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CHAPTER 9
 Sexuality—A
theme found almost
everywhere
 Sex
industry—A multibillion-dollar business
 U.S.
culture—Sex as taboo
SEXUALITY IS EVERYWHERE
MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR SEX INDUSTRY
Phone Sex Industry
SEX AS TABOO
Taboo Topics
SEX: A BIOLOGICAL ISSUE
 SEX
 The
biological distinction between
females and males
 Biologically:
the way humans reproduce
SEX AND THE BODY
 PRIMARY
SEX CHARACTERISTICS
Reproductive
organs such as:
Testes (males)
Ovaries (females)
SEX AND THE BODY
 SECONDARY
Bodily
SEX CHARACTERISTICS
development such as changes in:
Voice range and timbre (tone)
Muscularity
Distribution of hair and adipose tissue
GENDER
 Sex
is not the same as gender
 Gender
is an element of culture
 Traits & behavior a culture attaches to
being male or female:
Masculine
Feminine
"WHAT A GOOD BOY"
THE BARENAKED LADIES

When I was born, they looked at me and said:
“What a good boy, what a smart boy, what a
strong boy!”

And when you were born, they looked at you
and said: “What a good girl, what a smart girl,
what a pretty girl!”
MASCULINE CHARACTERISTICS
 Strength
 Boldness
 Assertiveness
 Self-centeredness
 Powerful
 Individual
achievement
 Independence
 Logical
MASCULINITY
MASCULINITY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3exzMPT4n
GI
 Crisis in Masculinity

FEMININE CHARACTERISTICS
Sensitive
 Gentle
 Emotional
 Weak
 Submissive
 Sexy
 Nurturing
 Dependent

FEMININITY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTlmho_Ro
vY&feature=related
 Killing Us Softly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW
8U&feature=related
 Dove Commercial

11/20 FEMININE?
SEX: A CULTURAL ISSUE

Sexuality has a biological foundation

Sexuality is also a cultural issue

Biology does not dictate specific ways of being
sexual
CULTURAL VARIATION
 Every
sexual practice shows variation
from one society to another
 Displaying
affection varies among
societies
 Modesty
 Some
is culturally variable
societies restrict sexuality and
others are more permissive
CULTURAL VARIATION
SEXUALITY AND CULTURE
Every
society controls sexuality
Embedding
Family
Religion
Law
it in institutions:
SEXUALITY AND CULTURE
 Cultural
norms & values influence:
 Who
engages in sexual behavior
 With
whom
 Under
what circumstances
 Behaviors
in which partners engage
THE MEANING OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR
 Varies
across societies
 Sexual
activity defined as important means
of fulfilling emotional & physical needs
 Value
sexual satisfaction
 Concern
with foreplay & occurrence of
orgasm for both parties
THE MEANING OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR
 Concern
with sexual technique
 Development of goods & services to
enhance sexual pleasure
 This pattern is observed in:
 United States
 Sweden
 Mexico
 Urban areas of Russia
THE MEANING OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR
 Other
societies, emphasize procreation
 Primarily
 Little
vaginal intercourse
or no foreplay
 Perhaps
painful for the female
 Examples:
 China
 Iran
DEFINITION OF 'HAVING SEX' VARIES

In a new study from the Kinsey Institute at
Indiana University, researchers find that people
are not in agreement about what constitutes
‘having sex’.

The study compiled results from a random
telephone survey of 204 adult men and 282
adult women ages 18 to 96.
DEFINITION OF 'HAVING SEX' VARIES

Participants were asked to explain what sexual
behaviors fit the description of ‘having sex’.

Researchers found no consensus on an actual
description.
STUDY RESULTS:

95% said that penile-vaginal intercourse was having sex

Although 11% said it wasn’t sex if there is no ejaculation

30% said oral sex was not having sex

20% said anal intercourse was not having sex

23% of older men -- 65 and older -- did not consider penilevaginal intercourse as having sex
STUDY CONCLUSION

“There's a vagueness of what sex is in our culture and media,” said
Dr. William L. Yarber, a co-author of the study.

