In psychology and psychiatry, scopophilia or scoptophilia ( grc, σκοπέω , "look to", "to examine" + , "the tendency towards") is an aesthetic pleasure drawn from looking at an object or a person. In

human sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

, the term scoptophilia describes the

sexual pleasure Sexual stimulation is any stimulus (including bodily contact) that leads to, enhances and maintains sexual arousal, and may lead to orgasm. Although sexual arousal may arise without physical stimulation, achieving orgasm usually requires physica ...

that a person derives from looking at prurient objects of eroticism, such as

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

, the nude body, and

fetishes A fetish (derived from the French , which comes from the Portuguese , and this in turn from Latin , 'artificial' and , 'to make') is an object believed to have supernatural powers, or in particular, a human-made object that has power over ot ...

, as a substitute for actual participation in a sexual relationship.

Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud used the term ''scopophilia'' to describe, analyse, and explain the concept of , the pleasure in looking, a curiosity which he considered a partial-instinct innate to the childhood process of forming a

personality Personality is the characteristic sets of behaviors, cognitions, and emotional patterns that are formed from biological and environmental factors, and which change over time. While there is no generally agreed-upon definition of personality, mos ...

; and that such a pleasure-instinct might be sublimated, either into

Aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...

, looking at ''objets d'art'' or sublimated into an obsessional neurosis "a burning and tormenting curiosity to see the female body", which afflicted the

Rat Man "Rat Man" was the nickname given by Sigmund Freud to a patient whose "case history" was published as ''Bemerkungen über einen Fall von Zwangsneurose'' Notes Upon a Case of Obsessional Neurosis"(1909). This was the second of six case histories ...

patient of the psychoanalyst Freud. From that initial interpretation of ''Schaulust'' arose the psycho-medical belief that the inhibition of the ''scopic drive'' might lead to actual, physical illness, such as physiologic disturbances of vision and eyesight. In contrast to Freud's interpretation of the ''scopic drive'', other psychoanalytic theories proposed that the practices of scopophilia might lead to madness — either

insanity Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...

or a

mental disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

— which is the scopophilic person's retreat from the concrete world of reality into an abstract world of

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

. The theoretic bases of scopophilia were developed by the psychoanalyst

Otto Fenichel Otto Fenichel (2 December 1897 in Vienna – 22 January 1946 in Los Angeles) was a psychoanalyst of the so-called "second generation". Education and psychoanalytic affiliations Otto Fenichel started studying medicine in 1915 in Vienna. Already ...

, in special reference to the process and stages of psychological

identification Identification or identify may refer to: *Identity document, any document used to verify a person's identity Arts, entertainment and media * ''Identify'' (album) by Got7, 2014 * "Identify" (song), by Natalie Imbruglia, 1999 * Identification ( ...

. That in developing a personal identity, "a child, who is looking for libidinous purposes ... wants to look at an object in order

or it Or or OR may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * "O.R.", a 1974 episode of M*A*S*H * Or (My Treasure), a 2004 movie from Israel (''Or'' means "light" in Hebrew) Music * ''Or'' (album), a 2002 album by Golden Boy with Miss ...

to 'feel along with him'." That the impersonal interaction of scopophilia (between the looker and the looked-at) sometimes replaced personal interactions in the psychological life of a person who is socially

anxious Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

, and seeks to avoid feelings of

guilt Guilt may refer to: *Guilt (emotion), an emotion that occurs when a person feels that they have violated a moral standard *Culpability, a legal term *Guilt (law), a legal term Music *Guilt (album), ''Guilt'' (album), a 2009 album by Mims *Guilt ( ...

. Lacan's conceptual development of ''the gaze'' linked the pleasure of scopophilia to the person's apprehension of the

Other Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

(person) who is not the

Self The self is an individual as the object of that individual’s own reflective consciousness. Since the ''self'' is a reference by a subject to the same subject, this reference is necessarily subjective. The sense of having a self—or ''selfhood ...

; that is: "The gaze is this object lost, and suddenly re-found, in the conflagration of shame, by the introduction of the Other." The practice of scopophilia is how a person's ''

desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of aff ...

'' is captured by the imaginary representation of the Other. Theories alternative to Lacan's interpretations of scopophilia and

the gaze In critical theory, sociology, and psychoanalysis, the gaze (French ''le regard''), in the philosophical and figurative sense, is an individual's (or a group's) awareness and perception of other individuals, other groups, or oneself. The concep ...

proposed that a child's discovery of genital difference, and the accompanying anxiety about not knowing the difference of the Other sex, is the experience that subsequently impels the child's scopic drive to fulfil the desire to look and to look at.

Literary examples

* The ''

Satyricon The ''Satyricon'', ''Satyricon'' ''liber'' (''The Book of Satyrlike Adventures''), or ''Satyrica'', is a Latin work of fiction believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius, though the manuscript tradition identifies the author as Titus Petro ...

