Sexuality

Question 1

Definition of Heterosexuality in “The Invention of ‘Heterosexuality’” Article

Answer 1

Heterosexuality has always been seen as “natural” and is a natural tendency to reproduce, however, humans began attach meaning to these interactions, called sexuality. Language is a factor

Question 2

Sexual Essentialism (Biological Determinism)

Answer 2

Assumption that sex is natural given genitals, chromosomes, etc. It exists prior to social life. Heterosexual instinct is based on natural attraction between men and women. Men and women have innate genetic differences and brains

Question 3

Privacy and Individuality

Answer 3

Assumption that sex is at the center of our sense of self and sex is not always for reproductive and hetero purposes. It is geared towards pleasure and individuality (Freud).

Essentially, we must manage our desires or else we become socially unstable/dangerous

Ex. Court rulings on reproductive rights and sexual intimacy

Question 4

Fixity

Answer 4

Assumption that sex drive is a natural biological force acquired at birth. It is intimately connected to who we are, but hard to control/change because it’s independent of social structures. This suggests that sexualities cannot be changed, meaning heterosexuality is fundamental within us rather than a social convention.

It is ahistorical (no history), transhistorical (unchanging over time), and culturally invariant (don’t differ across countries)

Question 5

Sexuality

Answer 5

“Sex plus culture equals sexuality” – it’s not a biological fact, rather it’s a cultural effect; the meanings we give our bodies, how we use them, and the pleasures they bring us

Question 6

Cultural Imagination

Answer 6

Notion of entwining sexuality with the wider world and creates meanings that we pass on in time, which we then embody in symbols. Symbols as in places, ideas, people, etc. that surround us. Sex and sexuality are learned from people, meaning sexuality is public and social

Question 7

Sex Culture

Answer 7

Diverse contexts and customs that give meaning to our bodies and the ways we use them in pursuit of pleasure. Sexuality is constructed and it varies across countries

Question 8

Sexual Double Standards

Answer 8

A set of principles permitting greater opportunity or liberty to one than to another, especially the granting of greater sexual freedom to men than to women

Ex. Men are praised for sleeping around while women are called sluts. Women who didn’t consent to sex were still slut shamed

Question 9

Ghosting

Answer 9

More frequent because of technology. It is a combination of avoidance–decreasing contact to avoid future meetings, or disclose little information about social life, and mediated communication–a third party ends it for you

Question 10

7 Factors for the decrease in sexual activity

Answer 10

1. ) Stress of modern parenting
2. ) Exhaustion of everyday life
3. ) Pornography; unlimited entertainment; technology
4. ) Development of consent and sexual advances (“where is the boundary”)
5. ) Income inequality and economic pressure
6. ) Mental health issues
7. ) Living with parents

Question 11

Sexual Identification

Answer 11

Sexual attraction, behavior, and identity are distinct. Sexual attraction and behaviors have always existed, but identities have not. Sexual acts were not usually understood as a marker of a “type” of person

Question 12

3 Identifications of Men Based on Gender Expression and Sexual Practices

Answer 12

Fairy - feminine; gave oral sex, received anal sex

Queer - fairly masculine; could give or receive oral/anal sex

Trade - masculine men, received oral and gave anal sex

Question 13

Gay

Answer 13

The word lumped all types of men together who had sex with other men regardless of gender expression or sexual preference for receiving or giving sex

Question 14

3 Factors that Led to the Emergence of Sexual Identification

Answer 14

1. ) New economic (wage labour) systems, which allowed people to live independent lives not dependent upon family
2. ) Urbanization
3. ) New medical frameworks for classifying people

Question 15

Effects of the Identification of Sexuality

Answer 15

It became socially unacceptable for straight men and women to have intimate platonic relationships with the same sex

Gays and lesbians (also bisexuals) were considered deviant and criminalized, institutionalized, and stigmatized

Question 16

Rise of the Middle Class Effects on Sexuality

Answer 16

Sexual perversions and behaviors became more frequent as cities grew, so the middle class distinguished themselves from them by treating those who strayed from “normal” sexuality as deviant. This determined people’s measure