Chapter 1 Flashcards
erotic
Arousing sexual feelings or desires
Gender
The behavioural, curtual, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex. Gender is distinct from anatomic sex, which is based on the physical differences between females and males
Gender roles
Complex clusters of ways men and women are expected to behave
Human sexuality
The ways we experience and express ourselves as sexual beings
Inis Beag, Ireland
- did not believe that it was normal for women to experience orgasm
- women who found sex pleasurable—especially orgasm—were viewed as deviant.
- Premarital sex was all but unknown, prior to marriage, men and women socialized apart.
- Kids told to “be fruitful and multiply.”
- the men of the island believed that sexual activity would drain their strength
- men avoided sexual activity on the eve of sporting events or strenuous work
- married couples had sex with their undergarments on in the dark
- relatively sex-negative culture.
Mangaia, South Pacific
- Mangaian boys and girls were encouraged to get in touch with their sexuality through sexual play and masturbation
- Age 13 boys were given sex lessons
- Premarital sex was allowed and performed often
- relatively sex-positive culture
Ethnocultural Communities and Sexuality
- The Asian students had more conservative sexual attitudes and less sexual experience than the European-Canadian students.
- The European-Canadian women reported higher rates of sexual desire, arousal, receptivity, and pleasure.
- The Asian men reported higher rates of erectile dysfunction and less sexual satisfaction than the European-Canadian men
- Asian students who kept the strongest ties to their cultural heritage had the most conservative sexual attitudes and experiences (asians also avoided sex and had less sensual experiences
- Among students who had never had sexual intercourse, the two most common reasons were not feeling ready and waiting to meet the right person.
- Chinese immigrants did not talk about sex often as it wasn’t popular to discuss in their countries, in canada they would get lonely and sleep with individuals
- Iranian girls found premarital sex bad
Values
The beliefs and qualities in life that are deemed important or unimportant, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable.
For example, research has found that youth from immigrant families from East Asia and African Muslim countries are less likely than the general population of Canadian youth to have experienced sexual intercourse
Know this
In a surveyed 27 500 men and women over age 40 from 29 countries, who experienced more satisfaction?
- Men
- Canada has highest rates of satisfaction
- Lowest levels were japan and indonesia
- Greater gender equality, sexual pleasure is considered as important for women as it is for men
Sexual Morality in Seven Countries
Pakistan found everything morally wrong
Comparing Canada and USA
- Much higher proportion of the American population than of the Canadian population comes from a Spanish or African background
- United States are often based on three categories: African Americans, Latin Americans, and European Americans
- The birth rate in Canada is lower than that in the United States
- Birth rate is 2x higher in USA
- 45% of Americans agreed that “religious people make better citizens”
- More Canadians (80%) than Americans (64%), for example, are accepting of premarital sex
Sexual Scripts of Young People in Kenya
- A key cultural belief in Kenya is that once puberty is reached, the male sex drive requires release and the female is ready for sex.
- There is also the belief that delaying the age of engaging in sex has negative consequences.
- If male waits too long he may lose the ability to pregnant wife
- Both boys and girls feel pressure from peer groups to engage in sex at a young age.
- Dating = sex (unlike canada)
- sex is seen as something to finish quickly. The objective is to satisfy a basic need for the male
Politics and Sex in Canada and the United States
- “religious right,” have a greater presence in the United States than in Canada
- More for abstinence vs safe sex / contraception
- As a result of a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2015, same-sex marriage became legal in all 50 states.
- In 2005, Canada became the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage
Sexual ethics
govern what societies consider unacceptable sexual behaviours.
The ethics of divinity
- (which generally have religious roots) are based on a fundamental belief in a divine source for moral judgments of right and wrong.
- ethical behaviour on the basis of moral laws or pronouncements found in, for example, the Hebrew and Christian Bibles or Quran, which contain many rules pertaining to sexual behaviour, usually in the form of restrictions against behaviours such as adultery, incest, or sexual activity between members of the same sex.
The ethics of community
- based on what is perceived as the greater good for the community.