“If people don't consider certain behaviors sex, they might not think
sexual health messages about risk pertain to them.”

This confusion about what is and what isn’t sex makes it difficult for
researchers who are working in the area of sex education and sexual
health.

“People are either incorrectly classified as having sex or incorrectly
classified as not having sex.”
THE INCEST TABOO
A norm forbidding sexual relations or marriage
between certain relatives
 “Cultural Universal”
 Biological
– Reproduction between close
relatives of any species increases the
odds of producing offspring with mental
and physical problems
 INCEST
TABOO
 Social—Controlling
sexuality between close
relatives is necessary element of social
organization
 Limits
sexual competition in families
 Reproduction
between close relatives would
confuse kinship
 Integrates
the larger society
 Always
 U.S.
been a contradiction
culture is individualistic
 People
have freedom to do what they wish as long
as there is no direct harm to others
 Privacy
makes sex a matter of individual freedom
and choice
REGULATING SEXUALITY

In the U.S. sexuality is both restrictive and
permissive
Restrictive
 People view sex as a sign of personal morality

Permissive
 Sex is a part of the mass media

THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION

Profound changes in sexual attitudes and
practices over the past century

The “Roaring Twenties”

Slowed during the Great Depression and World
War II
THE ROARING TWENTIES
ALFRED KINSEY

Alfred Kinsey set the stage for the Sexual
Revolution

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6bXH2k9MKE&feature=re
lated
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7riId_rMIqI&feature=fvw

National uproar from scientists studying sex

People uneasy talking about sex even in private


Kinsey’s books encouraged new openness
toward sexuality

Sexual revolution came of age in the 60’s

Baby boom generation was the first cohort in
U.S. history to grow up with the idea that sex
was part of people’s lives
TECHNOLOGY AND SEXUALITY
Technology played a part:
 Birth control pill

Women were historically subject to greater
sexual regulation than men
 Society’s “double standard”

CUBAN POSTER
Sexual Revolution

Increased sexual activity overall
 Changed

women’s behavior more than men’s
Greater openness about sexuality develops as:
Societies become richer
 And the opportunities for women increase

THE SEXUAL COUNTERREVOLUTION

Sexual freedom of the 1960’s & 1970’s
criticized as evidence of moral decline

A conservative call for a return to “family values”

A change from sexual freedom back to the
sexual responsibility of earlier generations
PREMARITAL SEX

Sexual intercourse before marriage
 35%
say it is “always wrong” or “almost always
wrong”
 17% say it is “wrong sometimes”
 About 45% say it is “not wrong at all”

Premarital sex is widely accepted among young
people today
SEX BETWEEN ADULTS

Frequency of sexual activity varies widely in U.S.
population

Married people
 Have
the most sex with partners
 Report highest level of satisfaction with partners
 Physically
 Emotionally
EXTRAMARITAL SEX

ADULTERY
 Married
people having sex outside of marriage
 Widely condemned
 Norm of sexual fidelity within marriage remains a
strong element of U.S. culture

Actual behavior falls short of the cultural ideal
 25%
of married men and 10% of married women have
had at least one extramarital sexual experience
SEX OVER THE LIFE COURSE
Patterns of sexual activity change with age
 Aging linked to decline sexual activity

Contrary to popular stereotypes
 Sexual activity is a normal part of life for most
older adults


SEXUAL ORIENTATION
 Romantic

HETEROSEXUALITY
 Sexual

attraction to people of other sex
HOMOSEXUALITY
 Sexual

and emotional attraction to another person
attraction to people of same sex
BISEXUALITY
 Sexual
attraction to people of both sexes
ASEXUALITY
 No sexual attraction to people of either sex

Sexual attraction not the same as sexual behavior

Worldwide, heterosexuality is the norm
 Permits
human reproduction
 Most societies tolerate homosexuality
WHAT GIVES US A SEXUAL ORIENTATION?


