Sexology
Chapter 5
Sex hormones, sexual differentiation, and the menstrual cycle
Many of the structural differences between males and females arise before birth, during the prenatal period, in a process called prenatal sexual differentiation.
Prenatal period: the time from conception to birth.
Further differences develop during puberty.
Hormones: chemical substances secreted by the endocrine glands into the bloodstream.
Because they go into the blood, their effects are felt rapidly and at places in the body quite distant from where they were manufactured.
The most important sex hormones are
The pituitary gland and the hypothalamus are also important.
These three structures function together.
They influence important sexual functions
Sex hormone systems in males
The pituitary and testes both produce hormones.
The important hormone produced by the testes is testosterone.
Has important functions in:
The pituitary produces several hormones, two of which are important here. These hormones affect the functioning of the testes
Testosterone levels in males are relatively constant.
The hypothalamus, pituitary, and testes operate in a negative feedback loop that maintains these constant levels.
The levels of LH are regulated GnRH (gonadotropin-releasing hormone), which is secreted by the hypothalamus.
The hypothalamus monitors the levels of testosterone present, and this way testosterone influence the output of GnRH.
This loop is sometimes called the HPG axis, for hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad axis.
The pituitary’s production of LH stimulates the testes to produce testosterone, but when testosterone levels get high, the hypothalamus reduces its production of GnRH, in turn causing the pituitary to reduce production of LH, and consequently decreasing the production of testosterone.
When testosterone levels drop, the hypothalamus increases the production of GnRH.
Inhibin: a hormone secreted by the testes and ovaries that regulates FSH levels in a negative feedback loop.
Sex hormone systems in females
The ovaries produce two important hormones
In adult women the levels of estrogen and progesterone fluctuate according to the phases of the menstrual cycle and during various other stages such as pregnancy and menopause.
FSH and LH regulate the levels of estrogen en progesterone by a negative feedback loop that is similar to the negative feedback loop in males.
Inhibin is produced by the ovaries and inhibits FSH production. It participates in the feedback loop that controls the menstrual cycle.
The pituitary produces two other hormones
Sex chromosomes
The specific sex chromosomes carried in a fertilized egg are the deciding factors in whether it will become a male or female.
Occasionally, individuals receive at conception a sex chromosome combination other than XX or XY.
Such atypical sex chromosome complements may lead to a variation of clinical syndromes.
By the 7th week after conception, some basic structures have been formed that will eventually become either a male or female reproductive system.
At this point, the embryo has a pair of gonads, two sets of ducts, and rudimentary external genitals.
Gonads
In the 7th week after conception, the sex chromosomes direct the gonads to begin differentiation.
SRY: sex-determining region, Y chromosome.
SRY is an important gene that directs differentiation of the gonads.
Causes the manufacture of a substance called testis-determining factor (TDF), which makes the gonads differentiate into testis, and male development occurs.
The X chromosome carries genes that control normal functioning of the ovaries.
A number of genes on the X chromosome also affects cells in the testes that manufacture sperm.
Prenatal hormones and the genitals
Once the ovaries and testes have differentiated, they begin to produce different sex hormones, which then direct the differentiation of the rest of the internal and external genital systems.
By 12 weeks after conception, the gender of the fetus is clear from the appearance of the external genitals.
Descent of the testes and ovaries
As these developmental changes are taking place, the ovaries and testes are changing in shape and position.
The testes go down into the scrotum via the inguinal canal.
Normally, this occurs around the 7th month after conception.
The inguinal canal closes off after the testes descend.
Two problems may occur in this process
Brain differentiation
During the prenatal period, sex hormones are also acting on the brain.
In certain regions there are differences between male and female brains.
Epigenetics: a functional change to DNA that does not alter the genetic code itself, but leads to charges in gene expression.
Often an epigenetic change involves methylation, a methyl group that is attached to the base cytosine in the DNA.
Prenatal sexual differentiation of the brain may involve more than anatomical differences in structures and androgen receptors, but may also involve epigenetic factors.
The brains of men and women are actually quite similar in most regions, but a few brain structures show gender differentiation.
Neuroscientists emphasize the plasticity of the brain instead of wardwiring present at birth.
Homologous organs
Homologous organs: organs in the male and female that develop from the same embryonic tissue.
Analogous organs: organs in the male and female that have similar functions.
Atypical prenatal gender differentiation
We can distinguish among the following eight variables of gender
These variables might be subdivided into biological and psychological variables.
In most cases, all the variables are in agreement in an individual.
As a result of any one of a number of factors during the course of prenatal development, the gender indicated by one or more of these variables may disagree with the gender indicated by others.
Intersex: a condition in which the individual has a mixture of male and female reproductive structures, so that it is not clear at birth whether the individual is a male or female.
Disorders of sex development (DSD): another term for intersex conditions.
A number of syndromes can cause an intersex condition
Puberty: the time during which there is sudden enlargement and maturation of the gonads, other genitalia, and secondary sex characteristics, sot that the individual becomes capable of reproduction.
The physiological process that underlies puberty in both genders is a marked increase in levels of sex hormones.
