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Lovemaps: Sexual/Erotic Health and Pathology, Paraphilia, and Gender Transposition In...

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John Money
Lovemaps: Clinical Concepts of Sexual/Erotic
Health and Pathology, Paraphilia, and Gender Transposition
in Childhood, Adolescence, and Maturity

(New York: Irvington, 1986) 331 pages

This is a scientific work on unusual sex-scripts--paraphilias.
Exploring the origins and dynamics of these sometimes bizarre
sexual fantasies and rituals might illuminate the sex-scripts
of people who never seek psychiatric help because of their 'sex-drives'
and who never commit sex-crimes.
No sex-scripts or imprinted sexual fantasies are 'natural'.
At critical periods early in our lives, various items
('fetish' objects, traumatic experiences, chance associations, etc.)
were slipped into that part of our minds we might call our "sex-files".
And usually this 'sexual imprinting' remains for the rest of our lives.

If you would like to read other books on sexual imprinting,
search the Internet for the following bibliography:
"SEXOLOGY---SEX-SCRIPTS---BEST BOOKS".

James Leonard Park, author of
Imprinted Sexual Fantasies:
A New Key for Sexology.

Dr. Money wrote eloquently and of course authoritatively about topics most would rather not give much thought to. Given that the paraphilias (typically referred to in common vernacular as "sexual perversions") he researched and profiled in Lovemaps continue to infect a new crop of sex offenders in each new generation, a book of this type is a fabulous resource yet sometimes disturbing read. Addressing everything from coprophilia and urophilia to child molestation and rape, Money presents it all with a brutal realism.

One key point Lovemaps presented is the concept of the window of vulnerability. Through Dr. Money's exhaustive studies he was able to pinpoint how sexual perversions or "paraphilias" develop. Paraphilias generally only exist in teens and adults if a traumatic incident happened to them when they were between the ages of five and eight. Hence, the ages five through eight appear to be a window of vulnerability. Apparently the traumatic experience need not only be sexual in nature. It also can possibly include verbal, emotional or physical abuse. To cite an example Money profiled in the book: a man had an insatiable need to visit gay bathhouses and peepshows in search of ever larger penises. The cause of his behavior was traced to an event that happened when he was five years old. During his window of vulnerability he was able to surreptitiously view his father showing his big penis to his older sister; he felt excluded and jealous. Another example Money documented was his notion that in some cases autoerotic-asphyxiophilia (arousal dependent on self-strangulation up to the moment just before unconsciousness) has its origins when five to eight year old children hold their breath during especially heavy crying spells. Boys are more susceptible than girls to having their lovemaps "vandalized". A vandalized lovemap essentially means the development of a paraphilia.

Unfortunately in our yet still repressive culture Money felt it necessary to emphasize that parents, educators, and authority figures should be open minded to what he called childhood sexual rehearsal play; basically two youths "playing doctor". Lovemaps proceeded to continually broach the idea that it is virtually impossible for kids to grow up without assimilating the concept that the genitals are a prime source of sin.

Dr. Money was an intellectual giant. While working out of Johns Hopkins University he conducted groundbreaking research into human sexual development, much of it culminating in outline format in Lovemaps. Having been written for both the layman and the professional psychiatric practitioner, Lovemaps is definitely a proverbial must read.

this is a book that has a lot of information on perticular phillias. Dr. money explains many problems with sexuality and different fetishes. The only thing about this book is that it is written very drly and could be considered a school book rather then a enjoyable book.

I found the book to be very insightful to the understanding of pathology regarding sexual behavior. His work helps to explain the etiology of certain paraphilias that can help in the understanding and treatment of sexual disorders. I would have liked to see this work explained from a different theoretical perspective. His use of the metaphors, sinful lust and saintly love get old and more reasoning behind the choice of particular paraphilias would prove helpful. Money has a brilliant mind, but his work would provide much more meaning had he used a different theoretical understanding of sexual deviance.

