Rev IS 8: Sexuality & Society

Sexually, like humanity's other appetites, is fundamentally the same across cultures, & yet it's expression varies widely btwn as well as w/in societies

Human beings are born male or female, & the physical differences of the sexes play an important role in determining our sexuality

Sexuality also involves our inner sense of our self, that is, our very identity, including being a male or female, as well as ways of behaving

A wide variety of factors shape a person's sexuality which can be broadly grouped as (a) biological, (b) psychological, & (c) social/cultural

Biologically, sexuality encompasses sexual intercourse & sexual contact in all its forms, as well as medical concerns about the physiological or even psychological aspects of sexual behavior

Sociologically, sexuality encompasses cultural, political, & legal aspects

Philosophically, sexuality encompasses the moral, ethical, theological, spiritual or religious aspects

Sexuality influences how we behave, experience, feel, & think in a wide range of situations

Sexuality affects how we view our roles in life, especially in family relationships, at school, in the workplace, & in our community

Our sexuality helps define our attitudes about love & sexual relationships

Our sexuality partially determines who we are sexually attracted to & how we express ourselves sexually w/in a relationship

The sex ratio is the proportion of males to females in a population

Studies of birth records for human beings & other animals indicate that many species have more individuals of one sex than of the other

Among human beings, for example, 103 to 107 boys are born for every 100 girls

In the adult population, however, women outnumber men from adolescence on because men die young more frequently from unnatural causes throughout life & because women, on the average, live longer

Horses give birth to about 98 males for every 100 females & chickens have about 95 males to every 100 females

FOUCAULT ON SEX

Michel Foucault pointed out in The History of Sex (1976) that the concept of the activities & sensations we consider to be "sexual" are historically, regionally & culturally determined

For Foucault, sexuality, because of its development across time & cultures, is part of a changing "discourse"

In many historical eras, recovered art & artifacts help to portray human sexuality of the time period

Modern society in the US today has become so eroticized that the viewing of female breasts, as for example in the public Victoria's Secrets ads, is sexual, & thus breast feeding which was until the 18th C not a sexual activity, is now controversial in the US w/ some advocating that it should only be done in private

The sexual meanings, i.e. the meanings of the erotic dimension of the human sexual experience, are social & cultural constructs

Erotic expressions are made subjective, i.e. imbued w/ sexual / secret meaning, only after cultural & social mediation

Being the main force conditioning human relationship, sex is essentially political, i.e. the personal is political, the body is political

In any social context, the construction of a "sexual universe" is fundamentally linked to the structures of power

The construction of sexual meanings, is an instrument by which social structures, e.g. peers, family, religion, econ, govt, military, charity, ed, media, leisure, as well as social institutions such as marketing, psychiatry, etc. control & shape human relationships

According to Foucault, sexuality began to be regarded as a concept part of human nature since the 19th century; so sexuality began to be used as a means to define normality

Like Durkheim, Foucault noted that to estb the boundaries of "normal sexual behavior" is to conceive everything outside those boundaries in the realm of psycho pathology

For Foucault, in the 20th century, w/ the theories of Freud & of sexology, the "not normal" was seen more as a "discontent of civilization"

SOCIETY & SEX

Psychological, social, & cultural factors that influence our sexuality include personal beliefs, emotions, & feelings

As young children, we develop a concept of ourselves & a large part of that self concept is defined as either male or female

We also learn how a person of our sex is expected to act in society

Parents, friends, teachers, television & other forms of mass communication, religious teachings, & many other sources help shape how we feel about our sexuality

Sexual attitudes & behavior often involve intense emotions & attractions

Feelings of sexual desire may begin during the biological changes of puberty, but they are influenced by social learning

Both our conscious & unconscious thoughts influence how we respond sexually to another person

Every society has its own beliefs about the ways that males & females should behave & as a result, attitudes about sexuality vary widely from culture to culture

The people of one culture may regard legs, earlobes, & the back of the neck as sexually attractive

But people of another culture may find nothing at all sexual about the legs, earlobes, & the back of the neck

Similarly, such body decorations as tattoos or cosmetics might be considered appropriate in one culture but not in another

Ideas about the roles of the sexes also vary widely from society to society

For example, in most of Italy, it is common for men to express affection for each other w/ big, emotional hugs

In the US, a public display of affection btwn men is less common

Human sexuality is also understood as part of the social life of humans, governed by implied rules of behavior & the status quo

From a social pt of view, sexual norms are determined by not only society, but more specifically by the norms of the groups one belongs to, in that for example, one may come from a "normal family" w/ modern / traditional norms that accept / expect pre marital sex, & then become part of an absentence only peer group

The socio cultural aspect examines influences on & from social norms, including mediums such as politics & the mass media

The mediums of politics, the media, peer pressure, religion etc. are able to bring about massive changes in the social norms as seen in the examples of the sexual revolution & the rise of feminism

SEX EDUCATION

Sex education is the introduction of sexual topics w/in an educational context

Almost all western countries have some form of sex education, but the nature varies widely

In some countries, such as Australia & much of Europe, "age appropriate" sex education often begins in pre school, whereas other countries, notably the USA, leave sex education to the teenage years & even the late teenage years

Sex education covers a range of topics, including the physical, mental, & social aspects of sexual behavior

PSYCHOLOGICAL VIEWS ON SEXUALITY ARE DIVIDED BASED ON THE PSYCHL PARADIGM

Psychl views on sex are quite different for the psycho dynamic, behaviorist, cognitive, humanistic, etc. psychl paradigms

Early psychological analysis were carried out by Freud, who believed that Eros, the sex / life drive, was a fundamental motivator of human behavior

Freud developed the concepts of erogenous zones, psycho sexual development, & the Oedipus complex, among others

Behavior theorists such as Watson & Skinner examined the actions & consequences & their ramifications

These theorists would, for example, study children who were punished for sexual exploration & see if they grew up to associate negative feelings w/ sex in general

Social learning theorists use similar concepts, but focused on cognitive activity & modeling

Gender identity is a specific psychological aspect of human sexuality that can be affected by the social env

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Outline on Sex vs. Gender

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Many people use the terms sex & gender interchangeably, however, social scientists consider the two terms to have different meanings

SEX

Sex is the biological categorization of male, female, "other"

Sex refers to the physical characteristics that make a person male or female

When social scientists talk of sex differences btwn females & males, they usually refer to biological characteristics, such as hormonal, anatomical, & physiological differences that define them

Less than 1 % of the population has major physical characteristics of both male & female

Much of the population has minor physical characteristics of both males & females such as seen in the TV show "He's a Lady"

GENDER

Gender is the social category of male, female, other

Gender socially learned traits associated w/, & expected of men or women

Gender refers to the personal traits & social positions that members of a society attach to being female & male

Gender refers to a sense of being male or female or having the recognizable traits of one's sex

Gender differences refer to the socially & culturally constructed definitions of what it means to be female & male

The social construction of gender in a particular society or subculture shapes norms & expectations for appropriate behaviors, roles, & appearance for males & females

Biologically, men & women differ in limited ways, but culture can define the two sexes in dramatically different ways

Social indicators of gender have changed over time:
   Long/short hair
   Skirts/pants
   What are some other social indicators?

Biological indicators of sex have changed as, for example, women are now over 1 inch taller than 30 yrs. ago

It is important not to think of social differences btwn the sexes exclusively in biological terms

The appropriate roles, behaviors, & expectations for males & females have modified considerably over time

THE SOCIAL SCIENCES, GENDER, & SEX

Sociology of gender is the study of socially constructed female & male roles, relations, & identities

Feminist theory is the study of woman centered patterning of human experience

Today there is a growing sociology of gender on masculinity

Characteristics & behavior generally associated w/ being a male are called masculine

Characteristics & behavior generally associated w/ being a female are called feminine

The development of sexuality is influenced by two major forces related to gender: gender identity & gender role

Gender identity is a personal sense that "I am a male" or "I am a female"

Gender identity develops partly from biological influences, such as body shape & genitals, & partly from cultural influences, including clothing & hairstyle

Gender role refers to a society's expectations for males & females, including values, attitudes, & behavior

Individuals develop these expectations w/ the influence of parents, friends, & teachers, as well as television, motion pictures, & other sources

Men are stereotypically considered to be more aggressive & action oriented while women are thought ot be more capable of nurturing & caring behavior that makes them better able to take care of family & household needs

In a now classic study Margaret mead noted that among the Arapesh, the Mindugumor, & the Tchambuli tribes in the So Pacific, masculinity & femininity were socially constructed differently in each

Among the Arapesh, women as well as men displayed inaggressive, cooperative, & caring behaviors

Among the Mundugumor, both sexes exhibited aggressive behavior

Among the Tchambuli, the men displayed more passive & dependent behavior than women

Among the Aka, a hunting & gathering tribe in central Africa, Hewlett notes the close bond btwn infants & fathers, & the open display of affection & nurturing behavior by men is in sharp contrast to the 'rough & tumble' play characteristic of interaction btwn American fathers & infants

Recent studies show varied definitions of masculinity & femininity in the US, & variations in behavior among women & men

When men take on the primary parenting role & share in household responsibilities, they display close emotional & nurturing ties to their children & are capable of developing 'maternal thinking'

WOmen & men are now taking on roles & responsibilities that were considered quite inappropriate one or tow generations ago

SEX & THE BODY

Primary sex characteristics refer to the organs used for reproduction, namely the genitals

Secondary sex characteristics are bodily differences, apart from the genitals, that distinguish biologically mature females & males

The term inter sexual people refers to people whose bodies (including genitals) have both female & male characteristics

An older term for inter sexual people is hermaphrodite

Transsexuals are people who feel they are one sex even though biologically they are the other

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Outline on Gender Roles

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Each of us develops general beliefs about males & females, including assumptions about appropriate attitudes & behavior for each gender

These general beliefs about maleness & femaleness are part of the wider culture, & are transmitted via the processes of socialization

See Also: Non Traditional Marriage

An arranged marriage is one where the spouses are chosen by others, usually their families of origin

Alliances btwn two extended families of similar social standing & usually involve an exchange not just of children but also of wealth & favors