Adolescence is a socially defined period of development that bears some relationship to puberty.
It represents a psychological transition from the behaviour and attitudes of a child to the behaviour, attitudes and responsibilities of an adult.
In some cultures, adolescence does not exist.
Changes in girls
The first sign of puberty in girls is the beginning of breast development, on average around 8 to 9 years of age.
The ducts in the nipple area swell, and there is growth of fatty and connective tissue, causing the small, conical buds to increase in size.
These changes are produced by increases in the levels of sex hormones.
A similar increase takes place at the hips and buttocks, leading to the rounded contours.
Another visible sign of puberty is the growth of public hair, which occurs shortly after breast development begins.
About two years later, underarm hear appears.
Body growth increases sharply during puberty.
Estrogen eventually stops the growth spurt in girls.
At about 12 years of age, the menarche (first menstruation) occurs.
But, the girl is not capable of becoming pregnant until ovulation begins, typically about two years after the menarche.
The percent body fat hypothesis
During puberty, deposits of body fat increase in females
According to the hypothesis, the percentage of body weight that is fat must rise to a certain level for menstruation to occur for the first time and for it to be maintained
Other body changes in girls during puberty include
The changes are produced by the endocrine system and its upsurge in sex hormone production during puberty.
Adrenal glands; endocrine glands located just above the kidneys, in females they are major producers of androgens
Androgens stimulate the growth of public hair and axillary hair and are related to the female sex drive.
Adrenarche: in childhood, the maturation of the adrenal glands, resulting in increased secretion of androgens. Begins slightly before the age 8.
Changes in boys
Puberty begins at about 10 or 11 years of age in boys.
The physical changes of puberty in boys parallel those in girls.
They are initiated by increased production of FSH and LH by the pituitary.
At the beginning of puberty, the increase in LH stimulates the testes to produce testosterone, which is responsible for most of the changes of puberty in males.
Problems by puberty
Changes in behaviour
Puberty increases
Biology of the menstrual cycle
The menstrual cycle is regulated by fluctuating levels of sex hormones, which produce certain changes in the ovaries and uterus.
The hormone cycles are regulated by the HPG axis and by means of the negative feedback loops.
Other species have estrous cycles, not menstrual.
Differences
The phases of the menstrual cycle
The menstrual cycle has four phases
Length and timing of the cycle
Generally, anywhere from 20 to 36 days is considered within the normal range of the menstrual cycle.
There is enormous variation from one women to the next and for one women it can vary.
At cycles that are longer or shorter than 28 days, the principle is that the length of the luteal phase is relatively constant.
Always around 14 days.
Mittelschmerz: women who can feel ovulation.
Ovulation does not occur in every menstrual cycle.
Anovulatory cycle: menstruation without ovulation.
Other cyclic changes
Two other biological processes fluctuate with the menstrual cycle
Menstrual problems
Dysmenorrhea: painful menstruation.
Dysmenorrhea is caused by prostaglandins.
Prostaglandins: chemicals secreted by the uterus that cause the uterine muscles to contract.
Endometriosis: a condition in which the endometrium grows abnormally outside the uterus; the symptoms in unusually painful periods with excessive bleeding.
Amenorrhea: the absence of menstruation.
Psychological aspects of the menstrual cycle
Fluctuations in mood:do women become extra emotional?
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS): a combination of severe physical and psychological symptoms, such as depression and irritability, occurring just before menstruation.
According to some studies, there is no scientific evidence of PMS.
The best conclusion seems that the great majority of women do not experience menstrual fluctuations in mood, but a small percentage may.
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD): a diagnostic category in the DSM, characterized by symptoms such as sadness, anxiety, and irritability in the week before menstruation.
Very controversial.
Fluctuations in performance: can a women be president?
Research has found no fluctuations in academic performance, problem solving, memory, or creative thinking.
Fluctuations in sex drive
Maximum sexual arousability does occur at the time of peak fertility.
Why do we believe in PMS?
We believe in PMS because of a long tradition of many cultural forces, such as menstrual taboos, that create negative attitudes toward menstruation.
In addition, women’s expectations may play a role.
Cycles in men
Men’s testosterone levels displayed weekly fluctuations, peaking on weekends.
Sexuality in perspective - a summary of chapter 1 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamater
Sexology
Chapter 1
Sexuality in perspective
Sex and gender
Gender: being male, female, or some other gender such as trans.
Sexual behaviour: behaviour that produces arousal and increases the chance of orgasm.
Religion
Throughout most of recorded history, religion provided most of the information that people has about sexuality.
These religions have profound impact.
Science
The scientific study of sex began in the 19th century, although religious notions continue to influence our ideas about sexuality.
Freud gave a great contribution to the understanding of sex.
Havelock Ellis (1896)
Believed that women, like men, are sexual creatures
He believed that sexual deviations from the norm are often harmless, and he urged society to accept them.
Richard von Krafft-Ebing (1840-1902)
Was interested in ‘pathological’ sexuality.
His work was neither objective nor tolerant, but had a long-lasting effect.