This is the most accessible of John Money's books. It is the real "Venus and Mars" book about relationships. Dr. Money has a long history of solid research and writing in the field of sexology that predates Comfort and others. His intense intellectual power limits the audience to those willing to struggle through complex descriptions of very complex concepts...you see our sexual brain is not so simple as to be covered in the prime time attention span of 30 minutes. If you take the time with this one, I am sure you will come away with more than that which the 10 most popular lay books out there COMBINED have to offer. This is the REAL truth, and not in a fancy package...all the best to Dr. Money...former student and author, Kenneth Giuffre MD, "The Care and Feeding of Your Brain", Career Press 1999.

Please read the complete review of the methods and ethical behavior of Dr. John Money before joining the camp of blind allegiance. Yes, he was a pioneer in the field that had previously been hidden in shame and ignorance. For that he is to be commended. However, reports of his inordinate ego and temper outbursts (to the point of physical assault) to any who questioned his methods or outcomes, make clear the man's shortcomings overshadowed his contributions to the field. Consistenly denying volumes of stringent scientific research which came in the years following his earliest findings, and personal attacks on those who challenged him are not the characteristics of a true scientist who is interested in furthering a field of study. It is time to thank him for opening the door, but take him off the pedestal he clearly does not deserve. Many scientists opening up a new filed of study, are later found to have come up with findings and premises that did not stand the test of time and research. That is only to be expected. Attempts to thwart opposing viewpoints, make it clear that egos have become more important tha the pursuit of truth.

I found Lovemaps a valueable and insightful look at the way individuals relate to sexual behavior and establish their sexual identify and desires based on life experiences which as Dr. Money indicates occurs in childhood and which is unconsciously formed by the individual. I found this book extremely helpful while working on my Doctorate in Human Sexuality and now 6 years later as I continue my research and work as a Sexologist and Sex Therapist. I highly recommend this book to other Sexologist and Clinicians, as well as any man or woman who is interested in learning more about sex and sexual behavior; and in essence more about themselves. It definitely helps if you read a book before judging it. And this book should be in everyone's "Sensual Library". Live with passion, Dr. Charley Ferrer, author of The Latina Kama Sutra, The W.I.S.E. Journal for the Sensual Woman, Para La Mujer Sensual, El Kama Sutra Latino, The Passionate Latina: In Our Own Words... www.instituteofpleasure.org

I have not yet read this book. But I had to comment that "As Nature Made Him" is singularly unhelpful as a source of understanding of Dr. Money. It tries to blame him and his "ambition" for the tragedy in the raising of a child -- a child in a different country that he could only see in person once a year. I cannot do the adequate historical research to exonerate or implicate Dr. Money or any of the other players. But "As Nature Made Him" is so heavy handed and written from such an strongly "gender is biological" standpoint, that it seems biased.

Not that I blame the author. Bias is almost unavoidable because the issue is strongly political and emotional. (If research were to reveal that gender was mainly environmentally determined, gay groups (and the rest of the GLBT alliance) would have a lot of rethinking to do. However if it were determined that it has a mainly biological causation, social conservatives would have to modify their worldview -- not in the least because other "choices" would be called into question.)

One more thing to mention: Read, one of the writers of the reviews referring to "As Nature Made Him" has reviewed 5 books as of this writing. 4 of those books are by John Money and one is a scholarly tribute to John Money. The "reviews" give a one star rating and solely point to "As Nature Made Him" with no reference to the books being "reviewed." I cannot take these as the statements of a person who has engaged in careful consideration.

(A note on my 4 star rating: I decided to read this book based on the number of times I have seen it referenced in bibliographies ... so, I assume it has some merit -- I intend to update this review when I have actually read the book.)

An exhaustive analysis of sexuality, especially paraphelia, carefully organized, not too clinical so the lay reader can appreciate. Not a self-help book but can be useful in understanding oneself.

Dr. Money (a psychologist, not a medical doctor) spent the first 30 years of his career faking a gender experiment at the cost of a boy's sanity. Despite knowledge that the subject of the experiment continued to assert himself as a boy and refused gender engineering, Dr. Money pretended that his experiment in socialization worked 100% on the subject.

(...)

Those that support the doctor and dismiss "As Nature Made Him" are those that have a similar bias as the "doctor" and want his falsified findings to be true. The fact that the "doctor" has refused to accept the testimony of his subject and rejected the facts that were allegedly kept from him, demonstrates that he is more interested in his theory (and the wealth that has flowed from it) than the truth.