Chapter 13: Sexuality Across the Lifespan Flashcards
Is childhood a period of sexual innocence?
L> Study of childhood sexuality faces what? (2)
-Why study it?
- practical difficulties
L> cultural resistance to the idea
L> memory retrieval problems when adults are asked about their childhood
What are two reasons we should study childhood sexuality?
- adult sexuality may have its roots in childhood
L> a knowledge f normal development may help us to understand the effects of child abuse and help us to mend the damage
Primates display sexual behaviour early/later on in life?
- early
- play behaviours seem to serve a rehearsal function (playing house=ex in humans)
Cultures vary in their attitudes towards childhood sexuality:
- two points to this?
- most commonly adults exert some degree of control over childhood sexuality
- these restraints tend to be stronger in societies where sexual restraint is expected of adults
In contemporary western culture children are insulated from sex? huh? (3)
- end of 19th cent?
- sex education?
- sex on tv?
- by the end of the 19th century the belief that children should be kept in a state of sexual innocence was fully engrained
- formalized sex education tends to present sex as something dangerous marked by risk of disease, pregnancy and sexual deviancy
- sex on tv presents a more positive image but really deals with negative consequences and is largely uninformative
Does witnessing parental sex harm children?
- NO
L> not traumatic unless the parents make a big deal about it
Children do/do not engage in a variety of sexual behaviours?
- do
Children rarely engage in ?
- adult like sexual behaviour
L> due to mostly that children cannot imitate what they have not seen
Some children have sexual contacts with adults:
1. Most child-adult contacts involve?
- older children and are single encounters
Some children have sexual contacts with adults:
2. Some kinds of adult-child sex are much more harmful than others (reasons??) (4)
- mostly likely to harm when: contacts are coercive, contacts are related over a long period of time, involve a family member (incest) and involve a very large age difference
- girls are more likely to suffer vs boys
- harm is not inevitable
- often the most damage is done by parental/family/authority reaction to the contuse
Memory problems ___ sexual abuse cases?
- bedevil
L> are “repressed memories” real?
(box 13.2)
Strategies to prevent adult-child sex are effective/not?
- quite effective
- training about good and bad touching!
Preadolescence may be marked by an increase/decrease in sexual interest
- increase
Homosociality?
- preadolescent children segregate by sex
L> this sometimes fosters homosexual play but does not predict homosexuality
Strict gender norms and pre-gay children?
- may traumatize them
Adolescence is a time of?
- sexual exploration
Many cultures have puberty rites (2)
- rites may be simple or complex
2. some involve body modification (ex subincision)
There are strong ___ influences on teen sexual behaviour
social
The sexual behaviour of Canadian and US teens has decreased/increased and has remained constant/diversified
- increased
- diversified
Reasons for the sexual behaviour of Canadian and US teens increasing and diversifying ? (5)
- intro of oral contraceptives in 1960
- legalization of abortion
- intro of effective treatments for some STDs
- feminism, which ultimately reduced the importance of marriageability
- increase in individuals sense of self reliance which has served to distance some people from family/ethnic/religious/moral traditions
_____sex is popular among some teens.
- Noncotial
There is controversy about how to reduce STDs and pregnancy among teens.
L> Many people prefer ___ education programs. (3)
- effect on STDs and teen pregnancy?
- effective programs?
- Sweden vs US?
- abstinence only
1. these have never been shown to reduce teen pregnancy or STDs
2. effective: programs that encourage abstinence and educate about contraception and how to avoid STDs.
3. In Sweden:
L> girls experience first intercourse about a year earlier than in the US
L> rate of pregnancy is about a third of what it is in the US
L> incidence of AIDS is about 1/10 of the rate in the US
Teen sexuality is central to the development of what?
identity
Teen Sexuality is central to the development of identity:
Serial_____ is still the norm.
- serial monogamy
L> the practice of having a number of long-term romantic or sexual partners in succession
Teen Sexuality is central to the development of identity:
- Traditional social patterns have been modified:
- Females are no longer driven by ?
- Males and females are ___ positioned in society therefore leading to what?