He coined the concepts of sadism, masochism, and paedophilia, and the terms heterosexuality and homosexuality.
Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935)
Founded the first sex research institute and journal devoted to the study of sex.
Established a marriage counselling service and gave advice on contraception and sex problems.
The study of sex tends to be interdisciplinary.
The mass media in America today may play the same role that religion did in previous centuries.
Media can have three types of influence
The internet has a powerful mass media influence.
It has potential for both positive and negative effects on sexual health.
Cultural learning accumulates over time.
Culture: traditional ideas and values passed on from generation to generation within a group and transmitted to members of the group by symbols.
Ethnocentrism tends to influence our understanding of human sexual behaviour.
Ethnocentrism: the tendency to regard one’s own ethnic group and culture as superior to others and to believe that it customs and way of life are standards by which other cultures should be judged.
There are wide variations from one culture to
Theoretical perspectives on sexuality - a summary of chapter 2 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamaterSexology
Chapter 2
Theoretical perspectives on sexuality
Sociobiology
Sociobiology: the application of evolutionary biology to understanding the social behaviour of animals, including humans.
Sociobiologists try to understand why certain patterns of sexual behaviour have evolved in humans.
The sociobiologists argues that many of the characteristics we evaluate in judging attractiveness are indicative of the health and vigour of the individual.
These in turn are probably related to the person’s reproductive potential.
Thus, perhaps our concern with physical attractiveness is a product of evolution and natural selection.
Attractiveness is an indicator of health and is more important in mate selection in societies where more people are unhealthy.
From this viewpoint, hanging out, playing sports, getting engaged and similar customs are much like the courtship rituals of other species.
This courtship is an opportunity for each member of the prospective couple to assess each other’s fitness.
An offspring’s changes of survival are greatly increased if the parents bond emotionally and if the parents have propensity for attachment.
An emotional bond may also lead to more frequent sexual interaction. The pleasurable consequences of sex in turn will reinforce the bond.
Parental investment: the behaviour and resources invested in offspring to achieve the survival and reproductive success of their genetic offspring.
Many criticisms of sociobiology have been made
Evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychology: the study of psychological mechanisms that have been shaped by natural selection.
If behaviours evolved in response to selection pressures, it is plausible that cognitive or emotional structures evolved in the same way.
A man who accurately judged whether a woman was healthy and fertile would be more successful in reproducing.
According to sexual strategies, females and males face different adaptive problems in short-term, or casual, mating and in long-term reproduction.
These differences lead to different strategies.
According to the theory, females engage in intrasexual competition to access the males.
Criticisms to evolutionary psychology
Sex research - a summary of chapter 3 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamaterSexology
Chapter 3
Sex research
There are different types of sex research, but basically the techniques vary in terms of the following:
The first thing that researchers have to decide is how the measure the particular aspect of sexuality they want to study.
Self-reports
The most common method for measuring sexuality is self-reports, in which the participants are asked questions about their sexual behaviour.
Self-reports can be collected in a number of ways
Behavioural measures
Several alternatives are available for behavioural measures of sexuality.
Implicit measures
Implicit Association Test (IAT)
Measures an individual’s relative strength of association between different pair of concepts with reaction times.
We react quicker to two concepts that we associate strongly.
People cannot fake reaction times.
Biological measures
Genital measures: assess arousal by using devices that measure erection in males and vaginal changes in females.
MRI and fMRI are being used increasingly in sex research.
Two limitations to use of fMRI in sex research
Measures of pupil dilation.
Our pupils dilate when we look at something that is interesting or arousing, or that puts a big load on our brain.
Sampling
An important step in conducting sex research is to identify the appropriate population of people studied.
Generally the scientist is unable to get data for all people in the population so a sample is taken.
If a sample is a random sample or representative
.....read more Sexual anatomy - a summary of chapter 4 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamaterSexology
Chapter 4
Sexual anatomy
The female sexual organs can be classified into two categories
External organs
The external genitals of females consist of
Vulva: the collective term of the external genitals of the female.
The appearance of the vulva varies greatly from one women to another.
The clitoris
Clitoris: a highly sensitive sexual organ in the female: the glans is in front of the vaginal entrance, and the rest of the clitoris extends deeper into the body.
It consists of
Female sexual organs and make sexual organs develop from similar tissue before birth.
The female’s clitoris is homologous to the male’s penis, both develop from the same embryonic tissue.
The clitoris has a structure similar to that of the penis in that both have corpora cavernosa.
The clitoris varies in size from one women to the next.
The clitoris is erectile.
Its internal structure contains corpora cavernosa that fill with blood, as the similar structures in the penis do.
The clitoris has a rich supply of nerve endings, making it very sensitive to stroking.
It is the only part of the sexual anatomy with no known reproductive function.
The Mons
Mons pubis: the fatty pad of tissue under the public hair.
The labia
Outer lips: rounded pads of fatty tissue lying on either side of the vaginal entrance. They are covered with public hair.
Inner lips: thin folds of skin lying on either side of the vaginal entrance.
The inner lips extend forward and come together in front, forming the clitoral hood.
