Chapter 10

Question 1

Bisexual

Answer 1

Sexually attracted to either men or women. Debates still rage over the existence of the phenomenon and its definition, for example, whether one needs to be equally attracted to both sexes in order to be judged bisexual.

Question 2

bride price

Answer 2

common in various Asian and African societies, the bride price is a sum of money paid by a groom to his wife’s family, generally thought to exist in order to compensate the bride’s family for the loss of the daughter’s productive labour and for her social value.

Question 3

bukkake

Answer 3

a form of porn that emphasizes the use of a woman by many men, with its most important feature being communal ejaculation onto the women’s face

Question 4

companionate marriage

Answer 4

An ideal of marriage as a loving partnership, which became more common after the late eighteenth century and eventually implied free choice and “marriage for love”. Not to be confused with current practices of egalitarian, childless, dissoluble partnerships sometimes described under the same name.

Question 5

compulsory heterosexuality

Answer 5

A theory first articulated by Rich, who described heterosexuality as a social institution based on the assumption that heterosexuality was innate and all other forms of sexual expression either deviant or simply invisible.

Question 6

culturally scripted

Answer 6

based on a pattern of speech and interaction that is normative within a particular group or culture.

Question 7

date rape

Answer 7

non-consensual intercourse forced on someone by someone they know. Either through physical force or through coercion.

Question 8

dopamine

Answer 8

a brain chemical neurotransmitter associated with pleasure.

Question 9

double standard

Answer 9

A moral code that prescribes different things for different groups; most commonly associated with differential (and conflicting) sexual standards prescribed to men and women.

Question 10

dowry

Answer 10

a sum of money settled upon a bride by her family or transferred to her groom at marriage.

Question 11

expressive

Answer 11

traits associated with co-operation, warmth, sensitivity, and communication

Question 12

homophobia

Answer 12

an exaggerated fear and/or hatred of homosexuals and homosexuality

Question 13

instrumental

Answer 13

traits associated with competition, assertiveness, and action

Question 14

intimacy

Answer 14

the feeling of closeness, warmth, and relationship with another

Question 15

Kinsey Scale

Answer 15

a seven point scale measuring sexual orientation on which research subjects can be placed by way of a questionnaire.

Question 16

paraphilias

Answer 16

Abnormal or deviant sexual desires and behaviours; familiar examples include exhibitionism, fetishism, pedophilia, sexual masochism, sexual sadism, and voyeurism

Question 17

phallocentric

Answer 17

Focused on male power and male privilege, particularly as expressed by the phallus (the erect penis). Phallocentric sexuality centres on the penis, and more broadly, male gratification.

Question 18

romantic love

Answer 18

A strong attachment to, physical attraction to, and idealization of another human being. While romantic love seems to be universal, it is not always seen as desirable or as the appropriate basis for marriage.

Question 19

sexual fluidity

Answer 19

the ability for one’s erotic response to be influenced by situational factors; according to some scholars, particularly present among women.

Question 20

sodomy

Answer 20

Strictly speaking, anal sexual intercourse. Historically, and in modern “sodomy laws”, more broadly applied to any “unnatural sexuality”, particularly between members of the same sex.

Question 21

stone butch

Answer 21

A masculine or “butch” lesbian who prefers not to be sexually touched and whose sexuality is focused on pleasing her partner.

Question 22

technical virgin

Answer 22

A term used to describe young women, who, in a desire to preserve their virginity, engage in “everything but sex” - everything but vaginal intercourse. This seems to have been less a cultural phenomenon than a media one.