Marriage and Family

1. Marriage and Family Chapter 5 SEXUAL IDENTITY,

2. HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON SEXUALITY • Sexuality may be a universal and natural physiological experience, but sexual attitudes and behaviors can be quite different across cultures. • For example, the Mangaia people of Polynesia are expected to have a high level of sexual desire in early adolescence. • In contrast to the Mangaia, the Dani of New Guinea show little interest in sex beyond what is needed for reproduction. • We can also see differences within our own culture, including across historical periods, between racial and ethnic groups, social classes, and between women and men. For example, our images of early American sexuality are of prim and proper Puritans and sexually repressed Victorians. Religious and medical authorities of the time did not believe that women experienced sexual dEsire; those women who did were considered dangerous or evil. • .

3. HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON SEXUALITY • Myths and stereotypes surrounded males as well. People believed sexual intercourse drained a man of his natural vitality, and therefore engaging in it too frequently — more than once a month—was not recommended. • The 20th century witnessed a number of new social trends that began to shape sexual behavior, marriage, and family life. Industrialization and growth in jobs encouraged men and women to move away from their extended families in rural areas. In urban areas, away from their traditions, they experienced greater independence and opportunities. • These changes led many people to question existing ideas about sexuality, and the traditional values began to give way to a search for personal fulfillment and satisfaction. Both men and women began to view sexual gratification as a right, and the availability of birth control offered women and men a degree of control over their lives that had been largely unavailable.

4. HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON SEXUALITY • Today our culture addresses sexuality more openly than a few generations ago. At the turn of the 20th century, it was illegal to provide unmarried people with information about birth control, while today many unmarried teenagers already know about and have used various methods of preventing pregnancy. Most Americans believe it is morally acceptable to have a baby outside marriage, and about 40 percent believe abortion should be legal under any or most circumstances. • We are single for longer periods of time, thereby increasing our likelihood of having nonmarital sex. Biology is interwoven with these social and cultural conditions. In 1890, the average age at menarche, or a woman’s first menstrual period, was 15-17 years, and the average age of marriage for women was 22 years. Today, the average age at menarche is around 12 years, and the average age of marriage is about 26 years

5. OUR SEXUAL SELVES: BIOLOGY AND CULTURE INTERTWINED • Sex is biological, personal, and social. • Sex and Gender • Typically, people think of two sexes based on genitalia: male and female. But these categories are not always this obvious. • Some people are born intersexed, a term used for a variety of conditions in which a person has a reproductive or sexual anatomy that does not fit the typical definition of what is considered male or female. • How common are these differences? It depends on the condition. A variation that is so atypical to require surgery occurs only about one or two in 1,000 births. • Recall that gender refers to the culturally and socially constructed differences between the meanings, beliefs, and practices associated with femininity and masculinity. Gender is social in nature and consists of learned attitudes and behaviors, not biological or physical qualities.

6. OUR SEXUAL SELVES: BIOLOGY AND CULTURE INTERTWINED • Sex is biological, personal, and social. • Sex and Gender • Sometimes a person’s identity does not conform to his or her biological anatomy. Transgender individuals manifest characteristics, behaviors, or self-expressions associated typically with the other gender. • Some transgender individuals harbor a deep sense of discomfort about their sex and wish to live fully as members of the other sex. Usually referred to as transsexuals, these individuals may have sex reassignment surgery and hormone treatments. • It is estimated that 100 to 500 sex reassignments surgeries are conducted each year in the United States.

7. OUR SEXUAL SELVES: BIOLOGY AND CULTURE INTERTWINED • Sexual Orientation. Another aspect of who we are concerns our sexual orientation, which refers to an enduring pattern of romantic, emotional, and sexual partners we choose. It involves a person’s identity, or how one sees oneself. • For ease of discussion many people still talk about sexual orientation in terms of discrete categories. A heterosexual identity refers to an attraction and preference for romantic, emotional, and sexual relationships with the other sex. • A homosexual identity refers to attraction and preference for relationships with member of one’s own sex. • .The term bisexual refers to an orientation in which a person is attracted to both males and females. • .Counting the number of persons who are gay, lesbian, and bisexual is challenging. Having a gay or lesbian identity can be a very different thing from having a gay or lesbian experience.