The inner and outer lips are well supplied with nerve endings and thus are also important in sexual stimulation and arousal.
Bartholin glands: two tiny glands located on either side of the vaginal entrance.
Seem to have no significant function, but sometimes they become infected.
Fourchette: the place where the inner lips come together behind the vaginal opening.
Perineum: the skin between the vaginal entrance and the anus.
Introitus: the vaginal entrance.
The urinary opening lies about midway between the clitoris and the vaginal opening.
Urine passes through a separate pathway, the urethra.
Self-knowledge
Female’s external organs
.....read more Sex hormones, sexual differentiation, and the menstrual cycle - a summary of chapter 5 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamaterSexology
Chapter 5
Sex hormones, sexual differentiation, and the menstrual cycle
Many of the structural differences between males and females arise before birth, during the prenatal period, in a process called prenatal sexual differentiation.
Prenatal period: the time from conception to birth.
Further differences develop during puberty.
Hormones: chemical substances secreted by the endocrine glands into the bloodstream.
Because they go into the blood, their effects are felt rapidly and at places in the body quite distant from where they were manufactured.
The most important sex hormones are
The pituitary gland and the hypothalamus are also important.
These three structures function together.
They influence important sexual functions
Sex hormone systems in males
The pituitary and testes both produce hormones.
The important hormone produced by the testes is testosterone.
Has important functions in:
The pituitary produces several hormones, two of which are important here. These hormones affect the functioning of the testes
Testosterone levels in males are relatively constant.
The hypothalamus, pituitary, and testes operate in a negative feedback loop that maintains these constant levels.
The levels of LH are regulated GnRH (gonadotropin-releasing hormone), which is secreted by the hypothalamus.
The hypothalamus monitors the levels of testosterone present, and this way testosterone influence the output of GnRH.
This loop is sometimes called the HPG axis, for hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad axis.
The pituitary’s production of LH stimulates the testes to produce testosterone, but when testosterone levels get high, the hypothalamus reduces its production of GnRH, in turn causing the pituitary to reduce production of LH, and consequently decreasing the production of testosterone.
When
Contraception and abortion - a summary of chapter 7 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamaterSexology
Chapter 7
Contraception and abortion
Both babies and mothers are healthier if pregnancies are spaced three to five years apart.
Hormonal methods of contraception are highly effective and come in a number of forms
The combination pill
Combination birth control pills: birth control pills that contain a combination of estrogen and pregestin (progesterone), both at higher than natural levels.
A women takes the pill for 21 days, and then no pill or a placebo for 7 days, after which she repeats the cycle.
Variations have been introduced.
How it works
The pill works mainly by preventing ovulation.
When a women starts taking the birth control pills, estrogen levels are high. This high level of estrogen inhibits FSH production, and the message to ovulate never sends out.
The high level of progesterone inhibits LH production, further preventing ovulation.
The progestin provides additional backup effects
When the estrogen and progestin are withdrawn, the lining of the uterus disintegrates, and withdrawal bleeding or menstruation occurs.
The flow is typically reduced because the progestin has inhibited development of endometrium.
Effectiveness
Failure rate: the pregnancy rate occurring using a particular method; the percentage of women who will be pregnant after a year of use of the method.
Effectiveness: 100 minus the failure rate.
Two kinds of failure rate
Combination pills are one of the most effective methods of birth control.
The perfect-user failure rate is 0.3 percent.
The typical user failure rate is 9 percent.
Failures occur primarily as a result of forgetting to take a pill for 2 or more days.
If a women forgets the pill for 3 or more days, she should use a condom or abstain from sex until she has taken hormonal pills for 7 days in a row, at which point she will again be well protected.
Side effects
Sexual arousal - a summary of chapter 8 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamaterSexology
Chapter 8
Sexual arousal
Satisfying sexual expression contributes to good physical and mental health.
Sexual response typically progresses in thee stages, according to the Masters and Johnson’s model
Physiological processes that occur during these stages are
Excitement
Excitement: the first stage of sexual response, during which erection in males and vaginal lubrication in females occur.
The basic physiological process that occurs during excitement is vasocongestion.
Erection may be produced by
Erection occurs rapidly, although it may take place more slowly as a result of a number of factors
As the man gets closer to orgasm, a few drops of fluid, secreted by the Cowper’s gland, appear at the tip of the penis.
They may contain active sperm.
In men, the skin of the scrotum thickens, the scortal sac tenses, and the scrotum is pulled up and closer to the body.
For an erection to occur, several arteries must dilate, allowing a strong flow of blood into the corpora. They dilate because the smooth muscle surrounding the arteries relaxes.
At the same time, the veins carrying blood away from the penis are compressed, restricting the outgoing blood flow.
Multiple neurotransmitters are involved in this process
Vasoconstriction makes an erection go away.
An important response of females in the excitement phase is lubrication of the vagina.
Results from vasocongestion.
During excitement, the capillaries in the walls of the vagina dilate and blood flow through them increases.
Vagina lubrication results when fluids seep through the semipermeable membranes of the vaginal walls, producing lubrication as a result of vasocongestion in the tissues surrounding the vagina.
