Waking Society's Sexuality Standards Research Paper

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines sexuality as a) the quality and state of being sexual, b) the condition of having sex, c) sexual activity, and d) the expression of sexual receptivity or interest especially when excessive, and it cites the first use of the word at around the year 1800. Human beings experienced their own sexuality prior to 1800; however, it was not until the late nineteenth century when the ideas heterosexuality and homosexuality were initially formulated. As sexuality is the result of social interactions, one’s sex, class, and race all play large roles in defining sexuality, whether it be to others or simply on a personal level.

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.

Rubin discusses sexual hierarchy and how people are constituted within it based on types of sexual practises. She approaches these schemas as a basis of understanding how various institutional forces such as Medical communities and Religious communities define good sex versus bad sex and how their discourses define how people should see various types of sex. She emphasises that “marital, reproductive heterosexuals are a lone at the top of the erotic pyramid” (279). From this point, any type of sex falls under the heterosexual ideal is considered bad sex. Rubin further argues that “sexual liberation has been and continues to be a feminist goal” and states that both the LGBTQ+ community and Feminists often debate internally whether sexual liberation is good or not

During the early 1800s into the nineteenth century it was believed that men and women came from two separate spheres. These spheres influenced the way gender roles were shaped and perceived. Suggesting that women belonged in the household, apart of the private sphere and men belonged in the economic world, apart of the public sphere. Men and women were understood to be polar opposites and because of this, women were oppressed. Female sexuality was defined as “passionlessness,” and only for the purpose of reproduction. We learn that women were considered “voracious” for expressing their sexuality however, men were encouraged to express their sexuality as part of maintaining power, prestige, and masculinity. (Cott, 1978, 222). Men

In order to illustrate this, Fahs examines seven key examples where women are caught between joyous celebrations of sexual progress and disturbingly regressive attacks on their sexual empowerment: orgasm, sexual satisfaction, treatment for sexual dysfunction, rape and sexual coercion, body hair as ‘personal choice,’ same-sex eroticism, and sexual fantasy. Ultimately, Fahs argues that the sex-positive movement must advance its politics to include a more serious consideration of the freedom from as it relates to the freedom to. In addition, Fahs argues that the sex positive movement must advance its politics to include a more serious consideration of the freedom from repressive structures. By outlining several ways that the freedom from and the freedom to are currently in conversation in discourses of women’s sexuality, the author argues that the integration of these two halves could lead to a subtler and more complete understanding of the contemporary sexual politics, particularly around tensions that arose during the infamous “sex wars” of the 1980s, thus helpings to build a more cohesive and powerful feminist movement as a whole. As a vision for sex positivity, Fahs also argues that we need three broadly defined goals, each of which contributes to a larger vision that prioritizes a

During the 19th century, social life began to become more sexualized and people began to be defined by their sexual behaviors. With this, the idea of love and romance was feminized; and women were considered the ones who expressed their emotions, accepted strong feelings, and remained pure. In contrast, men started to be considered sexualized creatures that were expected to be emotionally reserved. Today there is a sexual double standard that puts pressure on women to engage in less sexual activity than men and puts pressure on men to maintain a standard of masculinity, just like in the 19th century. Below we will not only explore the “feminization of love” as discussed in class, but also expand on how it has made an impact on sexual expectations of men and women and how this relates to the sexual stigmatization of casual sex.

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

Throughout history, definitions of sexuality within a culture are created and then changed time after time. During these changes, we have seen the impact and power one individual or group can have over others. In the Late Nineteenth Century into the Early Twentieth Century, we see multiple groups of people and or authorities taking control over the idea of sex and how they believe society is being impacted by sex. At this point in time, society had groups of people who believed they had the power to control how society as whole viewed and acted upon sex. Those particular groups and ideas changed many lives and the overall definition of sexuality within that culture.

Since the dawn of man, sex has played a crucial role in society. Before they learned to read or write humans were engaging in sex and without it none of us would be here. In today’s society, sex has grown to become much more complicated. If I were to ask a group of people on the street what they believed sex was? I bet they would have a hard time answering. The question puzzling society today is how do we define sex? Can we define sex? These are questions raised in Tracy Steele’s article “Doing it: The Social Construction of S-E-X”. This article is about the current questions and issues that have been raised about sex within today’s society. In this paper I will summarize the key points of the article, while sharing my own thoughts and

It’s no secret that we all have sex. Every person grows up as an individual, learning things about themselves as they go along, as well as learning about others. We all eventually end up calling someone else our significant other, whether it be of the same sex or not, and we all end up making personal decisions about our sexual identity and actions as we progress through life. We define our sexual identities of something unique to only us and we acquire our identities with a mix of influences: biological, psychological, social, cultures, values, and society in the time in which we are growing up. After such influences, we make the choice when to lose our

Human sexuality can be interpreted in many different ideas and understandings. Watching the documentary “Guardians of the Flutes,” I was able to see a different life style than I’m use to but at the same time see many similarities. Both men and women have different roles in their daily lives and their works do not intersect. The Sambia tribe is patriarchal, in which the men have the control or rule, similar to most American house hold; however, that is changing. Understanding the way sex influences or impacts our lives is very important. Not only do humans interact sexually but also many animals. Human sexuality is being able to be comfortable with one to be able to interact with others in a deeper level.

The world now becomes a state of change or flux. Human beings act toward others and objects on the basis of the meanings that such things have for them but meanings are being continually constructed and modified through interaction. The fundamental approach is simple put: nothing is sexual but naming makes it so. Sexuality is a social construct learned in interaction with others. This is not to deny biological facts. It is simply to assert that things do not have sex meanings in their own right. They have to be bestowed upon them through sexual encounters. The mind has to define something as sexual before it is sexual in

In today’s society, the term and act of bargaining is defined as the negotiation of the terms and conditions of a transaction between two or more distinct parties. Chapter 13 takes the fundamental ideas and theories of bargaining and jumps into an in depth discussion focused on how each person in a particular bargaining situation is represented. Hirshman and Larson examine an individual’s life and classify the various sexual bargains that said individual might experience at some point in their life and classify them into five subsections. During this discussion, the title of the book itself, Hard Bargains, is used heavily to describe these

There is constantly cessation why women and men cohabitate, nurture, desire, and endure. Many shrug the similarities and differences to the side due to the complex nature that is involved in understanding the progression. Since the beginning of time, according to the bible, man was placed as the dominant sex, fending for the families well being. The woman has tended to the important jobs around the homestead as situations arose. Often in society, one will find himself in a battle depending on the views of the receiving recipients. Following is a dialogue explaining a safe and metro sexual view as a general whole.

In today’s society things are being expressed and experienced at younger ages, than ever before in our time. Children and teenagers are discovering their sexuality at very early ages. Sexuality is the discovering of who you are and what makes you different from everybody else.