- the need to find a suitable husband
- equally
L> female sexual behaviour pattern has become more like that of males
Teen Sexuality is central to the development of identity:
Males face increase/decrease challenges ?
- increased
Teen Sexuality is central to the development of identity:
Males face increased challenged:
- male teens now have a better chance of?
- anxiety?
- achieving sexual relationships
- they are more likely to fall prey to the kinds of anxiety concerning their looks, especially that used to be the solve province of females.
Teen Sexuality is central to the development of identity:
- Gender norms are loosening or getting tighter for some teens?
- loosening
Young adulthood and premarital sex:
-Most young men and women have ____ sexual partners, despite the lengthening of the ___ phase of their lives.
- only a few
- premarital
The median age at first marriage in Canada is ___ for men and ___ for women. Therefore there is a period of - between puberty and marriage.
29.6 and 27.6
15-17
Age of menarche has been ____ since the beginning of the 20th century while age of first marriage has been?
- fallin (now 12.5-12.7 years)
- rising
Most men and women have fewer/more than five sexual partners prior to marriage/cohabitation?
- fewer
Age of first intercourse has been increasing/decreasing?median age?
- decreasing
L> median age = 17 years old for both men and women
Cultural differences influences whether ___ intercourse occurs but not what?
- premarital
- not the age of first intercourse
First sexual intercourse is a major life transition with both ____ and __ significance.
physiological and social
A study of 1600 uni students found that __ reported more please and else guilt than ___ did for their first sexual intercourse.
- men
- women
For most of the females in the study of 1600 uni students, first intercourse was ?
- not impressive
L> the avg pleasure rating was a 2.95 on a scale that ran from 1 (not at all) to 7 ( a great deal)
First sexual intercourse experience with a prostitute is much more common/ rarer than in former decades.
- rarer
What are the four attitudes towards premarital intercourse?
- abstinence
- permissiveness with affection
- permissiveness without affection
- double standard
Which of the four attitudes towards premarital intercourse is the standard among most of the population in Canada?
- permissiveness with affection
Conflicts include ___ vs ____.
attitudes vs behaviour
Conflicts: Attitudes vs behaviour
- Our society creates?
- Some people engage in ___ while disapproving of it…this leads to what?
- premarital sex
Teenage condom use:
1. Consistent use is common or uncommon?
L> Canadian study results? (uni students vs dropouts)
- uncommon
L.>Canadian Study: 15% of university students and about 9% of school dropouts always use them
Teenage condom use:
2. Two beliefs account for why young people do not perceive themselves to be at risk of STDs what are they?
- they minimize the dangers of STDs
2. they believe that by choosing partners whoa re like themselves they can ensure that their parters are not infected
Teenage condom use:
- gender roles make it difficult for which gender to initiate condom use?
- girls
Teenage Pregnancy :
1. In Canada ____ teenage girls become pregnant each year.
- 42,000
Teenage Pregnancy: 2. Pregnancy rates differ across countries L> US? L> Canada L> Great Britain L> Sweden L> France
- US= high
- Canada and GB= intermediate
- Sweden and France= low
What five factors account for the differing pregnancy rates across countries?
- likelihood of contraceptive use
- socioeconomic variables affecting contraceptive use
- National programs that provide incentive and means to delay childbearing
- Societal acceptance of sexual behaviour among young people
- easily available infer about sexual matters and easy access to contraceptives
Teen Sexuality is central to the development of identity:
Serial_____ is still the norm.
- serial monogamy
L> the practice of having a number of long-term romantic or sexual partners in succession
Teen Sexuality is central to the development of identity:
- Traditional social patterns have been modified:
- Females are no longer driven by ?
- Males and females are ___ positioned in society therefore leading to what?
- the need to find a suitable husband
- equally
L> female sexual behaviour pattern has become more like that of males
Teen Sexuality is central to the development of identity:
Males face increase/decrease challenges ?
- increased
Teen Sexuality is central to the development of identity:
Males face increased challenged:
- male teens now have a better chance of?
- anxiety?
- achieving sexual relationships
- they are more likely to fall prey to the kinds of anxiety concerning their looks, especially that used to be the solve province of females.