The frequency of arranged marriages have eroded & weakened by industrialization

Throughout much of history, arranged marriages were the most common form of marriage

It has only been in the last few centuries where people have been able to marry w/o the permission of the family

SEXUALITY & MARRIAGE

US culture gives idealized picture of marriage, but intimacy, commitment, compatibility, & sexuality may all be a source of disappointment, as well as a joy

The frequency of marital sex declines over time

Another area where reality does not match the ideal infidelity, sexual activity outside marriage, is occurs w/ increasing frequency

Sex Also: Sexuality

	ETHNICALLY & RACIALLY MIXED MARRIAGES
	Interracial marriage was illegal in 16 states
	The proportion of mixed marriages is 10 % of all marriages
	The small & of mixed marriages & the conflict it causes shows that race still matters in social relations
	The single most common mixed marriage is btwn the white husband w/ the Asian wife, making up 14% of mixed marriages
	The white / Asian couple is most likely to live in the West, HI, AK, CA, NV, & OK
	GENDER, POWER, & MARRIAGE
	Few marriages have two equal partners
	Because of the patriarchal nature of our culture, many people expect the husband to be older, taller & have a more important, better paid job
	Our society maintains the positive stereotype of the carefree bachelor, in sharp contrast to the negative image of the lonely spinster
	However, the negative image of the lonely spinster is giving way to the cougar, i.e. the sexy older woman
	While men have many labels which positively label their sexuality, such as stud, women have had only negative labels, such as slut, & it is therefore noteworthy that the image of the cougar is the first 'all positive' cultural icon of a sexually aggressive female
	Patriarchal notions of marriage, love, & sexuality suggest that women are fulfilled only through being wives & mothers
	Married women actually have poorer mental health, less happiness, & more passive attitudes than single women
	Men are more eager after divorce to find a wife than a widow is in finding a husband
	SINGLEHOOD
	An increasing number of people choose not to marry
	1 out of 10 people in US never marry
	Singlehood seen as a temporary stage of life
	There is a rising number of single young women
	Women have greater participation in the labor force today, more than men
	Women who are economically secure view a husband as a matter of choice rather than a financial necessity, marry later or not at all
	By midlife, many unmarried women accurately sense a lack of available men
	Older, more educated, better job; the more difficulty finding a husband because men marry younger women & die earlier
	Today, it is becoming more acceptable for an older woman to choose a younger man, ending the double standard where it was acceptable for men to choose younger women, but not acceptable for older women to choose younger men

	STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM ON MARRIAGE
	SF sees the family as the backbone of society
	For SF, the family is the primary socializer of children, w/ education being the next most influential
	For SF, the family socializes children to their social placement in society
	For SF, the family provides the regulation of sexual activity, enforcing the incest taboo, a norm forbidding sexual relations or marriage btwn certain relatives
	For SF, the family provides material & emotional security
	CRITICAL REVIEW OF STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM ON MARRIAGE
	The SF approach glosses over the diversity of US family life
	The SF approach ignores how other social institutions could meet at least some of the same human needs
	The SF approach overlooks the negative aspects of family life, including patriarchy & family violence
	CONFLICT THEORY ON MARRIAGE
	Conflict theory considers the family as central to our way of life
	Conflict theory points how the family perpetuates inequality through the elite family's control of wealth, & through the socialization of children to take their place in the class system
	Families & corporations re the two primary institutions controlling property & inheritance in society
	Socilaization in families perpetuates patriarchy, racial & ethnic discrimination
	CRITICAL REVIEW OF CONFLICT THEORY ON MARRIAGE
	Friedrich Engels noted in the 1800s that the family is part & parcel of capitalism w/ the husband filing the role of provider while the wife fill s the role of consumer
	Noncapitalist societies also have families & family problems as a result of patriarchy, religion, etc.
	The family may be linked to social inequality but it carries out societal functions not easily accomplished by other means
	SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM ON MARRIAGE
	The family offers the all critical opportunity for primary relationships & intimacy
	Marriage builds emotional bonds
	Parents are authority figures are are the primary socializers & role models for children
	The Social Exchange Approach
	The social exchange approach describes courtship & marriage as forms of negotiation
	Dating allows the assessment of advantages & disadvantages of a potential spouse
	The song "You better shop around" by the Captain & Tenile, the saying that you 'have to kiss a few frogs, the saying that 'there are many fish in the sea, all embody our cultural understanding of shopping for a mate
	The terms of exchange are converging for men & women
	CRITICAL REVIEW OF SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM ON MARRIAGE
	Micro level analyses of marriage are important in that most of us experience the highs & lows of love & marriage on a very personal level
	At best the micro level analyses of marriage can help one understand & deal w/ the personal issue of love & marriage
	But micro level analyses of marriage cannot help one deal w/ the structural problems of love & marriage, only structural level theories such as SF & conflict theory can fill that gap
	SF & conflict theory are better than micro level theories in helping one understand, & setting the table for dealing w/ such problems as the marriage squeeze, a culture of serial monogramy, etc.

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Outline on a Socio Historical Analysis of Marriage

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Societies have always regulated mate selection & where a couple may live, but there is a wide variety of love, marriage, & reproductive values, norms, & practices

In non industrial societies couples are more likely to live w/ one set of parents for protection, support, & assistance

Patrilocality refers to the practice where a couple lives w/ or near the husband's family

Patrilocality is the most frequent practice in non industrial societies today

Matrilocality refers to the practice where a couple lives w/ or near the wife's family

Neolocality refers to the practice where a couple lives apart from both sets of parents, & this practice is the most common in industrial societies

ANCIENT FAMILIES

Ancient families had strict arrangements of higher & lower ranking persons

In ancient Roman society, which flourished around 2000 yrs ago, the male head of the family, or paterfamilias, had absolute authority

Under Roman law, the father could sell his children, abandon them, or even put them to death

Male heads of families arranged marriages in most ancient societies

Fathers often contracted daughters to marry at young ages

In ancient Greek culture, which reached its height during the mid 400s BC, the average marriage age of women ranged btwn 12 & 15, while many men married at about age 30

THE MIDDLE AGES

The Reformation, the religious movement of the 1500's that gave rise to Protestantism, also encouraged a reassessment of women's roles

Protestant leaders permitted ministers to marry & began to picture marriage as a mutual relationship of spiritually equal partners

Husbands had less control over the lives of their wives

Protestants also began to view marriage & divorce as matters of individual choice rather than as the fulfillment of obligations to such authorities as parents & the church

TRADITIONAL VS. MODERN MARRIAGE

Almost every society has certain traditional ideas about marriage; for example, most societies expect men & women to marry

In addition, most cultures have traditions about the role & the main duties of a husband & a wife

Traditionally, the husband is expected to earn a living, & the wife is expected to manage the household & raise children

Many Americans today disregard traditional marriage patterns

A large number of married couples share responsibilities that have been traditionally handled by either the husband or the wife

An increasing number of married women have paying jobs & help support their families financially

In 1940, about 15 percent of all married women earned money

In the early 1990's, about 60 percent of women held a full or part time job

More & more husbands share responsibilities traditionally handled by women, such as cooking, doing housework, & caring for the children

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Outline on Alfred Charles Kinsey 1894 - 1956

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- Biography & Major Works

- Video: Kinsey

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- Project: Kinsey

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- Project: The Impact of Knowledge of Sexuality

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Kinsey, an American biologist, was one of the first scientists to study human sexual behavior

Kinsey is generally regarded as the father of sexology, the systematic, scientific study of human sexuality

His research, which began in the late 1930s, contributed important insight into relationships among human beings

Kinsey's interest in sex research began when he was a zoology professor at IN U in Bloomington, IN

While teaching a marriage course, he realized that scientists had little knowledge about human sexual practices

Kinsey began his research by interviewing people about their sexual behavior & attitudes

He received grants to help finance his studies & in 1947, Kinsey founded the Institute for Sexual Research at the U

Kinsey & his colleagues interviewed thousands of men & women in the US & Canada

The interviews formed the basis of Kinsey's books, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, 1948, & Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, 1953

The two books became known as The Kinsey Report & are still the most bestselling scientific books of all time

Both were best sellers, though they had been written for physicians, sociologists, & other professionals

Kinsey's books created controversy because many people charged they were immoral & some scientists considered them unscientific

During this work, Kinsey developed a scale measuring sexual orientation now known as the Kinsey Scale which ranks from 0 to 6, where 0 is exclusively heterosexual & 6 is exclusively homosexual

As a result of the work done by Kinsey & others, the Am Psychiatric Assoc (APA), in 1973, removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses

In 1935, Kinsey delivered a lecture to a faculty discussion group at IN U, his first public discussion of the topic, wherein he attacked the "widespread ignorance of sexual structure & physiology" & promoted his view that "delayed marriage" (esp delayed sexual experience) was psychologically harmful

Kinsey's research polarized a segment of society

Many in the Christian Right found their religious & socially conservative views in conflict w/ Kinsey's methods & underlying principles

Critics of Kinsey saw his supporters as dissolute libertines & his work as morally corrupting

Some of Kinsey's research methodology is still quite controversial in the APA & subject to a great deal of scrutiny, although the conclusions generally are not

Kinsey's most prominent current detractor is Judith A. Reisman who alleges that Kinsey & his staff gathered data from pedophiles & sex offenders

The conservative Family Research Council (FRC) has been another notable detractor

Aside from criticism of the implications of his research, Kinsey had been rumored to participate in unusual sexual practices

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Alfred Charles Kinsey

1894 - 1956

Kinsey was born in Hoboken, NJ
He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1916
Kinsey received a doctor of science degree from Harvard University in 1920
Kinsey became known for his studies of gall wasps before entering sex research

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Major Works of Kinsey

Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, 1948, reprinted 1998

Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, 1953, reprinted 1998

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Outline on Masters & Johnson 1915 - 2001; 1925 -

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- Biography & Major Works

Masters & Johnson, 2 Am researchers, made important contributions to the understanding of human sexual behavior

Masters & Johnson, a physician, & his research associate, pioneered in the scientific study of sexual arousal & the treatment of sexual problems

