Sexual interest as performance, intellect and pathology: a critical discursive case study of dacryphilia

摘要

The present study depicts the case of a straight, 25 year old, Romanian woman Angela M, who is an individual with a sexual interest in dacryphilia (i.e. she derives sexual pleasure and arousal from crying and/or tears). Asynchronous email interviews were carried out with Angela M between January 2013 and February 2013 as part of a wider study into dacryphilia. Angela M’s interview transcripts comprised rich textual accounts that often made reference to cultural phenomena. Therefore, we apply critical discursive psychology to her data and identify the interpretative repertoires, subject positions, and ideological dilemmas that she uses to construct and negotiate her sexual identity. Our analysis suggests that Angela M draws predominantly upon two interpretative repertoires that construct her sexual interest in dacryphilia both as a performance and as an intellectual activity. However, some tensions exist within these interpretative repertoires, which Angela M negotiates by also constructing her sexual interest as a pathology. We explore the implications of the analysis with reference to postmodern theory and the historical context of a psychiatric tradition that pathologises non-normative sexual interests.