Lubrication begins 10 to 30 seconds after the onset of arousing stimuli.
Can be affected by
Orgasmic platform: a tightening of the entrance to the vagina caused by contractions of the bulbospongiosus muscle (which covers the vestibular bulbs) that occur during the excitement stage of sexual response.
During the excitement phaser, the glans of the clitoris (the tip) swells.
This results form engorgement of its corpora cavernosa.
The crura of the clitoris also swell.
The vestibular bulbs, which lie along the wall
Sexuality and the life cycle: childhood and adolescence - a summary of chapter 9 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamaterSexology
Chapter 9
Sexuality and the life cycle: childhood and adolescence
Lifespan development: development from birth through old age.
Scientific data available on the sexual behaviour of children and adolescents
Responses on surveys may be problematic
The studies of child and adolescent sexual behaviour have mostly involved surveys, which have used either questionnaires or interviews.
Virtually no researchers have made systematic, direct observations of children’s sexual behaviour, although some have asked parents to report on their children’s sexual behaviour.
Sigmund Freud first expressed the notion that children – in fact, even infants – have sexual urges and engage in sexual behaviour.
The capacity of the human body to show a sexual response is present from birth.
Reflex erections occur in male fetus for several month before birth and vaginal lubrication has been found in baby girls in the 24 hours after birth.
The first intimate relationship that most children experience is with their mother and their fathers.
The mother-infant relationship involves a good deal of physical contact and engages the infant’s tactile, olfactory, visual, and auditory senses.
Attachment
Attachment: a psychological bond that forms between an infant and the mother, the father, or other caregiver.
The quality of attachment can be very important to the child’s capacity for later sexual and emotional relationships.
The bond begins in the hours immediately following birth and continues throughout the period of infancy.
It is facilitated by cuddling and other forms of physical contact.
Adults’ styles of romantic attachment are similar to the kinds of attachment they remember having with their parents in childhood.
Self-stimulation
Infants have been observed fondling their own genitals.
Sexuality and the life cycle: adulthood - a summary of chapter 10 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamaterSexology
Chapter 10
Sexuality and the life cycle: adulthood
Sexual unfolding
The process of sexual development continues into adulthood.
There is a need to solidify one’s sexual identity and orientation.
Another step toward maturity is identifying our sexual likes and dislikes and learning to communicate them to a partner.
Two more issues are important in achieving sexual maturity
The never married
The never married: adults who have never been married.
The typical person who marries spends several years in the never-married category.
Celibate: unmarried
Chaste: abstaining from sexual intercourse
Serial monogamy: being involved in tow or more sexually intimate relationships prior to marriage.
Common in adolescence.
The attitudes of never-married persons about their status vary widely.
Three types of involuntary celibates
Singleism: the stigmatizing and stereotyping of people who are not in a socially recognized couple relationship.
Predictors of remaining a virgin at age 28
Some young people plan to be celibate but not chaste.
Being single
The person who passes age 25 without getting married gradually enters a new world
Singles scene: institutions for singles that provide opportunities for meeting others.
Technology has expanded the ways in which singles can meet.
Cell phones are not only play a role in meeting and screening potential partners, they are a major by which relationships are maintained and terminated.
Most singles do not have intercourse much.
Motives and the importance of scripts in their interactions with women of men
Single adults engage
.....read more Attraction, love, and communication - a summary of chapter 11 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamaterSexology
Chapter 11
Attraction, love, and communication
The girl next door
Our opportunities to meet people are limited by geography and time.
We tend to be more attracted to people with whom we have had contact several times than we are to people with whom we have had little contact.
Mere-exposure effect: the tendency to like a person more if we have been exposed to him or her repeatedly.
Birds of a feather
We like people who are similar to us.
We are attracted to people who are approximately the same was we are in age, race or ethnicity, and economic and social status.
Homophily: the tendency to have contact with people who are equal in social status.
We are attracted to people whose attitudes and opinions are similar to ours.
Reasons to be attracted to a person similar
Physical attractiveness
Individuals prefer partners who are more physically attractive.
This effect depends on gender to some extent.
Physical attractiveness is more important to males evaluating females than it is to females evaluating males.
Our perception of attractiveness or beauty of another person is influenced by our evaluation of their intelligence, liking, respect, and our own objective attractiveness.
This phenomenon is somewhat modified by our own feelings of personal worth.
The interpersonal marketplace
Whom we are attracted to and pair off with depends a lot on how much we think we have to offer and how much we think we can ‘buy’ with it.
Matching phenomenon: the tendency for men and women to choose as partners people who match them. Who are similar in attitudes, intelligence, and attractiveness.
Generally, the principle seems to be that:
For both men and women, the person’s physical attractiveness is highly correlated with his/her education, income, and a measure of social status.
Attractiveness in high school is associated with greater social integration and favourable treatment by teachers and classmates.
This predicts education, work, and mental health outcomes as the person becomes an adult.
From the laboratory to real life
Perceived similarity: extent to which the individual believes his or her partner is similar on important characteristics.