Masters began the sex research program at WA U in St. Louis in 1954, & Johnson joined him in 1957

When they began their research, scientists knew little about the body's physiological responses to sexual stimulation

Masters & Johnson used motion pictures & special instruments to record such responses in men & women who volunteered to engage in sexual activity

Masters & Johnson wrote a summary of their findings called Human Sexual Response, 1966

Masters & Johnson's book was written in technical language for physicians & other health scientists, but it became a best seller

The research of Masters & Johnson created great controversy

Their critics called them immoral & accused them of dehumanizing sex

In 1964, Masters & Johnson established the Reproductive Biology Research Foundation (now called the Masters & Johnson Institute) in St. Louis, MO

Their clinic treats couples w/ sexual problems, trains other therapists, & conducts further research

RESEARCH

In the initial phase of their studies, from 1957 until 1965, they recorded some of the first laboratory data on the anatomy & physiology of human sexual response based on direct observation of 382 women & 312 men in what they conservatively estimated to be "10,000 complete cycles of sexual response"

Their findings, particularly on the nature of female sexual arousal & orgasm dispelled many long standing misconceptions

Masters & Johnson described the mechanisms of vaginal lubrication & debunked the earlier widely held notion that vaginal lubrication originated from the cervix

Masters & Johnson found that the physiology of female orgasmic response was identical whether stimulation was clitoral or vaginal

Masters & Johnson found that women were capable of being multiorgasmic, while men are not

FOUR STAGE MODEL OF SEXUAL RESPONSE

One of the most enduring & important aspects of their work has been the four stage model of sexual response, which they described as the human sexual response cycle

They defined the four stages of this the human sexual response as:
- excitement phase (initial arousal)
- plateau phase (at full arousal, but not yet at orgasm)
- orgasm
- resolution phase (after orgasm)

The human sexual response model shows no difference btwn Freud's purported "vaginal orgasm" & "clitoral orgasm": the physiologic response was identical, even if the stimulation was in a different place

Masters & Johnson's findings also revealed that men undergo a refractory period following orgasm during which they are not able to ejaculate again, whereas there is no refractory period in women:

Masters & Johnson also were the first to describe the phenomenon of the rhythmic contractions of orgasm in both sexes occurring initially in 0.8 second intervals & then gradually slowing in both speed & intensity

SEXUAL RESPONSE IN THE AGING MALE & FEMALE

Masters & Johnson were the first to conduct research on the sexual responsiveness of older adults

Given a state of reasonably good health & the availability of an interested & interesting partner, there was no absolute age at which sexual abilities disappeared

There were specific changes to the patterns of male & female sexual responses w/ aging

It takes older men longer to become aroused & they typically require more direct genital stimulation

For women, the amount of vaginal lubrication & the rapidity w/ which it appears tends to diminish w/ age

Older men & women are perfectly capable of excitement & orgasm well into their seventies & beyond, a finding that has been confirmed in population based epidemiological research on sexual function in the elderly

SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION

Their research into the anatomy & physiology of sexual response was a springboard to developing a clinical approach to the treatment of sexual problems in a revolutionary manner

Prior to 1970, when they described their treatment program to the world for the first time, sexual dysfunctions such as premature ejaculation, impotence, vaginismus, & female frigidity had been generally treated by long term (multi year) psychotherapy or psychoanalysis w/ very low rates of success

Masters & Johnson revolutionized sexual therapy by devising a form of rapid treatment (2 week) psychotherapy always involving a couple, rather than just an individual, working w/ a male - female therapist team that resulted in a success rate of more than 80%

Masters & Johnson's sex therapy was strictly a talking therapy – couples in their sex therapy program were never observed in sexual activity

TREATMENT OF HOMOSEXUALITY

From 1968 to 1977, the Masters & Johnson Institute ran a program to convert or revert homosexuals to heterosexuality

Their program on homosexuality reported a 71.6% success rate over a six year treatment period

Summaries of this program were published in their book Homosexuality in Perspective & in the American Journal of Psychiatry

At the time of their earlier work, homosexuality was considered a psychological disorder by the APA

In 1973 the APA determined that homosexuality did not fit the criteria for a disorder, although a state of distress or poor functioning brought on by dissatisfaction w/ one's sexual orientation did qualify

CRITICISMS

Some sex researchers, Shere Hite in particular, have focused on understanding how individuals regard sexual experience & the meaning it holds for them

Hite has criticized Masters & Johnson's work for uncritically incorporating cultural attitudes on sexual behavior into their research

For example, Hite's work showed that 70% of women who do not have orgasms through intercourse are able to achieve orgasm easily by masturbation

She has criticized Masters & Johnson's argument that enough clitoral stimulation to achieve orgasm should be provided by thrusting during intercourse, & the inference that the failure of this is a sign of female "sexual dysfunction"

While not denying that both Kinsey & Masters & Johnson have been a crucial step in sex research, she believes that people must understand the cultural & personal construction of sexual experience to make the research relevant to sexual behavior outside the laboratory

Similar research on the topic was carried out by Sunil Shetty & Rachna Tiwari in Memphis University during 2003-04

This research was based on lab studies of 97 females & 128 males drawn from multiethnic backgrounds

The research paper published in December 2004 concluded that the human sexual response can neither be categorized in strict classes of behavior nor is there any correlation btwn the two aspects

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Theorist Masters & Johnson

William Howell Masters, 1915 - 2001
Virginia Eshelman Johnson, 1925 -

Masters received his M.D. from the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry
Johnson began as a research assistant in the sex research project
Masters & Johnson were married in 1971
They divorced in 1993

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Major Works of Masters & Johnson

Human Sexual Response, 1966
Human Sexual Inadequacy, 1970
The Pleasure Bond, 1975,
Homosexuality in Perspective, 1979

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Outline on Shere Hite 1942 -

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- Biography & Major Works

Hite's sexiological work has focused primarily on female sexuality

Hite builds upon biological studies of sex by Masters & Johnson & by Alfred Kinsey

She also references theoretical, political & psychological works associated w/ the feminist mvmt of the 1970s, such as Anne Koedt'sThe Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm

Hite has focused on understanding how individuals regard sexual experience & the meaning it holds for them

Hite has criticized Masters & Johnson's work for uncritically incorporating cultural attitudes on sexual behavior into their research

Hite's work showed that 70% of women who do not have orgasms through intercourse are able to achieve orgasm easily by masturbation

The first Hite Report, entitled 'A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality' became a focus of world attention

A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality was the first sexiological research by women for women

A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality came to the groundbreaking conclusion that women can orgasm easily, during self stimulation, that it is is not women but society that has a problem & needs to change

Whilst not denying that both Kinsey & Masters & Johnson had been a crucial step in sex research, she believes that we must understand the cultural & personal construction of sexual experience to make the research relevant to sexual behavior outside the laboratory

Hite uses an individualistic research method

Responses from anonymous questionnaires are used as a framework to develop a discourse on human responses to gender & sexuality

CRITICISMS

Her conclusions derived from these questionnaire data have met w/ methodological criticism

The fact that her data are not probability samples raises concerns about whether the sample data can be generalized to relevant populations

As is common w/ surveys concerning sensitive subjects, such as sexual behavior, the proportion of non response is typically large

Thus the conclusions derived from the data may not represent the views of the population under study because of bias due to non response

However, regardless of methodological drawbacks, Hite has been praised for her theoretical fruitfulness in sociological research

The suggestion of bias in some of Hite's studies is frequently used as a talking point in university courses where sampling methods are discussed, along w/ the Literary Digest poll of 1936

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Shere Hite

1942 -

Shere Hite, born Nov 2, 1942, Saint Joseph, M), is an Am born German sex educator & feminist

She received a masters degree in history from the University of Florida in 1967

She then moved to NYC & enrolled at Columbia Un to work toward her PhD in social history

She completed a PhD at Nihon Un (Tokyo, Japan) & another PhD in clinical sexology at Maimonides Un, North Miami Beach, FL

After attacks on herself & her work, she renounced her US citizenship in 1995 to become German

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Major Works of Hite

Sexual Honesty, by Women, For Women (1974)
The Hite Report on Female Sexuality (1976,2004)
The Hite Report on Men and Male Sexuality (1981)
Women and Love: A Cultural Revolution in Progress (The Hite Report on Love, Passion, and Emotional Violence) (1987)
Fliegen mit Jupiter (1993)
The Shere Hite Reader: New and Selected Writings on Sex, Globalization and Private Life (2006)

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Outline on Sexual Orientation

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SEXUAL ORIENTATION IS THE MANNER IN WHICH PEOPLE EXPERIENCE SEXUAL AROUSAL & ACHIEVE SEXUAL PLEASURE

A person's sexual orientation determines whether that person is sexually attracted to individuals of the opposite sex, to those of one's own sex, or to both sexes

Sexual orientation refers to a person's preference in terms of sexual partners

A person's primary sexual attraction is called sexual orientation

People who are primarily attracted to the opposite sex are called heterosexuals

The norm in all societies is heterosexuality, meaning sexual attraction to someone of the other sex

Homosexuality refers to sexual attraction to someone of the same sex

Bisexuality refers to sexual attraction to people of both sexes

Individuals who feel attracted to people of both sexes are bisexuals

Asexuality means that a person has no, or extremely low, sexual attraction to people of either sex

People, esp men, who are homosexual are also called gay while any female homosexuals call themselves lesbians

Since the late 1940s, various estimates suggest that 1 to 10 % of men & women are attracted chiefly to people of their own sex

HOMOSEXUAL EXPERIENCES ARE VARIED & MOST PEOPLE HAVE SOME HOMOSEXUAL EXPERIMENTS / PLAY

Many people are not entirely homosexual or heterosexual, sexually attracted chiefly to the same or other sex, respectively

Kinsey developed a scale measuring sexual orientation now known as the Kinsey Scale which ranks a persons' sexuality from 0 to 6, where 0 is exclusively heterosexual & 6 is exclusively homosexual

Very few people rate at the extremes of Kinsey's scale connoting that most people are not exclusively hetero or homo sexual

