Gender Contact Comfort and Sex

Family and Environment
1
Emotional attachment, as Harlow’s studies on contact comfort showed, is born of the comfort that comes from contact with something reassuring, soft, and warm. The baby monkey for instance spent all its time on the cloth monkey rather than on the wire monkey because contact comfort served as the basis of attachment rather than food comfort, which the wire monkey gave. The baby monkey also ran to the cloth monkey when the frightening machine was placed in its cage: it sought out the contact comfort to calm its fears before gaining the confidence to confront the frightening machine. Then when the baby monkey was placed in the unfamiliar room it sought out the comfort of the cloth monkey and then felt secure enough to go explore the room like a curious little monkey.
The differences individual attachment matter because children need reinforcement, comfort and security to be able to feel that they can explore on their own (Shriner & Shriner, 2014). The contact comfort gives them a sense of personal security. The influences that family or lack thereof and environment can have on the development of infants is that they can impact temperament and attachment issues. Children are likely to develop a strong bond of affection with the person who shows them the most care, attention and affection. Simply holding a child is enough to calm a child and give the child security to feel comfortable. Children on their own have difficulty regulating their emotions and they need the comfort of contact and security to make them feel that they are well. Thus, caregiving can provide the shelter, security and comfort that the child needs to become calm and confident. Temperament can possibly be passed on by parents due to biology but it is also determined by how a child is soothed. So the interaction between environment, family, caregiver and temperament all play a part in determining attachment (Levy, Ellison, Scott & Berndecker, 2011).
2
Gender is defined as “the characteristics that make a person male or female” (Shriner & Shriner, 2014). Sexuality is defined as a person’s sexuality orientation—i.e., that which they find to be sexually stimulating (Intelecom, 2001). The difference between the two is that gender is viewed as a social construct and one can define one’s gender, and sexuality is more biological and is viewed as something that is shaped by what stimulates one sexually. Culture can influence these aspects of human development because culture shows what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. For instance, for a long period homosexuality was viewed as immoral and now it is viewed as acceptable, so today more people openly identify as homosexual and express an open sexuality that is oriented towards such. Gender is also more in flux and fluid today, so a person who is born with a male sex may identify as a girl, like Bruce Jenner did before he became Caitlyn. The culture has changed to make these types gender constructions and sexuality preferences more acceptable.
Stereotypes and other cultural factors influence our perception of acceptable expressions of gender and sexuality by making us think in terms of how people act and what is expected from a person who is gender fluid, gay or straight. People come to expect certain norms of behavior from these characterizations. However, not every culture is the same and there are many subcultures in the modern world. For instance, in gay culture it would be acceptable for two men to kiss. In a conservative culture, this would more than likely not be acceptable as conservative culture would say that sexuality is between men and women. The expression or repression of a person’s gender and/or sexuality may influence the person’s interpersonal development by making the person more isolated or more outgoing depending on how the person perceives his or her expressions (Shriner & Shriner, 2014).
References
Harlow’s Studies on Dependency in Monkeys. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrNBEhzjg8I&feature=youtu.be
Intelecom. (2001). Factors that influence sexual orientation. Links to an external site. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://searchcenter.intelecomonline.net/playClipDirect.aspxid=4870EEC7664070BB7CF1C3E10B7F5E7133C2095F3F7F9C9E49B8D491E45F97FD34EA67949137B6D4F446ECA42BF2A60E
Levy, K. N., Ellison, W. D., Scott, L. N., & Bernecker, S. L. (2011). Attachment style. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 67(2), 193-201.
Shriner, B and Shriner, M. (2014). Essentials of Lifespan Development: A Topical Perspective. Bridgepoint Education: San Diego, CA.