Reading: Human Sexuality - Slides

Human Sexuality

Henry Reyenga

What Is It?

Human sexuality is how people experience the erotic and express themselves as sexual beings. Human sexuality has many aspects. Biologically, sexuality refers to the reproductive mechanism as well as the basic biological drive that exists in all species and can encompass sexual intercourse and sexual contact in all its forms. 

What Is It?

There are also emotional or physical aspects of sexuality, which refers to the bond that exists between individuals, which may be expressed through profound feelings or emotions, and which may be manifested in physical or medical concerns about the physiological or even psychological aspects of sexual behavior. Sociologically it can cover the cultural, political, and legal aspects; and philosophically, it can span the moral, ethical, theological, spiritual or religious aspects.

Factors Influencing Human Sexuality

The Influences

Human sexuality can be influenced by hormonal changes in the development of the fetus during pregnancy. Some claim its manner of expression is largely due to genetic predisposition. Others say it is due to one's own personal experimentation in early life, and thus the establishment of preferences. 

Factors Influencing Human Sexuality

As Part of Social Experience

Human sexuality can also be understood as part of the social life of humans, governed by implied rules of behavior and the status quo. Thus, it is claimed, sexuality influences social norms and society in turn influences the manner in which sexuality can be expressed. Since the invention of the mass media, sexuality has further molded the environments in which we live; it comes to be distilled (often into stereotypes) and then repeatedly expressed in commercialized forms such as print, audio and film.

Factors Influencing Human Sexuality

Usually Molded by Social Environment

Human sexuality is distinguished from gender identity. For many, the traditional understanding of gender has changed. Gender identity is a more expansive set of roles than sexual identity. Gender can usually be molded by the social environment to which one is exposed as a child, e.g. an authority figure giving a little boy a toy truck to play with, and a girl a doll. Human physiology and gender molding thus makes certain forms of sexual expression possible or even likely, but it does not predict that future sexual behavior will be regarded as 'gender appropriate'.

Factors Influencing Human Sexuality

Choices Guided by Indigenous Cultural Norms

Human sexual choices are usually made using one's current indigenous cultural norms. For example; practicing Christians reserve many of the physical expressions of their sexuality such as intercourse for long term committed marriage relationships.  In some cultures it may be acceptable for a man to have many wives, while in others bigamy or polygamy is frowned upon. Those who wish to express a dissident sexuality often form sub-cultures, within the main culture.

Sexuality And The Life Course

 Adolescence 

Recent research has found that there is a genetic predisposition in 20 to 30 percent of Caucasian women for premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD; commonly referred to as PMS).[5] While the research was conducted on mice, mice and humans share the same gene. Basically, mice with this particular gene are more irritable and insecure during certain phases of their estrous cycle (the equivalent of the human menstrual cycle). Their memory is also impaired.[5] These findings suggest that this may be part of the cause of PMDD in women with this gene variant 

Sexuality And The Life Course

New Parents

New parents (i.e., coparents of a newborn child) tend to experience a decline in sexual activity. While for some women, pain following childbirth may reduce sexual interest, for many people, the decline in sexual activity as new parents is primarily due to the stresses associated with caring for a newborn, including lack of sleep and the many other tasks that must be addressed with childcare. 

Differences In Sexuality Between Men And Women

One notable difference between the non-practicing Christian men and women when it comes to sexuality is men's greater interest in casual sex. These men are far more interested in casual sex than are women.[8] Along with their greater interest in casual sex, these men are less discriminating in their sexual partners than are women. These women are more likely to engage in casual sex when their potential male partner is extremely attractive, but substantially less so when their partner is even moderately attractive.

Reproductive Coercion 

As is the case with many other aspects of social life, women are also mistreated when it comes to sex. One general study of non-practicing Christians found that young women and teenage girls often face efforts by male partners to sabotage birth control (including damaging condoms). This is referred to as "reproductive coercion" and is often associated with physical or sexual violence. Approximately 1 in 5 young women have experienced reproductive coercion and over 50% of women have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner. The motivation of such violence and coercion is typically power and control.

The Dark Triad 

Another difference that exists between men and women is an advantage some men gain by combining three traits (a.k.a. "the dark triad"): narcissism, thrill-seeking, and deceit. While the men who exhibit these traits are not particularly prevalent in society, those men who do exhibit these traits do, in fact, have more success in short-term mating than do men who do not exhibit these traits. In other words, it is at least somewhat true that "bad guys do get the most girls."

Cultural Variations In Sexuality

Recent research has found that most parents in the USA have a hard time believing that their children are interested in sex. However, they do believe that most other kids are interested in sex.[11] Of course, most parents are wrong, but this leads them to believe that their children are innocent and that their entrance into sexual activity is the result of persuasion by others and not because their children want to engage in sex. 

Americans Are Having Less Sex

Research published in 2017 suggests that Americans are having less sex than they did in the early 2000s and in the 1990s.[15] While the precise reasons for declining frequency of sex is not known, one contributing factor is less consistent sexual partners mainly related to the breakdown of marriages. Another factor is differences in sexual activity by age, with 65 year-olds having sex roughly 20 times per year while people in their 20s having sex more than 80 times per year.[15]

Postcoital Dysphoria

Some women (research is lacking on men) suffer from what is called "postcoital dysphoria," or negative feelings following what is otherwise satisfactory intercourse.[18] The reasons why some women experience postcoital dysphoria are not entirely clear, but in one study it was about 10% of women who reported this feeling some or most of the time after sex (about 1/3 reported it at least occasionally).

Sexual Abuse

Fallen Sexuality

One form of sexual abuse, rape, is far more pervasive than many people realize. A report prepared by researchers working for the United Nations looking at rape in Asia and the Pacific found that rape rates varied by country. In Papua New Guinea, just under 60% of men had forced a woman to have sex, while just under 10% of men had done the same in Cambodia. Overall, close to 1 in 4 men had forced a woman to have sex against her will.[35] Globally, 1 in 10 girls under the age of 20 are raped or sexually assaulted.

Sexual Abuse

Objectification

A factor shown to contribute to sexual abuse is the sexual objectification of individuals, which is when people are perceived primarily in a sexual fashion rather than as an individual.[37] Recent research has found that it is very common for women to be sexually objectified 

Sexual Abuse

History of Abuse

One of the factors that increases the risk of sexual abuse in men is having experienced childhood physical or sexual abuse. Men who have experienced childhood physical or sexual abuse are 4 1/2 times more likely to engage in sexually coercive behavior than are men who were not abused as children.[38] However, more than half of the men who engage in coercive sexual behavior have no history of childhood sexual abuse.[38]