Some individuals have homosexual experiences but marry people of the other sex & have children

Many people who consider themselves heterosexual have participated in homosexual acts at some time in their lives

Young people may explore their sexual development w/ members of their own sex

For example, many young people masturbate (pleasurably handle their own sex organs)

Boys may sometimes handle the sex organs of other boys & girls may also stimulate each other

Adolescent masturbatory group activity rarely develops into a homosexual orientation

Some homosexual experiences results from unavailability of the other sex

For example, people in prison who spend long periods separated from the other sex may turn to same sex partners

Such homosexual interest may not continue once other partners become available

Opportunistic homosexuality is the sexual practice of engaging in homosexuality only when no partners of the opposite sex are available for periods of time

THE ORIGIN OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION IS UNCLEAR BUT MOST SCIENTISTS BELIEVE IT IS BIOLOGICALLY / PHYSICALLY DETERMINED & 'KEYED' BY SOCIAL FACTORS, AS ARE MOST HUMAN CAPACITIES

Despite considerable research, the origins of sexual orientation are not completely understood

Scientists are not sure how many people are homosexual but estimates range from 1 to 10 % being primarily homosexual, w/ even higher numbers for bisexuality & occasional experimentation

Some experts believe all people are born w/ a potential to be bisexual, but most people develop a strong attraction primarily for sexual partners of one sex

The arguments in answer to the question of sexual orientation cluster around two general, opposite positions: the influence of society & / or biology on sexual orientation

SEXUALITY, HOW WE EXPRESS OUR ORIENTATION, IS A PRODUCT OF SOCIETY

One argument is that sexual orientation is a product of society, especially early socialization / experiences

This approach argues that people in any society construct a set of meanings that lets them make sense of sexuality

Some people have misinterpreted this sexuality as a product of society point of view to mean that people choose their orientation

No social scientists who emphasize the importance of early socialization / experiences hold that this means that people choose their sexuality

According to one theory, children learn through pleasurable sexual experiences to become increasingly attracted to one of the sexes or to both sexes

Different & same sex sexual practices are limited by laws in many places, but such laws have no impact on sexual orientation though they may limit overt or public homosexual displaces of affection

US marriage laws may serve the purpose of encouraging people to only have sex (& children) w/in marriage

Sodomy laws were seen as encouraging different sex sexual practices

Laws also ban adults from committing sexual abuse, committing sexual acts w/ anyone under an age of consent, performing sexual activities in public, & engaging in sexual activities for money (prostitution)

Though these laws all cover the same sex sexual activities, they may differ w/ regards to punishment, & may be more frequently (or exclusively) enforced on those who engage in same sex sexual activities

Laws also control the making & viewing of pornography, including pornography which portrays different sex sexual activities

Different moral & political movements have waged for changes in different sex sexual practices including courting & marriage, though in all countries, changes are usually made only at a slow rate

Especially in the US, campaigns around sexuality & sexual orientation have often sparked & been fueled by moral panic

In the US, mvmts to discourage same sex sexual practices often claim to be strengthening different sex sexual practices w/in marriage, such as Defense of Marriage Act & the proposed Fed Marriage Amendment

There is no scientific evidence to support the belief that legislation can affect sexual orientation or sexual practices other than limiting their public demonstration

SEXUALITY IS PROBABLY MOSTLY A PRODUCT OF BIOLOGY, BUT AS IS TRUE W/ ALL CAPACITIES, ENVL FACTORS ALLOW OR DISALLOW DEVELOPMENT

The argument that sexual orientation is a product of biology is the view that sexual orientation is innate, that is, it is rooted in human biology

Most people report that they just feel or have a direct attraction to one sex or another

As of yet, no direct biological keys, genetic or otherwise, have been found to determine sexual orientation, though several biological factors have been determined to be involved in sexuality

One such factor may be the effect of hormones on the developing brain of a fetus before birth

Some scientists also think particular genes (units of heredity) may be involved

Sexual orientation is most likely derived from both society & biology

Most scientists believe that sexual orientation is largely manifested biologically & then it finds a proper outlet given the societal norms

Thus, in the past, homosexuality was more in the closet than today

DEMOGRAPHICS ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION EST 10 % HAVE A HOMOSEXUAL ORIENTATION, & LESS THAN 10 % ARE BISEXUAL

Social scientists estimate that 1 to 10 % of the population is homosexual, but that depends on how one "operationalizes" homosexuality in that, for example, it does not include those who have experimented w/ homosexuality

While scientists estimate that 1 to 10 % of American adults are homosexuals, a smaller percentage consider themselves bisexual

While the statistics on number of homosexuals have not changed since the sexually conservative days of the Kinsey studies, it is possible that that more people admit to being homosexual, or bisexual as it becomes more acceptable to do so

ATTITUDES TOWARD HOMOSEXUALITY ARE MORE ACCEPTING

Homosexuality has existed in most societies throughout history

Various cultures have differed in their attitudes toward same sex relationships

For example, some people of ancient Greece not only accepted male homosexual relationships but considered a partnership btwn a young man & an older man ideal

Men of ancient Greece may have idealized homosexuality because they believed that only another male could fulfill the role of true friend & lover

Other cultures have permitted homosexuality but have not encouraged it. Still others have forbidden it, & some have punished homosexuals

Today, political, religious, & personal attitudes about homosexuality vary throughout the world

Some people try to change their homosexual orientation through psychotherapy

But many experts believe that learning to accept one's feelings & to create a satisfying life may be more realistic goals

Some gay men & women hide their homosexuality, but others are more open about it

Many join gay or lesbian groups

Sometimes two homosexuals establish a long term relationship that is similar to marriage

In some countries & some states of the US, homosexual acts are illegal

Other nations, including Canada, France, the Netherlands, & the UK, have no laws against homosexual acts btwn consenting adults

Some countries grant long term gay partnerships the same legal rights as marriage

Many medical & legal professionals & social scientists oppose laws that prohibit or punish homosexuality

They believe such laws penalize homosexuals unfairly for ways of life that do not directly affect others

Internal
Links

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Outline on Transsexualism

External
Links

TRANSSEXUALS WANT TO BE OR BECOME THE OTHER SEX

A transsexual is a person w/ an overwhelming desire to become the other sex, or a person whose sex has been changed through hormonal therapy & / or surgery

Transsexualism is a condition in which a person experiences persistent discomfort about his or her sexual designation

Transsexuals want to remove their body's sexual characteristics & obtain the characteristics of the opposite sex

HERMAPHRODITES ARE GENETICALLY ONE GENDER, BUT HAVE SIGNIFICANT PHYSICAL SEXUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OTHER GENDER

Hermaphrodites are those individuals of one gender who display physical sexual characteristics of the other gender

Hermaphrodism occurs because of problems w/ sexual development

Hermaphrodites are not transsexuals though they experience many of the same problems because they appear as one sex, but desire to be the other

As far as science can tell, transsexuals are truly one sex & desire to be the other while hermaphrodites are truly one sex, appear to be the other, & desire to be the sex which they truly are

TRANSVESTITES DESIRE TO DRESS & ACT AS THE OTHER GENDER

Transvestites are those who desire to, or dress in the clothes of the opposite sex

Transvestites are heterosexual & are have no transsexual or hermaphroditic characteristics & thus their primary characteristic is that they enjoy dressing in or are aroused by dressing as the opposite sex, i.e. cross dressing

THE CAUSES OF TRANSSEXUALITY ARE UNKNOWN

Transsexuals feel a need to act like & be treated as a member of the opposite sex

Transsexualism occurs more in males than in females

Transsexualism's cause is unknown

Some behavioral scientists think it results from an early disturbance in the mother infant relationship & a lack of proper identification w/ the same sex parent

There is no evidence of hormonal abnormalities in transsexuals though this as well as genetic abnormalities cannot be ruled out

SEXUAL REASSIGNMENT IS A PROCESS WHERE ONE SWITCHES SEX VIA SURGERY, HORMONE TREATMENTS, & COUNSELING

Transsexuals sometimes seek sexual reassignment surgery to permanently change their external anatomy to that of the opposite sex

Patients should receive careful psychiatric evaluation before the surgery because various psychiatric disorders can lead to unhappiness w/ one's sex type

In addition, psychotherapy is needed to explore the motivation for a sex change operation

People considering sexual reassignment surgery are advised to live & dress as a member of the opposite sex for up to 2 years

By living & dressing as the opposite sex, people considering sexual reassignment surgery can demonstrate their ability to function as members of the opposite sex

During the 'new sex trial period,' potential sexual reassigners can take hormones of the opposite sex to obtain the secondary sexual characteristics of that sex

For example, a woman taking male hormones will grow facial hair, & a man taking female hormones will develop breasts

Some transsexuals have undergone sexual reassignment & gone on to marry & live out their lives w/ their new gender

Internal
Links

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Outline on the Gay Rights Movement

External
Links

- Video: Philadelphia

Link

In 2004, Massachusetts ruled that gay couples had a right to marry

The trend is toward greater acceptance of homosexual relationships

Most gay couples w/ children are raising offspring of previous heterosexual unions & others adopt or conceive them using alternative methods

Gay parenting challenges traditional ideas

Gay parenting shows that gay couples value family life as highly as heterosexuals & the desire for a family life is now one of the main impetuses for the gay rights mvmt

In recent decades, the public attitude toward homosexuality has been moving towards greater acceptance due to the gay rights mvmt that arose in the middle of the 20th C

The gay rights mvmt also began using the term homophobia to describe the dread of close personal interaction w/ people thought to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual

An effort to win full civil rights for homosexuals, often called the gay rights mvmt, arose during the 1950s in Europe & No America

In 1961, IL became the first US state to abolish its laws against private homosexual acts

In 1969, a group of male homosexuals resisted arrest at a gay bar in NYC called the Stonewall Inn

After this resistance, commonly known as Stonewall, the gay rights mvmt grew rapidly

Since 1970, several US states & a number of US & Canadian cities have passed laws banning discrimination against homosexuals

These laws forbid discrimination in employment, in housing, & in other activities

