Gender and Sexuality in Culture

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

Several decades ago the idea of women as subordinate was considered to be a universality by the aforementioned white, Western male anthropologists who lead the field. Despite an anthropologist’s endeavor to be unbiased, the fact is these traditional anthropologists came from a culture where many aspects of human life were male dominant. Though many studied

Nagel’s text discussing the driving factors behind international perceptions of sexuality offers an insight into how sexuality is viewed and understood globally. She discusses how culture, country of origin, ancestry, language, religion, and ethnicity/race play a crucial role in the perception of individual sexuality and its reception by its audience. Joanne Nagel writes about the ways in which heterosexuality is still very much the norm in ethno sexual spaces and the impact that heteronormativity has on members of different races, ethnic groups and nations. Nagel then goes on to highlight how racial and ethnic boundaries play a role in how the sexuality of peoples belonging to specific ethnic, racial and cultural groups are received by members of other ethnic, cultural and racial groups. She explains how these boundaries help create a narrative of ‘us vs them’, ‘pure vs impure’ ‘wrong vs right’, where differences such as

In a patriarchal society such as colonial Latin America, women were considered second class citizens. No matter their class or ethnicity, all women experienced the social and cultural limitations that are subjected to them by this patriarchal society. Women had limited access to education, women are used to satisfy men’s personal desires and legal systems neglected women’s court rights while heavily advocating men’s. However, not all women are subjected to the same limitations because of the difference in one’s economic status and ethnic identity. Nonetheless, women still found a way to carve out a space for themselves in attempt to overcome these regulations set by a patriarchal society.

Sociologists reject the idea that behavioural differences between men and women are biologically determined. Outline the key grounds for this rejection and discuss what this means for a sociological understanding of gender.

Gender is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as the state of being male or female. However after taking Psychology of Gender I would have to say I strongly disagree with this. I believe gender is a socio-cultural construct of female and male identity that shapes how individuals live and interpret the world around them. The older I get the more faults I find in my culture and the gender ideology behind it. Growing up Hispanic in the United States has made a huge impact in my life today, and while I believe it has benefitted me personally, research however seems to prove the opposite. Research today proves that even though these beliefs prove to be changing, the influence Hispanic culture has can negatively affect the way both men and women view their own gender roles and identity. Although research supports the idea of reinforcing negative stereotypes related to cultural gender roles. I also believe that these ideas are changing and will continue to evolve in the future.

“When Men are oppressed it’s a tragedy; when Women are oppressed, it’s a tradition” (Pogrebin). A tradition so universal that it has spawned a multitude of anthropological theories concerning its origin. Social anthropologist Gayle Rubin identifies “a systematic social apparatus which takes up females as raw materials and fashions domesticated women as products” and notes that “the exchange of women is a profound perception of a system in which women do not have full rights to themselves” (Rubin). This tradition represents such an ubiquitous phenomenon that the narrative women exists throughout the Western canon. Historically and in literature, the oppression of women, particularly the sexual repression, often results in symptoms viewed as

In the assignment, I will give an imaginary case study of a counselling client with issues relating to fear and sadness and contemplate how their problems discover in their life. The case study will clearly focus on sociocultural issues, such as race, culture, gender and sexuality. It will look at how convenient it can be to accept how important sociocultural issues can be when considering individual suffering. The main focus this assignment will be weight up with regards to sociocultural issues will be, culture, race and sexuality. The counselling approach being used will be person centred therapy. The case study is based on 27 year old woman who is black and gay. She has anxiety around men which is the outcome of an intimidating, abusive grandfather who raised her.

Dracula can be read as an almost transparent metaphor for the confusion, guilt and anger over what is considered to be the ‘proper’ role of women in Victorian society. The ‘vamping’ of a human female - such as in the case of Lucy - succeeds in adding a sexualised and sexualising element to women, who - according to the time period - are then only ‘purified’ through further sexual and violent acts, such as being penetrated by a wooden stake (Skal, 31).

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.

People who are not in a committed relationship also known as hookups or friends with benefits. The controversial issue of casual sex are adverse effects of hookups may consist of emotional entanglement, psychological harm, sexual violence, sexually transmitted infections, and or unplanned pregnancy. People who have experience hook-up behavior has linked with a variety of mental health factors (Garcia, 2013). Additionally, although some individuals are having casual sex, not all enjoy being in that type of relationship. Which may cause some to have low self-esteem, anxiety, and feeling of being pressured and discomfort (Paul et al., 2000). As a result feeling guilty and resentment. Women were more likely to feel guilt and have negative feelings than men (Garcia, 2013). These negative sense of guilt and resentments may connect to individuals wanting a more intimate and committed relationship.

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.

For years, many scholars have provided many discussions over the topic of gender and sexuality. However, one needs to ask themselves: Are these two topics, gender and sexuality, useful as a category for historical analysis? The articles written by both Joan W. Scott and Afsaneh Najmabadi, answer such a question. By critically examining and assessing their two article, can the usefulness of gender and sexuality as a category for historical analysis be proven.

Sex culture in modern day Japan has demonstrated to be an integral part of their cultural identity and is more progressive than any other countries. Japan’s sex culture has surpassed boundaries that are standardized in other countries. The West sees the Japanese as emotionless, controlled and even sexless. Publicly they are shy, reserved and terribly proper, however Japan is an extreme contradiction. If we examine the surface of their culture, the private life of these Japanese people can be a real eye opener. The role of sexuality and more specifically the role of pornography in women’s lives is perhaps the biggest debate among the people from the West. This paper will examine how pornography is gendered in Japan and the effects of this to the West. It will also delve into the Japanese cultural identity and its contradistinction to the American cultural identity. An important argument that people may debate about is the fact that Japanese people have the oddest sexual culture that outstands their cultural identity.

Gender is a sociological factor which is a set of relationships, attributes, roles, beliefs and attitudes of human. On the other hand, sexuality can be referred into two traits. First is Biological; second is Physiological. Biological trait is about the difference of sex organs, the production of estrogen or testosterone. Physiological trait is about the difference of facial features, size of bones, shoulders, muscles, fatty issues. According to American Psychological Association, gender and sexuality impacts and is impacted by cultural, political, legal, and philosophical aspects of life. As popular culture is the culture of today, which is always based on universal activities, it is effortless to alter the mind of human so the concept of