Psychosexual development and sexual identity across the lifespan

Sexuality Through the Life Cycle

This chapter deals with the human's sexual development through all stages of life, and analyzes past and current theories of psychosexual development. The author begins by describing the long-held view of the sex drive, which supposedly influenced arousal and was hypothesized as an agent for driving procreation and much of human activity in the search of sex, thus perpetuating the species through built in individual desires. As sexual desire and sexuality are better understood form an objective light, however, this view has lost credence. Throughout the chapter, the author details the ways in which both experience and biological factors affect human sexuality, beginning at a very early age and continuing throughout the entire lifespan until death. Adolescence is still seen as a highly formative time for all individuals, and puberty is a major part of psychosexual development, but it is not the beginning of human sexuality as many might believe, just as passing into old age does not mark the end of human sexuality, sexual desires, or sexual activity.

The author strikes an excellent balance in this chapter between the physical (biological, physiological, chemical, etc.) factors at work in human psychosexual development and the psychological and experiential aspects of this development. This leads to a view of human sexuality as something that is both innate and universal yet undoubtedly learned and unique to each individual in certain aspects. Most importantly, perhaps, the author notes that human sexuality is in a state of near constant adjustment for most individuals.

Chapter 7: Sexual Individuality and Sexual Values

Building on information and principles from the preceding chapter, in this chapter the author attempts to provide a preliminary view as to how individual sexual preferences and values develop. He acknowledges early on in the chapter that studies into this area of sexuality are still very much in their early stages, and that the short answer is it is unknown exactly why some people might become gay or lesbian while others are attracted to the opposite sex, or why other sexual preferences and values develop as well. Also, like human sexuality as a whole, the sexual identity of an individual -- which can be said to be the sum of their sexual attitudes, preferences, values, and desires -- is not static, but rather is a dynamic feature of human life that undergoes regular if not constant adjustment and change by individuals. Many different factors pertaining to the development of sexual attitudes and values are discussed, including religion, family upbringing, overall political views, and others.

As with the preceding chapter, one of the most notable things in this section of the textbook is the degree of variability and the rate of change that can occur in the development of an individual's sexual identity and sexual values. The author delves into several hot-button issues such as homophobia, abortion, and general sexual rights of underprivileged classes, dealing with them all in a highly objective and yet deeply informative manner. What emerges is the sense that regardless of one's own individual feeling's and values, sexuality is ultimately subjective -- even if we don't know exactly what forces it is subject to.

Chapter 12: Solitary Sex and Shared Sex

After long discussions on theory, development, and psychological as well as social issues in sexuality, this chapter delves more explicitly into actual sexual practices without losing sight of the psychology or the other factors of sexuality that influence these behaviors. The author covers the physical act of masturbation in both males and females and discusses the inner motives and drives to engage in this behavior, as well as dispelling several myths surrounding the activity (such as that only those without sexual partners are "reduced " to pleasuring themselves). He discusses other sexual practices, from vaginal intercourse to oral sex and a variety of others, with an equally descriptive and explanatory lens, outlining both the physicality and the psychology possibly at work in each of the various acts discussed, as well as the overall differences in the mind between providing sexual satisfaction for oneself, and sharing in the provision and receipt of satisfaction with another.

The author's ability to retain a highly objective and calmly explanatory style while discussing fairly explicit sexual acts is a large part of this textbook's success overall, and this is definitely demonstrated in this chapter. He makes it clear that each of the sexual acts described can be enjoyed by partners as long as sexual identities and values are permissive of the behavior, refraining from either positive or negative judgment in his descriptions but instead simply acknowledging the psychological facts or trends that have been witnessed. Some of the findings, such as the men think about and engage in sexual activity more often on average, are unsurprising but still informative.

Chapter 18: Sexual Dysfunction and Their Treatment

Before delving directly into the issue of specific sexual dysfunctions, the subject to which this chapter is primarily devoted, the author makes it clear that individuals perform different sexually, and that differences in the three stages of the human sexual cycle (desire, arousal, and orgasm) do not necessarily mean a dysfunction is in place. Different cultures, too, have different expectations and standards of sexual performance, leading to different definitions of dysfunction, and some of these standards might actually be a biological impossibility for many or most individuals -- and this can lead to sexual dysfunction in and of itself through increased psychological pressure and strain. There are a wide variety of sexual dysfunctions that can occur in men and women at any of the stages in the human sexual cycle, and there are likewise a variety of different causes for these dysfunctions; underlying factors can range from physiological issues to environmental factors, from substance abuse to purely psychological problems, and from a lack of desire to uncontrollable orgasms.

Again, the objectivity with which the author discusses these issues manages to be non-judgmental and informative without becoming overly clinical, making the issues discussed appear clearly relevant to anyone's understanding of human sexuality without causing any discomfort on the part of the reader. The clear (if uncertain) connections that the author draws between various sexual dysfunctions and their treatments -- as well as their underlying causes -- is also highly useful and easy to follow. As the final major chapter in this book, the author manages to end on as strong a note as he began.