Social Control of Sexuality

1. Sexual Coercion Gender and Gender Differences Social Control of Sexuality

2. Sexual Coercion Rape: • Nonconsensual oral, anal, or vaginal penetration, obtained by force, threat of bodily harm, victim can’t give consent. • In 2005: • Some 94,000 rapes were reported in the United States. • 28 percent of college women experience rape.

3. Sexual Coercion • Rape trauma syndrome- Emotional and physical effects a woman undergoes following a rape or attempted rape. • Post-traumatic stress disorder- Long-term psychological distress suffered by someone who has experienced a terrifying event. • Posttraumatic growth- Positive life changes and psychological development following exposure to trauma.

4. Sexual Coercion Date Rape: • One of the most common forms of rape. • 57% of rapes involved a date. • Rohypnol (flunitrozepam) - “date-rape drug” Marital Rape: • The rape of a person by her or his spouse. • 13% of married women. Marital Violence: • A man who batters his wife also is likely to rape her.

5. Sexual Coercion How to avoid date rape: • Set sexual limits. • Decide early if you would like to have intercourse. • Do not give mixed messages. • Be forceful and firm. • Do not do anything you do not want to just to avoid a scene or unpleasantness. • Be aware that alcohol and drugs are often related to date rape. • Trust your gut-level feelings. • Be careful when you invite someone into your home. • If avoidance does not work, self-defense strategies are needed.

6. Sexual Coercion Potential Causes of Rape: • Victim-Precipitated Rape- view that rape is a result of a woman “asking for it.” • Psychopathology of Rapist- Rape is committed by a psychologically disturbed man. • Power- Feminist theorists explore the complex links between sex and power. • Social Disorganization- rape rates increase when the social organization of a community is disrupted.

7. Sexual Coercion Causes: • Cultural values • Sexual scripts • Early family influences • Peer group • Characteristics of the situation • Miscommunication • Sex and power motives • Masculinity norms and men’s attitudes

8. Sexual Coercion • Female Rapists– • 1% of men report being raped by a woman. • Prison rape– • 22% of male inmates and 7 percent of female. • Prisoners use rape to establish a dominance hierarchy. Child Sexual Abuse: • 17% of women and 12% of men had sexual contact, as a child, with an adolescent or an adult. • Men are the primary sex abusers of children. • Incest - Sexual contact between relatives.

9. Sexual Coercion

10. Sexual Coercion • Pedophilia (child molesting) – • Sdulthaving sexual activity with a prepubescent child. • Tend to be repeat offenders. • Patterns of preference tend to be stable over time. Treatment: • Surgical castration • Antiandrogen drugs • Hormones • SSRIs - class of antidepressants; includes Prozac and Zoloft • Cognitive-behavioral therapy

11. Sexual Coercion Sexual Harassment: • 25%-50% of women have been sexually harassed at work. • U.S. EEOC definition includes: • Unwelcome sexual advances • Requests for sexual favors • Other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.

12. Sexual Coercion Types of work harassment: • Earnest- Desires sexual intimacy but won’t take no for an answer. • Hostile - Motivated to dominate woman he sees as competitive with him. • Paternalistic-ambivalent - Desires to be like a father. • Competitive-ambivalent - Mixes real sexual attraction with hostile desire to dominate.

13. Sexual Coercion Sexual Harassment in College: • Common in College– 50% of female students have been harassed by professors. • Illegal - Alexander v. Yale - sexual harassment of women in education possible violation of their civil rights. • Peers– 79% of boys and 83% f girls sexual harassment in U.S. high schools.

14. Gender and Gender Differences • Gender role- Norms, or culturally defined expectations, that define how people of one gender ought to behave. • Stereotype - Generalization about a group of people that distinguishes them from others. Gender-role stereotypes vary among various ethnic groups of the United States. • African Americans: • Provider role is difficult for black men, because their unemployment rate (9.5 percent) is double that of white men (4.0 percent).

15. Gender and Gender Differences • Latinos • Hispanic Americans are now the nation’s largest minority constituting 13% of the population. • Gender roles are sharply defined, as epitomized in the concepts of machismo and marianismo.

16. Gender and Gender Differences • Asian Americans • Asian Americans make up 4% of the U.S. population. • Asian American women have a higher level of education than white American women. • Family needs take precedence over individual needs. • The Asian American woman has been stereotyped as an exotic sex toy, while the man has been stereotyped as asexual.

17. Gender and Gender Differences Gender Schema Theory: • Refers to the ways in which society conveys to the individual its norms or expectations for his or her behavior. • Parents, peers and the media are important socializing agents. • Males and females differ in: • Aggressiveness • Verbal and nonverbal communication styles • Self-disclosure

18. Gender and Gender Differences Measuring Arousal: • Men - penile strain gauge (peter meter) • Women - photoplethysmograph • Both measure vasocongestion in the genitals, which is the major physiological response during sexual arousal.

19. Gender and Gender Differences • Men are more likely to have masturbated than women. • Men are more aroused by erotic materials. • Men are more approving of casual sex. • For undergraduate women, relationship and emotional connectedness are important prerequisites for sex. • Men more consistently have orgasms during sex. • Men desire more sexual partners and a greater frequency of intercourse. • Men think about sex more often and have more frequent and varied fantasies than women do. • Men have a stronger sex drive.

20. Gender and Gender Differences • Transsexual • A person who believes he or she was born with the body of the other gender. • Gender Dysphoria • Unhappiness with one’s gender; another term for transsexualism. • Male-to-female transsexual • A person who is born with a male body but who has a female identity and wishes to become a female biologically in order to match her identity. • Female-to-male transsexual • Those with female bodies who think they are males.

21. Gender and Gender Differences • Transgender includes transsexuals, as well as those who do not seek sex-reassignment surgery but prefer only some treatments such as hormones. • Transvestites • Drag queens and kings • Gender blender • Gender bender • Gender outlaw • Genderfree

22. Gender and Gender Differences • Gender reassignment is complex and proceeds in several stages: • Counseling • Hormone therapy • Real-life experience • Surgery • Approximately two-thirds of those who have sex reassignment surgery show improvements in adjustment, such as reduction in depression.

23. Gender and Gender Differences

24. Gender and Gender Differences • No definite causes of transsexualism are known. • Gender Identity Disorder (GID) is found in children as young as 2 or 3 years old. • Insistence that she or he is the other gender. • Preference for cross-dressing. • Intense desire to participate in stereotypical play of the other gender.

25. Gender and Gender Differences • Buccal smear • Test of genetic gender test, in which a small scraping of cells is taken from the inside of the mouth, stained, and examined under a microscope.