Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
¶ … child sexuality or intersex become especially difficult to discuss. These readings all ask us to question why those taboos are in place, while at the same time trying to show how important research in human sexuality can be. Sexuality is a major part of the human experience, and a fully understanding of psychology and sociology is not possible without open explorations into issues surrounding sexuality. Added to the complex issues surrounding human sexuality is gender. Gender is totally different from, but certainly related to, sexuality. On the one hand, one's concept of gender will have a strong bearing on one's perception of oneself as a sexual being, will impact issues related to self-awareness, self-esteem, and self-confidence. On the other hand, gender is only slightly implicated in things like sexual attraction. Both gender and sexual attraction are remarkably fluid, as Diamond points out. They may even be fluid across the course of a person's life. As Diamond and the NOVA video show, intersex individuals draw attention to the interesting fluidity of sexuality and gender.
The most challenging of the three articles is Money's because he discusses children's sexuality in frank terms. Most people are ashamed or afraid to discuss children's...
Some of those reasons may indeed be ingrained, unconscious, or biological in nature. Childhood sexuality is what Freud built many of his theories on, because it was as if he understood how important childhood sexuality was to the formation of character, emotional complexes, and mental hang-ups. I also believe that some of the problems related to pedophilia are a result of either repressed childhood sexuality or overblown media attention. Sexuality is powerful, which may be why it disturbs people. People who are comfortable with their sexuality tend to be healthy beings, whereas those who are uncomfortable with some aspect of their sexuality may have neuroses. As Money points out, people do have animal instincts and are in fact still animals. Having a more lighthearted and humorous approach to sexuality might help liberate people from their neuroses and create a healthier society.
Likewise, liberation from gender norms and roles might go a long way toward creating a better world. Instead of assigning roles and identities to children based on their biological sex, it would be better to allow children to express themselves in whatever way works for them. As long as the child is not hurting others, there…
Works Cited
Diamond, Milton. "A Critical Evaluation of the Ontogeny of Human Sexual Behavior." The Quarterly Review of Biology, Volume 40, No. 2, June 1965
Money, John. "Childhood: The Last Frontier in Sex Research."
Sex: Unknown. Nova [Film].
So, rather than deny the existence of non-male/female attraction we have to examine for a deeper understanding the very nature of attraction itself. Is the sex of the person to whom you are attracted important or even relevant? "Sexuality [is not] learned in the same contexts, it is not practiced for the same purposes, it is not maintained by the same social forces, and it does not cease to
Human Sexuality and Homophobia Even in the wake of political correctness, homophobia still haunts many people in our culture. Heterosexuality is still the dominant social expression and any intimate relationship that falls outside the accepted boundaries of heterosexual union is considered to be taboo. The modern media and institutes of higher learning are only recently beginning to try changing the ingrained belief that heterosexuality is the only "normal" form of sexual
Each outside label has an affect on that individuals own conception of them, effectively rising or lowering self-image. These categories allow individuals of the same label to sometimes band together in order to further develop their own unique identities away from the labeling and discrimination from the larger group who may view them as abnormal, (Oxoby & McLeish, 2007: 13). Once inside a more specific group, these individuals have
As far back as 1959, the United Nations recognized the logic and benefits of decriminalizing prostitution, and organizations supporting this decriminalization include the "American Civil Liberties Union, the National Organization of Women, and various prostitute 'unions', the most famous of which is COYOTE (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics)" (Rio, 1991, p. 206). And as far back as 1971, the San Francisco Committee on Crime considered the legalization of
CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE ON WOMEN INVOLVED IN PROSTITUTION Conceptual Paper Millions of children around the globe are sexually abused or exploited. This paper includes several descriptions of studies that relate sexual abuse during childhood to delinquency later in life. There are several difficulties with methodology and definitions that are inherent in the mentioned studies. These challenges make it somewhat difficult to compare and interpret the findings of the study. A framework
(1999) which are: 1) Those with serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder with major depression and who use alcohol and drugs to self-mediate to cope with the symptoms; and 2) Those with borderline personality and anti-social personality disorders including anxiety disorder that is complicated by use of alcohol and illicit drugs. (Mather et al. 1999) Presenting further difficulty is the establishment of problems with alcohol and illicit drug use