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Human sexuality studies
Research paper on human sexuality
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What Sex Does to Us Sexuality is something that we cannot avoid yet we seldom talk about it from a healthy and biological standpoint. Even though billions of people are taking part in this practice, its science is rarely fully understood. To walk through this topic first we must define what sex is and why we engage in it. This paper will also discuss what exactly is happening to our mind and body during sexual experiences. It’s also important to bring up the implications of how it can affect others in its misuse. The beauty of the sexual experience is something worth discovering. A question that may seem at first to be easily answered, may actually be deeper than first anticipated. The question of why do we have sex. At a first glance we might simply answer, because it feels good. However, there are many other deeper emotionally driving forces at work. In The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality there was information gathered about a plethora of heterosexual couples and their personal experiences revolving around sex. Some of the finding proved that the motivating factors for both males and females were generally the same but the level of importance were sometimes quite different depending on the category. Some examples of motivating factors were boredom, pleasure seeking, testing partner’s identity as a long term partner, solidify relationship, and seeking to please partner. The testing showed that men seemed more focused on pleasing their partner and women tended to be more focused on the partner’s actions and the partner’s identity revealed through the sexual experience. Sexual intercourse can show much about a person’s motives, identity, and character. This data lead to the theory that women are more likely to be more focu... ... middle of paper ... ...the experienced of heterosexual intercourse. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 143. Dictionary, M. W. (n.d.). Dictionary. Retrieved from Merriam Webster: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ Dutton, J. (2009). How we do it: How the science of sex can make you a better lover. New York: Broadway Books. Lisa Rinna, I. K. (2012). Big fun sexy sex book. New York: Gallery Books. Prevention, C. f. (2014, N/A). Injury prevention and control. Retrieved from Centers for disease control and prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/violencePrevention/NISVS/index.html Rathus, S., Nevid, J., & Rathus, L. (2014). Human sexuality. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Eductaion Inc. Zinzow H, R. H. (2012). Prevalence and risk of psychiatric disorders as a function of variant rape histories: Results from a national survey of women. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 893-902.
In a study done by The Journal of Clinical Psychology, “the primary reason for not reporting seemed to combine a type of guilt with embarrassment.” With the help of utilizing support groups, clubs, and other programs among college campuses that are designed to make the victim’s experience a little easier, the victims may not feel as embarrassed to come out and may feel safer in their decision to move forward with their case. One of the most notable effects of rape is the psychological impact that it has on the victim immediately as well as long-term. Many victims feel depression, anxiety, and other sudden onset mental illnesses as a result of their attack and can last for years post-attack. The Journal of Interpersonal Violence reported that in their study of 95 victims over a 12 week long period, “by 3 months post-crime 47% still met the full criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.” This prolonged experience of emotional trauma can weaken the person’s overall mental wellbeing and cause the trauma to stick with them for the rest of their lives, especially if there are no support resources around them. As cited in the Journal of Clinical Psychology study previously, the number one reason for not reporting is the feeling of embarrassment which causes the victims to not talk about their experience and to shut out those around
Masters and Johnson were a pioneering team in the field of human sexuality, both in the domains of research and therapy. William Howell Masters, a gynecologist, was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1915. Virginia Eshelman Johnson, a psychologist, was born in Springfield, Montana in 1925. To fully appreciate their contribution, it is necessary to see their work in historic context. In 1948, Alfred C. Kinsey and his co-workers, responding to a request by female students at Indiana University for more information on human sexual behavior, published the book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. They followed this five years later with Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. These books began a revolution in social awareness of and public attention given to human sexuality. At the time, public morality severely restricted open discussion of sexuality as a human characteristic, and specific sexual practices, especially sexual behaviors that did not lead to procreation. Kinsey's books, which among other things reported findings on the frequency of various sexual practices including homosexuality, caused a furor. Some people felt that the study of sexual behavior would undermine the family structure and damage American society. It was in this climate - one of incipient efforts to break through the denial of human sexuality and considerable resistance to these efforts - that Masters and Johnson began their work. Their primary contribution has been to help define sexuality as a healthy human trait and the experience of great pleasure and deep intimacy during sex as socially acceptable goals. As a physician interested in the nature of sexuality and the sexual experience, William Masters wanted to conduct research that would lead to an objective understanding of these topics. In 1957, he hired Virgina Johnson as a research assistant to begin this research issue. Together they developed polygraph-like instruments that were designed to measure human sexual response. Using these tools, Masters and Johnson initiated a project that ultimately included direct laboratory observation and measurement of 700 men and women while they were having intercourse or masturbating. Based on the data collected in this study, they co-authored the book Human Sexual Response in 1966. In this book, they identify and describe four phases in the human sexual response cycle : excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution. By this point in time, the generally repressive attitude toward sexuality was beginning to lift and the book found a ready audience.
The trauma of rape can lead to depression and can put victims in a horrible mental state of mind. Symptoms of depression can go unnoticed for long periods of time especially if the victims doesn’t speak out and tell someone. “Symptoms of depression are social withdrawnness, lack of interest in things the victim would normally enjoy, feelings of worthless unexplained irritability, and inability to sleep. After rape or sexual abuse, survivors often find their self-esteem suffers significantly”.(After silence. org) The way victims view themselves and others change significantly after being raped. They may lose their integrity and power to continue a balanced life.
