Chapter 10: Sexuality Flashcards
Sexual identity
used to describe someone’s sense of self in terms of who they are attracted to, how they think of themselves sexually and in terms of attraction, and their sexual preferences.)
Sexuality is a broad term that refers to ….(4)
sexual identity, sexual practices, sexual attractiveness, and sexual desires
Sexual orientation
refers to the direction of a person’s erotic and romantic attraction
bisexual
sexually attracted to either sex
heterosexual identity
attracted to someone of a different sex (often referred to as “opposite sex”
homosexual
refers to someone who is attracted to the same sex
Pansexual
sexual and romantic attraction outside of a binary of sex or gender; someone who is pansexual is attracted to people regardless of the person’s gender identity or biological sex
Asexual
little or no sexual and romantic attraction, including limited interest in sexual activity
Allies
heterosexual individuals who support legal and social rights for LGBTQ+ individuals
Queer theory
generally concerned with moving away from the idea of identity as in a single, unified homosexual identity
queer
used as a shorthand for identities that are not heterosexual or cisgender or gender-binary (man/woman)
Conflict theory and sexuality (2)
- Regard sexuality as another domain where stratification and inequalities exist.
- Consider the role of people with authority and power to regulate the sexuality of others and create deviance out of that regulation
Structural Functionalist and sexuality (2)
- perspective on sexuality underscores the importance of heterosexuality, heterosexual marriage and the family for social stability
- Sex Role theory from Parson
Symbolic interactionist and sexuality (2)
- sexual scripts is a major theorectical contribution from symbolic interactinism to the study of sexuality. In addition.
- Symbolic interactionism notes the ways that we learn sexuality through interactions with varied settings and those people in them.
Feminist theory and sexuality
- See sexuality as an arena of inequality
- A person adopts a gender identity they also learn what is
Postmodern and sexuality (3)
- Queer theory is most related to postmodernism, namely through the emphasis on moving away from categories around identities and behaviours.
- Foucault’s work emphasizes how power and discourse shape cultural ideas of normal and abnormal sexualities
- Butler’s work points is to the heteronormative underpinnings of cultural ideas about gender and the instability of identites related to sex, gender and sexuality.
Alfred Kinsey
- a leader in suggesting a move away from discreet categories of heterosexual and homosexual, arguing instead that sexuality exists on a continuum. That continuum is captured in “The Kinsey Scale.”
- Measured woman’s clitoris
The Kinsey Scale
- depicts exclusively heterosexual and exclusively homosexual as two ends of the scale, with various categories in between, such as the category “predominantly heterosexual, only incidentally homosexual,” which would suggest someone identifies as heterosexual but has had at least one same-sex sexual experience. The category “equally heterosexual and homosexual” denotes bisexuality
Sexuality is composed of
- identity, behaviour, and desires.
Sexual behaviour refers to
the sexual activities a person partakes in, with or without a partner