What does the field of sexuality entail? - Chapter 1

Sexual behaviour is a diverse phenomenon and occurs in several physical situations, social contexts and is experienced differently by everyone. Everyone has a complex set of motivations and external influences that determine the decision to engage in sexual behaviour. It is difficult to answer all the questions about sexuality within one discipline. The study of sexuality is important for the following reasons:

1. The exchange of sexual information is a taboo in many societies.

2. For many people, sexuality is an important motivation in life.

3. Some people experience difficulties and problems with their sexual functioning.

What is the difference between sex and gender?

The definition of gender is whether someone is male, female or other, such as trans. However, sometimes the word sex is used to describe gender, for example on a job application form. Most of the times sex refers to sexual behaviour or reproduction. The ambiguity in the use of the word sex causes confusion. In the context of this book, the term sex describes sexual activity and gender refers to being male, female or other. Besides the ambiguity in the use of the word sex, there are other problems with the difference between sex and gender. A lot of contemporary research is based on the gender binary, this is the notion that there are only two genders, being male and female. Also, the activities that are included in sex are debatable. Biologists describe sex as every behaviour that can cause the encounter of an egg-cell and sperm-cell. However, sexual behaviour is not only used for reproduction, but also for recreation. Therefore, in this book, sexual behaviour is described as behaviour that cause arousal and increases the chance of an orgasm.

What is the history of sexuality about religion and science?

Until about one hundred years ago the sexual available knowledge came from religious sources. The ancient Greek already told myths about the existence of hetero -and homosexuality. This way they could understand these sexual orientations. In Christianity they believed that having a “wet dream” was caused by having sex with the mythical creatures’ incubi ­and succubi. The person having the wet dream was sometimes accused of witchcraft. Muslims believed that sex was one of the most pleasurable things in life, this reflects upon the teachings of the prophet Mohammed.

Scientific research on sexuality started in the nineteenth century, eventhough at that time it was still illegal according to religion. In his book “theoretical perspectives on sexuality” Freud describes the cultural background of sexual behaviour for the first time. Norms concerning sex used to be very strict and rigid causing sexual tension and conflict. The psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing (1840-1902) described the pathology of sexual behaviour for the first time. Hirschfeld was interested in research about homosexuality and introduced the term transvestite. Only in the twentieth century, there was a breakthrough in scientific research about sexuality. This was the period in which large-scale surveys were conducted in the United States. Because of this research, sexual disorders and alternating sexual orientations were exposed for the first time. At the same time, scientists started investigating the biological processes of sexual behaviour.

What is the influence of mass-media on sexuality?

The mass media had a significant influence on knowledge on sexuality comparable to religion. Especially television was of great importance, in only one hour of American television, adolescents were exposed to a mean of seventeen behaviours or conversations about sex. Only two percent of these images show sexual repercussions. Many of the American insights about sexuality therefore come from mass media, instead of scientific research. The concept of cultivation is the exposure to sexual behaviour in mass media where people believe this resembles reality. The second major impact of mass media is called agenda setting. It is defined as the choices that news-creators make in what information they present to their audience. The third influence of mass media is social learning. In social learning, the characters in films serve as social models that people use to construct their ideas about the reality of sex. Besides television, the internet is an important source of sexual knowledge. There are both positive and negative norms displayed on the internet. Besides bad information about sexual behaviour, positive information about sexual health is widely available and promoted. This caused the number of sexual abuses over the internet to decrease over the last years.

What are cross-cultural perspectives on sexuality?

Culture is defined as the traditional norms and values that are transferred through group members by cultural symbols, such as language. These ideas and values are the basis for behavioural patterns for members of that group. Ethnocentrism influences this understanding of sexual behaviour, because most people experience sex through the eyes of their culture. The pattern in which people experience sex is therefore seen as correct. However, different cultures have very different attitudes about sex. There has not been a society so far that has been able to guarantee complete freedom of sexual behaviour. There are always rules concerning sex. For example, almost every society has incest taboos in which it is illegal to have sex with a blood relative. Also, in most societies rape or sexual assault is forbidden. Besides rules about incest and rape, many differences exist between sexual norms:

1. Variations in sexual techniques resemble the differences in techniques of sex. Kissing of a partner is a very normal thing to do in our society, but is seen as disgusting by the Tonga Africans. Also, cunnilingus, the stimulation of the female genitals is seen as completely normal in Western societies. In different cultures this is practiced in a distinctive way. The amount of sex deviates in each culture. The Irish natives have the least sex between couples, maybe only once a month while the Mangaians have sex several times a night. Almost every culture describes norms on postpartum sex, which is the prohibition of sex after pregnancy.

