THE SEXUAL SELF

My Sexual Identity and Gender

 Agustín Fuentes (2017), The Creative Spark: How Imagination
Made Humans Exceptional, p. 109.
“Googling “sex” in 2016 yields approximately 3.34
billion results in 0.29 seconds. […] If representation
on the internet tells us anything about what matters
to humans, then sex and food are pretty darned
important. […] Food and sex are the basic goals of
life for most organisms, not just humans.”
SEX - the physical or physiological property or
quality by which organisms are classified as female
or male on the basis of their reproductive organs
and functions.
Sex determines whether a human being is
biologically male or female but it does not exactly
determine human sexual identity, its being a man
or a woman or others.
SEXUALITY - the totality of one’s personality,
emotional or psychological that makes man distinct
from a woman and a woman from a man.
To be a man or a woman is to be sexual in one’s
very being.
Sexual means everything that makes a man a man;
and a woman a woman.
GENDER - the cultural and social trait or role
typically associated with one’s sex or sexuality as
determined by one’s socialization.
Sporting long hair for women and near-head short
hair for men is a gender difference not sexual.
Household chores assignment for women while
heavy work for men is a result of socialization
rather than biology.
The state of one’s sex, sexuality, and gender has a
profound influence not only on one’s sexual
identity but on one’s personality as a whole.
Knowledge of the self or self-understanding is
quite incomplete if it does not include a knowledge
and understanding of one’s sex, sexuality, and
gender.
Sex has fundamentally to do with
reproduction and perpetuation of species.
Sex is a biologically-based need that is
naturally, but not exclusively, oriented
towards the generation of new life.
Its immediate aim is genital activity but for
humans its ultimate aims are procreation
and expression of love and intimacy.
Animal sexual activity is seasonal, controlled by the estrous
cycle.
Human sexual activity is constant, so making possible a new
kind of relationship.
In animal intercourse, the male enters the female from
behind.
Human beings copulate
NORMALLY face to face.
Primary sex characteristics – physical characteristics that
are present at birth: genitalia, gonads, uterus in women and
prostate in men.
Secondary sex characteristics – characteristics that develop
during the onset of puberty: for women, enlargement of
breasts and buttocks, widening of hips, menstrual cycle,
pubic hair; for men, facial, body, and pubic hair growth,
sperm production, deepening of voice.
Reproductive System – organized set of tissues and organs
which are designed to work together for the reproduction
of species.
Male Internal Reproductive System
Testes (Testicles) – a pair of
egg-shaped primary male
sex glands or gonads which
produce the male germ cells
called sperm in the process
called spermatogenesis and
produce the sex hormone
testosterone.
Male Internal Reproductive System

Epididymis – a small collide

tube attached to the upper
part of each testicles,
where the sperms are
stored for as long as six
weeks while they mature.
Male Internal Reproductive System

Vas deferens – a small tube

which leads from the
testicles up into the body
cavity to the top of the
prostate vesicle through
which mature sperms
move from epididymis.
Male Internal Reproductive System
Seminal vesicle – a flask
shaped structure that
secretes a seminal fluid
containing substances like
protein, mucus, and
fructose helpful in
protecting and nourishing
the sperm.
Male Internal Reproductive System
Prostate gland – a firm,
partially muscular and
partially glandular body which
produces the greater portion
of the ejaculatory fluid, mixes
it with the sperms and
seminal fluid, and expels them
out of the penis.
Male Internal Reproductive System
Semen – an organic fluid, which
is a mixture of seminal fluid and
ejaculatory fluid, and may
contain sperms.
It promotes the survival of the
sperms and provides a medium
through which a sperm can
travel or swim.
Male Internal Reproductive System
Bulbourethral gland – also
called Cowper's Glands are
two pea-sized bodies which
secrete a few drops of
precoital alkaline fluid that
neutralizes the urethra’s
acidic nature and lubricates
it during sexual excitement.
Male Internal Reproductive System

Penis – the male sex organ

that is inserted to the
woman’s vagina during
sexual intercourse.
Male Internal Reproductive System

Penile glans (glans

penis) – it is the
smooth cone-like head
of the penis which is
most sexually sensitive
part of the male body.
Male Internal Reproductive System
Scrotum – a male
reproductive structure
which consists of a
suspended dual-chambered
sack of skin and smooth
muscle which houses and
protects the testes and
epididymis.
Female Internal Reproductive System
Ovaries – a pair of organs
which produce ova or eggs
and also manufacture
hormones (progesterone,
estrogen, and testosterone)
that contribute to a
woman’s sex drive and
reproductive ability.
Female Internal Reproductive System

