SEXUALITY & GENDER

STUDIES
NATURE OF HUMAN SEXUALITY
• Human sexuality
• is how people experience and express themselves as sexual
beings. Human sexuality has many aspects. Biologically, sexuality
refers to the reproductive mechanism as well as the basic biological
drive that exists in all species and can encompass
sexual intercourse and sexual contact in all its forms. There are also
emotional or physical aspect of sexuality, which refers to the bond
that exists between individuals, which may be expressed through
profound feelings or emotions, and which may be manifested in
physical or medical concerns about the physiological or even
psychological aspects of sexual behaviour. Sociologically, it can
cover the cultural, political, and legal aspects; and philosophically, it
can span the moral, ethical, theological, spiritual or religious aspects
• Biology and physiology
• The biology of human sexuality examines the influence of biological
factors, such as organic and neurological response, heredity,
hormones, and sexual dysfunction; it examines the basic functions
of reproduction and the physical means to carry it out. The biological
perspective helps to analyze the factors, and ultimately aids in
understanding them and using them to deal with sexual problems.
• Sex as exercise burns calories to produce health benefits. Sex also
relieves stress, boosts the immune system with higher levels of
immunoglobulin A, improves cardiovascular health, increases
self-esteem, improves intimacy, reduces pain by production of the
hormone oxytocin, reduces the risk of prostate cancer, strengthens
pelvic muscles, and promotes good sleep. Sex also improves the
sense of smell and urinary bladder control.
• Sexual behavior can be a disease vector. Safe sex is a relevant
harm reduction philosophy.
GENDER ROLES
 Talcott Parson's view of gender
roles
• Working in the United States, Talcott
Parsons developed a model of the nuclear
family in 1955. (At that place and time, the
nuclear family was the prevalent family
structure.) It compared a strictly traditional
view of gender roles (from an industrial-
age American perspective) to a more
liberal view.
• The set of perceived behavioral norms associated particularly with
males or females, in a given social group or system. It can be a form
of division of labour by gender. To put it simply, it refers to the
attitudes and behaviors that class a person's stereotypical identity,
e.g. women cook and clean, men fix cars. Gender is one component
of the gender/sex system, the set of arrangements by which a
society transforms biological sexuality into products of human
activity, and in which these transformed needs are satisfied. To
associate oneself as either masculine or feminine is identifying with
gender.
• Creativity may cause the rules and values to change over time.
Cultures and societies are dynamic and ever changing, but there
has been extensive debate as to how, and how fast, they may
change. Such debates are especially contentious when they involve
the gender/sex system, as people have widely differing views about
how much gender depends on biological sex.
• The Parsons model was used to contrast
and illustrate extreme positions on gender
roles. Model A describes total separation
of male and female roles, while Model B
describes the complete dissolution of
barriers between gender roles. (The
examples are based on the context of the
culture and infrastructure of the United
States.)
• Education
• Gender-specific education; high professional qualification is important only for the manCo-
educative schools, same content of classes for girls and boys, same qualification for men and
women.

• Profession
• The workplace is not the primary area of women; career and professional advancement is
deemed unimportant for womenFor women, career is just as important as for men; Therefore
equal professional opportunities for men and women are necessary.

• Housework
• Housekeeping and child care are the primary functions of the woman; participation of the man in
these functions is only partially wanted.All housework is done by both parties to the marriage in
equal shares.

• Decision making
• In case of conflict, man has the last say, for example in choosing the place to live, choice of
school for children, buying decisionsNeither partner dominates; solutions do not always follow the
principle of finding a concerted decision; status quo is maintained if disagreement occurs.

• Child care and education

• Woman takes care of the largest part of these functions; she educates children and cares for
them in every wayMan and woman share these functions equally.
 Sexual Differentiation and the
development of gender identity
 Gender can be manifested in at
least seven different ways
1.Chromosomes

2.Gonads

3.Hormones

4.Internal sexual organs

5.External genitalia and secondary sexual characteristics

 Chromosomes

• The most basic manifestation of gender lies

in our sex chromosomes, which are present
in every cell of the body. The normal female
has two X chromosomes; the male has one
X and one Y.
Gonads
• The primitive gonad has a
medulla and a cortex. In
the presence of the
somatic made-determining
factor the medullla
develops into a testis, and
the cortex regresses.
 Hormones

• In the male fetus the Leydig cells in the testis start to

produce steroids, in particulan testosterone ,

from about the eighth

week, reaching a maximum

between the with and 18th

weeks.
Internal sexual organs
External genitalia and secondary
sexual characteristics
 FEMINISM
& ISSUES ON
SEXUALITY
FEMINISM AND A MAJOR
ISSUE ON SEXUALITY
 FEMINISM
 it is a belief that ALL women should have
equal everything (political, social, sexual,
intellectual, and economical) rights to man

 it includes many different theories,

philosophies, which all concerns gender
differences

 it advocates women’s equality for women

and a woman’s rights and interest

 the history of feminism can be divided in to

three waves (or parts)
 THE THREE WAVES OF FEMINISM

1) The firs wave during the

nineteenth and early
twentieth century.
2) The second wave during
the 1960s and 1970.
3) And the third wave
started during the 1990s
which extends till
today…
 ISSUES ON
SEXUALITY
One major issue now is bullying.
It is said that majority of
bullying happens in schools.
Often students that admit to
being gay, lesbian, and being
bisexual are the victims
Taking action in this issue
doesn't happen in a snap. It
takes forever before
something is done about the
bullying and harassing. Lack
of attention to these issues is
always followed by lack of
self-esteem. Not only is it
bad of the one being bullied
but also to the one bullying.
They are never able to open
their eyes to different things.
SEXUAL REVOLUTION
http://www.isis.aust.com/stephan
/writings/sexuality/revo.htm
• Sexuality became political, emerging as an axis around which new social
movements organised.

• Shifts in the relations between women and men, particularly those

inspired by the emergent women’s liberation movements. This parallels
women’s increased presence in the public realm and personal autonomy
concerning reproductive choices and sexual expression.
•
• The political mobilisation of the gay & lesbian movements.

• A destabilising of the rigid boundary between the private family and the
individualistic orientated public realm.

• Reforms in the legal and medical regulation of sexuality.

• The increased commercialisation and commodification of sexuality

through pornography and mass media. The concomitant relaxation of
censorship laws.
HETEROSEXUALITY AND
HOMOSEXUALITY
• Heterosexuality and Homosexuality

Heterosexuality- Hetero - comes from the Greek word heteros, meaning "different" ,
and the Latin root sex- meaning "sex”

Homosexuality- being a hybrid of the Greek prefix homo- meaning "same" and the
Latin root sex- meaning "sex."

Homosexuality
the term homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. In the original sense, it
refers to a sexual orientation characterized by aesthetic attraction, romantic love, and
sexual desire exclusively for members of the same sex or gender identity. It can also
refer to the manifestation of that orientation in the identity of an individual, which may
or may not be at odds with that person's sexual behavior.
• Heterosexuality

Heterosexuality
• refers to Sexual Behavior with, or attraction to, people of the opposite gender, or to a
heterosexual orientation.

Gay-
• the word gay meant something like "jolly" or "mirthful", as in the French gai. In
contemporary usage, however, that meaning is uncommon nowadays; the term is
usually synonymous with "male homosexual".

Lesbian
• - is a homosexual woman. Lesbians are sexually and romantically attracted to other
women.
CAUSES OF HOMOSEXUALITY