Gender and sexual individuality are compound concepts and are extremely contingent upon values and societal context, which can change swiftly over time. Sexuality includes no less than three significant elements: erotic identity, sexual appeal, and sexual performance. Erotic identity is a human beings own insight of his or her inclusive sexual nature. On behalf of one’s erotic identity, for instance heterosexual, lesbian, bisexual, or gay, is consistent through ones sexual appeal and performance, but for certain human beings erotic identity can be inconstant with appeal and/or performance. Perhaps, a gentleman whose main sexual significant other is a woman can categorize as heterosexual however infrequently partake in having sexual intercourse
Although we may find it simpler to think our sexual behavior, attractions, fantasies, and identities are all consistent and aligned, the reality of our world is that they are not consistent for many people.
Alike gender, sexuality is also a social construct, especially when looking at the period before the 18th century, when one’s sexual orientation did not matter, hence there being no need for justification, just as pointed by Foucault: “Sexual practices had little need of secrecy; words were said without undue reticence, and things were done without too much concealment; one had a tolerant familiarity with the illicit.” (3). And the 19th century came and brought with it a big change, and not only did people become engulfed by social norms, whom they should abide at all costs, but they also had to keep their sexual preferences under lock and key: “But twilight soon fell upon this bright day, followed by the monotonous nights of the Victorian
Contemporary understandings of sexuality are not the same as back in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Understandings and terminology in the past hold multiple differences and similarities than our current contemporary understandings.
In the Gendered Nature of Sexual Scripts by Michael W. Weiderman, the author talks about what societal factors influence males and females view of sex and their genitalia. The perception of one’s views on their genitalia is related to the sexual script that they are assigned and how society deems they should feel about sex. If one were to deviate from their assigned sexual script, the social ramifications may be detrimental to how they are perceived not only to society, but to the opposite sex.
The American family has continuously been changing over the years and has been shaped by changing ideas about gender, sexuality, race, and class. The institution of the family has changed but it has also remained the same in some aspects. Society’s acceptance of changes in gender and sexual norms have reshaped representations of the family. Betty Friedan, Barbara Ehrenreich, and Dorothy Sue Cobble have written articles that pertain to the changing of the institution. As the American society changes its views on gender and sexual norms, sometimes through movements, it has informed representations of the family.
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.
Proffering an acceptable answer to the question about sexual identity makes more sense by defining and explaining what exactly sexuality is. It is broadly defined as the summation of a person's sexual interests, behaviors and tendencies. It is can also be defined as one's responsiveness to sexual attractions. These sexual behaviors may live with such person through out such person's lifetime. Moreover, some commentators have defined it as the summation of one's feelings about the person's femininity or masculinity with the consciousness of one's self image in relation to interacting with others. Sexuality has a direct relation with the way one feels. Few of the determinants for sexuality are genetic factors, parental influence, influence of siblings and friends, societal influence and particularly how one feels about oneself.
Sexuality and gender for many seem to go hand and hand. With the breakdown of gender being defined by our biological sex or legally documented gender identity and sexual orientation relating to the gender or genders that we favor, it is understandable that this could happen. Our society often allows for sexuality to be gendered, through things like stigma, stereotypes, expectations, and limitations. Sexuality is gendered for men and women, but seems to provide more noticeable limitations for women regardless of sexual orientation. Men seem to have their sexuality questioned and experience elements of stigma and expectations more often.
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.
Sexuality can be primarily defined as an individual’s “capacity for sexual feelings” (OpenStax College, 2012. Pp. 270). On the other hand identity, in this case, gender identity is “a person’s self-conception of being either male or female based on his or her association with the feminine of masculine gender roles” (OpenStax College, 2012. Pp. 262). People may be discriminated and be victimised based on their perceptions of sexuality and identity, especially if they fail to conform to the societal norms and expectations (Beemyn, 2012).
Sexual orientation mentions to a persistent pattern of expressive, passionate and or sexual attractions to males, females or equally to two genders. It furthermore discusses to an individual’s intelligence of individuality grounded on those fascinations, connected conducts and association in a community of others who share those fascinations. Study over more than a few periods has established that sexual orientation ranges along a continuum, from exclusive attraction to the other sex to exclusive attraction to the same sex. However, sexual orientation is usually discussed in terms of three groups: heterosexual (with magnetisms to memberships of the other gender), gay or lesbian (fascinations of members of same gender), and bisexual. This variety
When I first started thinking about gender roles and how they influence us, I wanted to argue for how things have gotten more equal for both sexes in our society. Women and men alike have gradually shifted into roles once believed to be the sole territory of either one sex or the other, making gender equality highly valued by most people now-a-days. We also now acknowledge the differences between gender identity and sexual identity, and the roles that transgender, bisexual, gay/lesbian, and heterosexual individuals bring to our society. However, when I started to really reflect upon the 21st century, I began to realize that many of the culturally defined ways of behaving for men and women today still seem to be from the norm of a time so long past it isn’t funny. Two current examples, in our society today women face caps on how far they can go in the workforce due to a pre-established “glass ceiling” that dominates in a still very male oriented work environment; on the flipside, many people, men and women alike, will snub their nose at the “stay-at-home dad,” because both sexes still see house work and childcare as the women place.
Sexuality is something that seems to dominate a lot of the world we live in. It’s in our schools, at work, and especially in the mass media. The way your body develops and the way you feel and respond to others sexually creates your sexuality (“Sexuality and Sexual Orientation”, Youthoria). It can shape and affect people’s lives as well as our own. Sexuality can be influenced by culture, religion, media, friends and experiences. Some people are very sexual, while others experience no sexual attraction at all. Sexuality has always been treated as taboo and some people are uncomfortable talking about it so they avoid it. For this reason sexuality can produce confusion, anxiety and fear. Sexuality includes much more than just sex. It includes anatomy, biological sex, gender, sexual orientation, relationships, and sexual behaviors (“Sex and Sexuality”, Planned Parenthood). Applying the sociological approaches will give us a better understanding of human sexuality.
Sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender role are hot button terms that have recently pervaded newsrooms, courtrooms and doctor’s office alike. Yet, it is important to properly define these terms in order to avoid misunderstandings. Sex is biological; it is identified by sex chromosomes (i.e. XX, XY, X, XXX, XYY or XXY). Sexual orientation regards sexual attraction to one, several, or no genders (i.e. heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, etc.). Lastly, “gender identity refers to how one sees oneself and how one behaves as male, female, or in-between. Gender role refers to how one acts in public or how the public expects one to act as male, female, or in-between” (Pence 268).
#1 - Sex, gender, and sexual identity are often perceived as the same thing or at least directly intertwined. However, although there are often correlations, all three terms are distinct in terms from a sociologist. To begin, the term sex refers to the physical biological difference between male-bodied and female-bodied. Often, the most recognized difference among males and females are sexual reproduction organs. There are other elements like hair growth, breast tissue, and body weight. Gender, however, isn’t as concrete to bodily differences. Specifically, gender looks at how we associate masculinity traits with male bodies and femininity traits with female bodies. Sexual identity looks at to whom someone is sexually or romantically attracted to.