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The Sex Dictionary
The Letter C
How To Have Good Sex, Inc.
CAH: congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
See synonym, CVAH, congenital
virilizing adrenal hyperplasia, and also adrenogenital syndrome.
Cannon law: the body of ecclesiastical decrees by which a Christian church
is governed and which, in the Roman Catholic church is, the Corpus Jurio Canonici,
approved by the Pope. See also secular law.
Carnal: of the flesh, as opposed to the spirit; pertaining in a derogatory
way to the use of the sexual organs as a manifestation of humanity's lower nature [from
Latin, carnis, flesh].
Catatonia (adjective, catatonic):
a psychiatric syndrome of being immobile
and unresponsive to sensory stimuli, but not unaware of them.
Catecholamine: one of the biogenic amines, including epinephrine, which is
both a hormone (adrenalin) and a neurotransmitter; and dopamine, a neurotransmitter. See
also biogenic amine; indolamine; dopemine.
Catheterophilia: a paraphilia of the fetishistic/talismanic type in which
sexuoerotic arousal and facilitation or attainment of orgasm are responsive to and
contingent on having a catheter inserted up into the urethra [from Greek, catheter,
catheter + -philia].
Central nervous system (CNS):
that part of the nervous system that includes
exclusively the bone encased brain and the spinal cord, as opposed to the outlying
peripheral nervous system, consisting of the somatic nervous system, which governs usually
voluntary musculo-skeletal reactions.and the autonomic nervous system, which controls
usually involuntary visceral, homeostatic, glandular and circulatory activity.
Cerberus: in Greek and Roman mythology, the three-headed dog that guarded
the entrance to the underworld. cerebral cortex: the external gray layer of the brain, the
neocortex. See also limbic system.
Cervix (adjective, cervical):
the neck or neck-like part of an organ;
specifically the neck of the lower part of the uterus, or womb, where the vagina and
uterus unite. 2. The cervix of the uterus is at its lower end, where the uterus and the
vagina meet.
Childhood: biomedically, the period of development between infancy and
puberty; legally, in the United States, the period of development until the eighteenth
birthday (Public Law 98-292, The Child Protection Act of 1984).
Chimera: an imaginary monster; in Greek mythology a she-monster that vomits
flames and has the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon.
Cholesterol: in biological chemistry, a white, fatlike, crystalline alcohol,
synthesized chiefly in the liver and important as, among other things, a precursor of
gonadal and other steroid hormones.
Chordee: fixed curvature or tying down of the penis or hypertrophied
clitoris as in the hypospadiac birth defect characteristic of various types of
hermaphroditism.
Chorionic gonadotropin:
gonadotropic hormone of pregnancy secreted from the
placenta, whereas pituitary gonadotropin is secreted from the anterior pituitary gland.
See also gonadotropin; FSH; LH.
Chrematistophilia: a paraphilia of the mercantile/venal type in which
sexuoerotic arousal and facilitation or attainment of orgasm are responsive to, and
contingent on being charged or forced to pay, or being robbed by the sexual partner for
sexual services [from Greek, chremistes, moneydealer + -philia]. There is no technical
term for the reciprocal paraphilic condition of forced charging or robbing.
Chromosomal mosaicism:
a chromosomal pattern in which some cells of the body
have the standard number of chromosomes (46,XX or 46,XY), and others have more or less, as
in 45,X/46,XY (a mosaic variety of Turner's syndrome); or 46,XY/47,XXY (a mosaic variety
of Klinefelter's syndrome), and many others.
Chromosome: one of (in humans) twenty-six pairs of threadlike
desoxyribosenucleaic acid (DNA) structures located within the nucleus of each of the
body's cells, the function of which is to transmit genetic information to and govern each
cells' growth, reproduction, and biological activity.
