Classifying Sexual Disorders:

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Abstract
The objectivity of the classification of sexual disorders in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-III) of the American Psychiatric Association is explored via a critical examination of (1) the replacement of homosexuality pre se by ego-dystonic homosexuality, (2) DSM's working concept of a mental disorder, (3) the notion of a paraphilia, (4) components of sexual identity, and (5) the literature on variant sexual behaviors. It is argued that (a) the same criteria that led to the removal of homosexuality per se as a mental disorder require the removal of al the paraphilias per se, (b) there is no empirical warrant to justify their continued inclusion, and (c) while there is legitimacy for a generalized ego-dystonic category, such ego-dystonias are only incidentally sexual. It is suggested that the present classification of sexual disorders is merely the codification of social mores.

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