'' (''The Book of Satyr-like Adventures'', AD 1st c.), by

Gaius Petronius Arbiter Gaius Petronius Arbiter"Gaius Petronius Arbiter"
Priapus In Greek mythology, Priapus (; grc, Πρίαπος, ) is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term ...

as the woman who was "the first to put an inquisitive eye to a crack she had naughtily opened, and spy on their play with prurient eagerness." * ''Secret Sexualities: A Sourcebook of 17th and 18th Century Writing'' (2003), by Ian McCormick, shows that

transgressive sexuality Transgressive may mean: *Transgressive art, a name given to art forms that violate perceived boundaries *Transgressive fiction, a modern style in literature *Transgressive Records, a United Kingdom-based independent record label *Transgressive (l ...

is composed of the inter-relationships between the public and the private spheres and between the open and the secret aspects of a person's life. The example is ''

Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure ''Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure''—popularly known as ''Fanny Hill''—is an erotic novel by English novelist John Cleland first published in London in 1748. Written while the author was in debtors' prison in London,Wagner, "Introduction", ...

'' (1749), in which the protagonist Fanny Hill gives her scoptophilic observations of two sodomites, which include descriptions of the furnishings and the ''décor'' of the room in which they are copulating: " .. . at length I observed a paper patch of the same colour as the wainscot, which I took to conceal some flaw; but then it was so high that I was obliged to stand upon a chair to reach it, which I did, as soft as possible, and, with a point of a bodkin, soon pierced it, and opened myself espial room sufficient. And now, applying my eye close, I commanded the room perfectly, and could see my two young sparks romping and pulling one another about, entirely, to my imagination, in frolic and innocent play.”

Race

Critical race theorists, such as

bell hooks Gloria Jean Watkins (September 25, 1952December 15, 2021), better known by her pen name bell hooks, was an American author and social activist who was Distinguished Professor in Residence at Berea College. She is best known for her writings on ...

, Shannon Winnubst, and David Marriott present and describe scopophilia and the scopic drive as the psychological and social mechanisms that realize the practices of Other-ing a person to exclude them from society (see also

scopophobia Scopophobia, scoptophobia, or ophthalmophobia is an anxiety disorder characterized by a morbid fear of being seen in public or stared at by others. Similar phobias include erythrophobia, the fear of blushing, and an epileptic's fear of bein ...

). The social practice of scopophilia is supposed to fix the appearance and identity of the Other (person), who is not the

, by way of

that objectifies and dehumanizes them as "not I" and thus "not one of us". In that vein, the practices of cultural scopophilia restrict the number and type of visible representations of "outsiders" in a society.

Cinema

In '' Psycho'' (1960), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, the protagonist

Norman Bates Norman Bates is a fictional character created by American author Robert Bloch as the main antagonist in his 1959 thriller novel '' Psycho''. He has an alter, Mother, who takes from the form of his abusive mother, and later victim, Norma, wh ...

is a

voyeur Voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of watching other people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other actions of a private nature. The term comes from the French ''voir'' which means "to see". ...

whose motel rooms feature peepholes. In the course of the story, the motel manager Norman spies upon the

anti-heroine An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality. Although antiheroes may sometimes perform actions ...

as she undresses in her ostensibly private room. In ''

Peeping Tom Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly reme ...

'' (1960), directed by

Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company The Archers, they together wrote, produced and directed a serie ...

, Scopophilia is mentioned as a psychological affliction of the protagonist, Mark Lewis. As narrative cinema, ''Peeping Tom'' is a deliberate exercise in voyeurism for the protagonist and for the spectator, which demonstrates how readily the protagonist and the spectator are mentally willing and morally capable of watching atrocities (torture, mutilation, death) that should not be gazed upon as narrative movies. The mentally ill protagonist acted as he acted consequent to severe mental mistreatment in boyhood, by his film-maker father; the paternal abuse mentally malformed Mark into a reclusive, introverted man comfortable with torturing and killing people. In the 1970s, parting from Lacan's propositions, psychoanalysts of the cinema used the term scopophilia to identify and to describe the aesthetic and emotional pleasures (often pathological), and other unconscious mental processes that occur in the minds spectators gazing at a film. Yet voyeurism and the male gaze are psychological practices basic to the spectators' emotional experience of viewing mainstream, commercial cinema; notably, the

male gaze In feminist theory, the male gaze is the act of depicting women and the world in the visual arts and in literature from a masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the heteros ...

is fully presented, described, and explained, and contrasted with the

female gaze The female gaze is a feminist theory term referring to the gaze of the female spectator, character or director of an artistic work, but more than the gender it is an issue of representing women as subjects having agency. As such all genders can cre ...

, in the essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" (1975), by

Laura Mulvey Laura Mulvey (born 15 August 1941) is a British feminist film theorist. She was educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She is currently professor of film and media studies at Birkbeck, University of London. She previously taught at Bulmers ...

. Subsequent scholars have challenged Mulvey's influential reading of scopophilia as a "gross reduction of the erotic and the aesthetic to the politics of representation."

References

External links

Alain de Mijolla, 'Scoptophilia/Scopophilia'

{{Paraphilia Psychoanalytic theory Film theory Visual perception Paraphilias