Chronophilia: one of a group of paraphilias of the stigmatic/eligibilic type
in which the paraphile's sexuoerotic age is discordant with his/her actual chronological
age and is concordant with the age of the partner, as in, respectively, infantilism and
nepiophilia; juvenilism and pedophilia; adolescentilism and ephebophilia; and gerontalism
and gerontophilia [from Greek, chronos, time + -philia].
Chirambault-Kandinsky syndrome:
a paraphilia of the
solicitational/allurative strategem; a sexuoerotic pathology in which a [person] male or
female has a limerent fixation on someone unattainable, an unshakable and false conviction
that his/her own life is totally under the control of the unattainable one, and that the
unattainable one reciprocates his/her love, secretly if not openly. {and an unshaken and
false conviction that his/her own life is totally under the control of the reciprocated
limerence or love-smittenness of the unattainable one.}
Circadian: fluctuating regularly on a time basis.usually entrained to a
metabolic, endocrine, neurochemical, light-dark, temperature, or seasonal cycle (see also
diurnal, ultradian). There are very fast biorhythm cycles such as in the EEG and ECG, a
90-minute cycle seen in REM-NREM sleep or in waking attentive/alert-drowsy/inattentive
swing, a twice daily body temperature peak and slump. a 24-hour ACTH cycle, a monthly
menstrual cycle, and possibly longer seasonal cycles not yet thouroughly described.
Climacteric: in women, the menopause; in men, the life changes that may or
may not occur as the counterpart of the menopause in women.
Clitoris (plural, clitorides; adjective, clitoral or clitoridean):
the
small, hooded organ at the top of the cleft of the female vulva, which is the counterpart
of the penis in the male [from Greek, kleitoris, clitoris]. In the rat, mouse, and
hamster, the clitoris is not hooded, but its covering is fused as in the male's penis to
form a uninary tube.
Clitoromegaly: extreme enlargement or hypertrophy of the clitoris.
Clitoropenis: see penoclitoris.
Coital aninsertia: inability in the female to have the penis inserted into
the vagina, or in the male to insert the penis. It may be associated with neglect or
denial of one's own penis or vagina (as in many unoperated transexuals) or, more commonly,
with phobic anxiety or panic and avoidance of penetration of one's own vagina, or of
inserting one's own penis.
Coital fantasy: imagery of erotically stimulating content that accompanies
sexual intercourse and may precede it and be essential to the attainment of orgasm. It may
or may not be related to the actual partner and activity going on, and may in fact be an
intrusion that connot be voluntarily controlled. Alternatively, it may disappear as sexual
excitement builds up, as the person becomes totally immersed in body sensations. Synonyms,
copulation fantasy; intercourse fantasy. See also masturbation fantasy.
Coitus or coition: the sexual act, specifically the taking of the penis into
the vagina, or the penetrating of the vagina with the penis; but more generally the
complete interaction between two sexual partners. See also copulate; intercourse; mount.
collusional marriage: a relationship between married people in which one partner
instigates or engages in inordinate, deficient, irregular, or illicit conduct and the
other covertly endorses it or covers it up, while ostensibly being in the role of martyr
or recipient victim.
Coming out: gay vernacular term to refer to the developmental experience of
acknowledging to oneself and to others that one's sexuoerotic orientation is homosexual.
Complementation (verb, to complementate): the process, the converse of
identification, of becoming and functioning differently than, and in reciprocation to
someone else, by responding to that person's activities, behavior, and reactions. The term
is applied especially to the differentiation of G-I/R (gender-identity/role). 2. the
process of becoming unlike, or reciprocated to someone else, the converse of
identification, by reacting to that person's activities, behavior and reactions. The term
is applied expecially to the differentiation of G-I/R (gender-identity/role). See also
identification.
Compulsive cruising: constantly reiterated searching, which is never
satisfied, for an idealized sexual partner or sexual experience. See also cruising; sexual
addiction.
Conceptive phase: in [a sexuoerotic]{an erotic/sexual} relationship, the
third and final phase which, if it occurs, is characterized by conception, pregnancy,
parturition, and parenthood. See also acceptive phase; proceptive phase.
