Summary of Understanding Human Sexuality - Hyde & Delamate - 13th edition
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Gender is one of the most basic status characteristics. People feel uncomfortable with uncertainty about another person’s gender. This is rooted in the gender binary, the classification of people into either the category male of female.
The emphasis on gender in societies is codified with gender roles, this is a set of norms or culturally defined expectations to define how people of one gender should behave. A stereotype is a generalization about a group of people that differs those people from others. Heterosexuality is an important part of gender roles and stereotypes.
Gender roles are a product of culture. Intersectionality is the approach where the meaning and consequences of the use of multiple categories for difference, identity and disadvantage. Effects of gender should not be considered in isolation, but the category woman should be accompanied by the categories that also apply in this woman, such as ethnicity, social class, religion and sexual orientation. People then may be part of both a privileged and disadvantaged group.
People often behave according to their (gender)role. This is caused by the phenomenon of socialization, which is the way in which society conveys norms and expectations of behaviour. One example is that children are awarded with behaviour that fits their gender. Socialization continues in adulthood, where the norms of socialization extend from finding an appropriate job to sexuality. There are multiple sources responsible for socialization: parents, the media and peers.
One major psychological difference between men and women is aggressiveness. Males are more aggressive than females. Also, males and females differ in their way of communication. Self-disclosure in friendships happens more often in girls than boys. The norms about self-disclosure are changing, whereas traditional roles favoured emotional expression, but emotional avoidance in boys there is now a change that good communication and equal self-disclosure should come from both genders. The understanding of nonverbal behaviour of others is called decoding nonverbal cues. This has implication for sexuality when men and women both have different communication styles.
There are some differences between men and women regarding sexuality. However, the differences do not outweigh the similarities. Also, gender differences may be altered by culture.
Women masturbate less than men, they disapprove casual sex and have a lesser orgasm consistency. Men use more porn and have a greater sex drive. There are several explanations for these differences.
Most research about sexuality is done with young-adults and college students. However, this gives a very narrow view on gender differences between partners. This is because the sexual awakening of a woman is later then for men so for instance, they might start masturbation at a later age. The expression of sex is also different, with men it starts with body-centred sex and later it becomes person-centred sex. For women, this is the other way around.
The term transgender refers more to a gender identity than a sexual deviation. Transgender is a name for people whose gender does not match their assigned gender at birth. Some people do not have any gender that appears in their genitals. This is called genderqueer, or non-binary. Another group is the transsexuals, their gender identification does not match the gender they are assigned to. For example, a person born with a female body, but a male personality. A male-to-female transsexual (MTF) is the name for a transwoman. A female-to-male transsexual (FTM) is a transman. The term trans however, is broader and includes people who identify as transsexual, cross-dressing, gender nonconforming, gender fluid, gender queer, transgender and other gender-variant persons. Individuals that are not transgender are categorised as cisgender. Gender dysphoria is the psychological distress that is caused by a mix-match between identity and gender. It can exist during childhood but does not always persist until adultery, only about twenty percent does. When gender dysphoria exists in adolescence the change of persistence into adulthood is much higher.
There is a homophobia and gay prejudice about transsexuals. The terms transphobia and anti-trans prejudice describe the attitudes and behaviours towards trans people. Transphobia is the irrational and strong fear for trans people. Anti-trans prejudice is a combination of the negative attitudes and behaviours on trans individuals. Discrimination against trans people is high, they experience injustice at every turn because they are called by gender-binary pronouns even though they do not feel these fit their gender identity. Trans people who are gynephilic are sexually attracted to women, if someone is androphilic the sexual attraction is to men.
There are several procedures available for people to change their binary gender identity. One of them is therapy so their body matches their identity, this is gender-conforming therapy. Other options are often medical, but a referral and assessment by a mental health professional is needed. The treatments can be accumulated with voice -and communication therapy, supportive therapy for peers to reduce stress and facial hair removal for males. The following medical treatments exist:
Hormone therapy to accomplish pubertal suppression is used to give a person time to make a well-informed decision about the transformation. They are reversible if the choice not to make the transition is made. Also, if the transition is made, the process is simpler.
Hormone therapy to feminize or masculinize the body is only partially reversible and applied on adolescents and adults that are already capable of deciding. It can lead to the growth of facial hair, the clitoris and breasts.
Chest surgery is the removal or augmentation of breasts.
Genital surgery for MTF are:
Penectomy: removal of the penis
Orchiectomy: the removal of the testes
Vaginoplasty: the creation of a vagina from the skin of the penis
Clitoroplasty: the creation of a clitoris.
Genital surgery for FTM can include:
The removal of the uterus: hysterectomy
The removal of the fallopian tubes and ovaries
Metoidioplasty or phalloplasty: creating a small penis
Insertion of artificial testes
Metoidioplasty entails releasing the clitoris, which enlarges into a small penis through hormone therapy.
Gender variance has often been researched using transsexuals. Some argue that the process starts before birth. There are genes associated with transsexualism that are different for MTFs and FTMs. They are more likely to have a mutation in the androgen receptor gene. Not all MTFs carry this mutation. The exact causes are still unknown.
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Summary with all chapters of the 13th edition of Understanding Human Sexuality by Hyde & Delamate
Summary with the mandatory readings for the course Sexology (a free elective for Psychology students at the UvA).
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