Sex as self-injury: The appearance of a new diagnostic category in Sweden

Abstract

“Sex as self-injury” is a well-established concept within Swedish society and is a new label for categorizing sexual risk-taking. The phenomenon has been discussed in Sweden since 2008, and about a decade later the concept appeared for the first time in Swedish scientific literature. “Sex as self-injury” is not yet an idea accepted by the international research field, but it can be assumed that it will eventually reach the international arena: the discourse about “self-destructive sex” has the potential to be established as a new diagnostic category of sexual dysfunction through “concept creep.” In this article, based on an analysis of media material from Sweden, we argue that the burgeoning discourse around “sex as self-injury” leads to a further strengthening of the normative division between “good” and “bad” sexualities, as described in Gayle Rubin’s work on a sex hierarchy.