Concupiscence: thoughts and imaginations characterized by ardent desire,
especially as applied to sex or lust.
Contusion: a bruise; an injury without breaking the skin.
Coprolagnia: see coprophilia [from Greek kopros, dung + lagneia, lust]
Coprophilia: (adjective, coprophilic): a paraphilia of the
fetishistic/talismanic type in which sexuoerotic arousal and facilitation or attainment of
orgasm are responsive to, and contingent on observing defecation and/or being smeared with
and/or ingesting feces [from Greek, kropos, dung + -philia]. There is no technical term
for the reciprocal paraphilic conditions of defecating in the mouth or over the body of
the partner. Synonym, coprolagnia. 2. the condition of being responsive to, or dependent
on, the smell or taste of feces for the erotic arousal and the facilitation or achievement
of orgasm. From the point of view of the species, it probably has its origins in mammalian
hygiene whereby infants are licked clean. In individual biography, the correlation between
feces and eroticism is varied in origin. It may be related to masochism and self
deprecation. Coprophilia may involve also the sight and sound of a person defecating. See
also urophilia.
Copulate (noun, copulation): to couple, join, or unite as in sexual
interaction and genital union. Sec also coitus; intercourse.
Copulation fantasy: a fantasy that precedes and/or accompanies loveplay
and/or genital union. It may either include or exclude imagery of the actual partner. If
the partner is included, fantasy may yield to the total immersion of both in their body
sensations. In paraphilia, continuance of the fantasy is necessary for the paraphile, so
as to distract attention away from the other partner, which alone ensures that orgasm does
occur. {Otherwise, for the partner with the fantasy, its continuance may be necessary,
distracting attention away from the other partner, which alone ensues that orgasm does
occur.} See also masturbation fantasy.
Core gender identity: a term introduced into [contemporary] psychoanalytic
theory to refer to an infant's developing sense of self as a boy or girl in the second
year of life, well in advance of the classic oedipal phase to which the origin of
differences in the psychology of sex is attributed in traditional theory.
Corpora cavernosa: the two cavernous or spongy bodies of the penis (or
clitoris) that traverse the length of the shaft, one on each side, and that erect the
organ when they become engorged with blood. 2. the pair of "cavernous" or spongy
columns of erectile tissue in the penis below which is the urethra and corpus spongiosum.
Pumped full of blood, these spongy bodies hold the penis erect.
Corpus luteum (plural, corpora lutea): "yellow body"; a yellow
mass in the ovary formed from the graafian follicle after the egg is released. It produces
progesterone, the pregnancy hormone, and grows and lasts for several months if the egg is
fertilized and pregnancy occurs.
Cortex (plural, cortices): literally, the bark or outer layer. In anatomy,
the outer layer or section of an organ, as the cortex of the brain and the cortex of the
adrenal gland. See also adrenal cortex: cerebral cortex; neocortex.
Cortisol: in humans and other mammals the main glucocorticoid hormone
produced by the adrenal cortices; also known as hydrocortisone. It is essential to the
maintenance of life. It is available in synthetic form.
Cortisone: one of the glucocorticoid hormones, a metabolite of cortisol. In
synthetic form, it is used therapeutically, as in the treatment of CVAH, and converted in
the body into the biologically more potent hormone, cortisol. Historically, the term
cortisone has also been used generically to refer to all the synthetic glucocorticoids
used therapeutically. See also CVAH.
Courtship: sexually, the behavior of indicating attraction and of inviting
or soliciting attention and a reciprocal response. See also proceptive phase.
Critical period: a stage in the development of some aspect of an organism
during which, for a limited period of time, the next stage of development is contingent
upon incorporating a new input from the environment which, in turn, leaves a residual
effect that is more or less immutable, and that cannot be induced either earlier or later
in development. Synonym, crucial period; sensitive period. See also imprinting.