Both perceived and actual similarity are associated with interpersonal attraction.
Perceived similarity is more important.
The nature and importance of matching varies as relationships develop.
Each individual’s rating on self-worth predicted the level of physical attractiveness of
Gender and sexuality - a summary of chapter 12 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamaterSexology
Chapter 12
Gender and sexuality
Gender is one of the most basic status characteristics.
Gender binary: the classification of people into on of two categories, male or female.
One of the basic ways in which societies codify this emphasis on gender is through gender roles.
Gender role: a set of norms , or culturally defined expectations, that define how people of one gender ought to behave.
Stereotype: a generalization about a group of people that distinguishes them from others.
Gender roles and ethnicity
Gender roles are a product of culture.
Intersectionality: an approach that simultaneously considers the meaning and consequences of multiple categories of identify, difference, and dis-advantage.
According to this approach, we should not consider the effects of gender in isolation.
We should consider the effects of gender, race, social class, and sexual orientation simultaneously.
African Americans
Two factors are especially important in the cultural heritage of African Americans
African American culture emphasized the collective over the individual.
Stereotypes about black women are complex and contradictory.
Black men’s sexuality also has been stereotyped.
The stereotypes tend to be negative.
These stereotypes and discrimination that results can be a source of severe stress.
Latinos
Acculturalisation: the process of incorporating the beliefs and customs of a new culture.
Mexican American culture is based on the Mexican heritage, modified through acculturalsation to incorporate Anglo components.
The family is the central focus of Hispanic life.
In traditional Latin American cultures, gender roles are sharply defined.
Asian Americans
The cultural values of Asian Americans are in some ways consistent with white middle-class American values.
The sexuality of Asian Americans is stereotyped.
The Asian American women has been stereotyped as a sex toy.
American Indians
Some Indian tribes had relatively egalitarian gender roles.
The process of acculturation hand adaptation to Anglo society seems to have resulted in increased male dominance.
Socialization
Socialization: the ways in which society conveys to the individual its norms or expectations for his or her behaviour.
Occurs especially in childhood, as children are taught to behave as they will be expected to in adulthood.
Sexual orientation: Gay, Straight, or Bi? - a summary of chapter 13 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamaterSexology
Chapter 13
Sexual orientation: Gay, Straight, or Bi?
Sexual orientation: a person’s erotic and emotional orientation toward members of his or own gender or members of the other gender.
Homosexual: a person whose sexual orientation is toward members of the same gender
Heterosexual: a person whose sexual orientation is toward members of the other gender.
Bisexual: a person whose sexual orientation is toward both men and women.
Queer:a self-label used by some LGBs, as well as by some heterosexuals who prefer unusual sexual practices.
Your sexual orientation has implications for the attitudes people have toward you.
Heteronormativity: the belief that heterosexuality is the norm.
Attitudes
Many Americans disapprove of homosexuality.
The gay liberation movement has a slow effect on changing the negative attitudes.
Homophobia: a strong, irrational fear of homosexuals; negative attitudes and reactions to homosexuals.
Antigay prejudice: negative attitudes and behaviours toward gays and lesbians.
Heterosexism: the belief that everyone is heterosexual and that heterosexuality is the norm.
Some prejudice is subtle.
The most extreme expressions of anti gay prejudice occur in hate crimes against LGBs.
Hate crimes against and harassment of sexual minority individuals are common whether physical, emotional, or sexual.
These incidents exact a psychological toll.
In previous decades there were almost no portrayals of gays, so they were invisible in the mass media.
There are now more representations of sexual minorities.
This has mixed results.
Gays and lesbians as a minority group
Like members of other minority groups, LGB people suffer from job discrimination.
Discrimination goes hand in hand with stereotypes.
LGBs, unlike other minorities, can hide their status.
There is a wide variety of experiences.
One of the most important aspects of this variability is whether the person is covert (in the closet) or overt (out of the closet) about his or her homosexuality.
The lifestyle of gay men differs somewhat from that of lesbians, as a result of the different roles assigned to males and females in our society.
There is more discrimination against gay men than there is against lesbians.
LGB development
Some evidence indicates that
.....read more Variations in sexual behaviour - a summary of chapter 14 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamaterSexology
Chapter 14
Variations in sexual behaviour
Defining abnormal
Sexual behaviour varies greatly from one culture to the next.
There is a corresponding variation in what is considered to be abnormal.
Statistical definition
An abnormal sexual behaviour is one that is rare.
This definition does not give us insight into the psychological or social functioning of the person.
Sociological approach
A behaviour that violence the norms of society.
Psychological approach
The three criteria of abnormality are discomfort, inefficiency and bizarreness.
Medical approach
Exemplified by the definitions included in the DSM-V.
Paraphilia: intense and persistent unconventional sexual interest.
The normal-abnormal continuum
There is a continuum from normal to abnormal sexual behaviour.
This continuum holds for many of the sexual variations.
Fetishism: a person’s sexual fixation on some object other than another human being and attachment of great erotic significance to that object.