SEXUAL ORIENTATION:PRODUCT OF SOCIETY
People in any society attach meanings to sexual
activity
 Meanings
differ from place to place over time

Patterns of homosexuality differ from one
society to another

Diverse patterns suggest that sexual expression
is socially constructed

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: PRODUCT OF BIOLOGY
Suggests that sexual orientation is innate
 Several studies show that homosexuality tends
to run in families


Identical twin studies

DNA studies identified general location of at
least one "gay gene.“

Differences between gay & straight sexual
orientation appear at a very early age.
THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Changed attitudes toward homosexuality

1973 – American Psychiatric Association
 Homosexuality
was not an illness but “a form of
sexual behavior”

HOMOPHOBIA
 Discomfort
over close, personal interaction with
people thought to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual
 Sexuality
basis of controversies in U.S.

Teen Pregnancy

Pornography

Prostitution

Rape
TEEN PREGNANCY

U.S. birth rate to teens higher than all other highincome nations

Affects young women of all racial and ethnic
categories
TEEN PREGNANCY RATES
PREVENTING TEENAGE PREGNANCY

CDC report (2010): Teen birthrate lower in states that
provide students with comprehensive, evidencebased sex education.

Report: Surest way to reduce teenage pregnancy is
to provide young people with comprehensive,
medically accurate sex education
PORNOGRAPHY
Sexually explicit material intended to cause sexual
arousal
 U.S. Supreme Court gives local communities
power to decide what type of material

Criteria:
 Violates “community standards” of decency
 Lacks “redeeming social value”

PROSTITUTION

The selling of sexual services
 The

“world’s oldest profession”
Attitudes
 Sex
should be an expression of intimacy between two
people
 The idea of sex for money is disturbing

Greatest in poor countries
 Strong
patriarchy
 Traditional cultural norms limiting women’s ability to
earn a living
TYPES OF PROSTITUTION
 Call
Girls – The top level
 Elite
prostitutes
 Young, attractive, and well-educated
 “Massage
Parlor” prostitutes – Middle level
 Less
choice about clients
 Less money
 Keep no more than half of what they make
 Street-walkers
 “Work
– Bottom level
the streets” of large cities
 Under control of pimps who take most of earnings
 Some are addicted to drugs & sell sex to buy drugs
A VICTIMLESS CRIME?

Is prostitution really victimless?
 Subjects
many women to abuse and violence
 Contributes
 Many
to spreading STDs including AIDS
poor women become trapped in that life
 Especially
in low-income countries
SEXUAL VIOLENCE: RAPE AND DATE RAPE

RAPE
 An
expression of power
 A violent act that uses sex to
 Hurt,
 95,000
humiliate, or control
women report rape each year
 Actual

number is several times higher
Official government definition
 “The
carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and
against her will”
 Based on this definition, can men be raped?
Three
major approaches
Structural-functional
Symbolic
analysis
interaction analysis
Social-conflict
analysis
STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS

Need To Regulate Sexuality
 Culture
and social institutions regulate with whom and
when people reproduce
 Allowing
sexual passion to go unchecked would
threaten family life
 No
society permits a completely free choice of sexual
partners
 “Legitimate”
reproduction (within marriage)
 “Illegitimate” reproduction (outside marriage)
SYMBOLIC INTERACTION ANALYSIS

Highlights how people interact and construct
everyday reality
 How
people “learn” the trade
 Self-identity as a “prostitute”, “call girl”

Different people construct different realities

Our understanding of sexuality can and does
change over time
SOCIAL-CONFLICT ANALYSIS
 Sexuality
reflects and perpetuates patterns of
social inequality

Sexuality: Reflecting Social Inequality
 Enforcement of prostitution is uneven
Who gets arrested?
 Would
so many women be involved in
prostitution if they had economic
opportunities equal to that of men?