Download Chapter 5 Loving Ourselves and Others

Chapter 5
Our Sexual Selves
Chapter Outline
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Sexual Development and Orientation
Theoretical Perspectives on Human Sexuality
Changing Cultural Scripts
Negotiating (Hetero)sexual Expression
Sexuality Throughout Marriage and Committed
Relationships
Race/Ethnicity and Sexual Activity
Sex as a Pleasure Bond: Making the Time for Intimacy
Sexual Expression, Family Relations, and HIV/AIDS
The Politics of Sex
Sexual Responsibility
Sexual Development and Orientation
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Children’s Sexual Development
 We are sexual beings throughout our
life.
 As early as 24 hours after birth, male
newborns get erections, and infants
may touch their genitals.
 Young children often exhibit overtly
sexual behaviors.
Sexual Development and Orientation
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Children’s Sexual Development
 Between the ages of 2 and 5, a
substantial number of children engage
in “rhythmic manipulation” of genitals.
 Children are also interested in seeing
nudity, touch their own sex organs, and
“play doctor “ (examining another’s
genitals).
Sexual Development and Orientation
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Children’s Sexual Development
 Overall sensual experiences from
infancy onward shape later sexual
expression.
 Attachment to parents in infancy and
childhood provides the emotional
security essential to later sexual
relationships.
Sexual Development and Orientation
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Children’s Sexual Development
 Early sexual behavior peaks at age 5,
declining until sexual attraction first
manifests itself around age 11 or 12.
 As the age of puberty has declined, the
age at marriage has risen, leaving a
more extended period during which
sexual activity may occur.
Sexual Development and Orientation
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As we develop into sexually expressive
individuals, we manifest a sexual
orientation.
Sexual orientation refers to whether an
individual is drawn to a partner of the
same sex or opposite sex.
Sexual orientation does not predict sexual
behavior, nor aspects of personality such
as masculinity or femininity.
Sexual Development and Orientation
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Heterosexuals: Attracted to opposite-sex
partners
Homosexuals: Attracted to same-sex
partners
Bisexuals: Attracted to people of both
sexes
Asexual: Have emotional feelings and
made desire intimate relationships with
others, just not sexual ones
Sexual Development and Orientation
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A Closer Look At Diversity: Is it Okay to
Be Asexual?
 A newly identified sexual orientation is
asexuality
 Critical Thinking
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Have you been aware of this concept
before reading about it in the text?
Does society define it as dysfunctional?
Sexual Development and Orientation
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Sexual orientation is generally perceived as
dichotomous, however it may be a continuum
Freud, Kinsey, and many present-day
psychologists and biologists maintain that
humans are inherently bisexual
From the interactionist framework, the
categories of sexual orientation are social
inventions, with individuals sorting themselves
into available categories and behaving
accordingly
Sexual Development and Orientation
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In time, social pressures to view oneself as
either straight or gay may inhibit latent
bisexuality or inconsistencies
Reasons for the development of a gay sexual
orientation has not been definitively
established, nor do we understand the
development of heterosexuality
The APA argues that sexual orientation involves
environment, cognitive and biological factors, is
shaped at an early age, is not a choice, and
cannot be changed at will.
Theoretical Perspectives on Human
Sexuality
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The Exchange Perspective: Rewards,
Costs, and Equality in Sexual
Relationships
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The Interactionist Perspective:
Negotiating Cultural Messages
The Exchange Perspective:
Rewards, Costs, and Equality in
Sexual Relationships
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Interpersonal Exchange Model of Sexual
Satisfaction:
Satisfaction depends on the costs and rewards
of a sexual relationship, and the participant’s
comparison level (what the person expects out
of the relationship).
Comparison level for alternatives: what are
alternative options and how do they compare?
Expectations include some degree of equality.