2. Masturbation or self-stimulation is tolerated in some cultures while forbidden in others. Especially rules about female masturbation vary between cultures.

3. About pre -and post marital sex there are distinct opinions between cultures. In the Pacific, pre-marital sex is completely normal and approved in 90% of the occasions. However, 73% of cases of premarital sex is disapproved in the Mediterranean area.

4. Homosexuality is often disapproved of in the United States. In other cultures, homosexuality among men is promoted. It seems there are two important universal rules about homosexuality. The first is that homosexuality exists in every culture. The second is that sex between two people of the same gender is never the primary form of intercourse.

5. Attractiveness determines the choice for a sexual partner. The norms of attractiveness vary among cultures but there seems to be one conformity, a pale skin colour is seen as unattractive in most cultures.

What is the influence of differences in social class and ethnicity on sexual behaviour in the United States?

Some varieties in the United States can be explained in terms of differences in social class, others can be explained in terms of ethnicity. Social class is often determined by education. The influence on sexual behaviour is that women that enjoyed a higher education are more likely to use birth control. People with a lower education are therefore more likely to have children at a younger age. These children often have a lower education. This means that sexuality might also influence social class. Besides the influence of social class, there are ethnical differences in sexuality:

• In the Afro-Caribbean culture, women should be modest. They see the African Americans as being sexually undisciplined. The percentage of African Americans that engage in marriage is lower than other ethnic groups. This is caused by the obstacles they face in finding decent employment to take care of a family.

• Latinos are people from Latin American heritage. They have a different view on sexuality compared to most Americans. Gender-roles are highly specific and are taught during childhood. The gender-roles in the Latino culture are characterised by machismo or macho. It literally means masculinity and implicates that a man is responsible for the honour and well-being of his family. The female form is marianismo and mean that motherhood is highly valued. Also, virginity until marriage is an important consideration for a woman. Familismo means that family is important, and support, loyalty, solidarity and family-honour are central values in the Latino culture.

• Asian Americans represent different cultural groups. They include Chinese, Japanese, but also Indians. Especially the Chinese have a repressive outlook on sex. The people from Cambodia believed that withholding information about sex would lead to a decrease in premarital sex. Their conservative cultural values, relevant for sexual attitudes are the following:

  1. Collectivism where people value others more than themselves. Openness of sexual behaviour could lead to discomfort in others and is thus not tolerated.

  2. Conformity to norms means that people need to live up to high expectations of their family and society. Shame and losing of face are important conditions on how to behave.

  3. Emotional control means that emotions should not be publicly displayed. Love and passion should not be showed to the outside world.

• American Indians are the native Americans and exist from different tribes. Men of this culture are masculine and often pictured naked. Females from the native American culture are vulnerable, attractive and maidenly. They have strict rules about pre-marital sex.

Racial microaggressions are subtle insults that are displayed to people of another (racial) background. It happens unnoticed but can lead to stress in the victim. There are gender microaggressions, sexual orientation microaggressions and microaggressions against transgenders.

What is the significance of cross-cultural research on sexuality?

Scientific research on human sexuality is important for two reasons:

1. It helps to determine the variation in sexual behaviour and help to put this into perspective.

2. These studies provide important insights in the importance of cultural learning on sexual behaviour. Cultural differences show that sexual behaviour is not only caused by biological factors.

What are cross-species perspectives on sexuality?

People are just one of the different species. Every specie is involved in sexual behaviour. We can learn about human sexual behaviour by studying sexual behaviour in animals.

1. Masturbation is present in many animal species. Especially apes often masturbate. Not only male, but also female masturbation is observed in animal species.

2. Homosexuality is present in other animals and suggests we are naturally bisexual. This is because homosexual behaviour is present in all animal species.

3. Sexual signalling or flirting happens across all species. It is an universal act.

4. Uniqueness of humans. In higher animal classifications, such as primates, sexual behaviour is guided more by hormones than internal impulses. The environmental influence on sexual behaviour is more present in primates than in fish for example. For humans the environment is a key influence on sexual behaviour. There is not much of human sexual behaviour that is unique, and for humans only, except for the cultural influences.

5. Non-sexual use of sexual behaviour is often described as using sex to express dominance. It happens in primates, but also in humans. For instance, rape is a desire for dominance that is expressed using sexual behaviour.

What is the sexual health perspective?

Sexual health is the political and social movement that is directed towards a shift of focus towards sexual health and sexual rights. Discussions about sexual health are about pathology, such as the infection with the HIV-virus. However, the concept is a lot bigger and includes sexual rights. These are universal basic rights that people have regarding their sexuality. This includes self-determination, freedom of sexual abuse and the right to express oneself sexually.