Sexuality

– Essay #1 When studying sexuality from a sociological perspective, one will undeniably encounter a plethora of unique theories that attempt to explain how sexuality comes about. Many of the earliest theories stem the world of psychology and use science and facts to explain sexual development. According to Seidman, these essentialist theories claim that naturally occurring traits (i.e. biology & genetics) define a group of people. The development of gender and sexuality is a fixed and invariant…

When it comes to philosophical and religious perspectives on human sexuality, there are very few views that are “middle of the road,” so to speak. Generally speaking, these perspectives are either sex positive or they are not. Philosophically, this difference can be noted with hedonism and asceticism. Hedonism embodies pleasure…

Literatures showed that there are three ways of which sexuality is defined. One, sexuality pertains to the totality of who the person is; second, sexuality is constructed through the interaction of an individual with the different social groups in the society; and lastly, sexuality can be understood through the relationships of which the person is engaged in. In the search for a definition of sexuality, I concur with Richards, Tepper, Whipple and Komisaruk (1997) that the description of…

The last few chapters of Sexualities in Context talked a lot about sex and how it is viewed. I am supposed to talk about sex and its relationship to love and or intimacy, but I did not really get any connection between these three things in these chapters. However, I suppose I did not really get the connection if I am defining sex as the act of sex. In chapter 7, The Alphabet Soup of Sexualities, Plante defines and further explains all sexual orientations. Here, the word sex is thrown around in…

as a natural part of life. We think of it as something that humans are born with. One’s sexuality is a defining aspect of his/her life. However, many scholars and thinkers alike have argued that sex is a man made thing. They believe that, for example, ancient Greece was before sexuality. In other words, sex is something that we have constructed for many reasons, and there was a time way back when where sexuality did not even exist. Scholars such as Michel Foucault and David M. Halperin have…

Throughout this Sociology of Human Sexuality course, we have discussed many aspects as to how social groups, social norms, culture, and scripting play a role in our sexual behaviors, desires and identities. These factors play a major role in how we think, behave, and interact with others within our social groups and society. Our sexuality and sexual choices are adapted from our surroundings and other external influences such as, race, gender, social class, nationality, and religion. By…

Human Sexualities is unlike any other class I have ever experienced. It has given me the insight and knowledge about our everyday lives, which now makes sense to me. I have learned about the sexual reproductive system for both men and women, the physiology behind the sexuality, gender roles and scripts, and many more topics of discussion. Therefore, it has also given me the opportunity to learn more about myself. As a child I was not a very sexual person or even very “myself” around the…

What we understand to be true about sexuality begins to ingrain itself in our person since the time we are born. At a young age, our parents influence our beliefs on sexuality by teaching us what is right or wrong for our gender. Over time, our peers and the media contribute to our understanding of our own sexuality as well as others’ sexuality. We are taught and socialized to follow societal norms or otherwise be faced with the possibility of being viewed negatively by others. Impositions by…

INTRODUCTION Love and sexuality have always been thought as a heteronormative point of view. Because of the natural way of reproduction, because of gender roles, because of social norms, the vision of love have been spread as a man and a woman falling in love, marrying each other and having children. Despite the existence of various shapes of sexuality throughout history, every sexuality that goes beyond the conventional morality is considered as deviant, witchcraft or mental illness. For…

The theme of human sexuality in films by Peter Bogdanovich, Jiri Menzel, Gregg Araki and Gia Coppola display the sense of a perturbed and somewhat disconnected youth in their narratives. The central characters throughout each film face challenges concerning how they display their sexuality. In The Last Picture Show (1971) and Closely Watched Trains (1966) sexuality subtly represents having freedom and gaining respect from others; however, in The Doom Generation (1995) and Palo Alto (2013)…