A growing number of employers also grant the same benefits to same sex "domestic partnerships" as to conventional marriages

During the 1980s, however, the gay rights mvmt suffered a setback as the AIDS epidemic swept Europe & No America

In those regions, the disease first occurred mainly among gay men, & thus was known initially as the gay disease before it was understood & known as AIDS

Although AIDS also occurs among, & is transmitted by heterosexual men & women, many people blamed homosexuals for its spread

Many homosexuals feared & indeed have experienced increased discrimination as a result of the AIDS crisis

In 1986, the Sup Ct of the US ruled in Bowers v. Hardwick that states could enact laws forbidding private homosexual acts

Such laws are rarely enforced, but gay leaders feel that these laws express society's disapproval of homosexuality

In 1996, the US Sup Ct ruled in Romer v. Evans that states may not ban laws that protect homosexuals against discrimination

In 2000, Vermont passed a law that grants same sex couples living in civil unions the same legal rights & responsibilities as married couples in the state

Since 2000 several states have passed laws allowing gay marriage & / or civil unions

The issue of gay marriage & / or civil unions has created a backlash like no issue since gay sex education in schools was proposed

Many states have passed laws banning gay marriage & / or civil unions

There are several court cases in process testing the legalization & the banning of gay marriage & / or civil unions

Internal
Links

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Outline on Divorce

External
Links

- Supplement: USA Today: Divorce

Link

- Supplement: US Census: Divorce Rates, 2006

Link

- Supplement: Associated Press: Divorce Rates, 1998

Link

- Supplement: Time Magazine: Should You Stay Together for the Kids?

Link

- Supplement: Time Magazine: States w/ the Highest Divorce Rate

Link

- Project: Divorce

Link

DIVORCE IS COMMON TODAY BECAUSE PEOPLE EXPECT MORE OUT OF MARRIAGE

Divorce is the legal ending of a marriage

The laws of most nations, including the US & Canada, permit divorce only under certain circumstances

Divorce is restricted chiefly because it breaks up a family, the basic unit of society

Some countries, including the Philippines, prohibit divorce

Most men & women who seek a divorce do so because they cannot solve certain problems in their marriage

Marriage problems may include differences in goals, financial difficulties, or a poor sexual relationship

In the US, a person seeking a divorce generally must appear in court to explain why he or she wants to end the marriage

A judge then decides whether to grant a divorce

A few states prohibit remarriage for a certain period after a divorce

But in general, a man & woman may marry again, each other or someone else, after their divorce becomes final

DIVORCE, ANNULMENT, SEPARATION, ABANDONMENT ARE SOME OF THE COMMON CUSTOMS OF ENDING MARRIAGE

Divorce differs from annulment, in which a court declares that a marriage has been invalid from its beginning

A person whose marriage has been annulled may remarry

Divorce also differs from legal separation, in which a court authorizes a husband & wife to live apart

Spouses (a husband & wife) who are legally separated may not remarry until there separation legally becomes a divorce

Abandonment occurs when one spouse breaks their obligations to the marriage through physically leaving, or not fulfilling childcare obligations, not filling financial obligations, etc.

Abandonment is defined legally through state law & thus the exact qualifications to establish abandonment vary from state to state

A spouse who is abandoned may sue for divorce after a period of time

THE INCIDENCE OF DIVORCE HAS RISEN FROM THE TIME WHEN IT WAS ILLEGAL, & HAS NOW STABILIZED

Divorce is a sizable problem in the US & many other countries

Each year, more than a million couples divorce in the US

In many divorces, the couple had children under 18 years old

About a fourth of the children in the US live w/ only one parent

Divorce affects many young children deeply

But many experts believe that living w/ one parent is less harmful to a child than living w/ both parents in an unhappy environment

Most divorced men & women remarry, & many such marriages are successful

However, second marriages present special problems of adjustment, especially for couples who have children from a former marriage

Families that include children from one or more previous marriages are called step families, reconstituted families, or blended families

Blended families have become more & more common as the divorce rate rises

A SOCIO HISTL ANALYSIS OF DIVORCE SHOWS THAT IT WAS PRACTICED IN ANCIENT TIMES, BECAME PROHIBITED IN THE WEST AFTER CHRISTIANITY DOMINATED, & IS AGAIN PRACTICED SINCE WW 2

Ancient cultures permitted easy divorce & often practiced polygyny & concubinage, which is the practice of a husband living w/ a woman who was not his legal wife

Polygyny & concubinage enabled a powerful or wealthy family to have children when the first wife failed to produce an heir, thus lessening the need for divorce

The first written divorce regulations were incorporated in the ancient Babylonian Code of Hammurabi

Many early societies permitted only the husband to get a divorce

The early Christians taught that marriage was permanent until death, & they abolished divorce in the areas they governed

Early Christians also established special church courts to deal w/ marriage matters

Beginning in the AD 1500s, Protestant reformers successfully worked to have matters of marriage & divorce placed under govt jurisdiction

Divorce rarely occurred in the American Colonies

Some colonies made no provision for divorce at all, but by the mid 1800s, almost every state had a divorce law

Today, the US divorce rate is about 16 times as high as it was in 1867, the first year for which the Bureau of the Census published divorce figures

In the early 1900s, NV had passed laws that made it easy to get a divorce

A person had to live in NV for only six months to get a divorce there

In 1927, the NV Legislature passed a law allowing persons to obtain a divorce if they lived in the state for only three months & in 1931, the period was reduced to six weeks

During the mid 1900s, thousands of people went to NV each year to get divorces quickly & easily

THE CUSTOMS OF ENDING MARRIAGE INCLUDE ANNULMENT, FAULT DIVORCE, & NO FAULT DIVORCE

Each state of the US has its own divorce laws

All the states recognize a divorce granted by the state in which one or both of the spouses are legal residents

State laws set forth the grounds for divorce, that is, the reasons for which a divorce may be granted

Depending on the kind of grounds, a divorce can be classified as a fault divorce or a no fault divorce

ANNULMENT ENDS A MARRIAGE BY ASSUMING THAT THE MARRIAGE NEVER REALLY EXISTED

Annulment is the declaration that a marriage never really existed, or was void from the beginning

Most states of the US, as well as many religious groups, have strict laws saying that first cousins may not marry each other

If 2 persons are found to be w/in the forbidden degree of consanguinity (blood relationship) their marriage can be annulled

Annulments are sometimes granted for other reasons, such as fraud or undue force exercised against one of the parties

A marriage can also be annulled if either party is under age, or if both parties declare that they considered the ceremony a joke at the time it was performed

An annulment differs from a divorce, which has the effect of dissolving a valid marriage for some cause arising after the ceremony

Except in special cases, the Roman Catholic Church does not recognize divorce, but it does recognize annulment

FAULT DIVORCE IS RARELY INVOKED BECAUSE IT ATTEMPTS TO ASSIGN BLAME, & THIS IS PROBLEMATIC

Courts traditionally have granted divorces chiefly on fault grounds

Grounds for divorce vary, but the common ones are adultery, alcoholism, desertion, drug addiction, failure to support, imprisonment for felony, & mental or physical cruelty

A person seeking a divorce on a fault ground must prove that his or her spouse committed the fault

For example, a woman seeking a divorce on the ground of desertion must prove that her husband deserted her

The husband may contest (argue against) the divorce action

Many divorces are uncontested

If the wife's proof is accepted, the judge grants her a divorce

But if the husband can prove that his wife consented to or encouraged his action, the judge may refuse to grant a divorce

The judge also may rule against the wife if the husband can prove that she committed a legal fault

	NO FAULT DIVORCE DOES NOT ASSIGN BLAME IS & THE MOST COMMON TYPE TODAY
	A person seeking a divorce on a no fault ground does not try to prove that the spouse committed a wrong.
	The person simply testifies that their marriage has failed
	In many cases, the judge grants a divorce even if the person's spouse objects
	In 1969, CA became the first state to enact a no fault divorce law
	The CA law provides only two grounds for divorce, including:
	a. irreconcilable differences, that is, disagreements that cannot be settled & have led to the breakdown of the marriage
	b. the incurable insanity of one spouse
	Generally, a person may not tell the judge about any misconduct of the spouse, so adultery is not grounds for a no fault divorce
	Some states have replaced all traditional grounds for divorce w/ the single no fault ground of marriage breakdown
	Other states have added this to their traditional grounds
	Several states allow a couple to obtain a divorce on the ground that they have been separated for a certain period
	Some states grant divorce on the ground of incompatibility (being unable to get along together)
	THE ARGUMENTS FOR NO FAULT DIVORCE ARE THAT USUALLY BOTH PARTIES ARE RESPONSIBLE & EVEN IF ONE IS MORE RESPONSIBLE, LEGALLY PLACING BLAME IS PROBLEMATIC
	People who favor no fault divorce argue that many marriage failures result from causes other than one spouse's misconduct
	Therefore, they declare, a divorce should be granted for reasons other than a fault
	In addition, these people believe that relations btwn spouses remain friendlier in no fault cases than in fault cases
	Supporters of no fault laws also point out that traditional divorce laws lead many couples to lie in court
	For example, a couple may want a divorce because they cannot get along
	But they live in a state that grants divorces only on a few fault grounds
	To obtain a divorce, the couple might lie to the judge that one spouse has been physically cruel to the other
	A related argument for no fault laws is that traditional divorce laws lead some people to seek a divorce in another state
	For example, a person who lives in a traditional divorce state may go to a no fault divorce state that has a short residency requirement
	After living in this state for the required period, the person might falsely claim to be a permanent resident of the state
	The person would then obtain a divorce & return to his or her own state
	If the spouse disputes the validity of the divorce, a court may decide that residence was not truly established in the state that granted the divorce
	As more states liberalize their laws, fewer people seek a divorce in such a state as NV, which has a residency requirement of only six weeks
	Arguments against no fault divorce
	Some people oppose no fault divorces because they believe such divorces can be obtained too easily
	They fear that judges may grant a divorce to anyone who says the marriage has broken down, whether it actually has or not
	Others believe restrictions should be added to no fault laws to prevent premature or unnecessary divorces
	In some states, courts direct couples planning divorce to consult a marriage counselor
	Some states require a waiting period to give a couple time to reconsider their decision
	The divorce process may be simpler under no fault laws than under fault laws
	Therefore, in some no fault states, some couples can obtain a divorce w/o hiring lawyers
	Some judges oppose this practice, called do it yourself divorce, because they believe a lawyer is needed to protect the rights of spouses & children.