8. OUR SEXUAL SELVES: BIOLOGY AND CULTURE INTERTWINED • Sexual Orientation.(Continued) • The number of persons who identify themselves as homosexual or bisexual is significantly smaller than the percentage of persons who have had, or have considered having, a same-sex sexual experience. Watch the Video Core Concepts: Alternative Sexual Orientation on myfamilylab.com • What Determines Sexual Orientation? • The question of what causes sexual orientation is an intriguing one that we cannot yet definitively answer. Scientists are coming to the conclusion that a complex set of biological (genetics and hormones) and social factors shape who we are. • Emerging evidence suggests the biological components are far greater than we once imagined. Psychologist, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals generally agree that homosexuality is not an illness, mental disorder, or emotional problem. • One study of college students found that 17 percent of gay and bisexual men and 11 percent of lesbian and bisexual women reported knowing they were gay or bisexual as early as grade school.

9. OUR SEXUAL SELVES: BIOLOGY AND CULTURE INTERTWINED • Sexual Orientation.(Continued) • What Determines Sexual Orientation?(continued) One study set out to determine whether identical twins, who share genetic material, were more likely to be gay or lesbian than other siblings. • The researchers found that 52 percent of the male identical twin pairs and 48 percent of the identical female twin pairs were both homosexual, compared to only 22 percent of male fraternal twins and 16 percent of female fraternal twins. Adopted siblings were least like to both be homosexual. • Another study examined the relationship between the sexual orientation of 55 gay or bisexual fathers, and their 82 adult sons at least 17 years of age. More than 90 percent of the sons were heterosexual. • Some researchers suggest homosexuality is more common on the maternal side.

10. OUR SEXUAL SELVES: BIOLOGY AND CULTURE INTERTWINED • Attitudes toward LGBT. Attitudes towards lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender persons (LGBT) differ around the world. In many countries in the Middle East and Africa, homosexuality is against the law and carries harsh penalties. • In the United States, many people still disapprove of homosexuality, but attitudes are becoming more accepting. • The Gallup Poll also found that 89 percent believe homosexuals should have “equal rights in terms of job opportunities,” although 39 percent agree that “marriages between same-sex couples should be recognized by law.” • Some people experience very strong negative feelings towards homosexuality, called homophobia (or anti-gay prejudice). • The U.S. Justice Department claims that, of all hate and bias crimes reported to the FBI, 17 percent involve sexual orientation.

11. OUR SEXUAL SELVES: BIOLOGY AND CULTURE INTERTWINED • Anti-gay prejudice adversely affects both homosexuals and heterosexuals. It creates fear, anxiety, misunderstanding, and hatred. The delay in our country’s response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been attributed to anti-gay prejudice. • SEXUAL SCRIPTS • Our sexual attitudes and behaviors are organized and directed through sexual scripts, which are the norms or rules regarding sexual behavior. They govern the who, what, were, when, how, and why we have sex. • GENDER AND SEXUAL SCRIPTS: THE DOUBLE STANDARD • Traditionally, men are granted far more leeway in sexual behavior than are women, a situation called the double standard. • A recent content analysis of adolescents’ top 25 prime time network programs reveals that sexual scripts are highly gendered. • Interestingly, both men and women uphold the double standard: Even women perceive other women more negatively if they have sex in an uncommitted relationship.

12. OUR SEXUAL SELVES: BIOLOGY AND CULTURE INTERTWINED • SEXUAL SCRIPTS • Peggy Orenstein found that the fear of being labeled a slut in middle school affects how girls see themselves and directly influences how they relate to other girls and to boys. • )In Dilemmas of Desire, author Deborah Tolman describes how girls wanted to be desired by boys, but at the same time dissociated from their own bodies.

13. Components of the Male and Female Sexual Scripts • Components of the Male and Female Sexual Scripts • The male script emphasizes sex over intimacy: • A man’s looks are relatively unimportant, but his status in enhanced if he is with a beautiful woman. • The man always wants sex and is ready for it. • A man is in charge. • A man cannot easily stop himself once he gets turned on. • Sex equals intercourse. • Sexual intercourse always leads to orgasm.

14. Components of the Male and Female Sexual Scripts • Components of the Male and Female Sexual Scripts (Continued) • For women, the sexual script emphasizes feelings over sex: • Women should make themselves sexually attractive to men to get their attention, but should not make themselves too attractive. • Women’s genitals are mysterious. • Women should not know too much about sex or be too experienced. • Good girls do not plan in advance to have sex or initiate it. • Women should not talk about sex. • Men should know how to please a woman. • Sexual intercourse is supposed to lead to orgasm and other stimulation should be unnecessary.

