiences and tend to emphasize romance
and intimacy. The onset of the women's liberation movement has created a
renaissance in erotic fiction aimed at women by women writers and film
makers. In Women On Top, Nancy Friday maintains that women have
started a sexual revolution for equality and should implement it with a
rich fantasy life. In her study of over 10,000 women, Friday noted that
in recent years women's fantasies have relied more on active, assertive
women giving pleasure, as compared to the fantasies containing more
passive women receiving pleasure indicated by prior research. These
findings suggest the importance of social environment (e.g., the impact
of feminism) on the structuring of fantasy.
People generally
fantasize when engaging in autoerotic sex or masturbation. In his
research findings, the prominent sexologist Alfred
C. Kinsey reported that fantasy accompanied masturbation for the
majority (sixty-four percent) of females and virtually all males. About
two percent of the women in his study sample reported achieving orgasm
by fantasy alone. Older females were more prone to fantasize than
younger females. Some people, particularly but not solely those from
rural areas, have fantasies about sexual contact with animals.
Having a fantasy about a
particular sexual practice or activity does not mean that a person
actually wishes to engage in that behavior or that he/she would enjoy
the behavior. While fantasy may enhance actual sexual practices, it
should not be assumed that a fantasized behavior represents an
unconscious desire. Thus, some women fantasize about being overpowered
or even raped by a man, but this does not mean they actually want to be
raped. Similarly, some men fantasize about multiple sexual partners, but
would find it emotionally difficult to maintain several simultaneous
relationships. In recent years, there has been a greater openness about
fantasy and a greater recognition of how common this behavior is for
both men and women. While fantasy often is treated as an individual
behavior, partners sometimes "act out" shared fantasies to
enhance their enjoyment of sex. Computers and the internet have
contributed to a new arena of fantasy behavior, with extensive
electronic exchange of pornography, interactive role-playing
communication, fantasy-constructed chat rooms, and other forms of
eroticized and non-eroticized fantasy communication among computer
users.
Therapists have found
that fantasy can be useful in helping patients overcome sexual problems.
With the help of a therapist, the individual may, through fantasy,
confront the fearful stages of intimacy and lovemaking and reduce or
eliminate those fears and apprehensions.
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Sex
