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Learning
More About
Family Health
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I. GENDER AND HUMAN SEXUALITY

INTRODUCTION
As you continue to grow and develop, it is important that you
know how to manage the crucial aspects of your personality, your sexual
health. This module will help you understand the concept of gender and
human sexuality. It will also enhance your decision- making skills to help
you manage sexuality-related concerns.
Education for human sexuality will help you make intelligent
decisions concerning sexual behaviors and will help you grow into a
mature man or a mature woman.

• Identify basic terms in sexuality ( sex, sexuality, Topi

gender, etc. ) c
• Discuss sexuality as an important component
of
one’s personality • Gender and Human
• Explain the dimensions of human sexuality Sexuality
• Analyze the factors that affect ones attitudes and • Teenage Concerns
practices related to sexuality and sexual • Identify Crisis
behaviors • Sexual Identity and Sexual
• Assess personal health attitudes that may Behaviors
influence sexual behavior • Premarital Sex, Teenage
• Relate the importance of sexuality to family Pregnancies, and Abortion
health • Development of Decision-
• Identify the different issues/concerns of making Skills in Managing
teenagers ( i.e., identify crisis) and the need for Sexuality-related Issues
support and understanding of the family
• Apply decision-making skills in managing
sexuality-related issues
FOCUS QUESTIONS:
 How can a person’s sexuality be determined?
 How do the factors affecting human sexuality influence one’s values and
decisions in life? 3
I. GENDER AND HUMAN SEXUALITY

QUESTIONS:

 As you become teenagers, what are the changes that you have noticed in
your body? What are the issues you ask about? Did you ask anybody about them?
Did you discuss them with your friends?

Activity 1
List down the changes you have observed with your body.

Any person who passes at your age has the same experience as yours.
This stage is called adolescence or adolescent period.
Do the activity on the next page before proceeding to our main discussion.
Determine whether the given biological and physiological characteristics are observable
in male or female. Write M for male and F for female.
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All of these biological and
physiological changes you
experience when you
become teenagers are part
of your adolescence or
adolescent period

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A. Gender and Human Sexuality
What is adolescence?
Adolescence is a period when a person undergoes a lot of changes.
Primarily, teenagers experience physical changes that are very observable. Some
physiological changes may also be observed such as the onset of menstruation for
the females and the development of hoarse or bold voice for the males.
This period may bring about many issues that teenagers may be curious
about. Their reactions or attitudes on these issues may have a great influence on
their lives. One of these issues is sexuality.

Decisions that teenagers make regarding sexuality or their sexual

activity may bring about high impact on their future.
Proper information about sexuality may affect one’s self esteem and
may result in having healthy and wholesome family and social relationships.

What is Human Sexuality?

Human sexuality may be defined as the measure of maleness and
femaleness in one’s individuality and physical makeup. The way we behave, how
we express ourselves, and how we react and interact with all the things around
us, including our own body are determined and affected by our sexuality.

Sexuality is something that is biological and natural. Right from the

moment an individual is formed during fertilization, to the time of birth, and as
he or she grows up, sexuality is a major part of his or her personality. Learning
about love and relationships develops one’s emotional and social well-being.

To better understand human sexuality, it is important

that we
understand the words that are associated with sexuality such as sex and gender.
Sex refers to the biological characteristics of being a boy or a girl as
evidenced by the external and internal reproductive parts. It is determined right
away at the time of fertilization as the chromosomes inherited from the mother
and father combine. Genetically, a male or a boy has X and Y chromosomes
while a female or a girl has two X chromosomes. Thus, a male may be
symbolized as XY, and a female, XX.
Sex also refers to the body functions or physiological characteristics
of a person associated with his/her reproductive system. 5
 Gender refers to the behavior and attitudes that are expected to
be shown based on a person’s sex. It also refers to the roles activities that are
exhibited by a person as a male or a female as deemed appropriate or proper
by society.

A person’s gender may be classified as masculine or

feminine.

Why is sexuality an
important component
of one’s personality?
Sexuality is an important component of one’s personality because it
helps a person to determine or define who he/she is. It allows one to easily list
down his/her choices and a plan what he/she wants to be in the future. It is big
factor that influences a person in making his/her decisions in life. Whether
he/she will say yes or no, whether to go or not to go to a certain place, most of
the time, depends on his/ her sexuality.
Human sexuality is a
What are the integration of three
dimensions of human dimensions:
sexuality? biological,
psychological and
sociocultural.
1. Biological Dimension

This dimension is described by the person’s biological or physical sexual

characteristics as controlled by the sex chromosomes and hormones produced by the
sexual glands.
As mentioned, a female has XX sex chromosomes and a male has XY sex
chromosomes. The chromosomes carry the genetic material DNA (deoxyribonucleic
acid). The DNA determines all the traits and characteristics of all living things. A
human being has 46 chromosomes in every nucleus of the cell. Two chromosomes are
sex chromosomes are sex chromosomes (i.e., XX or XY) which are responsible for all
our sex characteristics, being a male or a female, while the remaining forty-four
chromosomes are responsible for all other characteristics that we have which are not
related to sex 7
What are the male and female reproductive parts?
Biologically, we classify males from females by identifying the
reproductive parts present in their bodies.

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 Female Reproductive System

 It is important to emphasize that the main purpose of human reproductive

system is For procreation or continuation of human life. The female’s ovaries
produce egg cells. And the male’s testes produce sperms. When the sperm cell
fertilizes the egg cell, a ZYGOTE is formed. It the start of new life, a new human
being.

1. PSYCHOLOGICAL DIMENSION

QUESTIONS:
1. Do you enjoy being a girl? Are you happy being a boy?

2. When you are in front of the mirror and look closely at yourself, do you like what
you see? Explain.

 If your answer is yes, then it is a good sign of being positive about your own sexuality.
If you like what you see in the mirror, you have a positive body image. Accepting
whether you are a boy or a girl and appreciating your physical characteristics affect
sexual health.
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3. SOCIOCULTURAL DIMENSION
deals with the influence of family, friends, religion, culture and even
government on sexuality.
Human sexuality can be understood as part of the social life of humans,
which is governed by implied rules of behavior and the status quo. This narrows the
view to groups within a society. The socio-cultural context of society, including the
effects of politics and the mass media, influences and forms social norms.
Throughout history, social norms have been changing and continue to
change as a
result of movements such as the sexual revolution and the rise of
feminism.
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Explain how these three dimensions
influence one’s decision or way of
thinking relating to sexuality?

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