15. Components of the Male and Female Sexual Scripts • Components of the Male and Female Sexual Scripts (Continued) • The double standard is found throughout the world. Sometimes it lays the foundation for government social policy. For example, the Japanese government took many decades to approve birth control pills to prevent pregnancy, but did not delay when it came to approving Viagra to help men with impotence. • The Double Standard in Current Sexual Behavior • Researchers continue to find significant difference between men and women in their sexual behavior. An ABC News survey showed than men think about sex more often than women. • The double standard contributes to a number of problems: it fosters a lack of knowledge about women’s bodies and the mistaken idea that women have less important sexual needs; it perpetuates the notion that male sexuality should be a normative baseline for eroticism and sexual activity; and it objectifies woman by keeping them as the “objects of desire.” • Example of the Double Standard: Confusion over the Source of Women’s Pleasure.

16. Components of the Male and Female Sexual Scripts • Components of the Male and Female Sexual Scripts (Continued) • Sexual intercourse is often viewed as the ultimate sexual act. While this makes sense from a procreative standpoint—since sexual intercourse is needed to make babies—it does not make sense to the many women who are more likely to have orgasms from manual or oral stimulation than from sexual intercourse itself. • The Hite Report, a non-representative sample, but based on information from over 3,000 women, found that only 26 percent reported experiencing orgasm regularly during intercourse. • Research shows us that the clitoris is, in many ways, the female counterpart to the penis. In sexual intercourse, while the penis receives direct stimulation, the clitoris may receive only indirect stimulation. And while the penis is directly involved in reproduction, the clitoris is unique in serving no known purpose but providing sexual pleasure.

17. Sexology • A field comprised of multidisciplinary group of clinicians, researchers, and educators who study sexuality. • Early Pioneers • Sigmund Freud believed we are all born with biologically based sex drives. These drives must be channeled through socially approved outlets; otherwise, the individual will experience conflict within himself or herself, with the family, or with society at large. • Alfred Kinsey conducted one of the first large surveys on sexuality and his associates interviewed approximately 11,000 men and women. Although a nonrandom and biased sample, these data served for decades as a major source of statistics.

18. Sexology • Perhaps Kinsey’s greatest contribution is the way he moved the discussion of sexual orientation away from a simple dichotomy. • His research showed that a surprising number of people are not completely heterosexual or homosexual, but instead are somewhere in between. • Kinsey’s work revealed that sexual identity is conceptually distinct from sexual behavior. • The research of William Masters and Virginia Johnson in the 1960s addressed the physiology of human sexual response.

19. Sexology • Masters and Johnson are known for their understanding of sexual response cycle, which they divided into four states—(1) desire; (2) excitement; (3) orgasm; and (4) resolution. • Contemporary Research in Human Sexuality • A number of more recent studies offer important information about contemporary sexuality in the United States. In 1992, the National Opinion Research Center and the University of Chicago conducted a large research project based on face-to-face interviews with a random sample of 3,432 U.S. adults ages 18-59.

20. Sexology • Several other excellent and more recent sources of data about human sexuality use surveys. For example, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), conducted every other year for the Centers of Disease Control (CDC), measures the prevalence of many health-risk behaviors, including sexual behavior, contraceptive use, risking sexually transmitted disease, and unintended pregnancy among 14,000 students in grades 9-12. • Public opinion polls such as Gallup, NBC News, and ABC News also conduct surveys with representative samples of U.S. adults or teens.

21. SEXUAL BEHAVIORS • Oral sex, oral stimulation of the genitals, is common among heterosexual, White, young, and more highly educated samples, including adolescents and college students. • Whites are more likely to engage in and receive oral sex, both cunnilingus, oral stimulation of the woman’s genitals by her partner, and fellatio, oral stimulation of the man’s genitals by his partner, than Blacks and Hispanics. • Women have a median of three sexual partners, while men have eight. • Blacks report the greatest number of sexual partners. For example, 46 percent of Black men have had 15 or more sexual partners, compared to 27 percent of Whites, and 20 percent of Mexican Americans.

22. SEXUAL BEHAVIORS • SEXUAL EXPRESSION THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES • Childhood • We know that we become sexual very early in our lives—even infants have been observed to stimulate themselves. • During early childhood (2 to 6 years), children develop a sense of who they are as girls or as boys and have a good understanding of gendered behavior. • In middle childhood (7 to 11 years), children experiment with masturbation.

23. SEXUAL BEHAVIORS • SEXUAL EXPRESSION THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES • Childhood (continued) • Adolescence (12 to 21) is a period when children sexually mature. Increased estrogen will cause girls’ breasts and sexual organs to grow, and the average of menarche is now about 12 years. Among boys the increased androgen sex hormones, testosterone, in particular, cause hair growth, voice changes, and growth in size of sexual organs. • Teenage Sexuality, Pregnancy, and Motherhood • Many American adolescents are sexually active. A large study conducted by the CDC shows that 46 percent of girls and 50 percent of boys have had sexual intercourse.

