Chapter 2: Theoretical perspectives on sexuality

Question 1

sociobiology

Answer 1

application of evolutionary biology to understanding the social behavior of animals (including humans).

Question 2

sociobiology

Answer 2

Sociobiology came first. It gained fame through the 1975 book Sociobiology by Harvard entomologist Edward O. Wilson. It is a school of thought that takes Darwin’s theory of evolution and applies it to animal (including human) behavior. The central principle is that the gene’s mission is to propagate itself, and therefore the behavior of living things is based on the desire to produce the maximum number of offspring. Instead of believing humans are born blank slates, sociobiologists say we come highly programmed and that much of our behavior, from violence (eliminating potential mate usurpers) to altruism (saving those with similar genes) to sex roles (men want to spread their sperm as widely as possible; women want to assure survival of the offspring they bear), can be ascribed to ancient evolutionary forces

Question 3

Evolutionary psychology

Answer 3

they have a more subtle understanding of how the emergence of successful hunter-gatherer groups in the Pleistocene is still affecting human behavior today. They say that the gene’s mission of maximum reproduction produces thoughts and urges that could lead to certain behaviors, but that we are free to act on these desires or not. Critics say that evolutionary psychologists don’t account enough for how different cultures produce different human behaviors and that they tend to selectively cite evidence in animal and human studies that support stereotypical sex roles

Question 4

Gender-neutral evolutionary theory

Answer 4

Gowaty: it is not adaptive for humans to display fixed sexual (and any other) behaviour when we live in such varied envrionments. humans evolved to be flexible and adaptable.

Question 5

Two major forces motivating human behaviour (Freud)

Answer 5

Thanatos and libido

Question 6

Id

Answer 6

libido, operates the pleasure principle

Question 7

Ego

Answer 7

realti principle, tries to keep the id in line

Question 8

Superego

Answer 8

conscience, contains the values and ideals of society that we learn and it operates on idealism! persuaes the ego to strive for moral goals rather than realistic ones. Develops as last one.

Question 9

Erogenous zones

Answer 9

part of the skin or mucous membrane that arme extremely sensitive to stimulation

Question 10

Freud stages

Answer 10

1. oral stage (0-1)
2. anal stage (during year 2)
3. Phallic stage (3-5) - Oedipus complex, castration anxiety, penis envy. Electra complex: girls will never grow out of this phase. –> reaction womb envy
4. LAtency stage (5- adolescence): the stage of psychosexual development in which overt sexual interest is sublimated and the child’s attention is focused on skills and peer activities with members of his or her own sex.
5. Genital stage (puberty on)

Question 11

olfactory aversion therapy (behavior modification)

Answer 11

patient first identifies the behavoir chain that leads up to the problem behavior, then they imagine one event in the chain and are then exposed to an unpleasant odor

Question 12

social exchange theory

Answer 12

people participate in relationships only if they find the relationship provides profitable outcomes after weighing the profits and costs of that relationship.
A state of equity existis when participants in a relationship believe the rewards they receive = the costst they bear.

Question 13

matching hypothesis

Answer 13

predicts that men and women choose mates who match them on physical and social characteristics (less attractive will choose more attractive)

Question 14

cognitive theory

Answer 14

what we think influences what we feel

Question 15

Gender schema theory

Answer 15

all of us possess a gender schema taht we associate with males and females

Question 16

social constructivist theories

Answer 16

call our attention to the fact that behaviors and types of people are social constructions, categories that are developed by groups and subcultures and then applied to object int he worl around them

Question 17

intersectionality

Answer 17

approach that says we should simultaneously consider a persons multiple group memberships and identities, including gender, race, social class and sexual orientation to understand a person’s identity and sexuality

Question 18

performativity

Answer 18

refers to ways in which we perform gender or sexuality based on society’s norms, much as actors perform a play

Question 19

sexual orientation binary

Answer 19

the assumption that people are either homosexual or hetereosexual

Question 20

symbolic interaction theory

Answer 20

basic premise that human nature and the social order are products of symbolic communication among people.

Question 21

sexual scripts

Answer 21

sexual behavior is a result of elaborate prior learning that teaches us an etiquette of sexual behavior: kissing, feeling, fucking

Question 22

sociologists approach the study of sexuality with three basic assumptions

Answer 22

1. Every society regulates the sexuality of its members
2. the appropriateness or inappropriateness of a particular sexual behaviour depends upon the institutional context within which occurs
3. Basic institutions of society affect the rules of governing sexuality in that society