Chapter 6 Sexuality in Relationships

1. Chapter 6Sexuality in Relationships

2. Chapter Sections • 6-1 Sexual Values • 6-2 Alternative Sexual Values • 6-3 Sexual Double Standard • 6-4 Sources of Sexual Values • 6-5 Gender Differences in Sexuality • 6-6 Pheromones and Sexual Behavior • 6-7 Sexuality in Relationships • 6-8 Safe Sex: Avoiding Sexually Transmitted Infections • 6-9 Sexual Fulfillment: Some Prerequisites

3. Sexual Values • Sexual values • moral guidelines for sexual behavior in relationships • Do attitudes and values predict sexual behavior?

4. Three specific types of Sexual Values • Absolutism • a belief system based on unconditional allegiance to the authority of religion, tradition, or law • Official creeds of fundamentalist Christian and Islamic religions encourage absolutist sexual values. • Can religion provide a good source of sexual orientation in terms of values and practices? http://www.npr.org/2011/03/10/133245874/unprotected-texts-the-bible-on-sex-and-marriage

5. Alternative Sexual Values True Love Waits • international campaign challenging teenagers to remain sexually abstinent until marriage • How Effective do you think these efforts are?

6. Alternative Sexual Values Absolutism • Virginity pledges have not been successful. • Delayed sexual debut • Less likely to use a condom • More likely to substitute vaginal sex with oral/anal • Asceticism: self denial helps one achieve spiritual life • Priests, monks, nuns

7. Alternative Sexual Values Relativism • belief system in which sexual decisions are made in reference to emotional, security, and commitment aspects of relationships • The freedom that relativism brings requires responsibility, maturity, and judgment.

8. Alternative Sexual Values Relativism • Friends with benefits: a relationship between nonromantic friends who also have a sexual relationship • Concurrent sexual partnerships: relationships in which the partners have sex with several individuals concurrently

9. Alternative Sexual Values Hedonism: belief that the ultimate value and motivation for human actions lie in the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain

10. Sexual Value by Sex of Undergraduate Respondent

11. Sexual Double Standard Sexual double standard: the view that encourages and accepts sexual expression of men more than women • Men are more likely than females to value hedonism. • Men are less likely to suffer disapproval from having higher numbers of sexual partners. • Women are disadvantaged in sexual negotiations with a partner. • Timing of sex • The use of condoms

12. Sources of Sexual Values • Schools • Religion • Family • Reproductive technologies • Media • Social movements

13. Gender Differences in Sexuality • Beliefs: Men are more likely to think that cybersex is not cheating. Women are more likely to believe oral sex is sex. • Behavior: Women have fewer partners. Pornography use is higher among males. • See pg. 120

14. Pheromones and Sexual Behavior Pheromones: body scents that activate physiological or behavioral responses in other individuals of the same species • Functions include opposite-sex attractants, same-sex repellents, and mother-infant bonding.

15. Sexuality in Relationships • Never-married individuals and those not living together report more sexual partners than those who are married or living together. • Unmarried individuals, when compared with married individuals and cohabitants, report lower levels of sexual satisfaction.

16. Sexuality in Relationships • Marital sex • Given social legitimacy • Frequency declines over time • Remains a richly satisfying experience • For divorced individuals, sexual intercourse is a way to repair damaged self-esteem. • Older individuals are not as sensitized to the danger of contracting STIs.

17. Safe Sex: Avoiding Sexually Transmitted Infections HIV can be transmitted by: • Sexual contact • Intravenous drug use • Blood transfusions • Mother-child transmission • Organ or tissue transplants and donor semen

18. Common Sexual Myths