Klein, Marty. "You're addicted to what? Challenging the myth of sex addiction." The Humanist July-Aug. 2012: 31+. Gale Power Search. Web. 8 Apr. 2014
In conclusion, what I learned from this article is that sex is much more complicated then I could have believed it to be. This article made me aware of many conflicts, issues, and disagreements that go along with what is or isn’t sex, and how there is no clear way to say, it’s really just a matter of opinion. For lesbians the simple use of a finger is enough, for gay men its anal sex. For some sex is innate and instinctive, while others believe it is learned. For some it’s based on love and pleasure, while for others it’s about domination. I highly doubt that there is anyone in this world that could come up with a universal meaning to sex which would please all parties. It is my conclusion that there is no right or wrong definition of sex; it is whatever
In the article “An Anthropological Look at Human Sexuality” the authors, Patrick Gray and Linda Wolfe speak about how societies look at human sexuality. The core concept of anthology is the idea of culture, the systems of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors people acquire as a member of society. The authors give an in depth analysis on how human sexuality is looked at in all different situations.
In today’s heterosexual and patriarchal society sex and sexual desires revolve around men, and Hoagland sets out seven patterns showing how this is the case. Sex is thought of as a “powerful and uncontrollable urge” and male sexuality therefore is a basic component to male health, sexual acts show male conquest and domination, sexual freedom gives men total access to and over women, rape is, by this logic, natural and women who resist a man’s advances are “‘frigid’”, sex involves losing control and sexual desire, when described as erotic, “involves a death wish (eros)”. The bottom line is that in today’s heterosexual and patriarchal society sex is all about men having a natural power over women; sex involves a total loss of control which creates a split between reason and emotion since being in control is a matter of reason controlling emotions, “we tend to believe that to be safe we must be rational and in control but to...
THERE’s much more to sex than the genitals, seeing someone bare or even the most common goal of sex – an orgasm. Sex experts will tell you that sex is intimacy; it is opening yourselves to spiritual mingling, exposing and exploring your sexual desires. But these are sometimes hindered by social constructions of sexual behaviour – the taboos, the myths and misinformation can sometimes make something as natural as sex very complex.
This essay will discuss the ways sexuality is gendered and their impacts towards both men and women by exploring the contemporary heterosexual scripts from a sociological perspective on three main aspects; i.e. sex drive, desire and power. It studies how men are deemed to have a higher sexual edge than women, who acts as the relationship gatekeepers. This essay analyses the theory that women predictably pursuits love and relationships while men are more sexually controlled by lusts and cravings. Sexual dominance and passiveness is another traditional script inspected in this essay, focusing on how men are always expected to be the prevailing initiator thus devouring more power in relationships while women stays being the weaker, submissive receivers.
Kilpatrick, D. G. (2000). The Mental Health Impact of Rape. Retrieved from National Violenc Against Women Prevention Research Center: http://www.musc.edu/vawprevention/research/mentalimpact.shtml
Webster’s Dictionary describes rape as the crime of forcing another person to submit to sex acts, especially sexual intercourse. Rape is a crime in which most women cannot defend themselves. The fear of rape plagues every woman at some point or another in her life. The traumatic effects of rape vary from mild to severe, from psychological to physical. This paper will evaluate rape, as well as the effects it has on women, the theory behind male dominance and patriarchy, and differences in demographics.
The American Psychiatric Association does not define atypical sexual interests as a disorder unless it causes personal distress, causes another person psychological or physical injury, or involves a person unwilling or unable to give legal consent. These distinctions were made to show that individuals who engage in atypical sexual behavior must not be inappropriately labeled as having a mental disorder. When we think of sexual orientation, we usually think of the continuum of gay, straight, and bisexual, but sexual orientation is a deep-seated attraction toward a certain kind of person. Erotic desire includes attention, attraction, fantasy, thoughts, urges, genital arousal, and behavior. It is further complicated by variations of dominance or submission, sadism and masochism, fetishes, and consent or no consent. These interests may be single or multiple, exclusive or nonexclusive, idiosyncratic or opportunistic, stable or fluid. Possible legal consequences, lack of opportunity, and unwillingness or inability to act all work to constrain our behavior. The sooner we learn this concerning human sexual behavior, the sooner we shall reach a sound understanding of the realities of sex. The reasons for our sexual choices are analyzed obsessively, imposing an undue emphasis on categorization rather than accepting the great diversity of same-sex attractions. But the act of categorizing all of these atypical sexual attractions does not mean that acting on them is either legal or morally acceptable nor unacceptable. Explanations for all of the elements of our sexual attractions are complex and probably unknowable. All research runs the risk of reductionism, but when research on sexuality focuses exclusively on genital sexual activity --to the exclusion of considerations of attraction, affection and affiliation--it falls short in understanding our
DeLamater, J. & Hyde, J. (1998). Essentialism vs. social constructionism in the study of human sexuality. Journal Of Sex Research, 35(1), 10-18.
Richmond, Raymond Lloyd. “Sexuality and Love.” A Guide to Psychology and its Practice. 01 Mar. 2005. http://www.guidetopsychology.com/sex_love.htm#n4