8 - Sexuality Flashcards
What are the methods of investigation for the study of sexuality (2)? What are some problems with these methods?
1) Surveys: Self-selection of participants: are the people who answer sex questionnaires a representative sample?
→ it’s difficult to get honest opinions
→ those who are willing to answer are going to be a specific type of person; people who are off put by sexuality are less likely to answer, it’ll mainly be people who are open about sexuality
2) Direct observation: People are less willing to participate (!)
→ Research on animals may not generalize to humans
→ animals have different sexuality than humans
What were the results of some surveys on social sexual norms?
- Questioned prevailing Victorian social norms
- People’s views were not reflected in their sexual behavior
→ while they believed that women were not sexual beings, when it came down to it in the bedroom, that wasn’t true - Women experienced both sexual desire and orgasm!
Alfred Kinsey began collecting data in 1938 through his surveys; explain his technique which helped encourage honesty. Give an example
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Wording of questions: “At what age did you first experience full intercourse?” (instead of saying “have you had sex yet”, all of the questions assumed you had done it, which allowed the participants to be honest) Wording assumes that everyone has done it, relies on denial rather than volunteering information
→ Follow up interviews done 18 months later yielded consistent data, suggesting good honesty rates
True or false: In the 1950s, according to Kinsey surveys, women were expected to be reluctant to have sex.
True
Same sex, premarital, and extramarital sex were ___ in many areas.
Illegal
Briefly explain what the Kinsey scale was.
- It was a rating description which allowed to assess, on a scale from 0 to 6 (and X) a person’s sexual orientation
–> 0 being exclusively heterosexual
–> 6 being exclusively homosexual
–> X being no social-sexual contacts or reactions
What were some general findings of the Kinsey surveys?
- Women enjoyed sex: 90% of the women surveyed had had an orgasm by age 35. Of the 10% who hadn’t, 8% had experienced sexual arousal, leaving only 2% who did not enjoy sexual activity, much lower than expected
- 37% of the men in the survey reported at least one sexual experience with another man that led to orgasm (this includes “one shots” and “teen experimenting”)
- 28% of women had at least some sexual experience with other women,
- 7% reported primarily or exclusively lesbian activity
Explain the concept of “rounding up to straight”
- From Kinsey’s scale
→ “Heteroflexible” aka “rounding up to straight”
→ a lot of people realized they aren’t entirely a 0 or a 7 on the scale, so they would “round themselves” up or down because it reflected most of their experiences
True or false: Sexual behaviour at a certain time (decade p.ex) is not always consistent with prevailing social opinions.
True: During Kinsey’s time, sexual activity was more common than expected, including same-sex activity
→ Masturbation reported by 30% of married women and 40% of married men even though it was thought to be something only horny teens did, alone
→ Premarital intercourse rates were 83% for men and 33% for women by age 25
What were some consistent trends from the Kinsey surveys?
- Double standard for sexual behaviour
→ Men had a wider variety of sexual experiences than women
What were the general results of Hunt’s playboy foundation survey (an attempt to update Kinsey’s findings) (3 main findings)?
1) Confirmed prevalence of masturbation (94% of men and 63% of women had masturbated to orgasm)
2) Decreased estimates of same-sex sexuality (Primarily homosexual responses were 2% for men and 1% for women), concluded higher numbers came from including teenage experimentation that tends to stop after age 16
3) Increase in premarital (97%, 67%), extramarital (41%, 18%), and oral-genital sexual activity (linked to education levels: 60% for college educated, 20% for adults with HS education and 10% for those with only grade school; also 90% of married couples had engaged in oral-genital activity) – sexual revolution of the 60s-70s
Explain the entrance of the pill into society.
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The Pill: Stemming from a social reform political policy by American President Lyndon Johnson to eradicate poverty and racial injustice.
