5 Strange Sex Phobias

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'Sex is natural, sex is fun,' sang George Michael in 1987, but if you suffer from one of these five strange sex phobias, getting busy is far from natural — or fun.
‘Sex is natural, sex is fun,’ sang George Michael in 1987, but if you suffer from one of these five strange sex phobias, getting busy is far from natural — or fun.

For the most part, sex is fun, pleasurable and stress-relieving. However, for some people, sex can be stress inducing and downright terrifying. I’m sure most virile individuals have seen things during sex that scared them, or at least made them go, “What the hell is that?” But there most likely wasn’t anything to develop a real complex over.

However, there are some sex-related phobias that can make making love complicated and some phobias that make sex virtually impossible, with individuals choosing to opt out of doing the dirty deed altogether.

Erotophobia is a blanket phobia which is the fear of all things related to sex. Seeing it on TV, hearing people talk about it and thinking about it could be enough to make an erotophobe sick. It also makes it difficult to establish romantic intimacy. Some erotophobes enjoy being with a romantic partner, but the idea of sex is traumatizing.

Let’s take a look at some of the more specific and strange sexual phobias.

Gymnophobia: Fear of being nude

Tobias Funke from “Arrested Development” is probably the most famous gymnophobe there is. As fans of the show know, Funke is a self-proclaimed “never nude,” and according to him, “There are dozens of us!”

(perezhilton.com)
(perezhilton.com)

Gymnophobia has many causes. Many gymnophobes are sufferers of low self-esteem. They fear exposure and find their own bodies inferior to others. The development of the phobia could have stemmed from a particular incident, a situation where the sufferer had been exposed in front of others, and they were ridiculed all the way from the locker room to intensive psychotherapy.

Symptoms of gymnophobia include: shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, sweating and nausea. I’ve felt pretty nauseous before looking at myself naked after a 2 a.m. Mexican food binge … but I’ve learned acceptance since then.

Medorthophobia: Fear of erect penises

My friends have told me some stories about some scary hard-ons. Mostly relating to, “How the hell is it going to fit in there?” or aversely, “Is that all?!”

But they, for sure, aren’t medorthophobes. Men and women suffering from this condition fear seeing, thinking about or having an erection.  says that medorthophobia is comprised of two components: embarrassment and vulnerability. This condition might stem from a religious family background which taught that sex is wrong. Men with this might feel as though their erect penis is somehow sinful or wrong, and women might feel threatened that their wholesomeness is being compromised.

On the other hand, medomalacuphobia is the fear of not being able to maintain an erection — and I think there are plenty of men who suffer from that.

Parthenophobia: Fear of Virgins or Young Girls

I guess virgins can be scary. They are inexperienced, may lead to an awkward sexual encounter and may become too clingy, as seen in “Wedding Crashers.”

(Pinterest photo)
(Pinterest photo)

Young girls can be scary because you could get yourself locked up for fraternizing with them. And in prison you can develop a case of medorthophobia real quick. But parenthenophobes are so scared of virgins and young girls that they would actually have a full-blown anxiety attack if they were to enter an elementary school or nunnery.

Malaxophobia: Fear of Foreplay

My boyfriend was recently complaining that I jump into our love-making sessions too quickly and that there isn’t enough foreplay. Maybe I do, but I just chalk that up to being impatient.

For example, sometimes when I make myself a plate of something and I’m feeling particularly ravenous, I can’t help but eat all the yummiest bits first, so if I am particularly ravenous, or famished, for that matter, I can’t help that his penis is my yummiest bits. But a malaxophobe? No way.

Malaxophobia is a condition that affects women more than men. It encompasses more than just fear of foreplay, but a fear of dating and kissing, which could lead the sufferer into a sexual situation. The phobia might stem from a particular traumatic event during dating or a bad experience with foreplay … perhaps somebody got tied up too tightly …

Eurotophobia: Fear of Genitals, Especially Female Ones

I thought that the only fear related to a woman’s womanhood was vagina dentata, in which men believe that a woman’s vagina is full of teeth and will literally devour their penis. (Boy, sometimes I wish I had that power.) Eurotophobia affects both men and women, though, and can make sex pretty impossible. Maybe that’s why some eurotophobes are asexual.

In an online forum on the subject on asexuality.org, several asexuals talked about their fear of icky penises and vaginas. “Genitals smell and are full of germs. It’s like putting your hand in the litter box. I don’t necessarily fear the litter box, but I don’t find it very … fun,” posted a user named Naxius.

“I was once tricked into seeing porn. I pulled the plug on my computer and ran to the bathroom, where I spent the next few minutes feeling like I was about to throw up. And I have no intention of getting over this. It doesn’t matter, as I have taken measures to insure that I never see porn again, and I would kill anyone who showed me their genitals brutally,” wrote another user called The Atrix Has You.

Now did he mean that he would kill someone who brutally showed him their genitals? Or he would brutally kill anyone who showed him their genitals? I think it was the latter.

With all these phobias, the best and most-suggested treatment is, of course, therapy! Probably a few days a week.

Katia Kleyman is a contributing journalist for TheBlot Magazine.

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