	DIVORCE PROVISIONS IN MOST STATES ARE SET BY THE LAW & IMPLEMENTED & INTERPRETED BY THE COURTS
	A husband & wife planning a divorce must make arrangements for alimony, child custody & support, & division of their property
	They may reach agreement on these arrangements through their lawyers
	In some states, courts offer divorce counseling to help couples resolve disagreements
	If the judge considers the agreement fair, the judge approves it, but if the spouses cannot agree, the judge decides on the arrangements
	DIVORCEE'S FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS IN MANY STATES ORDER THE SPLITTING OF ALL ASSETS; & IN SOME STATES, THE SPLITTING OF FUTURE INCOME
	In the past, the judge ordered many divorced men to pay considerable alimony
	They also had to give up some of their property & bear most of the responsibility for supporting their children
	There were two chief reasons for this situation
	First, large numbers of divorced women had no job outside the home & needed money to support themselves & their children
	Second, traditional fault laws provided that the "guilty" spouse could not receive alimony
	In many cases, the husband was the legally guilty spouse because his wife filed for the divorce, even though both might have wanted it
	Today, courts base their decisions on financial arrangements primarily on the financial condition of each spouse
	Judges realize that many women have the qualifications to work outside the home & need not be fully supported by their former husband
	Therefore, if both spouses can earn enough income to support themselves, the court may order that no alimony be paid
	If the wife has a higher income than her husband, she may have to pay alimony to him
	In addition, the parents may share responsibility for child support
	The court may also divide a couple's property on the basis of financial circumstances
	Under the community property laws of a few states, property acquired during a marriage belongs equally to both spouses
	This property is divided equally in most cases
	CHILD CUSTODY ARRANGEMENTS HAVE MOVED FROM MALES KEEP THE CHILDREN, TO FEMALES KEEP THE CHILDREN, TO THE 'BEST PARENT' KEEPS THE CHILDREN, TO SPLIT CUSTODY
	In the early & middle 1900's, judges granted custody of the children to the wife almost automatically in the majority of divorce cases
	They believed that children should not be separated from the mother
	But today, many judges realize that some children might be better off living w/ the father
	Therefore, the court may grant custody to either parent
	The judge also determines each parent's rights to visit the children
	The judge may ask the children w/ which parent they would prefer to live
	Some divorced parents return to court several times because one or both of them wants to challenge the child custody decision
	If the court changes its decision, the children may have to leave the home of one parent & move in w/ the other
	Such a move can harm children emotionally
	As a result, some courts have become reluctant to move children unless they are in danger
	Mothers gain custody more often, but fathers earn more income
	The well being of many children depend on court ordered child support payments
	Courts award child support in 60% of all divorces involving children
	Half of children legally entitled receive partial or no payments at all
	There are an estimated 3.5 million deadbeat dads, i.e. those who cannot or do not make their child support payments
	Federal legislation requires employers to withhold money from earnings of fathers and mothers who fail to pay
	US DIVORCE RATES ARE HISTLY HIGH, BUT THEY HAVE STABILIZED, & THERE IS STILL A BACK LOG OF OLDER MARRIED COUPLES WHO WILL DIVORCE BECAUSE THEY AVOIDED IT WHEN IT WAS MORE TABOO
	In the US, divorce has become common
	Each year, more than a million American couples divorce
	Most couples who divorce do so in the first 10 years of marriage
	A majority of divorced people remarry, & many have a successful marriage w/ another partner
	The divorce rate is higher in the US than in almost any other country
	Experts have suggested many reasons for this high rate, including:
	a. divorce is more socially acceptable than it once was
	b. many people expect more of marriage than earlier generations did, & so they may be more easily disappointed
	c. more high paying jobs are open to women & these opportunities have made wives less dependent economically on their husbands than women
	d. changes in divorce laws have made divorce easier to obtain
	In general, cities have a higher divorce rate than rural areas
	The rate also varies among different states & regions, partly because divorce laws & court practices differ
	But the rates probably also differ because of variances in the cultural, economic, racial, & religious composition of the population
	In general, people w/ nonprofessional jobs & those w/ low incomes have a higher divorce rate than people w/ professional jobs & those w/ high incomes. But one nonprofessional group, farmers, has an extremely low divorce rate
	Most studies show that black couples & couples consisting of a black & a white have higher divorce rates than white couples do
	Of the three major religious groups in the United States, Roman Catholics have the lowest divorce rate & Protestants the highest
	The Catholic Church holds that valid marriages cannot be dissolved
	It allows its members to get a civil divorce to solve financial & child custody problems
	But it does not believe such a divorce gives the right to remarry
	If the church has annulled a marriage by declaring it invalid, the people involved are once again free to marry
	Judaism & most Protestant groups permit divorce
	Some surveys show that Catholic Protestant couples & Christian Jewish couples have a higher divorce rate than couples of the same religion
	But one study showed no difference in the divorce rate of Catholic Protestant couples

Top

Table on Marital Status Rates

Year

Married

Single

Widowed

Divorced

1910

62.7 %

28.6

8.1

0.6

1920

64.8

25.7

8.5

1.0

1930

65.6

24.5

8.5

1.4

1940

65.8

24.1

8.6

1.5

1950

72.2

16.8

9.0

2.0

1960

73.9

14.7

8.9

2.5

1970

71.7

16.2

8.9

3.2

1975

69.6

17.5

8.3

4.6

1980

65.5

20.3

8.0

6.2

1985

63.0

21.5

7.9

7.6

1990

61.9

22.2

7.6

8.3

1995

60.9

22.9

7.0

9.2

2005

52.7

29.4

6.0

9.8

The Table on Marital Status Rates shows that married & widowed rates are declining while single & divorce rates are rising

	THE PROFILE OF WHO DIVORCES INCLUDE YOUNG COUPLES, PREGNANT COUPLES, CHILDREN OF DIVORCEES, CAREER COUPLES, ETC.
	Young couples are at the greatest risk for divorce
	Those who had a brief courtship before marriage have a greater risk of divorce
	A lack money & emotional maturity increase the risk of divorce
	Couples who marries after an unexpected pregnancy have an increased risk of divorce
	People whose parents divorce have a higher divorce rate
	Divorce is more common if both partners have successful careers
	Men & women who divorce once are more likely to divorce again
	Risk factors follow from one marriage to another
	BLENDED FAMILIES ARE NOW COMMON AS DIVORCEES REMARRY
	Four out of five people who divorce remarry creating blended or step families
	Blended families are composed of children & some combination of biological parents & stepparents
	Blended families must define who is part of the nuclear family
	While adjustments are necessary is all families, blended families require even more, creating more stress on the marriage & the family
	Blended families offer both the young & the old the chance to relax rigid family roles
	THE FUNDAMENTAL CAUSE OF DIVORCE OF DIVORCE IS INDIVIDUALISM, EXPECTATIONS OF SATISFACTION, & THE ECONOMIC ABILITY TO DO IT
	Individualism is on the rise & people desire less compromise & dependence in their lives
	As is documented by Sternberg & Rubin, romantic love fades leaving commitment & intimacy to hold marriages together
	Women are less dependent on men than in the past & so are more able to see divorce as a realistic option
	Divorce is socially acceptable & is easier to get
	Singlehood is more desirable than in the past

Internal
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Outline on Infidelity

External
Links

- Supplement: Druckerman: No longer the kiss of death

Link

- Supplement: Video: Druckerman: "Lust in translation"

Link

- Supplement: Druckerman: "Lust in translation"

Link

Infidelity is unfaithfulness, a breach of trust; esp, unfaithfulness to the marriage vows which often encompasses sexual & / or romantic liaisons w/ someone other than one's spouse

Men are more likely to cheat, as are those in the lower income brackets

Adultery crises in Am last longer, cost more, & inflict more emotional torture than anywhere else

For No Ams, marital lapses are widely perceived as the first step toward divorce

For Euro, infidelity is simply considered an unexpected challenge to overcome

While the purportedly open minded Fr are perceived as bed hopping adulterers, they are actually just slightly less unfaithful than No Ams

SOCIO-BIOLOGY & INFIDELITY

There are biological reasons behind the human emotion of jealousy

Those same biological reasons for jealousy also produce different reactions in men & women

The reasons for jealously & infidelity for women & men lie in their different roles in procreation

The primary social reason for marriage is for a woman to secure the assistance of the male in raising first the gestating fetus, & second the child

The primary social reason for marriage for a man is to ensure his patronage in his child, i.e. that he is not cuckolded

Cuckold is an allusion to the female cuckoo's laying her eggs in the nests of other birds, thus having other birds care for & raise her young

In socio biological terms, a cuckold is the husband of an unfaithful wife, i.e. a man whose wife has committed adultery & become pregnant

Marriage has the socio biological advantage for women that they secure a mate to help provide for the fetus & child

Marriage has the socio biological advantage for men in that they can ensure their paternity, i.e. know who their child is, & help provide for the fetus & child

Tolerance for cheating has the socio biological advantage for men that they can spawn many offspring w/o much investment in time or effort as in there is only a social, & not a biological imperative than men help provide for the fetus the child

Tolerance for cheating has the socio biological disadvantage for men that they can never be sure of their paternity, i.e. know for sure whether a child is their offspring or not, & thus they are unsure of where to invest there time & effort into parenting

Tolerance for cheating has the socio biological advantage for women that they are more free to mate w/ the best mate

Tolerance for cheating has the socio biological disadvantage for women that they may lose the support of a male in raising their child

Men react to infidelity w/ anger towards their lover & the third party & are more upset by sexual indiscretion than by mental infidelity

Sexual infidelity by a woman is more important than mental infidelity to the man because then he cannot be sure of his paternity

