Human Sexuality By Sayad And Yarber

According to the textbook, “Human Sexuality,” by Sayad and Yarber, mass media helps to shape views on sexuality. The depiction of sexuality in media helps viewers create their own understanding of sexuality, but it can be very narrow because it can be argued that there is a lack of representation of other sexualities. Television is claimed to be where adolescents gain most of their knowledge of sexuality. However, it does not portray sexuality in reality, but presents various stereotypes and unequal gender roles (8). Another example of stereotypes within media can be found in video games. Women usually have very unrealistic bodies and their purpose is either to act as the damsel in distress or as eye candy. On the other hand, male characters …show more content…
Despite, being born as male or female, some people do not identify as such. Gender gives people the freedom to identify as what they want. Some people born with a penis might feel like their female and declare their gender as such. People have claimed that they are gender fluid, they feel like they shift between genders because they might feel female one week and male the next. I think gender gives people a way to express themselves as they please without being confined to their physical sex. Sayad and Yarber define sexual orientation as “the pattern of sexual and emotional attraction based on the gender of one’s partner” (17). This differs from gender and biological sex. For example, people may be attracted to the opposite sex which is considered heterosexuality. Other people may be attracted to the same sex which is considered homosexuality. Additionally, there are people attracted to both sexes which is considered bisexuality. However, in the modern society, there are many more sexualities. Some people identity as demi-sexual in which they need to have an emotional connection to the person before they feel sexual attraction. These people can be attracted to the same sex, both sexes, or the opposite sex. People may mix up these separate ideas because what is masculine and what is feminine is defined by society. If a boy wants to play with dolls or likes pink, he’s feminine and some will believe that he’ll group up to be gay. On the other hand, if a girl is a tom boy who likes to play in the mud when she’s growing up, it is acceptable because it is believed that she’ll be a girly girl when she matures. But, for those that do not, they label them as butch and believe them to be a