Sexuality and Society

1. Chapter 6 Sexuality and Society

2. Sex and Gender Sex is biological, referring to bodily differences between men and women Primary sex characteristics�genitals, organs used for reproduction Secondary sex characteristics�bodily development apart from the genitals that distinguishes biologically mature men and women. Gender is cultural, referring to behavior, power, and privileges a society attaches to being female or male.

3. Sexuality as a Biological Issue Sex is determined at conception Intersexual people (hermaphordites) have some combination of both male and female genitals Transsexual people feel they are one sex although biologically they are the other.

4. Sexuality as a Cultural Issue For humans, sex is a matter of cultural meaning and personal preference rather than biological programming From one society to another, there may be wide variation in sexual practices�standards of beauty, different taboos, etc. Other examples?? The incest taboo exists in all societies because regulating sexuality and reproduction are part of maintaining social taboos. The specifics may vary a great deal.

5. Sexual Attitudes in the U.S. The Sexual Revolution---peaked in the 60�s and 70�s bring issues regarding sex out in the open. Baby boomers were the first generation to experience this kind of open discussion of sex. The sexual liberation was aided by the invention of the birth control pill and the legalization of abortion which increased women�s reproductive freedom. The Sexual Counterrevolution�backlash to the above begin in the 80�s with many criticizing the new �permissiveness�. This is the first time you hear phrases like �family values�

6. Sex Research Researchers including Alfred Kinsey have studied sexual behavior in the U.S. Premarital sex became more common in the 20th century and only increases as time goes on. 75% of men and 66% of women have sex by their senior year in high school The frequency of sexual activity varies very widely amongst American adults 25 % men have had extramarital sex and 10% of women

7. Sexual Orientation Heterosexuality Homosexuality�9% of male population report at least 1 homosexual experience. 4% of women. For obvious reasons, these are very difficult concepts to measure Bi-sexuality Asexuality Most researchers have found that sexual orientation is rooted in biology. Sexuality is often viewed as a spectrum rather than a set of neat categories

8. Gay rights movement There has been tremendous progress made in the attitudes towards and treatment of the LGBT community�and yet� 57 % of adult Americans still view homosexuality as �wrong� Homophobia still exists-discomfort over close personal interaction with people thought to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual.

9. Functionalist Approach to Sexuality Incest taboo keeps family relations clear. There are many, mostly hidden, violations of this in all societies. Society has regulated sexuality and reproduction in a variety of ways throughout history

10. Conflict/Feminist/Queer Approaches Links sexuality to social inequality Feminists--Men dominate women by reducing them to the level of sexual objects Queer Theory---claims society has a heterosexuality biases defining all other sexual practices as abnormal or even immoral.

11. Frequency of Sexual Victimization Recent studies estimate that between 20-25% of women are the victims of completed or attempted rape during their college career. According to the National Crime Victimization Survey in 2002, males accounted for 13 % of the victims of sexual assault Rates are 9 times higher for persons under the age of 25. Girls younger than 12 account for 1 in 8 victims (20 % of the time the father is the offender)

12. Does exposure to pornography lead to rape Yes---Diane Russell argues that the evidence is overwhelming that exposure to pornography is a major causal factor of rape. She uses the concept of �multiple causation� to explain the relationship between pornography and rape The presence of pornography is not enough to inspire rape but it may be a contributing factor. No-Anthony D�amato argues that while pornography has exploded in the last 25 years sexual assault rates have dropped 85% so that it doesn�t make sense to attribute rape to exposure to pornography.