The Exchange Perspective:
Rewards, Costs, and Equality in
Sexual Relationships
The Interactionist Perspective:
Negotiating Cultural Messages
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Emphasizes the interpersonal negotiation of
relationships in the context of sexual scripts
Cultural messages provide reasons for having
sexual, who should take the initiative, how long
it should last, how important experiencing
orgasm is, what positions are acceptable, and
whether masturbating is appropriate.
More recent cultural messages are concerned
with technology, for example, “sexting.”
The Interactionist Perspective:
Negotiating Cultural Messages
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Sexual scripts influence women and men, and
are learned from their culture.
Sex partners assign meaning to their sexual
activity.
Sex is symbolic of something, i.e., affection,
communication, recreation or play.
Sex has different cultural meanings in different
social settings.
The Interactionist Perspective:
Negotiating Cultural Messages
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Self-disclosure and physical pleasure are key
quality ins building sexually intimate
relationships. Tenderness is a form of sexual
expression valued not just as a prelude to sex
but also as an end in itself.
Changing Cultural Scripts
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From Colonial times until the 19th century,
purpose of sex in America was defined as
reproductive.
Sex became significant to many as a
means of communication and intimacy
beginning in the 19th century and
flourishing in the 20th century.
Changing Cultural Scripts
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Early America: Patriarchal Sex
 Patriarchal sexuality is characterized by
beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviors
developed to protect the male line of
descent.
 Men are to control women’s sexuality.
 Has been challenged, but it persist to
some extent
Changing Cultural Scripts
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The Twentieth Century: The Emergence
of Expressive Sexuality
 Sexuality is seen as basic to the
humanness of both women and one;
there is no one-sided sense of
ownership.
 Sex is an important means of
enhancing human intimacy.
Changing Cultural Scripts
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The 1960s Sexual Revolution: Sex for
Pleasure
 The availability of birth control and
changes in laws allowed intercourse to
become separate from pregnancy, and
helped reverse the idea that the state
held sway over sexual and reproductive
decisions.
Changing Cultural Scripts
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The 1960s Sexual Revolution: Sex for
Pleasure
 Attitudes and behavior regarding sex
changed:
 In 1959, 80% stated disapproval of
sex outside marriage.
 In 2006, 25% said it was “always
wrong.”
Changing Cultural Scripts
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The 1960s Sexual Revolution: Sex for
Pleasure
 Attitudes and behavior regarding sex
changed:
 The rate of nonmarital sex and the
number of partners rose, while age at
first intercourse dropped---7.6% of
young people were having sexual
intercourse before the age of 13
Sexual Experience of High School Students
by Race/Ethnicity and Gender, 2005
Changing Cultural Scripts
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The 1980s and 1990s: Challenges to
Heterosexism
 Heterosexism: taken-for-granted
system of beliefs, values, and customs
that places superior values on
heterosexual behavior and that denies
or stigmatizes nonheterosexual
relations
Changing Cultural Scripts
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The 1980s and 1990s: Challenges to
Heterosexism
 Gays and lesbians have become
increasingly visible and have also
challenged the notion that
heterosexuality is the one proper
form of sexual expressions
Do you think gay or lesbian relations
between consenting adults should or should
not be legal?
Changing Cultural Scripts
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Comparing Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual
Behaviors
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Lesbian relationships are the “least
sexualized,” have sex less frequently than
gay men, report greater sexual satisfaction
than do heterosexual women.
Significant percentages of men in both homoand heterosexual monogamous relationships
had slept with someone other than their own
partner.
Changing Cultural Scripts
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Comparing Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual
Behaviors
 Patterns of sexual frequency and
satisfaction in gay and lesbian
relationships resemble those of
heterosexual marriage and
cohabitation.
Changing Cultural Scripts
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The Twenty-First Century: Risk,
Caution—and Intimacy
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HIV/AIDS
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Sexting
Negotiating (Hetero)sexual
Expression
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Four Standards for Sex Outside
Committed Relationship:
 Abstinence
 Permissiveness with Affection
 Permissiveness without Affection
 The Double Standard
Issues for Thought: “Hooking
Up” and “Friends with Benefits”
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What do you think about the advisability
of hooking up or having friends with
benefits?
