Neuroplasticity / Behavioral Conditioning / Sexuality

[Float]

Does the nature of the brain imply that sexual preferences are dynamic, changing as we gain new experiences?

 

[Hadoblado]

I think it does, but for most people the probability of it changing are very low/none. [NOT AN EXPERT].

 

[SpaceYeti]

Inasfar as I'm aware, my sexual tastes have never changed, I've simply become more aware of them. Then, you could also say my tastes in food has changed but that's not entirely accurate. It's much more that I've experienced different foods and understand flavors more, such that I like things I would not have supposed I would before then.

It is possible my tastes in both areas are changing, but even if they are it's so slow and minute that it's imperceptible. Why, exactly, are you asking this broad question?

 

[Jennywocky]

The brain is complex and full of layers, involving both basic physical biological design, chemical conditioning that occurs in utero and at various important life stages (puberty, menopause, etc.), and then neural web development influenced by personal choices and environment influences.

We've actually changed adult sexual preferences in animals, from experimentation during particular windows of opportunity while they were in utero, by modifying hormone quantities. Human beings are less instinctual and more complex (although I think instincts still operate unconsciously).

 

[Brontosaurie]

a core ideal which is environmentally modulated, almost exclusively through lowered expectations. rationalization/sublimation comes in handy.

i've entered hibernation mode. i choose to preserve my ideal at the expense of opportunities, mostly out of naive hope that i'll eventually find someone congruent with my unadulterated core ideal.

i get the feeling i just said a simpleton thing in needlessly complicated terms but whatever.

 

[Cognisant]

I think anyone can learn to be bisexual, insofar as the right kind of stimulation feels good no matter what the source, but pheromone based attraction doesn't seem to work unless you're wired for it, I mean sex is gross, really undeniably gross, but with the right pheromones you just don't care.

 

[Absurdity]

Prison.

 

[Duxwing]

I think anyone can learn to be bisexual, insofar as the right kind of stimulation feels good no matter what the source, but pheromone based attraction doesn't seem to work unless you're wired for it, I mean sex is gross, really undeniably gross, but with the right pheromones you just don't care.

Conversely, one could equally well hold that "sex is" fun, "really undeniably" fun, but in the absence of normally present "pheromones," it seems gross much like life seems dreary and dull when one's synapses too quickly re-uptake serotonin--or even that the reaction of 'gross' is a misfiring of your inborn defense mechanisms toward a healthy body part: a negative reaction to something is not inherently more objective than a positive one.

-Duxwing

 

[Reluctantly]

I don't know. I've always fantasized about receiving during sex, yet I'm not attracted to most men (I like women quite a bit); thinking about receiving or rape fantasies is what turns me on. The strange part is I usually fantasize that it's a man, even though I'm not all that attracted to men. I didn't realize it was weird until a little while ago and it was never conditioned in me. I also never realized being auto-erotic was weird in men.

From reading about cross-dressers, I don't think that was something they were conditioned into. They feel good doing it and try to stop, but usually feel like they are missing a part of themselves, even if they feel guilty about it.

Supposedly, prison can make some people bisexual, but they aren't bisexual when they get out of prison, so I'm not sure that counts. It sounds gross, but they take what they can get...I guess...

 

[NullPointer]

To a degree it seems to be possible to have an influence on one's sexual preference through positive reinforcement, where coincidental sexual pleasure becomes associated with an object or idea, and the idea is subsequently sought out for sexual pleasure. As an example, a stallion becoming aroused at the sight of a breeding mount because of previously pleasurable experiences with the mount.

However, empirically it seems that sexual orientation is actually largely determined by the time we are born, or at least, very early indeed. After that point, our experiences don't seem to have a big impact on our fundamental sexual orientation. I guess that's why prisoners would revert to their pre-prison orientation upon being released.

 

[Jennywocky]

I guess that's why prisoners would revert to their pre-prison orientation upon being released.

Yes, I don't see that as their "preference," it's mostly an adaptation that might even be more about power and placement in the social culture vs actual sexual attraction. And I'm not sure it would be designated as "healthy sexuality" by psychological definition. *shrug*

 

[doncarlzone]

Yes it is absolutely possible. Shemale porn for example is aimed at straight people addicted to porn looking for novelty. Being a bit grossed out or thinking that something is wrong, can in itself be attractive and add novelty (people also remember such things more vividly). This is why not all people looking at child porn are "actual" pedophiles, many of them are just porn addicts gone horribly bad.

Here is one article about the concept:
http://www.yourbrainonporn.com/straight-men-gay-porn-and-other-brain-map-mysteries

Also, think about music taste for a moment. The more you actively look for novelty and dopamine in music, the more specific/weird the genre tend to get. In porn that would be called a fetish.