A fetishistic disorder: sexual fantasies, urges, or behaviours involving the use of non-living objects to produce or enhance sexual arousal with or in the absence of a partner, over a period of at least 6 months and causing significant distress.
Inanimate-object fetishes can be roughly divided into two categories
Why do people develop fetishes?
Psychologists are not sure what causes fetishes to develop.
Three theoretical explanations
Fetishism typically develops early in life.
Cross-dressing: dressing as a member of the other gender.
Done by a variety of people for a variety of reasons.
Sexual coercion - a summary of chapter 15 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamaterSexology
Chapter 15
Sexual coercion
Rape: non-consenting oral, anal, or vaginal penetration obtained by force, by threat of force, or when the victim is incapable of giving consent.
Most statistics find that a woman’s lifetime risk of being raped is between 18 and 25 percent.
The impact of rape
Women who experience rape are more likely to show several types of psychological distress
People who have experienced a terrifying event form a memory schema that involves information about the situation and their responses to it.
Because the schema is large, many cues can trigger it and thereby evoke the feelings of terror that occurred at the time.
The schema is probably activated at some level all the time.
The consequences can be far reaching and long lasting.
Most women who experience a sexual assault have negative psychological reactions immediately afterwards.
Many show significant recovery within a year.
A number of factors are associated with worse psychological outcomes
Psychotherapeutic treatments for PTSD are available and they are successful in treating rape survivors.
Some women experience self-blame.
Self-blame is linked to worse long-term psychological outcomes.
Damage to women’s physical health that may result from rape
Rape affects many people besides the victim.
Most women routinely do a number of things that stem from rape fears.
Most women experience the fear of rape, if not rape itself, and this fear restricts their activities.
Spouses or partners of victims may be profoundly affected.
At the same time, they can provide important support.
Not everyone who experiences a serious traumatic event develops PTSD.
Posttraumatic growth: positive life changes and psychological development following exposure to trauma.
Date rape
Date rape is one of the most common forms of rape, especially on college campuses.
In some cases, date rape seems to result from male-female miscommunication.
Marital rape
Marital rape: the rape of a person by her or his
.....read more Sex for sale - a summary of chapter 16 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamaterSexology
Chapter 16
Sex for sale
Prostitutes/commercial sex workers: people who engage in sexual acts in return for payment and do so in a promiscuous, fairly non-discriminating fashion.
Venues for sex work
There are a number of settings or venues in which commercial sexual activity occurs.
The nature of the venue or social/sexual context influences the type of sex worker and client found, the activity that occurs, and its associated risks.
Call girl: the most expensive and exclusive category of prostitutes.
Works out of her own residence, making appointments with clients by a landline, cell phone or online.
Has heavy business expenses.
May have a number of regular customers and may accept new clients only on referral.
She can exercise close control over whom she sees and her schedule.
She usually sees clients in her residence.
She often provides an illusion of intimacy and may provide other services (like accompanying to business and social gatherings).
Brothel: a house of prostitution where prostitutes and customers meet for sexual activity.
In-call services:a residence in which prostitutes work regular shifts, selling sexual services on an hourly basis.
The sexual worker has generally less autonomy than a call girl.
There is usually a manager or madam who determines the conditions of work and the fees to be charged and who collects a substantial percentage of each fee.
Less choice of clients.
Massage parlor: a place where massages, as well as sexual services, can generally be purchased.
Some provide legitimate massage therapy.
Vary greatly in décor and price.
Out-call service: a service that sends a prostitute or sex worker to a location specified by the client to provide sexual services.
Streetwalker: a lower-status prostitute or sex worker who walks the streets selling sexual services.
Generally less attractive and less fashionably dressed than the call girl, and also charges less.
More likely to impose strict time constraints on the customer.
Little control over the condition in which they work, so greater risk.
Strip club: a bar or business that provides (almost) nude dancers and sexualized interactions, not necessarily physical sexual contact.
Exist along a continuum.
The internet and cell phones have had a major impact on the delivery of commercial sexual services.
The same person may work in several different venues over time.
The role of third parties
Pimp: a prostitute’s companion, protector and master.
If she has a pimp, she supports him with her earnings, and in return he may provide her with companionship and sex, bail her out of jail, an provide her with feed, shelter, clothing, and drugs.
May provide protection.
But may also abuse her.
Madam: a woman who manages a brothel, in-call, out-call, or escort service.
In other venues there
.....read more Sexual disorders and sex therapy - a summary of chapter 17 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamaterSexology
Chapter 17
Sexual disorders and sex therapy
Sexual disorders cause a great deal of psychological distress to the individuals troubled by them and to their partners.
Sexual disorder: a problem with sexual response that causes a person mental distress.
This is a continuum.
Desire disorders
Sexual desire: an interest in sexual activity, leading the individual to seek out sexual activity or to be pleasurably receptive to it.
Hypoactive sexual desire (HSD): a sexual disorder in which there is a lack of interest in sexual activity.
Found in both men and women.
Too little sexual desire is the most common sexual issue reported by women.
But, there are also many circumstances when it is normal for a person’s desire to be inhibited.
