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Understanding Sexuality. Sexuality is not just about “having sex.” Through much of our history, sex has been a cultural taboo. Scientists long considered sex off limits as a research topic. Sex – the biological distinction between females and males. Sex and the Body.
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Understanding Sexuality • Sexuality is not just about “having sex.” • Through much of our history, sex has been a cultural taboo. • Scientists long considered sex off limits as a research topic. • Sex – the biological distinction between females and males.
Sex and the Body • Primary sex characteristics – the genitals, and organs used for reproduction. • Secondary sex characteristics – bodily development apart from the genitals.
In rare cases, a hormone imbalance before birth produces an intersexual person. Some intersexuals undergo genital surgery to appear normal. Transsexuals – people who feel they are one sex even though biologically they are the other. Many become transsexuals by surgically altering their genitals. Intersexuals and Transsexuals
Sex: A Cultural Issue • Sexuality has a biological foundation. • Like all dimensions of human behavior, sex is very much a cultural issue. • Are any cultural views of sex the same everywhere? • Yes: • The incest taboo – forbidding sexual relations or marriage between certain relatives.
Alfred Kinsey set the stage for the “sexual revolution.” Kinsey published a study of sexuality in 1948. His work fostered a new openness toward sexuality. The “pill” was introduced in 1960, making sex more convenient. In 1980, a counterrevolution began, calling for a return to family values. Sexual Attitudes in the United States
Figure 7-1 (p. 165)The Sexual Revolution: Closing the Double Standard
Sexual Orientation • Sexual orientation – a person’s romantic and emotional attraction to another person. • The norm is heterosexuality. • A significant number of people favor homosexuality. • Bisexuality – sexual attraction to people of both sexes.
What Gives Us A Sexual Orientation? • Anthropologists provide evidence suggesting that sexual orientation is socially constructed. • Various kinds of homosexuality exist in different cultures. • A growing body of evidence suggests that orientation is innate, rooted in biology.
Sexual Controversies • Teen Pregnancy – One million teens become pregnant each year in the United States. • Pornography – a $10 billion a year industry that some claim leads to a breakdown of morals. • Prostitution – the selling of sexual services has reached 1 in 5 men at some point in time.
Sexual Violence and Abuse • Rape is an expression of power. • It is an act used to humiliate or control another person. • 90,000 women are raped each year. • Most rapes involve people who know one another. • Many victims of date rape do not report the crime.
Theoretical Analysis of Sexuality:Structural-Functional Analysis • Sex allows our species to reproduce. • Culture and institutions regulate with whom and when people reproduce. • Prostitution is one way to meet the sexual needs of a large number of people who do not have ready access to sex.
Theoretical Analysis of Sexuality:Symbolic-Interaction Analysis • Almost all social patterns involving sex have seen considerable change over time. • The broader our view, the more variation we see in the meanings people attach to sexuality.
Theoretical Analysis of Sexuality:Social-Conflict Analysis • Sexuality both reflects and creates social inequality. • We might wonder if women would be involved in prostitution at all if they had opportunities equal to men’s? • Defining women in sexual terms amounts to devaluing them from full human beings into objects of men’s interests.
