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Human Sexuality
Chapter 1: Perspectives on
Human Sexuality
Essentialism vs.
Social Constructionism

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Essentialism: belief that phenomena
are natural, inevitable, and biologically
determined (distinct categories)
Social Constructionism: reality is the
product of a culture and its institutions;
language is used to interpret experience
(continuum)
Lev Vygotsky:
Socio-cultural Theory

Humans develop through social
interaction

Social context: interactions with adults,
neighborhood context, cultural and
historical contexts, etc.

Role of cultural learning
Sex and the Media
“Not only is sexuality not hidden from
view; it often seems to surround us”
(p. 2)
Sex and the Media

Discussion Question:


How is sexuality portrayed in the media?
Which perspectives on sexuality are
privileged and which are silenced?
Media Influences

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Teenagers are exposed to media during
half of their waking hours (Roberts, 2005)
Teenagers devote more time to media
than any other activity (Roberts, 2005)
By the time they finish high school,
teenagers will have spent more time
watching television than going to school
Media Influences


Increase in sexual references on
television
70% of shows watched by teenagers
have sexual content; 14% discuss risk
and responsibility (Kunkel, 2005)
Media and Psychological
Health: Research Findings

Reproduction of stereotypical gender
roles, which may be internalized
(Croteau, 2003)

Discrepancies in depictions of men and
women


Female nudity is more common
Differences in power?
Media and Psychological
Health: Research Findings

Link between television viewing and
body dissatisfaction in girls (Harrison,
1997; Hofschire, 2002)

Limited information on risk behavior
and sexual health
Media and the
“Sexualization of Society”

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Music industry
Television/movies
Video games
Books/magazines
Tabloids
Sexuality in Advertising



Persuasive communication
To provoke sexual interests, emotional
reactions, etc.
Ads are often tied to our “ideal” selves


Who we would like to be
Appealing lifestyles
Media Study
(Brown, 2002)

Media:

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Keeps sexual behavior visible
Reinforces sexual norms
Rarely includes sexually responsible models
Media and Social Context

The media models:

What, when, and with whom sexual
behavior is appropriate and desirable
GLBT Individuals in
T.V. and Film


Television portrayals of GLBT individuals
are often stereotypical
Recent increase in GLBT representations
in the media; more complex characters
Cultural Variations
in Sexuality


Culture shapes our behavior and
attitudes toward sexuality
Cultural diversity- what is normal,
acceptable, moral, etc.
The Mangaia



Cook Island: South Pacific
Adolescence is constructed as an
acutely sexual period in development
Boys engage in encounters with
experienced women
The Mangaia



Girls receive detailed instruction
concerning sexual intercourse
Many sexual encounters are expected
prior to marriage
Men are expected to stray during
marriage, women are not
The Dani

Dani of New Guinea

Little interest in sexuality

Ritualized encounters; for procreation
The Dani


Quick, impersonal sexual interactions
Sex is only permissible in the context of
marriage; intercourse- during the
second year of the marriage
The Dani

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Abstain from sex for 4-6 years after
childbirth occurs
Lack of desire- cultural, not biological
Victorian Americans

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19th century: White, middle class
Americans
Beliefs:


Women have little sexual desire
Women with sexual desire are “diseased”
and abnormal
Victorian Americans

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Men: strong sexual desires; driven by
lust
Shaped our cultural archetypes:
“angelic” women and “demonic” men
Ancient Greece


Homosexuality between men and
adolescent boys: “highest form of love”
Marriage was still expected
The Sambians


New Guinea
Ritualized homosexual encounters
between young boys
Sex and Gender

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Sex: refers to the biological component
(chromosomes)
Gender: a socially constructed category;
male/female

Gender roles
Transgendered Individuals

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Genitals and identity are discordant (i.e.
biologically male, identifies as female)
Are often gender non-conforming
Intersex Individuals

Ambiguous genitalia

Chromosomal abnormalities
Cultural Perspectives on
Transgendered Persons

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Pathologized in many cultures
“two-spirit”: revered; high status,
special privileges
Some cultures consider this a third
“gender category”
What is “normal”?


Socially/Culturally/Historically
constructed
What is normal, and who decides?

Various influences: the importance of
context
Different discourses on
sexuality

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Moral/religious/ideological
Cultural/historical
Linguistic expressions of sexuality
change as a function of audiences

Family, peers, same and differently
gendered groups, etc.
Sexual Variations

Tremendous diversity in human
sexuality:

Desires, orientation, fantasizes, attitudes,
beliefs
Determinations of
Normality/Abnormality

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Statistical: a deviation from the norm?
Subjective: one’s own beliefs
Idealistic: compared to a revered
standard
Cultural: cultural norms and standards
Clinical: based on data regarding health
and illness