Sexuality

Question 1

refers to whether one is attracted to one’s own gender or different gender (sexual orientation)

Answer 1

sexual identity

Question 2

A newer term used in conjunction with sexual identity. It is intended to include emotional and physical attractions beyond sexual attraction

Answer 2

Affection orientation

Question 3

a traditional term to describe people attracted to opposite sex partners

Answer 3

heterosexual

Question 4

term used to describe people attracted to same-sex partners

Answer 4

homosexual

Question 5

refers to individuals attracted to people of both sexes

Answer 5

bisexual

Question 6

an identity of someone who has the potential to be sexually attracted to various gender expressions, including those outside the gender-conforming binary

Answer 6

pansexual

Question 7

the degree to which an individual sees himself or herself as masculine or feminine

Answer 7

Freud, Kinsey, and many present-day psychologists and biologists maintain that humans are inherently bisexual

Question 8

A sense of one’s sexual identity often begins in childhood and progresses through adolescence

Answer 8

• How it unfolds depends on various social factors, including family support

Question 9

trying to convert gay men and lesbians back to heterosexuals through psychotherapy, support groups, or religious programs and retreats

Answer 9

Sexual orientation change efforts (conversion therapies)

Question 10

From Colonial times until the 19th century, the purpose of sex in America was primarily defined as reproductive

Answer 10

The meaning and purpose of sex expanded beginning in the 19th century and continued in the 20th century such that it was also seen as a means of communication and intimacy

Question 11

Early America: Patriarchal Sex

Answer 11

• Patriarchal sexuality is characterized by beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviors developed to protect the male line of descent
• Men are to control women’s sexuality
• Has been challenged, but persists to some extent

Question 12

The Twentieth Century: The Emergence of Expressive Sexuality

Answer 12

• Sexuality is seen as basic to the humanness of both women and men; there is no one-sided sense of ownership
• Sex is an important means of enhancing human intimacy

Question 13

The 1960s Sexual Revolution: Sex for Pleasure

Answer 13

• The availability of birth control and changes in laws allowed intercourse to become separate from pregnancy and helped reverse the idea that the state held sway over sexual and reproductive decisions
• Attitudes and behavior regarding sex changed
• In 1959, 80% stated disapproval of sex outside marriage
• In 2006, 25% said it was “always wrong”

Question 14

The 1980s and 1990s: Challenges to Heterosexism:

Answer 14

• Heterosexism: taken-for-granted system of beliefs, values, and customs that places superior values on heterosexual behavior and that denies or stigmatizes non heterosexual relations
• Gays and lesbians have become increasingly visible and have also challenged the notion that heterosexuality is the one proper form of sexual expressions

Question 15

Comparing the Sexual Behaviors of Gays and Lesbians and Heterosexuals

Answer 15

• Lesbian relationships are the “least sexualized,” have sex less frequently than gay men
• Significant percentages of men in both homo- and heterosexual monogamous relationships had slept with someone other than their own partner
• Patterns of sexual frequency and satisfaction in gay and lesbian relationships resemble those of heterosexual marriage and cohabitation

Question 16

Mental health community previously viewed homosexuality as a disorder

Answer 16

Research has since found no distinguishable difference in general psychological processes or psychological health between heterosexual and homosexual individuals

Question 17

Homophobia/Sexual Prejudice

Answer 17

More visibility for the LGBT community has lead to increasing acceptance and more positive attitudes

Question 18

Sex Education: Abstinence-only

Answer 18

teach children to wait until marriage or when they are adults

• Emphasis on mechanics of sex
• Avoids information on birth control and disease prevention
• Extra emphasis on emotional and physical risks

Question 19

Sex Education: Health and Safety-Oriented

Answer 19

teaches mechanics of sex and about birth control and consent

• Emphasizes the physical well-being of students
• Teaches multiple methods of birth control
• Doesn’t necessarily prepare for emotional implications of sex

Question 20

Sex Education: Comprehensive

Answer 20

addresses both safety and emotional concerns

• Teaches about birth control and consent
• Factors in pleasure and sexual negotiation
• Addresses diverse sexual orientations

Question 21

Negotiating (Hetero)sexual expression

• Four standards for sex outside committed relationship:

Answer 21

1. Abstinence - teens today are less likely to be having sex than in the past. Generally, teens who do not engage in sexual activity give conservative values or fear of pregnancy, disease, or parents as their reasons
2. Permissiveness (sex) with Affection - sexual intercourse between unmarried men and women is now widely accepted, provided they have a fairly stable, affectionate relationship
3. Permissiveness (sex) without Affection and Recreational Sex- friends with benefits, hooking up
4. The Double Standard - despite the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, numerous studies indicate that a double standard still exists which stipulates that women’s sexual behaviors must be more conservative than men’s

Question 22

7 A’s to internet-related vulnerabilities

Answer 22

1. Anonymity: the ability to manage aspects that might be judged by another person and interfere with the develop of a relationship; the ability to promote any chosen identity
2. Accessibility: the ability to maintain access affair partner and sustain the relationship anywhere and anytime
3. Affordability: tracking time online is a lot less obvious than going on dinner dates, movies, or outings with third party; also cheaper
4. Approximation: the internet continues to approximate real world situations more and more every day
5. Acceptability: behavior that is deemed inappropriate in society is acceptable on the internet
6. Ambiguity: online behavior can be difficult to define as problematic (pornography); what online behaviors constitute infidelity or being unfaithful
7. Accommodation: the ability to be one’s ideal self instead of real self in life

Question 23

Effects of sexual infidelity

Answer 23

• Previous levels of marital satisfaction, attitudes towards infidelity, motives attributing to the infidelity, and efforts of both spouses to work it out determine whether the couple is more likely to get a divorce after infidelity
• Infidelity can lead to:
  Jealousy
  Loss of connection
  Loss of trust
  Emotional distress
  Depression
  PTSD
  Exploited financially
  Exposure to STI
  A search for resolution to general problems: communication/encouraging a closer relationship

Question 24

Sexual boredom in committed relationships:

Answer 24

• Habituation: the decreased interest in sex that results from the increased accessibility of a sexual partner and the predictability in sexual behavior with that partner over time
• Sexual frequency declines significantly after the first year of marriage: 1. the novelty is gone, 2. a reduction in the perceived need to maintain high levels of sexual behavior
• Need to plan intimacy
• The presence and age of children can impact this ability to plan for intimacy

Question 25

Pornography in committed relationships

Answer 25

• Pornography: sexually explicit images and descriptions in books, magazines, film, and cyberspace
• The average intern porn user is a middle-aged, married man of median income
• Pros:
  Exploring sexuality
  Giving ideas to use in real-life sex
  Liven up sexual encounters
  Ideas for role-playing
• Cons:
  Possible objectification of the female partner
  Misguided ideas about orgasming
  Altering sexual preferences
  Uncomfortable with own body image
  Ability to enjoy sex in real life