Crosscoded (noun, crosscodification): as related to gender, discordance
between various of those aspects of a person's genetic, hormonal, or social coding that
are male and those that are female, somatically and/ or mentally.
Cross-complementation: as related to the developmental differentiation of
G-I/R (gender-identity/role), concordance instead of discordance between the self and the
complementation figure or model of the other sex, either male or female. See also
cross-identification.
Cross-identification: as related to the developmental differentiation of
G-I/ R (gender-identity/role), discordance instead of concordance between the self and the
identification figure or model of the other sex, either male or female. See also
cross-complementation.
Cruising: vernacular term, especially among gay people, for the overt
manifestations and responses of the proceptive sexuoerotic phase that indicate one's
availability and attractedness toward a potential sexual partner. See also compulsive
cruising.
Cryptorchidism: the condition of having one testis (unilateral) or both
(bilateral) undescended into the scrotum.
Culturistic: developmentally induced according to the dictates of society or
culture; the converse of nativistic.
Cunnilingus: erotic stimulation of the female external sex organs with the
tongue, lips, and mouth of a partner of either sex, as a part of normal loveplay, and
possibly inducing orgasm [from Latin, cunnus, vulva, and lingere, to lick]. See also
fellatio.
Cunnus: the Latin term for the female external genitals.
Cushingoid facies: a balloon-like swelling of the face characteristic of
Cushing's syndrome, in which it is a symptom of a pathological excess of glucocoritcoid
hormone (cortisol) from the adrenal cortices. It is also a side effect of glucocorticoid
therapy if the dosage is high, as is necessary in treating many illnesses.
Cushing's syndrome: a disorder of overproduction of cortisol hormone from
the adrenocortical glands, usually involving malfunction of the pituitary gland, and
likely to lead to symptoms of psychpathology as well as severy somatic pathology.
CVAH (congenital virilizing adrenal hyperplasia): a syndrome produced by a
genetically transmitted enzymatic defect in the functioning of the adrenal cortices of
males and females, which induces varying degrees of insufficiency of cortisol and
aldosterone and excesses of adrenal androgen and pituitary adrenocorticotropin (ACTH).
Abnormal function of the adrenal cortex starts in fetal life and, unless treated,
continues chronically after birth. Females born with the syndrome have ambiguous genitalia
and, if they survive without salt loss and dehydration, undergo severe virilization. Males
are usually not recognized at birth, but if they survive, will prematurely develop
pubertally during the early years of life. In the severe form of the disease, untreated,
mortality rate is almost 100 percent for both sexes. Treatment with glucocorticoids and in
some cases also with salt-retaining hormone is lifesaving and prevents untimely and, in
girls, incongruous postnatal virilization. Plastic surgery is needed to feminize the
genitalia. With appropriate therapy, prognosis for survival and good physical and mental
health is excellent. Synonym, CAH; Adrenogenital syndrome.
Cyproterone: a synthetic, hormonal steroid substance, related to
progesterone, which is potent as an antiandrogen. A variant form is cyproterone acetate
(trade-named Androcur), which is more powerful in its antiandrogenic effect. See also
Androcur; Depo-Provera; medroxyprogesterone acetate. cyproterone acetate: the generic name
of Androcur.
Cystostomy: surgical implantation of a urinary drainage tube, usually
temporarily following a genital operation, directly into the bladder. The suprapublic
position is between the navel and the genitals. The perineal position is between the
genitals and the anus, in the perineum.
Cytogenetic syndromes: those conditions of development marked by various
physical and behavioral symptoms that stem from a deficiency, excess, or other gross
defect in the number, size, or shape of the chromosomes in each of the body's cells. For
example, in most girls with Turner's syndrome, one sex chromosome is missing (45,X); in
most boys with Klinefelter's syndrome, the male's one X chromosome is duplicated (47,XXY);
and in most boys with the supernumerary-Y syndrome, the male's Y chromosome is duplicated
(47,XYY). hypophilia in that they tend to affect sexuoeroticism by reversing the effects
of puberty.
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