The problem is not the individual’s absolute level of sexual desire but a discrepancy between the partners’ levels.
Discrepancy of sexual desire: a sexual disorder in which the partners have considerably different levels of sexual desire.
Female sexual interest/arousal disorder: a diagnosis in the DSM-V that encompasses lack of interest in sexual activity and absent or reduced arousal during sexual interactions.
The diagnosis is limited to women.
Arousal disorders
Female sexual arousal disorder
Female sexual arousal disorder: a sexual disorder in which there is a lack of response to sexual stimulation, including lack of lubrication.
Involves both a subjective, psychological component and a physiological element.
Problems with lubrication become more frequent after menopause.
Erectile disorder
Erectile disorder: the inability to have or maintain an erection.
One result is that the man cannot engage in sexual intercourse.
Psychological reactions to erectile disorder may be severe.
Orgasmic disorders
Premature ejaculation
Premature ejaculation (PE): a sexual disorder in which the man ejaculates too soon and thinks he cannot control when he ejaculates.
In practice it is difficult to specify when a man is a premature ejactulator.
A common problem in the general male population.
The great majority probably
Sexually transmitted infections - a summary of chapter 18 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamaterSexology
Chapter 18
Sexually transmitted infections
Bacterial infections can be cured by antibiotics.
Viral infections cannot be cured, but they can be treated to reduce symptoms.
Chlamydia trachomatis: a bacterium that is spread by sexual contact and infects the genital organ of both males and females.
Symptoms
Treatment
Chlamydia is quite curable.
Treated with axithromycin or doxycycline.
Poorly treated or undiagnosed cases may lead to a number of complications
Prevention
Until a vaccine is available, the most effective tools for prevention is screening.
On individual level, the best way of prevention is the consistent use of a condom.
HPV: human papillomavirus, the virus that causes cervical cancer.
Genital warts: a sexually transmitted infection causing warts on the genitals.
Typically appear 3 to 8 months after intercourse with an infected person.
The majority of people infected with HPV are asymptomatic.
Oral sex can transmit HPV.
Diagnosis
A DNA test can be run on a sample of cells from the cervix to detect the types that are linked to genital cancers.
For warts, diagnosis can be made by inspecting the warts.
But warts are not always produced or visible.
Treatment
Several treatments for genital warts are available.
Chemicals can be applied directly to the warts. Typically this have to be repeated several times, and the warts then fall off.
With cryotherapy the warts are frozen off.
Drugs can be applied.
Many cases of HPV infection go away on their own, but others persist for long periods.
Vaccine
A vaccination against cervical cancer.
Genital herpes: a sexually transmitted infection, the symptoms of which are small, painful bumps or blisters on the genitals.
The great majority is asymptomatic and do not know they are infected.
These persons transmit the disease unknowingly.
Symptoms
Small, painful bumps or blisters on the genitals.
Typically appear within 2 or 3 weeks of infection.
Fever, painful urination, and headaches may occur.
The blisters heal on their own in about 3 weeks in the fist episode of infection.
But the virus continues to live in the body and remains dormant for the rest of the person’s life.
The
Ethics, religion, and sexuality - a summary of chapter 19 of Understanding human sexuality by Hyde and DeLamaterSexology
Chapter 19
Ethics, religion, and sexuality
Ethics: a system of moral principles; a ways of determining right and wrong.
Religion is a source of values, attitudes, and ethics.
For believers, religion sets forth an ethical code and provides sanctions that motivate them to obey the rules.
When a particular religion is practices by many people in a society, it helps create a culture, which then influences even those who do not accept the religion.
Hedonism: a moral system based on maximizing pleasure and avoiding pain.
Asceticism: an approach to life emphasizing discipline and impulse control.
Legalism: ethics based on the assumption that there are rules for human conduct and that morality consists of knowing the rules and obeying them.
Situationism: ethics based on the assumption that there are no absolute rules, or at least very few, and that each situation must be judged individually.
Classical Greek philosophy
While nothing in Greek culture rejected sex as evil, the great philosophers did develop a kind of asceticism.
They thought that virtue resulted from wisdom.
To achieve wisdom and cultivate virtue, violent passions must be avoided, and these might well include sex.
Plate believed that love led toward immortality and was therefore a good thing.
But this kind of love was mainly intellectual and more like friendship than sexuality.
Pederasty: sex between an older man and a younger man, or a boy.
Approved especially among the warrior class.
The older man was to serve as the younger one’s teacher and model of courage and virtue.
Ataraxia: a tranquil state between pleasure and pain in which the mind is unaffected by emotion.
Sex was not necessarily seen as evil, but as less important than wisdom and virtue.
Judaism
The basis for Judaism are the old testament of the bible.
The view of sexuality in the Hebrew scriptures is fundamentally positive.
Human sexual differentiation is an integral part of creation, which God calls ‘good’.
Judaism sees sexuality as a gift to be used responsibly and in obedience to God’s will, never as something evil in itself.
The command to marry and to procreate within marriage is clear.
Three themes of sexuality
Fertility cult:a form of nature religion in which the fertility of the soil
.....read more Sexology - uva
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