Human sexuality is a wide topic to cover, and not everyone is attracted to the same characteristic a person might contain. Just as an example, my taste in boys is completely different than my roommates taste. I love tall, skinny punk/ skater boys, while she would prefer " a big, black man with a nice rear." There is no way to tell if one preference is better than the other. "Human sexual desire and behavior are extremely variable and may become associated with a wide range of relational circumstances and objects of attraction (Kelly, pg. 412)." .
But there are standards that society has set and society says that certain acts in which a person gets excited are wrong. These are called paraphilias, it loosely translates to "a love beside," it is a newer term describing sexual orientations and behaviors that are not of the norm. Paraphilias can also be referred to as sexual deviations or perversions. It is considered to be a sexual attachment on some unusual or unacceptable stimulus. Paraphilias can consist of people getting pleasure from exposing themselves to a stranger, or being attracted to small children.
All of the paraphilias involve an attraction to a non-sanctioned source of sexual satisfaction, it could be a behavior of the individual or it could be a forbidden object of attraction. "The focus of a paraphilia is usually very specific and unchanging In most cases, types of sexual activity outside the boundaries of the paraphilia lose their arousal or satisfaction potential unless the person fantasizes about the paraphilia at the time (www.health.discovery.com)." And as with most other mental disorders, diagnosis requires a minimum of six months that the symptoms have been occurring and clinically significant distress. But paraphilias rarely seek help from doctors, and if they are referred, it is often because they are forced due to legal action. In many cases, people with paraphilias do not see the need for them to be cured.
