Sexual Inhibition - Causes of Inhibitions

Causes of Inhibitions

A person's sexual inhibitions are a product of the person's personality, as well as personal experiences. Nevertheless there are a number of sources which have a great influence on the development of actual behaviour. Social conditioning and fashions also has an influence. (See the nature vs nurture debate.)

As a young person matures sexually, he or she will be exposed to myriad mixed signals of what various people regard as the normal behavior in a particular situation. On the other hand, other will hold such behavior to be unacceptable. Sexual inhibitions may result from, for example, repression of sexual behaviour as a child, societal restraints on sexual behaviour, ignorance, sexual myths, and disparity between the partners. For example, many women suffer from the “good girl syndrome” because they were taught that only “bad girls” will do a striptease for their lover, masturbate, give oral, have anal or even initiate sex when they want it. Women are often raised with shame and guilt about their body so they are inhibited about the size or shape of their breasts, the look and smell of their vagina, losing control during orgasm as well as asking for what they want in bed.

Early conditioning by not only parents and guardians, but society, can play a paramount role in the development of sexual inhibitions. When the child is young, they begin to understand the concept of gender identity, and begin to associate themselves as either a boy or a girl. This will also eventually lead to the discovery of the genitalia. Touching/playing/showing of the genitalia is generally considered inappropriate behaviour and the child may be admonished. The child learns the taboo of the genitalia and generally accepts them. If the child witnesses any sort of sexual behaviours between persons he is familiar with, after all of this anti sexual conditioning, the child may become confused and thus it may lead to sexual inhibition as the child grows. However this depends on the response of the child. Many times, if the child witnesses their parent(s) engaging in sexual acts, the child may see them acting frantically, and thus the child would interpret it in a negative manner, again leading to sexual inhibitions. But if the parent(s) or another party are abusing the child, he/she may grow to engage in more atypical sexual behaviour.

Society has a profound effect on a person's perception of sex. For example, parents may pass on their anti-sex ideas onto their children at a young age, but the media imposes conflicting ideas on the youths as they grow older.