24. SEXUAL BEHAVIORS • SEXUAL EXPRESSION THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES • Childhood (continued) • Black teens are more likely to be sexually active than are Hispanics or Whites, and they tend to begin having intercourse at younger ages than other teens. • By the end of high school, about two-thirds of young men and women have had intercourse. • Teenage Pregnancy and Motherhood. About 750,000 U.S. women under age of 20 become pregnant each year, resulting in about 435,000 births.

25. SEXUAL BEHAVIORS • SEXUAL EXPRESSION THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES • Teenage parents are disadvantaged compared to other teens and they are generally unprepared for the financial, social, and psychological challenges of raising children. • Teenage mothers are more likely to die in childbirth; their infants are more likely to be low birth weight, are considerably poorer, and are more likely to receive welfare. Adolescent mothers are also less knowledgeable about child development, less prepared for childbearing, and more likely to be depressed than other mothers. • Teenage births declined significantly during the 1990s and early 2000s. After a few years of rising teen birthrates, the trend is now heading downward again. Watch the Video Core Concepts; Sexuality Education Debate on myfamilylab.com

26. SEXUAL BEHAVIORS • Nonmarital Sex and Young Adults • People are far more accepting of nonmarital sex (often referred to as “premarital sex”) among young adults. Fifty-nine percent of adults reported that premarital sex is only “sometimes or not at all wrong” according to a nationwide study. • Premarital sex among you adults takes place for a variety of reasons in a variety of contexts. By age 25, 88 percent of women and 89 percent of men have engaged in premarital sex. • One type of casual sexual experience has received widespread attention—hooking up, or the casual sexual interactions among people without any expectations of commitment.

27. SEXUAL BEHAVIORS • Gay and Lesbian Sexual Relationships • Researcher Lawrence Kudek collected extensive information over time to determine how gay and lesbian relationships differ from, or are similar to, heterosexual relationships. Overall, he found that the similarities between heterosexual and homosexual relationships for outweigh the differences. • Nonetheless, research on the sexual and committed relationships of gays and lesbians does reveal some notable differences.

28. SEXUAL BEHAVIORS • Sex in Marriage • Most married people are indeed sexually active, and report being quite satisfied with the sexual aspects of their relationship. • While the frequency varies, married couples report having sexual relations about once or twice a week or about six to seven times per month. Younger couples engage in sex more often, older couples less. Most married couples do not consider the decline in frequency of sex to be a major problem. • Extramarital Sex. Some married persons have engaged in extramarital sex, defined as sex with someone who is not your spouse.

29. SEXUAL BEHAVIORS • Sex in Marriage • Americans frown upon extramarital sex, with 78 percent saying that it is always wrong, and another 15 percent saying that is almost always wrong. • Two-thirds of Americans say that they would not forgive their spouse for having an affair, and two-thirds would also seek a divorce. • Men are somewhat more likely to have extramarital sex, and the longer they live, the more likely they are to do so. • There are many reasons for extramarital sex, including sexual curiosity, a lost sense of fun and excitement in the marriage, and an inability to communicate one’s own needs and desires, sexual addiction, or boredom with marriage or life in general. • For those involved, especially the spouse of the person who had an affair, feelings of betrayal, hurt, and anger are common.

30. SEXUAL BEHAVIORS • Sex and the Elderly • Sexuality remains an essential element of the lives of the elderly. The vast majority of elders have a positive view of sexual relationships, and if married or partnered, it is quite likely that they are still sexually active. • Although the likelihood of sexual activity does decline with age, 39 percent of men ages 75-85 are still sexually active, as are 17 percent of women. A primary reason that the figures are not higher than this is simply that no partner is available: rates of widowhood are high.

31. SEXUAL BEHAVIORS • SEXUAL SATISFACTION IN COMMITTED RELATIONSHIPS • For most men and women, there is a positive relationship between sexual satisfaction and overall relationship satisfaction, commitment, and stability regardless of whether we are talking about heterosexual, gay, or lesbian relationships. • For example, Schwartz found that a large majority of married individuals reported feeling extremely or very satisfied in their sexual relationship and reported having feelings of love and intimacy after engaging in sexual behaviors. • While men are more likely to feel that a poor sex life undermines the entire relationship, women are more likely to feel that a relationship can still be good even if the sex life is not so great.