Women are more upset by mental infidelity, falling in love w/ someone else, than by sexual infidelity

Women are more upset by mental / love infidelity because the risk is the man may w/draw support for their child & give it to another woman & child

Also that women react to infidelity by w/drawing & attempting to solve the problem, because love may be returned or "corrected" at any time in a relationship, thus re-establishing the support by the male for the child

Men will react to infidelity by ending the relationship because there is no way to fix problem of cuckolding

SOCIO HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF INFIDELITY

Americans had more remedies for fixing broken marriages than anywhere else, by 2004, there were more than 50,000 marriage & family therapists in the US

North Americans are particularly bad at dealing w/ infidelity

Americans have come to expect much more of their marriages & to follow the storybook narrative to the letter

Americans have become more liberal on practically every sexual issue, including homosexuality, premarital sex, babies out of wedlock & cohabitation, but cheating still remains a social taboo

A 2006 Gallup poll found Americans believe infidelity is more morally wrong than polygamy & human cloning

When gender roles were more distinct, most husbands went to work while their wives tended house, Americans were more comfortable w/ the idea that married
couples might keep secrets from each other

In President Kennedy: Profile of Power, Reeves wrote that few members of JFK's inner circle had moral qualms about helping to arrange the president's romps

In the recent past, most American's, including JFK's inner circle, considered philandering a harmless hobby ("It took less time than tennis, & partners were often easier to find")

Few people questioned why Jacqueline Kennedy soldiered on, while today many still question Hillary Clinton's loyalty to her cheating husband

In a 1994 survey of 24 countries, we disapproved of adultery more than people anywhere but Ireland & the Philippines, & Russia was the most permissive

In 1994, more than 25,000 marriage & family therapists, up from 3,000 in 1970, were teaching us that recovering from infidelity could take years

Many believed that healthy couples didn't keep secrets, so the "offending spouse" should tell the "betrayed spouse" every detail. America's new mantra became: "It's not the sex, it's the lying."

The fidelity rules, for presidents & for ordinary people, began changing in the 1970s

Most states adopted no fault divorce, transforming marriage from a durable container for all kinds of transgressions into a disposable one

Indiscretions that once were tolerated suddenly became grounds for dismissal. Americans increasingly had the means to walk away, because more women worked

The national divorce rate doubled btwn 1967 & 1979

A generation of brides & grooms read one another the one strike rule: cheat, & it's over

Psychologists had once assumed that only one fragile psyche could be dealt w/ at a time, but in the 1970s, they decided that "the relationship" was itself an entity that could be studied

The ranks of couples therapists quickly multiplied, creating an army of people preaching that an affair isn't just about sex; it's a symptom of other problems

FAMOUS INFIDELITIES

Anna Karenina

Leo Tolstoy, 1828-1910, a Russian writer, published his second masterpiece, Anna Karenina, in installments from 1875 to 1877

Its plot concerns the open infidelity of a Russian princess, Anna Karenina, to her husband, Karenina

The novel examines Anna's romance w/ Count Vronsky

Anna & Vronsky show contempt for the disapproving opinions of the members of the high society to which they belong

The difficulties of their relationship eventually lead to Anna's suicide

But Anna Karenina is more than a tragic love story

The novel explores broad social, moral, & philosophical issues of Russia & its aristocracy in the 1870's

These issues include the hypocritical attitude of the upper class toward adultery & the role of religious faith in a person's life

Many of these issues are raised through the thoughts & actions of Konstantin Levin, the novel's second most important figure

JFK

When John F. Kennedy took women for a dip in the presidential pool w/o a peep from the press, Americans didn't automatically assume that cheaters had
personality defects

Such behavior could be seen as glamorous or as evidence of a passionate streak. In 1973, slightly less than 70 % of Americans said that
adultery was "always wrong," .

Though Americans generally agreed that infidelity was bad, it was an offense they could live w/

John Irving

John Irving, 1942-..., wrote the 158 Pound Marriage, 1974, is a kind of moral fable about marital infidelity

In the novel, Utch marries a professor & they have 2 children & live a relatively placid existence until, at a faculty party, they become acquainted w/ Severin Winter, a coach of the school's wrestling team, & his wife Edith, a WASP from a privileged background

The couples are sharing dinners & play dates w/ their children & as the professor becomes more attracted to Edith & Utch begins to fall for Severin, the couples begin trading spouses for sexual encounters at the end of their dinner date

At first the affairs proceed smoothly, w/ emotional conflict submerged beneath sexual curiosity, but soon enough, obsessive love rears its ugly head, & the narrator begins to discover that the Winters have not been entirely honest w/ him & his wife about their motives for entering the affair

Gary Hart

Gary Hart, 1936-..., a Colorado Democrat, served as a United States senator from 1975 to 1987

He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 & 1988

Hart w/drew from the campaign in May 1987 after newspaper accounts of his personal life suggested marital infidelity

He reentered the race in December 1987, but he again w/drew in March 1988

Bill Clinton

For a time, Clinton's campaign faltered over charges of marital infidelity

The Clintons acknowledged that they had encountered some difficulties in their relationship, but they said their marriage was strong

Clinton also came under attack for his actions during the early 1970's, which, his opponents charged, showed that he had sought to evade military service during the Vietnam War (1957-1975)

Clinton denied that he had acted improperly, & his campaign rapidly regained ground

Clinton overcame the claims of infidelity, & won the Presidency, where infidelity again came into the picture

Clinton was later impeached because of a sexual liaison w/ Monica Lewinski in the White House

Hillary Clinton was publicly distant from her husband after this affair, but maintained that it was a private issue

As Hillary Clinton enters the 2008 presidential race, her marriage again appears strong

There's no shortage of adultery hovering over the current race: Rudy Giuliani's awkward transition into his third marriage, John McCain's overlapping relationships w/ his first & second wives & potential candidate Newt Gingrich's acknowledged "periods of weakness"

These candidates are all making comebacks, compared w/ Gary Hart's lost campaign despite the fact that in 2004, 82 % of American's said that
adultery was "always wrong," up from 70% in 1973

The survivability of these politicians is a reflection of the latest thinking from therapists & religious groups is that affairs need not be a marital death sentence

Some evangelical & other Christian congregations are so alarmed by divorce that they're counseling people to work through their problems rather than split up

Therapists & self appointed marriage experts are increasingly promoting the same message.

As children of the divorce explosion in the late 1970s now hit bumps in their own marriages, they're rethinking the one strike rule

Internal
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Outline on Out of Wedlock Births

External
Links

- Supplement: An Analysis of Out Of Wedlock Births in the United States; Brooking Institute, August, 1996

Link

- Supplement: Understanding the Rise in Illegitimacy

Link

A SOCIO HISTL ANALYSIS OF OUT OF WEDLOCK BIRTHS SHOWS THAT THIS PRACTICE HAS MOVED FROM TABOO TO CONVENTIONAL

What today are commonly referred to as out of wedlock births were once called illegitimate births, & thus the children were called illegitimate or bastards

Children were considered to be illegitimate or bastards even if they were conceived out of wedlock

A bastard is a child begotten & born out of wedlock & were considered to be mongrel & inferior

Illegitimacy could be conferred on the mother & child if the child was conceived & / or born before marriage, or if they were the result of an adulterous relationship

Thus, illegitimacy & bastardness is slightly different than being born out of wedlock because even if a child is born of an adulterous relationship, today it is not considered to be born out of wedlock, but it the past the mother & child would have been given the illegitimate label

Generally illegitimate children were not entitled to the same rights as legitimate children & the mothers of such children were either not considered to be marriageable or if married, were shunned as adulterers

The illegitimacy ratio, or the % of births that are out of wedlock, has expanded rapidly for both whites & blacks since the beginning of the War on Poverty in 1965

THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF OUT OF WEDLOCK BIRTHS SHOW THAT THEY ARE INCREASING

The illegitimacy ratio measures the number of out of wedlock births as a percent of all births in a year

If there were 100 births in a society in a given year & 30 of those births were out of wedlock, the illegitimacy rate or ratio would be 30 %

Among whites, the out of wedlock birth rate has risen from 4 % of all births in 1965 to 23.6 % of births 1995

Among blacks, the out of wedlock birth rate has risen from 28 % of all births in 1965 to 69.9 % of births 1995

The percentage of non married women in their late teens, 20s & 30s has thus clearly grown over the last 3 decades

As the number of non married women has increased, the probability that these women will have children while unmarried has also grown

American society is now characterized by a growing number of non married women who as a group have an increasing tendency to bear children out of wedlock

In 1965 there were 23.4 births per 1,000 non married women aged 15 to 44 & by 1995, the number had risen to 45.1

Thus, the overall birth rate among non married women has nearly doubled over the last 30 years

The increase in out of wedlock births is particularly steep among young unmarried women

Among non married women aged 15 to 19, the birth rate per 1,000 women rose from 16.7 in 1965 to 44.4 in 1995

Among unmarried women aged 20 to 24, the birth rate rose from 39.6 per 1,000 to 70.3 per 1,000

While the total number of births has increased since the beginning of the War on Poverty in the mid 1960s, the number of children born to married couples has declined, falling from 3.47 million births in 1965 to 2.65 million births in 1995

From the 1960s to 1995, the number of births to non married women has quadrupled, rising from 0.29 million in 1965 to 1.25 million in 1995

There were approximately 1.5 million births to unmarried women in the US during 2004

In the mid 2000s, the birth rate for unmarried women is 46.1 births per 1,000 for unmarried women aged 15 - 44 yrs

36 % of all births take place out of wedlock

CAUSES OF OUT OF WEDLOCK BIRTHS INCLUDE SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE, ECONLY IND WOMEN, OUT OF WEDLOCK PATERNITY, ETC.