Teen Sexuality is central to the development of identity:
- Gender norms are loosening or getting tighter for some teens?
- loosening
Young adulthood and premarital sex:
-Most young men and women have ____ sexual partners, despite the lengthening of the ___ phase of their lives.
- only a few
- premarital
The median age at first marriage in Canada is ___ for men and ___ for women. Therefore there is a period of - between puberty and marriage.
29.6 and 27.6
15-17
Age of menarche has been ____ since the beginning of the 20th century while age of first marriage has been?
- fallin (now 12.5-12.7 years)
- rising
Most men and women have fewer/more than five sexual partners prior to marriage/cohabitation?
- fewer
Age of first intercourse has been increasing/decreasing?median age?
- decreasing
L> median age = 17 years old for both men and women
Cultural differences influences whether ___ intercourse occurs but not what?
- premarital
- not the age of first intercourse
First sexual intercourse is a major life transition with both ____ and __ significance.
physiological and social
A study of 1600 uni students found that __ reported more please and else guilt than ___ did for their first sexual intercourse.
- men
- women
For most of the females in the study of 1600 uni students, first intercourse was ?
- not impressive
L> the avg pleasure rating was a 2.95 on a scale that ran from 1 (not at all) to 7 ( a great deal)
First sexual intercourse experience with a prostitute is much more common/ rarer than in former decades.
- rarer
What are the four attitudes towards premarital intercourse?
- abstinence
- permissiveness with affection
- permissiveness without affection
- double standard
Which of the four attitudes towards premarital intercourse is the standard among most of the population in Canada?
- permissiveness with affection
Conflicts include ___ vs ____.
attitudes vs behaviour
Conflicts: Attitudes vs behaviour
- Our society creates?
- Some people engage in ___ while disapproving of it…this leads to what?
- premarital sex
Teenage condom use:
1. Consistent use is common or uncommon?
L> Canadian study results? (uni students vs dropouts)
- uncommon
L.>Canadian Study: 15% of university students and about 9% of school dropouts always use them
Teenage condom use:
2. Two beliefs account for why young people do not perceive themselves to be at risk of STDs what are they?
- they minimize the dangers of STDs
2. they believe that by choosing partners whoa re like themselves they can ensure that their parters are not infected
Teenage condom use:
- gender roles make it difficult for which gender to initiate condom use?
- girls
Teenage Pregnancy :
1. In Canada ____ teenage girls become pregnant each year.
- 42,000
Teenage Pregnancy: 2. Pregnancy rates differ across countries L> US? L> Canada L> Great Britain L> Sweden L> France
- US= high
- Canada and GB= intermediate
- Sweden and France= low
What five factors account for the differing pregnancy rates across countries?
- likelihood of contraceptive use
- socioeconomic variables affecting contraceptive use
- National programs that provide incentive and means to delay childbearing
- Societal acceptance of sexual behaviour among young people
- easily available infer about sexual matters and easy access to contraceptives
Marriage:
1. Divorce rates are low/high?
- high
Marriage:
1. Divorce rates are high and are due in part to what three things?
- difficulty of sustaining affection and intimacy in companionate marriage ( A marriage in which the partners agree not to have children and may divorce by mutual consent, with neither partner responsible for the financial welfare of the other.)
- social equivalence between men and women has brought about a decline in the number of children
- the distinction between legitimacy and illegitimacy of children is gone.
Marriage:
- What has become an alternative option to marriage?
- long term cohabitation
Marriage:
- whats the deal with sex in marriage for women?
- less sex but more satisfaction
Marriage:
- what three things account for decreases in marital satisfaction?
- birth of first child
- entry of the oldest child into adolescence
- retirement
Marriage:
- at ages - women are more likely to be dissatisfied with marriage than men are.
45-59
Marriage:
What are the four factors that account for martial disruption ?
- passage of time
- 5 years: 1/5 breakups
- 10 years: 1/3 breakups
- 20 years: 1/2 breakups - age at marriage (see fig 13.15)
- Ethnicity ( see fig 13.16)
- dissimilarity
Aging and sex?
- see text
