Gender And Sexual Attitudes And Behavior

This essay aims to show a comparison between the differences between both female short-term mating strategies and female long-term mating strategies. It will explore the evolution of psychology that has shown reasons for human mating and how these reasons go above and beyond the general idea of physical attractiveness and love. This essay will identify how mate preferences have evolved and further identify psychological mechanisms that women have used to select their mates over the past. This essay will compare and critically discuss the differences and outline them between female short-term mating strategies and female long-term mating

Human sexuality is a common phrase for all, and anything, pertaining to the feelings and behaviors of sex for the human race. Sexuality has been a topic that has been discussed and studied for as far back as 1000 years B.C. and is still being studied today. As the discussion of sexuality has progressed through history, theories have been created based on research and experiments that scholars have implemented, based on their own perceptions of human behavior. Out of the many theories that pose to explain sexual behavior, Sexuality Now explained ten that are seemed to be the most overlapped, and built off of theories. Of these theories, two that were discussed in the text were the behavioral and sociological theory. These two theories cover some of the basic ideas of what could possibly influence a person’s sexuality.

You are to respond honestly and completely to each of the questions in the journal. It is important that I will be able to understand your point of view on each and every question - so short 'Yes' or 'No' responses will not suffice. ( Place your response in the ‘Answer’ section indicated.) Give examples and details to support your responses.

First of all I am going to begin with defining sex and gender. Sex in a sociological perspective is defined as the biological and physiological differences between men and women which are contrasted in terms of reproductive function(Abercrombie et al 2000 :313). On the other hand gender is sociologically conceived as the social roles allocated to men and women in society that is to say gender is learned not innate. However previously it was believed that sex determined gender thus the differences between men and

With the constant push for conforming into what society deems as acceptable, it is no surprise how much of an impact society plays on limiting the perception of what one’s sexual relationship should be. Society manipulates women into behaving in a certain manner in order to fit into this ideal mold of how women should be. Yet only to a certain point, “Be assertive, but not aggressive. Be feminine, but not too passive. Be sexually adventurous, but don’t alienate men with your sexual prowess.” (Bell 26) Due to all of the conditions, which limit women, it is no wonder how many young women feel “weighed down by vying cultural notions about the kind of sex and relationships they should be having.” (Bell 26) Although these limitations proposed by society can cause personal battles between oneself, it is possible to change one’s perception of how one should act regarding their own sexuality. Bell points out that by using “strategies of desire of the Relational Woman”, (Bell 30) this will assist woman in navigating through their sexual and romantic lives. It is normal for women to feel a desire for relationships and it is inevitable that conflict will arise. If women are able to develop and fully accepting their desires, despite the limitations from society, this will to lead women to building lives that are filled with self-acceptance.

The excerpt from Leslie Bell’s “Hard to Get: Twenty-Something Women and the Paradox of Sexual Freedom” explains the reality of how the expectation of sexual exploration for women in their twenties plays a reverse role on their behaviors and actually limits them. Bell thus groups female attitudes and behaviors in regards to their interaction with sexuality and relationships. She categorizes women into one of three: the sexual woman, the relational woman, and the desiring woman. Although this could result in a possible loss of individualism by grouping women and their experiences into three groups, and Bell acknowledges this, but insists that it provides an opportunity to study how women can share the same behaviors in a sexually confusing era.

Sexuality is a particularly perplexing topic for young women. Bell notes that “Their (women’s) twenties ought to be a decade of freedom and exploration. But… I have found them to be more confused than ever about not only how to get what they want, but what they want.” (Bell 26) Yes, they are young and has so many opportunities in front of them. Yes, most of them have a college degree and are highly educated. Yes, there are too many choices and they are condemned whichever way they choose.

When it comes to female sexuality, I firmly believe that women should express themselves however they want. I do not believe a “good woman” is fulfilling the two conflicting discourses of both pleasing and together. Expecting a woman to conform to those discourses is unfair to her because she is not able to find her identity, both gender and sexuality. In a heterosexual relationship, a woman should not pay attention to only fulfilling the male’s needs because she has needs of her

In the documentary Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She, the prejudices towards transgender and intersex individuals, as well as the fear they experience because of these prejudices, are underlined. A transgender individual is one that identifies with a gender that is not associated with their biological sex. An intersexual individual, however, is one that is born with indefinite sexual anatomical characteristics, making it difficult to identify as a male or female (Croteau & Hoynes, 2013). In addition, this documentary emphasizes the impact of cultural expectations on sexual orientation and gender identification.

According to Macionis (2012), the term sex “refers to activity that leads to sexual gratification” (p. 178). Sexual activity is guided by culture (Macionis, 2012). In other words, its practices and attitudes vary by region (Macionis, 2012). Although the historical norm for sex has been between adult partners, sexual practices and attitudes has changed over the years to include hooking up, which has emerged as a pattern among society in the United States, but can caused problems in today’s culture.

Tran, Thanh. "Extended Essay: Gender Roles, Sexual Desires." Winter Term Assignment. Portland State University, 15 Jan. 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.

Humans now have a very different life compared to the past since freedom, opportunities, and information together are playing a vital role in this modern society. Especially young people, they become more independent and are capable of living their lives. However, while society provides people a lot of benefits, it makes their lives even more complex at the same time by leaving them pressured and confused about who they really are. In her essay, “Selections from Hard to Get:Twenty-Something Women and the Paradox of Sexual Freedom,” Leslie Bell mentions that in this new-in between developmental period American twenty-something women have more freedom and opportunities to their sexual lives than previous generations. But they are struggling with the paradoxes of their relationships and desires at the same time. Bell suggests that social expectations and cultural guidelines, which are conventions of female sexuality and stereotypes of being a good girl, prevent these young women from pursuing their sexual desires and limiting their relationships with men. However, even these women have chosen the way they live, and what kind of sexual life they want to be bad girls to break those old rules, they ended with losing their identities. As a result, establishing a women’s identity rather than clinging to contradictory directives and social expectations impacts female sexuality more. When these twenty-something women try to split

Women sexuality

Throughout history it is evident that human sexuality changes do to religious, governmental and societal influences. The perception of human sexuality has gone through many changes such as being very open and unlabeled activity; to being very “conservative” and a topic that shouldn’t be talked about in public or at all. In any case, human sexuality has always been a topic of interest because humans are sexual beings who want to understand the consciousness of themselves as male or female and see their personal response when encountered in erotic experiences with other individuals. Unlike many other species whose sexual force is strictly for reproduction, human’s sexual drive seems to be driven by many factors that intertwine with each other which leads to very different outcomes. Do to these obscure human emotions and personal gratification, sex is always shown every culture’s art, literature, social norms, and laws.

Throughout history there has been speculation about what influences sexuality in men and woman. Is sexual orientation biological or cultural in nature? There is a common misconception that sexual identity operate in parallel with gender roles( Sell, 2005 as cited in Wilkinson & Roys, 2005, p.65). Scholars have not came to an agreement regarding what actually comprise a person’s sexual orientation, however a sexual orientation has been deemed a cumulative experience and interaction of emotional and sexual feelings towards one or both genders (Wilkinson & Roys, 2005, p.65). The paper provides provides some clues as to what factors influence sexual orientation in men and woman.