Follicles - are numerous

tiny ground cavities or sacs
inside the ovaries, each of
which contains an egg at
some stage of
development
Female Internal Reproductive System
Corpus luteum - is a
temporary endocrine
structure in female ovaries
which produces the
hormone progesterone
which prevents further
ovulation during
pregnancy.
Female Internal Reproductive System

Oviduct (Fallopian tubes) –

tubes measuring about 4
inches connecting the
ovaries and the uterus
through which the released
egg travels towards the
uterus.
Female Internal Reproductive System
Uterus (womb) – is a hollow
and elastic walled muscular
organ shaped somewhat
like a pear which serves as
the environment for the
development of the
fertilized egg into a full-
grown fetus.
Female Internal Reproductive System
Endometrium – is the
innermost layer of the
uterine wall which consists
of tissue that thickens as
the uterus prepares for the
fertilized ovum to implant
itself there.
Female Internal Reproductive System

Cervix (cervical canal) – is a

roughly cylindrical canal at
around less than an inch
long connecting the uterus
and the inner lumen of the
vagina.
Female Internal Reproductive System

Vagina (vaginal/ birth canal)

– an elastic muscular tube
which extends from just
behind the cervix to an
external opening in the
vulva (external genitalia).
Female External Reproductive Organs (Vulva)

Mons Veneris (Mons Pubis)

– is the noticeable wound
of fatty tissue that forms a
cushion over the pubic
bone extending two folds
(lips) enclosing the vulvar
area.
Female External Reproductive Organs (Vulva)

Labia Majora (Large Lips) –

vulvar lips whose outer
sides are covered with
pubic hair and inner sides
contain oil producing sacs
and sweat glands.
Female External Reproductive Organs (Vulva)
Labia Minora (Small Lips) –
are two fold-lips located
within the large lips and
parallel to them. They join
together just below the
mons veneris to form a
hood, or female foreskin
which encloses the clitoris.
Female External Reproductive Organs (Vulva)

