Lovemap
Encyclopedia
The concept of a lovemap was originated by John Money
John Money
John William Money was a psychologist, sexologist and author, specializing in research into sexual identity and biology of gender...

 to assist a discussion of why people like what they enjoy sexually and erotically. According to Money, it is "a developmental representation or template in the mind and in the brain depicting the idealized lover and the idealized program of sexual and erotic activity projected in imagery or actually engaged in with that lover."

According to Money, the word lovemap was first used in 1980 in an article entitled: “Pairbonding and Limerence
Limerence
Limerence is a term coined c. 1977 by the psychologist Dorothy Tennov to describe an involuntary state of mind which seems to result from a romantic attraction to another person combined with an overwhelming, obsessive need to have one's feelings reciprocated...

. Before this time, as he states, Money began to talk about lovemaps, in precursory form, with his students in lectures.

Overview

Money describes the formation of an individual's lovemap as similar to the acquisition of a native language, in that it bears the mark of his or her own unique individuality, similar to an accent in a spoken language. A lovemap is usually quite specific as to details of the physiognomy, build, race, and color of the ideal lover, not to mention temperament, manner, etc. Since its inception, the concept of “love maps”, applied to interpersonal relationships, has found apt acceptance and is frequently referenced in love / relationship / sexual-evolution theory books; as for example in Wilson and McLaughlin’s 2001 The Science of Love.

In "Gay, Straight, and In-Between: The Sexology of Erotic Orientation," Money (1988: 127–128) suggests that love is like a Rorschach (ink blot) test, where if projections (shaped by a body/mind's lovemap) on the other are mutual, pair-bonding occurs, typically in a courtship phase of mating.

Variations

  • Heterosexual lovemaps – love mappings associative to persons of the opposite gender.
  • Homosexual lovemaps – love mappings associative to persons of the same gender.
  • Vandalized lovemaps – these occur when the love mapping process or neurological template development stage becomes traumatized, as when a young child is either exposed to, or forced to participate in such inappropriate behaviors as pedophilia
    Pedophilia
    As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...

    , incest, or sexual sado-masochism. Such a lovemap is typically formed between the ages of two to eight. A vandalized lovemap is often an atypical lovemap.
  • Paraphilic
    Paraphilia
    Paraphilia is a biomedical term used to describe sexual arousal to objects, situations, or individuals that are not part of normative stimulation and that may cause distress or serious problems for the paraphiliac or persons associated with him or her...

     lovemaps
    – when lust is attached to fantasies and practices that are socially forbidden, disapproved, ridiculed, or penalized; sometimes as the result of residual imprinted memories from certain traumatic or unusual episodes from early childhood, or sometimes the result of various physiological anomalies such as the presence of a micropenis
    Micropenis
    Micropenis is an unusually small penis. A common criterion is a dorsal erect penile length of at least 2.5 standard deviations smaller than the mean human penis size. The condition is usually recognized shortly after birth...

    , a chromosomal abnormality (45, X/46, XY), or of accelerated growth (premature puberty).
  • Native lovemap - by analogy with native language, is a lovemap that is assimilated as one's own personal, inalienable possession, regardless of how many of its attributes are shared, or not shared by others.
  • Klismaphilic
    Klismaphilia
    The term Klismaphilia refers to the receiving of sexual arousal from introducing liquids into the rectum and colon via the anus. This paraphilia often involves the use of enemas. The term klismaphilia was coined in 1973 by Dr...

     lovemap
    – specifies both in fantasy and performance that the person will be sexually and erotically aroused, and orgasm achieved, only if the partner participates in a scenario of administering an enema
    Enema
    An enema is the procedure of introducing liquids into the rectum and colon via the anus. The increasing volume of the liquid causes rapid expansion of the lower intestinal tract, often resulting in very uncomfortable bloating, cramping, powerful peristalsis, a feeling of extreme urgency and...

    .
  • Acrotomophilic lovemap – specifies a paraphilia of the stigmatic/eligibilic type in which sexual and erotic arousal and facilitation of attainment of orgasm are responsive to, and dependent upon a partner who is an amputee, or in extreme cases a thalidomide baby who has reached adulthood.
  • Zoophilic
    Zoophilia
    Zoophilia, from the Greek ζῷον and φιλία is the practice of sex between humans and non-human animals , or a preference or fixation on such practice...

     lovemap
    – specifies a paraphilia of the stigmatic/eligibilic type in which sexual and erotic arousal and facilitation of attainment of orgasm are responsive to, and dependent upon engaging in cross-species sexual activities, that is, with an animal.

See also

  • Triangular theory of love
    Triangular theory of love
    The triangular theory of love is a theory of love developed by psychologist Robert Sternberg. In the context of interpersonal relationships, 'the three components of love, according to the triangular theory, are an intimacy component, a passion component, and a decision/commitment...

  • Human bonding
    Human bonding
    Human bonding is the process of development of a close, interpersonal relationship. It most commonly takes place between family members or friends, but can also develop among groups such as sporting teams and whenever people spend time together...

  • Paraphilia
    Paraphilia
    Paraphilia is a biomedical term used to describe sexual arousal to objects, situations, or individuals that are not part of normative stimulation and that may cause distress or serious problems for the paraphiliac or persons associated with him or her...

  • List of paraphilias
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