→ The Pill was promoted as a way to avoid overpopulation and to ease poverty
→ this changed things a lot in terms of how risky sexual activity was
→ Divorced the act of sex with procreation. Combined with penicillin, sex was now much safer.
→ Freed women to use their bodies how they wanted to without fear of pregnancy, at a time when abortions were illegal and very risky
→ Controversial: it wasn’t until 1965 that the supreme court ruled that the pill must be made legal in all states to married women. In 1972 a further ruling extended the right to the pill to unmarried women
How did the pill create a major shift in the job market?
- Prior to the pill, women only looked for short term employment if they were married
- After the pill was available, the percentage of women who graduated from high school and college increased, the age at first marriage increased, and women looking for long term employment increased
What were the results of the 1990 National Health and Social Life Survey?
- Increase in more liberal sexual standards (only 30% said sex should be exclusively in marriage, for making babies)
→ these are the children of the sexual revolution, so there was a change in sexual attitude and they were aware of these things - Still found gender differences: 28% of women reported not wanting to have sex their first time but doing so out of affection or being forced to, vs 8% of men. Also men were more likely to masturbate and women were more likely to feel guilty about masturbating.
- Estimated rates of homosexuality at 4.1% male, 2.2% female
- Acceptance of sex for pleasure and outside the boundaries of marriage: 93% of men and 79% of women.
→ But, higher degree of conservatism concerning sex: America was Pretty Vanilla
What are two large gender-related differences in sexual attitudes and behaviour?
- Among men:
→ Higher rate of masturbation
→ Greater acceptance of casual premarital sex - Differences in other sexual attitudes and behaviours were either small or absent
→ Men’s and women’s sexual behavior quite similar
One problem with surveys and questionnaires is that they only assess ___ attitudes. People may hold ___ attitudes that are more conservative.
Explicit; implicit
What are the 4 stages of the Masters and Johnson approach?
1) Excitement
2) Plateau
3) Orgasm
4) Resolution
Explain the first phase of Masters and Johnson’s approach.
Phase 1: Excitement
- Vasocongestion
→ In female genitals, the clitoris and the labia majora and labia minora swell
→ The vagina begins to lubricate itself
- In male genitals, vasocongestion in the penis results in an erection
→ Testes begin to elevate, scrotal skin tenses and thickens
Explain the second phase of Masters and Johnson’s approach.
Phase 2: Plateau
- In female genitals, the clitoris retracts behind the clitoral hood and the labia minora are flushed/darker
→ Bartholin’s glands (inside the vagina, near the vaginal opening) secrete fluid
→ The uterus elevates, and the inner two-thirds of the vagina expands and lengthens
- In male genitals, the glans increases in diameter and gets darker
→ Cowper’s gland (just beneath the prostate) may release fluid
→ Testes are elevated and engorged when orgasm is imminent
Explain the third phase of Masters and Johnson’s approach.
Phase 3: Orgasm
- Women
→ Uterus contracts
→ Lower third of vagina (the orgasmic platform) contracts
→ Rectal sphincter contracts
- Men
→ Contractions of vas deferens and seminal vesicles eject sperm into the urethra
→ Prostate gland expels fluid into the urethra
→ Urethra contracts, resulting in ejaculation
→ Rectal sphincter contracts
Explain the fourth phase of Masters and Johnson’s approach.
Phase 4: Resolution
→ Everything goes back to its original position: clitoris descends, labia unswell, uterus lowers ventrally, cervix lowers, vagina contracts back to original position and length
→ Vasocongestion eases, erection subsides, testes return to lower position, scrotal skin thins and folds return
What was Freudian’s view of sex (women’s orgasms) and how did this contrast Masters and Johnsons understanding?
- Freudian view of sex: He claimed that women had two distinct kinds of orgasms, clitoral and vaginal. Immature women had clitoral ones, from masturbation, but mature and healthy women had vaginal orgasms
- M&J concluded that all female orgasms were clitoral, but some women received enough clitoral stimulation via penetration to achieve orgasm
