CASE STUDY

Exhibitionism, known variously as flashing, apodysophilia and Lady Godiva syndrome, is the psychological need and pattern of behavior involving the exposure of parts of the body to another person with a tendency toward an extravagant, usually at least partially sexually inspired behavior to attract the attention of another in an open display of bare "private parts" — i.e., parts of the human body which would otherwise be left covered under clothing in nearly all other cultural circumstances. Some researchers have claimed that telephone scatalogia is a variant of exhibitionism.

A research team asked a sample of 185 exhibitionists, “How would you have preferred a person to react if you were to expose your privates to him or her?” The most common response was “Would want to have sexual intercourse” (35.1%), followed by “No reaction necessary at all” (19.5%), “To show their privates also” (15.1%), “Admiration” (14.1%), and “Any reaction” (11.9%). Only very few exhibitionists chose “Anger and disgust” (3.8%) or “Fear” (0.5%).

Various types of behaviour is classified as exhibitionistic. These include:

• Flashing is the display of bare breasts by a woman with an up-and-down lifting of the shirt and/or bra or man exposing and/or stroking his genitals.
• Mooning is the display of one's bare buttocks via the pulling-down of trousers and underwear.
• Anasyrma is lifting up of one's skirt with no underwear underneath, to expose bare genitals.
• Martymachlia is a paraphilia involving sexual attraction to having others watch the execution of a sexual act.

Exhibitionism as a disorder was first described in a scientific journal in 1877 by a French physician and psychiatrist Charles Lasègue (1809–1883). Typically, the part(s) of the body exposed when referring to "flashing" are bare female breasts and/or buttocks. In theory, however, flashing and exhibitionism can also involve the genitalia or buttocks of either gender. A "male flasher" stands in stark comparison to this definition as the latter usually refers to a male indecently exposing his penis to an unwilling observer.

In psychiatry, exhibitionism is only considered a paraphilia once the practice begins to interfere with the quality of life or normal functioning capacity of the individual. According to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 4th Edition, exhibitionism is classified as 302.4, and many psychiatric definitions of exhibitionism broadly define it as "sexual gratification, above and beyond the sexual act itself, that is achieved by risky public sexual activity and/or bodily exposure." Beyond bodily exposure, it can also include "engaging in sex where one may possibly be seen in the act, or caught in the act."

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