Chapter 9 Sexuality

CHAPTER 9
SEXUALITY

Learning Objectives
At the conclusion of Chapter 9, students should be able to:
1. Report on attitudes toward casual sex and how they vary between men and women.

2. Report trends in attitudes toward same-sex sexuality and reasons to believe that
acceptance is ever increasing.
3. Specify the average age of first intercourse among American youth, indicating the
trend in the virginity rate.
4. Spell out how gender, relationship status, age, and sexual orientation influence how
often committed partners desire and actually have sex.
5. Indicate how gender, sexual orientation, sociosexuality, relationship quality, and
equity predict the likelihood of sexual infidelity.
6. Discuss hookups. Specify how specific attitudes towards condoms, alcohol, illusions
of invulnerability, and general attitudes toward sex influence the use of condoms.
7. Indicate how the frequency of sex is associated with sexual and relational satisfaction.
8. Identify the patterns, including gender differences, that can be found in
communicating sexual desire, agreeing to sexual initiations, and discussing specific
sexual issues. Cite evidence that clear communication is linked with sexual
satisfaction. Indicate gender differences in the perception of possible sexual
situations.
9. Differentiate between the various forms of sexual coercion. Discuss the role of
communication in sexual aggression.

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 Chapter 9 Sexuality

Class Activities/ Discussion Ideas

Attitudes over Time
Attitudes about sex have become more permissive over time. In small groups, ask
students to explore influences on this change. After the group discussion, have students
evaluate their own behaviors with respect to their attitudes. Finally, as a class, discuss
where their attitudes and behaviors may change in the future. How might the next
generation or the generation after that feel and act? Use the idea of homosexuality and
gay marriage as one example. Ideas are changing over time as most people accept same-
sex relationships today than 20 years ago.

Men, Women, and Sex

Discuss, in class, the idea, “Women give sex for love and men give love for sex.” What
are your comments about this idea? Brainstorm the concept with respect to human
behavior over time, culture, necessity, roles, and life span.

Risky Behaviors
Ask students, with their classmates, to compose a list of attitudes and behaviors that
could put them at risk for unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. After
they have compiled the list, have the groups discuss whether these factors would/will
affect their sexual behavior. Why or why not?

Lost Children of Rockdale County

The PBS Fronline report The Lost Children of Rockdale County describes a syphilis
outbreak in an upper class community near Atlanta, Georgia. A group of teens in that
area were engaging in very risky behaviors. Local public health officials were alerted
when a number of them contracted syphilis and other sexually transmitted infections. A
teacher’s guide is available on Frontline’s website and copies of the tape can also be
ordered there. www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/georgia

Local Sexual Education

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 Chapter 9 Sexuality

Contact the sexual educator at your local school and ask him or her to talk to your class
about his or her job. Ask questions such as: Why did you choose this job? What do you
see as your role in the lives of the children/teens you teach? What kind of lessons seem
most effective? What kind of questions are most common? Are the national norms for sex
for the first time similar to this area or different? If they are different, why might they be
different?

Dating Goals and Risky Sexual Behaviors

If you would like to expand on the textbook discussion of risky sexual behaviors, you
could talk about the work of Sanderson and Cantor (1995). They found a connection
between the goals adolescents have in dating and the effectiveness of different kinds of
education about sexual activity. Adolescents whose goals were primarily identity based
(they were using their dating relationships to learn about themselves) benefited more
from safer sex interventions focusing on technical skills. For adolescents with intimacy
goals (goals related to open communication and mutual dependence with a partner) safer
sex interventions focusing on interpersonal communication skills were more effective.
Sanderson, C.A. & Cantor, N. (1995). Social dating goals in late adolescence:
Implications for safer sexual activity. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 68, 1121–1134.

Hooking Up
A resource for more information on the sexual experiences of college students is Hooking
Up: Sex, Dating, and Relationships on Campus by Kathleen A. Bogle. Use information
from this book yourself or ask students to read a portion of it and respond.
Bogle, K.A. (2008). Hooking up: Sex, dating, and relationships on campus. New York:
New York University Press.

College Sexual Consent Policies

Some colleges and universities (e.g., Antioch College) have instituted a sexual consent
policy that requires explicit agreement between the partners before each sexual contact.
Antioch College’s thorough policy can be viewed at

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 Chapter 9 Sexuality

http://antiochcollege.org/sites/default/files/pdf/student-handbook.pdf. For Antioch’s

policy or for the policy on your campus, ask students to consider, in small group
discussions, what motivations were behind such a policy and whether the policy will
accomplish its intended goals. If groups find such policies inadequate, have them suggest
what would improve the policies. Do they think something like this could work at every
college? Why or why not?

Same-Sex Relationships in the Movies

View a movie that portrays same-sex relationships in class and hold a class discussion on
the way the movie and media in general depict gay and lesbian communities. Reflect on
the nature of the stereotypes maintained or broken by the film, referring to data presented
in the chapter. Movie suggestions: Boys Don’t Cry, Brokeback Mountain, The Birdcage,
Milk, Philadelphia, Transamerica.

Campus Resources
If you have a sexual harassment and rape prevention organization or rape counselors on
your campus, ask the director or a representative from that program to visit class. Discuss
with the class what efforts are at work on your campus to address issues related to sexual
coercion.

For Your Consideration

In small groups, discuss the scenario provided at the end of the chapter involving Chad
and Jennifer. What will happen with their relationship? How do concepts presented in the
chapter help us understand their experience?

Assignments/Student Projects
My Experiences
As a way of introducing the chapter, have students reflect on a number of sex/sexuality
related aspects of their lives by answering the following questions:
1) When I was little, my parents dressed me…
2) My toys included…
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 Chapter 9 Sexuality

3) I recall being curious about the opposite sex when I was ___years old
4) My parents’ attitudes about masturbating was…
5) Nudity in my family was…
6) My sex education included…
7) My first sexual experience was…
8) My attitude about my parents having sex is…
9) Older adults having sex is…
10) Sex is…
How did you arrive at these conclusions? Do you think that your answers are similar or
different from your friends, siblings, parents, and grandparents?

Sexual Orientation
To further explore attitudes about sexual orientation, ask students to consider: What do
you know about sexual orientation? What are your attitudes about gays and lesbians?
Then have each student pair up with another student in class and make a trip to the
college library or explore library databases online. Find and read the latest studies on the
nature versus nurture issue about same-sex sexuality. Students should then reflect on how
this information affects attitudes about gays and lesbians and how their attitudes may
affect their acceptance of the information they researched.

Advertising Campus Resources

If you would like to do a class service project as a class, investigate the resources for
survivors of sexual assault and prevention efforts on your campus and in your local
community. Develop an informational brochure or posters or a campus radio
advertisement to let the campus community know about these resources.

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without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.