- Laws against sexual assault, for example, are based on the community ethic that no one should force someone else to engage in sex against his or her will.
sexual pluralism
people have the right to autonomy in making their own decisions about sexual behaviour provided that their sexual interactions with partners are guided by the principles of honesty, equality, and responsibility.
WAS sexual health goals
Recognize, promote, ensure, and protect sexual rights for all.
Advance toward gender equality and equity.
Condemn, combat, and reduce all forms of sexuality-related violence.
Provide universal access to comprehensive sexuality education and information.
Ensure that reproductive health programs recognize the centrality of sexual health.
Halt and reverse the spread of HIV, AIDS, and other STIs.
Identify, address, and treat sexual concerns, dysfunctions, and disorders.
Achieve recognition of sexual pleasure as a component of holistic health and well-being.
Critical thinking
means scrutinizing definitions of terms and evaluating the premises and logic of arguments. It means basing our own beliefs on careful reasoning, rather than simply accepting what we’re told.
Key elements of critical thinking
1) be skeptical
2) Examine definitions of terms
3) Examine the assumptions or premises underlying arguments
4) Be cautious in drawing conclusions from evidence
5) Consider alternative interpretations of research evidence
6) Consider the strengths and weaknesses of different perspectives on sexuality, even ones you don’t agree with
7) Dont oversimplify
8) Dont overgeneralize
Phallic workship
Veneration of the penis as a symbol of generative power (glorified in art as a plough, an axe, or a sword.)
Phallic symbols
Object that represents the penis (rendering them sometimes as rings and sometimes as necklaces)
incest taboo
The prohibition against itercourse with close blood relatives
Polygamy
SImultaneous marriage to more than one person
Monogamy
Marriage to one person
Pederasty
Sexual love between a man and boy
bisexual
Sexually responsive to either gender (Greek saw this)
Courtesan
A prostitute, especially the mistress of a noble wealthy man
Concubine
A secondary wide, usually inferior legal and social status
Kama Sutra
Book of sexual positions used by indians
Sexologist
A scientist who studies sexual behaviour
sadomasochism
sexual gratification through inflicting or receiving pain
bestiality
sex with animals
necrophilia
intercourse with dead people
sexual revolution.
The period of the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s
1960s and 1970s were periods of significant advancement toward
Equal rights for women in the social, political, and economic spheres.
The Biological Perspective
focuses on the roles of genes, hormones, the nervous system, and other physiological factors in human sexuality.
The Cross-Species Perspective
Turtles massage their mates’ heads with their claws. Male mice nibble at their partners’ necks. Most mammals use only a rear-entry position for copulation, but some animals, such as apes, use a variety of coital positions.
Sexual behaviour among higher mammals such as primates is less directly controlled by instinct than it is among other species, such as birds, fish, and lower mammals
Not all animal research can be carried over to the human race
Sociological and Anthropological Perspectives
like the historical perspective, provide insight into how cultural beliefs affect sexual behaviour and morality
In 1951, anthropologist Clellan S. Ford and psychologist Frank A. Beach reviewed studies of sexual behaviour in preliterate societies around the world.
- Kissing was quite common across the cultures they studied, though not universal
- The frequency of sexual intercourse also varied from culture to culture, but intercourse was relatively more frequent among younger than older people everywhere
- Attitudes toward public nudity varied across cultures
Gender and Sexual Orientation in Indigenous Cultures
Men might dress as women and adopt traditional female roles associated with childcare, cooking, weaving, and beading. Women might also dress as men and adopt traditionally masculine behaviours such as hunting and participating in warfare.
Different Indigenous groups had different names for people whose gender roles were fluid and nonconforming.
berdache
multi- and cross-gendered Indigenous people.
Multiple Perspectives on Human Sexuality
First, human sexuality appears to reflect a combination of biological, social, cultural, sociocultural, and psychological factors that interact in complex ways, perhaps in combinations that are unique for each individual.
Second, there are few universal patterns of sexual behaviour, and views on what’s right and wrong show great diversity.
Third, although our own cultural values and beliefs may be deeply meaningful to us, they may not necessarily indicate what sexual behaviours are common, natural, or moral.