How might a researcher from an
interactionist perspective investigate the
way that couples bridge the gap between
“hooking up” and “married with children”?
Negotiating (Hetero)sexual
Expression
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Sexual Fidelity
 The proscription against extramarital
sex is stronger in the U.S. than in other
parts of the world.
 92% consider it “morally wrong.”
 Over a lifetime, approximately 25-50%
of married men and women are going
to cheat on their partner.
Negotiating (Hetero)sexual
Expression
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Sexual Fidelity
 Risk factors
 As a rational decision, individuals
contemplate the decision to engage
in an extramarital affair
 Loneliness is an important factor
 Cyberadultery: adultery on the net
Negotiating (Hetero)sexual
Expression
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Sexual Fidelity
 Effects of Sexual Infidelity
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Jealousy
Creates a crises
Increased attention to couple
communication
Placing a higher value on value
Mixed data on whether it “causes” divorce
Sexuality throughout Marriage
and Committed Relationships
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How Often?
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Sexual activity is highest among young
marrieds.
Proportion of sexually active spouses
gradually diminishes until about age fifty,
when sharp declines are evident.
Sexuality throughout Marriage
and Committed Relationships
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Fewer Good Weeks
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Married couples have sex more often than
single individuals, although less often than
cohabiting couple.
About 40% of married individuals said
they had intercourse at least twice a week.
Sexuality throughout Marriage
and Committed Relationships
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Young Spouses
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Young spouses have sexual intercourse
more frequently than do older mates.
After a few years, frequency declines:
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Honeymoon period subsides
Children
Jobs
Housework
Financial worries
Sexuality throughout Marriage
and Committed Relationships
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Spouses in Middle Age
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On average, as people get older, they
have sex less often.
Physical aging is most important
explanation, but is not the only one.
Marital satisfaction is second largest
predictor of sexual frequency.
Sexuality throughout Marriage
and Committed Relationships
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Older Partners
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56% of individuals age 45 and older
agreed that a satisfying sexual
relationship is important to one’s quality of
life.
73% of people aged 57 to 64 and 53% of
people aged 65 to 74 remain sexual
active.
Sexuality throughout Marriage
and Committed Relationships
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What about Boredom?
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Habituation: the decreased interest in sex
that results from the increased
accessibility of a sexual partner and the
predictability in sexual behavior over time
Emotion Labor: Women, through their
gendered work at home, display certain
emotions that they believe are expected of
them.
Race/Ethnicity and Sexual
Activity
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Non-Hispanic black (28%) and Hispanic men (18%)
were more likely to have had multiple sexual
partners than were non-Hispanic white men (13%)
and men from other racial/ethnic groups (9%)
Asians report fewer sexual experiences and later
first sexual experiences than whites or Hispanics
Research on married couples suggest that sexual
frequency does not vary significant with race, social
class or religion
Sex as Pleasure Bond: Making
the Time for Intimacy
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Pleasure Bond:
 Partners commit themselves to expressing their
sexual feelings with each other.
Sexual Responsibility:
 Each partner assumes responsibility for his or
her own sexual response.
Planning for time alone and to be intimate is
important for couples.
The presence and age of children can impact this
ability to plan for intimacy.
Sexual Expression, Family
Relations, and HIV/AIDS
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HIV:
 Human Immunodeficiency Virus
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AIDS:
 Acquired Immunodeficiency Virus
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Rates of new HIV diagnoses increased 15%
between 2004 and 2007
Facts about Families:
Who Has HIV/AIDS?
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Over one million people are living with HIV
or full-blown AIDS
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40% Black
38% White
16% Hispanic
Less than 1% for other groups
Around 70% of AIDS cases were diagnosed
in people aged 25 to 44
10% of cases found among those age 50+
Facts about Families:
Who Has HIV/AIDS?
