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Sexual dreams
The fairy tales of “Sleeping Beauty” and “Snow White”, who are kissed awake by a handsome prince, refer, in symbolic form, to the sexual dreams of young girls.
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Orgasms during sleep are almost always accompanied by sexual dreams, especially in males. If they are sexually mature, they will also ejaculate semen, i.e. have “wet dream”. These dreams may depict unusual and forbidden behavior, such as sexual intercourse with close relatives, children or animals, group sex, exhibitionism, and many other activities that the individual would never contemplate in his waking hours. However, during sleep our normal inhibitions and learned controls are much less effective, and many of our unconscious wishes may thus be acted out in a harmless, symbolic fashion. The lack of conscious restraints also accounts for another phenomenon: Many people (particularly women) reach orgasm much faster in their sleep than while they are awake.
Today, the religious and medical attitudes toward such experiences are generally very lenient. Some have stopped being concerned about them at all or consider them sinful only if they are somehow consciously planned, welcomed, or enjoyed. Indeed, there is now a widespread belief that orgasms during sleep are necessary and healthy, and that they can even provide a "natural" compensation for sexual abstinence. However, this popular assumption seems to be false. For instance, according to Kinsey's findings, women who suddenly lost the opportunity for several coital orgasms per week had only a few more orgasms in their sleep per year. As a matter of fact, for some women the number of involuntary orgasms increased only when they also had more voluntary orgasms. In short, an orgasm during sleep is a possible natural function of the human body, but it is no substitute for conscious sexual activity.
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