32. SEXUAL BEHAVIORS • SEXUAL SATISFACTION IN COMMITTED RELATIONSHIPS • Other differences between men and women exist as well. For example, among women, increased relationship satisfaction leads to increased sexual satisfaction, but among men, increased sexual satisfaction leads to increased relationship satisfaction. • An important theme in this chapter is that micro-level factors and macro-level factors intertwine with biology to influence how we engage sexually with others.

33. SEXUAL BEHAVIORS • SEX AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM: SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS • Millions of Americans currently have at least once sexually transmitted infection (STI), and an additional 19 million people become infected each year. STIs include Chlamydia, genital human papilloma virus (HPV), herpes, trichomoniasis, gonorrhea, syphilis, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), and HIV/AIDS. • Despite the fact that STIs are widespread and can strike people of any age, sex, or sexual orientation most people remain unaware of the risks and consequences of all but the most publicized— HIV and AIDS. • However, other STIs are far more prevalent in the population. Genital HPV is estimated to be the most common STI, with at least 50 percent of sexually active men and women acquiring genital HPV invocation some point in their lives. Chlamydia is the most commonly reported STI, with 2.3 million people infected, and over one million new cases a year; however, even more go undiagnosed. • Average STI rates tend to be higher among Blacks than Whites. We can attribute some of this difference to differences in risky behavior. However, part of this disparity is because Blacks are more likely to seek health care in public clinics, which report STIs more thoroughly than do private providers.

34. SEXUAL BEHAVIORS • SEX AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM: SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS • Genital HPV is the most common STI in the United States, with about 20 million Americans currently infected, and another 6.2 million becoming newly infected each year. • Most people with HPV do not develop symptoms or health problems. In 90 percent of the cases, the body’s immune system clears the HPV invention naturally within two years. However, for others, HPV can cause genital warts or certain cancers, most commonly cervical cancer. It can cause cancers of the vulva, vagina, anus, and penis. • Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and passed from one person to another through blood-to-blood transmission, through sexual contact, and through pregnancy, delivery, or breast feeding.

35. SEXUAL BEHAVIORS • SEX AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM: SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS • History and Development. • In the early 1980s, physicians noticed numerous cases of rare diseases occurring among otherwise strong and healthy men. Kaposi’s sarcoma and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia had become deadly diseases in the gay male population. • Initially, AIDS seemed to be confined to a few groups: gay men, people with hemophilia, and Haitians. • scientists identified a type of chimpanzee in West Africa as the source of HIV infection in humans. The virus most likely jumped to humans when they hunted these chimpanzees for meat. • Tens of millions of people have died from HIV, including nearly 600,000 in the United States. • Current Status. More than 1.1 million persons are living with HIV/AIDS in the United States, about half with full-blown AIDS. • .Minority groups have been particularly hard-hit by HIV/AIDS. Blacks comprise only 12 percent of the U.S. population, but they represent about half of newly reported HIV/AIDS cases; Hispanics • .represent 14 percent of the population, but account for 18 percent of the new AIDS cases reported. • .Underlying social and economic conditions such as higher rates of poverty, substance abuse, limited access to health care, cultural diversity, and language barriers may increase the risk of infection. 9. As devastating as HIV/AIDS is in the United States, in other parts of the world 33.4 million people are infected, and 25 million have already died. Particularly hard hit is sub-Saharan Africa; with over 10 percent of the world’s population, it is home to more than 67 percent of persons with HIV. • .Unlike the United States, where most HIV/A IDS victims are men who have sex with other men, heterosexual women and girls are most vulnerable in Sub-Saharan Africa. • .

36. SEXUAL BEHAVIORS • SEX AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM: SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS • Current Status. • More than 1.1 million persons are living with HIV/AIDS in the United States, about half with full-blown AIDS. • Minority groups have been particularly hard-hit by HIV/AIDS. Blacks comprise only 12 percent of the U.S. population, but they represent about half of newly reported HIV/AIDS cases; Hispanics Represent 14 percent of the population, but account for 18 percent of the new AIDS cases reported. • Underlying social and economic conditions such as higher rates of poverty, substance abuse, limited access to health care, cultural diversity, and language barriers may increase the risk of infection. 9. As devastating as HIV/AIDS is in the United States, in other parts of the world 33.4 million people are infected, and 25 million have already died. Particularly hard hit is sub-Saharan Africa; with over 10 percent of the world’s population, it is home to more than 67 percent of persons with HIV. • Unlike the United States, where most HIV/A IDS victims are men who have sex with other men, heterosexual women and girls are most vulnerable in Sub-Saharan Africa.