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Estimated rate of AIDS cases reported among adults
and adolescents by race/ethnicity, 2005
AIDS diagnoses by Transmission
Category, US, 1985 & 2007
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The transformation of AIDS diagnosis. What was once
considered a “gay disease” has become more prevalent
in the heterosexual population.
Sexual Expression, Family
Relations, and HIV/AIDS
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HIV/AIDS and Gay Men
 May gay men modified their sexual
behavior in the 1980s
 A 25% decrease in new cases of male-tomale transmission of HIV/AIDS from 20042007
 Life expectancy is now between 30 and 40
years with antiretroviral therapy
Sexual Expression, Family
Relations, and HIV/AIDS
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Telling one’s family that one has
HIV/AIDS can create a crisis.
 Shame and isolation
 Emotional, financial and physical
burdens
 Caregiving
 Loss of friends, lovers, or family
members
Sexual Expression, Family
Relations, and HIV/AIDS
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HIV/AIDS and Children
 Most children with AIDS contracted it from
their mothers during pregnancy, at birth or
through breast milk.
 HIV transmission is reduced from 25% to
less than 2% is mothers are diagnosed
and take appropriate medicines.
 Children with AIDS may be abandoned, or
raised by grandparents or foster parents.
The Politics of Sex
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Politics and Research
 Several research projects regarding
sexual behavior have been cancelled
because of the politicization of research.
 Such politicization also relates to the
denial of funding, censuring of materials
already available, or restating research to
support a political ideology.
The Politics of Sex
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Adolescent Sexuality and Sex Education
 47.8% of high school students report
having had sexual intercourse (2007).
 A decline from 1991 (54%)
 This predates an emphasis on
“abstinence-only” sex education programs
 55% of males ages 15-19 and 54% of
females engage in oral sex
The Politics of Sex
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Sex Education
 “Abstinence Only” programs focus on
abstention from sexual relations unless in
a monogamous marriage, and argues this
is the only protection against sexually
transmitted diseases and pregnancy
 “Abstinence-Plus” programs include a
discussion of contraception and AIDS
prevention
Who should teach children about sex, and
what parents want sex education to teach their
children?
Who should teach children about sex, and
what parents want sex education to teach their
children?
Who should teach children about sex, and
what parents want sex education to teach their
children?
Sexual Responsibility
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Principles of sexual responsibility that may
serve as guidelines for sexual decisionmaking:
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Possibility of Pregnancy
Possibility of contracting STDs or transmitting them
to someone else
Communicating with partners or potential sexual
partners
Responsibility to self: decisions made according to
own values
Quick Quiz
1. The APA argues that which of the
following plays a role in a person’s
sexuality?
a) Environmental factors
b) Cognitive factors
c) Biological factors
d) All of the above
Answer: d
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The APA states that sexual orientation is
most likely the result of a complex
interaction of environmental, cognitive,
and biological factors.
2. __________ is characterized by many
beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviors
developed to protect the male line of
descent.
a) Paternal sexuality
b) Patriarchal sexuality
c) Expressive sexuality
d) Asexuality
Answer: b
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Patriarchal sexuality is characterized
by many beliefs, values, attitudes and
behaviors developed to protect the male
line of descent.
3. __________ is viewing homosexuals with
fear, dread, aversion, or hatred.
a) heterosexuality
b) heterosexism
c) homophobia
Answer: c
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Homophobia is viewing homosexuals
with fear, dread, aversion, or hatred.
4. Married couples have sex ______ than
single individuals.
a) Slightly less often
b) Significantly less often
c) More often
Answer: c
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Married couples have sex more often
than single individuals.
5. Which of the following is true of
adolescent sexual activity?
a) Teen sexual intercourse rates have
declined from 1991.
b) Adolescents are sexually active.
c) Around half of adolescents report
engaging in oral sex.
d) All of the above.
Answer: d
In regards to adolescent sexual activity,
teen sexual intercourse rates have
declined from 1991, adolescents are
sexually active, and around half of
adolescents report engaging in oral
sex.