Clitoris – is a complex
partly hidden structure or
organ of female external
reproductive anatomy
which, like a penis, has a
shaft and glans.
Female External Reproductive Organs (Vulva)
Female External Reproductive Organs (Vulva)
Female External Reproductive Organs (Vulva)
Female External Reproductive Organs (Vulva)
The Vestibule – a region
enclosed by the labia
minora containing within it
the external opening of the
vagina, the urethra, hymen,
and the invisible tiny
openings of the Bartholin’s
glands.
Female External Reproductive Organs (Vulva)
The hymen – is a
thin piece of
mucosal tissue
that surrounds or
partially covers
Normal hymen shapes: A. Crescentic, the external
B. Annular, C. Fimbriated, D. Redundant. vaginal opening.
 Female External Reproductive Organs (Vulva)
Abnormal hymens
make penetration
impossible without
serious tearing and
bleeding and also
Abnormal hymen shapes: A. Cribriform, the release of
B. Imperforate, C. Septate. menstrual material.
Female External Reproductive Organs (Vulva)
The state of the
hymen is not a
reliable indicator of
virginity, although it
continues to be
considered so in
certain cultures.
Intact Broken
Sexual Arousal (sexual excitement) – is a state
of activation of sexual desire/feelings produced
by a stimulation of the body’s erogenous zones
during or in anticipation of a sexual activity.
Erogenous zones - areas of the human body
that have heightened sensitivity, the
stimulation of which may generate a sexual
response, such as relaxation and pleasure, the
production of sexual fantasies, sexual arousal
and orgasm.
Sexual Arousal (sexual excitement) – is a state of activation
of sexual desire/feelings produced by a stimulation of the
body’s erogenous zones during or in anticipation of a sexual
activity.
Erogenous zones - areas of the human body that have
heightened sensitivity, the stimulation of which may
generate a sexual response, such as relaxation and
pleasure, the production of sexual fantasies, sexual arousal
and orgasm.
Masturbation – the sexual
stimulation of one's own genitals for
sexual arousal or other sexual
pleasure, usually to the point of
orgasm.
Manual stimulation of a partner, such
as fingering, a handjob or mutual
masturbation, is a common sexual
act and can be a substitute for
penetration.
Sexual arousal
is closely tied
to variations in
hormonal
levels.
In humans,
hormones play
less of a role.
Cognitive
factors play
an
important
role in
sexual
arousal in
humans. De Figuris Veneris by Édouard-Henri Avril
The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife by Hokusai
Men think about sex more often than women.
Women tend to
place more
emphasis on
emotional
closeness with a
lover than men.
Men and women have equal potential for sexual arousal.
Culture influences the expression of sexual desire.
Expression of
sexual desire is
also influenced by
sexual scripts or
the stereotyped
patterns of
expectations
on how people should behave sexually.
Sexual-response
cycle – pattern of
physiological
changes that
occur in the body
of men and
women during
sexual arousal
and intercourse.
Sexual-response
cycle – pattern of
physiological
changes that
occur in the body
of men and
women during
sexual arousal
and intercourse.
Orgasm - the intense, pleasurable, and ecstatic
sensation experienced at the
climax of sexual arousal.
Orgasms are often associated
with other involuntary actions,
including vocalizations and
muscular spasms in other
areas of the body and a
generally euphoric sensation.
Orgasm is the climactic, shortest phase of the sexual
response cycle, typically
lasting only several
seconds.
Refractory period - the
length of time during which
a male cannot become
aroused from any kind of
sexual stimulation.
Early patterns of
relationships
could form the
foundations on
which intimacy
during
adulthood is
established.
According to anthropology professor Helen
Fisher, there
are three
stages of
falling in love:
lust,
attraction,
attachment.
1. LUST – the feeling of
sexual desire and
attraction towards
one’s object of
affection.
You want to seduce
them or be seduced by
them.
Lust is driven by the hormones
testosterone in men and
estrogen in women.
But lust is different than love.
Injecting men with testosterone
makes them desire a potential
lover more, but not necessarily
fall in love in any lasting way.
2. ATTRACTION – the feeling
of being more intensely
drawn towards a specific
thing or person.
Attraction is distinguished
from lust because it involves
focusing our attention to a
particular person or desire.
In attraction, you begin to
obsess about your lover
and crave for
his/her presence.
Attraction is also in part
driven by different
hormones: adrenaline,
dopamine and serotonin.
Dopamine - hormone associated with motivation,
reward, and goal-directed
behavior.
Released when we do
things that feel good to
us.
Dopamine also creates a
sense of novelty.
Norepinephrine (noradrenalin) - responsible for
the extra surge of energy and racing heart that you
feel, as well as the loss
of appetite and desire
for sleep.
It puts your body into a
more alert state in
which you are ready
for action.
Serotonin - a hormone that is known to influence
mood, sexual desire and function, appetite, sleep,
and some social behavior.
Low levels of serotonin were found in both people
with obsessive-compulsive disorder and those who
were recently in love.
3. ATTACHMENT –
a deep and
enduring
emotional bond
that connects one
person to another
across time and
space.
 Attachment is the predominant factor in long-term
relationships – commitment.
While lust and attraction are
pretty much exclusive to
romantic entanglements,
attachment mediates
friendships, parent-infant
bonding, social cordiality, and
many other intimacies as well.
In attachment and commitment,
dopamine is replaced by oxytocin
and vasopressin, which create the
desire to bond, affiliate with, and
nurture your partner.
You want to cuddle and be close
and share your deepest secrets
with her.
You plan and dream together.
Oxytocin – is a powerful hormone which influences
interaction and sexual reproduction, playing a role in
behaviors from maternal attachment to an infant and
milk release to empathy,
generosity, and orgasm.

Released significantly
during sex, childbirth,
and breastfeeding.
When people hug or kiss a loved one, oxytocin levels
increase which
promote feelings
of devotion and
trust.
Hence, oxytocin is
often called “the
love hormone” or
“cuddle hormone”.
Oxytocin is also released in
large quantities in sex,
especially in orgasm.

This may be the reason

why sex is thought to bring
couples closer together
and be the “glue” that
binds the relationship.
Vasopressin – a hormone linked to behaviors which
produce long-term, monogamous relationship.
Studies on prairie voles,
animals which form
monogamous relationship,
show that the absence of
the hormone leads to
partner neglect and lack of
jealousy.
Understanding the science of lust, attraction, and
attachment can help you develop more realistic
expectations of your relationships.
It makes perfect sense that
there is a separate set of
hormones for each stage: we
are attached to our friends
and immediate family, but not
attracted to or lust for them.