There are cultural & structural causes of the increase in out of wedlock births, including the

1. decline in the social stigma against conception & birth out of wedlock

2. decline in the portion of women of child bearing age who are married

3. increase in the birth or fertility rate among non married women

4. decline in the marriage rate

5. decline in the birth or fertility rateamong married women

6. increased econ power of women, allowing them to support a family

7. belief that a good single life is better for males & females & their children than a bad marriage

8. laws & customs requiring the acknowledgment of out of wed lock paternity

9. laws & customs requiring child support for out of wedlock children from the parent not raising the child, to the parent raising the child

10. positive images of single parents & their children

IMPACTS OF OUT OF WEDLOCK BIRTH INCLUDE MORE SINGLE PARENT FAMILIES, MORE POOR SINGLE PARENT FAMILIES, & AN INCREASE IN THE CYCLE OF POVERTY

It is well established that single parent, female headed families have a high risk of poverty

Feminists have labeled the trend of single parent, female headed families having a high risk of poverty "the feminization of poverty"

As the % of single parent, female headed families grew in the 1970s & 80s, so did the poverty rate

The rate of out of wedlock births is higher among people who are already poor or grew up in poverty

Many social scientists, including Wu (1996), found that both low income & declining income are associated w/ out of wedlock births for women aged 14 - 21, Black & White

Poverty is as much a cause as a consequence of out of wedlock births

Poor people have less access to birth control

Poor women have a small pool of employed, marriageable men

Women of all income levels are equally sexually active, but the longer time an unmarried spends in poverty, the greater their likelihood of out of wedlock birth

Poverty harms self image & giving birth is one way a woman can improve her status & self image

Poor people have less control over their lives & giving birth increases the control a woman has, at least in that one sphere of motherhood

Over 90% of children who live in a single parent home are likely to live in poverty during some time in their first 10 yrs. of life

Internal
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Outline on Teen Pregnancy

External
Links

- Supplement: Facts & Stats on Teen Pregnancy

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- Resource: Research on Teen Pregnancy

Link

Teen pregnancy is described as pregnancies to women 19 yrs old & younger & is not the same as out of wedlock births

It is important not to confuse the issue of illegitimacy w/ teen pregnancy

Out of wedlock births includes all women who conceive & birth children outside of marriage including teens, but many teen births take place in marriage & so are not included in out of wedlock births

While teen pregnancy is very important, it is only a small part of the overall problem of out of wedlock births & the population explosion in general

DEMOGRAPHICS

The US has the highest rates of teen pregnancy & births in the western industrialized world

In 1997, teen pregnancy cost the US at least $7 billion

More than 40 % of young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20, nearly one million a year

80 % of the pregnancies of pre 20 yr olds are unintended & 80 & are to unmarried teens

The teen birth rate has actually undergone a gradual decline from 1991 to 1996 w/ an overall decline of 12 % for those aged 15 to 19

The largest decline since 1991 by race or ethnicity was for black women w/ their birth rate for teens aged 15 to 19 falling 21 % btwn 1991 & 1996

Hispanic teen birth rates declined 5 % btwn 1995 & 1996, w/ Hispanic teens now having the highest birth rates

Surveys indicate that while 1 million US teens become pregnant each year, most did not intend to

Today, most teenagers who become pregnant are not married

It is important not to confuse the absolute numbers of illegitimacy merely w/ the birth rate to non married women, i.e.., births per 1000 non married women

The % of births that are out of wedlock is determined by three factors: the marriage rate, the birth rate of married women, & the birth rate of non married women

A decline in the birth rate to non married women means little if the marriage rate & the birth rate to married women are also declining

It is quite possible for illegitimacy to rise even as the birth rate among non married women falls

Only about one tenth of all out of wedlock births occur to girls under age 18

Out of wedlock childbearing occurs primarily among young adult women, w/ the largest number of births occurring w/ women aged 18 to 24

IMPACTS OF TEEN PREGNANCY

Teen parents & children experience nearly all the impacts that out of wedlock parents & children might experience because the social ostracism is nearly the same & because even married teens generally have the same economic problems as single adult parents

Thus, in addition to the impacts experienced by out of wedlock parents & children, teen parents & children have the experience that:

- only one third of teen mothers receives a high school diploma

- nearly 80 % of teen mothers end up on welfare

- the children of teenage mothers have lower birth weights, are more likely to perform poorly in school, & are at greater risk of abuse or neglect

- the sons of teen mothers are 13 % more likely to end up in prison while teen daughters are 22 % more likely to become teen mothers themselves

THE CAUSES OF TEEN PREGNANCY

Having a child is an age old method for the young females or males to achieve the status of adulthood

McLanahan & Bumpass found that the education level of the teen & of the teen's parents was the most important factor in teen pregnancy

McLanahan & Bumps found that, contrary to popular belief, teens from lower income families are not more likely to become pregnant; & instead, those teens from families w/ lower ed attainment do have a higher rate of pregnancy

See Also: The Social Causes of Teen Pregnancy

Teens in the US, of all races, are more likely to have out of wedlock births & abortions than teens in any other industrialized nation

A high rate of out of wedlock births in the US results in more US teens living in poverty than in any other industrialized nation

US teens are no more sexually active than teens in other nations

REDUCING TEEN PREGNANCY

US teens are less likely to have access to, & use birth control than teens in other industrialized nations

Availability of contraceptives for teens does not increase sexual activity

Availability of contraceptives results in sexually active teens using more contraceptives & having less out of wedlock births

Contraceptives are less available in the US because of a generally strong prohibition against sexuality & against contraceptives themselves

Religious values do affect govt policy in all nations & hence do affect the rate of out of wedlock births as well as the outcomes of other social issues or problems

Religious or moral values can reduce teen pregnancy to the extent that they convince people to abstain from sex

Religious or moral values can increase teen pregnancy to the extent that teens trying to abstain, fail at that & because sex was unplanned, they use no contraception

The fear of contracting a sexually transmitted disease helps prevent teen pregnancy

The desire to have children only w/ the right person, i.e. the appropriate partner, helps prevent teen pregnancy

Strong emotional attachments to parents helps prevent teen pregnancy

Being raised by both parents, biological or adoptive, from birth helps prevent teen pregnancy

At age 16, 22 % of girls from intact families & 44 % of girls from divorced homes have had sex at least once

Internal
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Outline on Pornography

External
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Pornography refers to sexually explicit material that causes sexual arousal

Obscenity & pornography are terms used to designate written, recorded, or pictorial material, including motion pictures, that many people consider indecent & thus find offensive

Pornography is obscene literature, art other media production, or other form of communication intended to excite lascivious feelings

The term obscenity can also refer to any language or behavior believed to corrupt public morals

The term pornography often refers to written or sexually explicit pictorial material intended primarily to cause sexual stimulation, while the term obscenity to refer to written or pictorial material that glorifies violence against women or degrades women, though most people, in common language, do not distinguish btwn the two

Erotica is the term given to sexually explicit material that is meant to stimulate, & depict men, women, & sexuality in a positive, respectful, equal manner

In many cases, however, the terms obscenity & pornography are used interchangeably, & the meaning of erotica is not widely used

THE CONFLICT OVER PORNOGRAPHY

The nature of obscenity & pornography & the laws governing them have been a continuing source of controversy

Pornography is popular in the US

Traditionally, people have criticized pornography on moral grounds

Other critics see pornography as a cause of violence against women

Pressure to restrict pornography is building from a coalition of conservatives, who oppose it on moral grounds, & progressives, who condemn it for political reasons

Some people are convinced that the distribution of pornographic material corrupts public morality

Others focus on the extent to which some printed or photographic material portrays violence against women, & the degradation of women, as appropriate behavior

Many critics maintain that pornography is inherently exploitative of women even though porn actors usually enter into the production of pornography voluntarily

The vast majority of pornography is purchased & consumed by men

Usually pornography is created w/ a male centered view of sex wherein women are the objects of lust & men are the consumers of lust

Some critics maintain that a non exploitative depiction of sexuality is possible, & they label such material as erotica

Some feminists, male & female, & others, believe it is possible to depict human sexuality, love & romance in a positive, non pornography form

The problem w/ pornography is not in the portrayal of sex, but in the portrayal of women as existing for the sexual satisfaction of men

Others believe existing anti obscenity laws & proposed anti pornography laws violate the rights of free speech & press guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution

PORNOGRAPHY & THE LAW

In the US, most states & cities have laws regulating the publishing, distributing, or selling obscene materials & many other locales prohibit it

There are also federal laws against the interstate sale & distribution of such material & against the presentation of obscene material on radio or television

But these anti obscenity laws have been hard to enforce, in part because it is difficult to determine what is obscene according to the law

TARIFF ACT OF 1842

Congress passed the first federal law against obscenity as part of the Tariff Act of 1842

This law made it illegal to bring what it called "indecent & obscene" material into the country

THE COMSTOCK LAWS

The Comstock Law is a US law that prohibits the mailing of indecent materials or of information about birth control or abortion

The law, passed in 1873, is named for Anthony Comstock, a controversial reformer who crusaded for its passage

The legislators who enacted the Comstock Law probably intended that it be used to prosecute pornography distributors in criminal court

Instead, it was used to support a system of administrative censorship by postal officials, w/o going to court

For about 85 years, postal officials used the Comstock Law, sometimes very loosely, to censor mail

If post office inspectors decided a book, picture, or other item of mail was indecent, they seized all copies & refused to deliver them

Since the mid 1900's, the Sup Ct of the US has narrowed the legal definition of pornography in the process of interpreting the First Amendment to the Constitution

The court also has placed constitutional limits on censorship

The Comstock Law is still in force, but most experts think the Sup Ct would find the system of postal censorship unconstitutional if it were challenged

As a result, the US Postal Service almost never uses the law to seize mail, & the Department of Justice rarely tries to enforce the act in criminal court

ROTH V. THE US

In 1957, in the case of Roth v. the US, the Sup Ct ruled that freedom of speech & the press, as guaranteed by the First Amendment, restricted prosecution to only those materials that a court had determined to be legally obscene

But the Supreme Court provided only loose guidelines for the definition of legally obscene material

In 1973, in the case of Miller v. California, the Supreme Court held that material could be considered legally obscene only if

a. the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient, sexually arousing, interest

b. the material shows, in a clearly offensive way, sexual conduct specifically described in the applicable law

c. the material lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value, when evaluated in accordance w/ national standards

JENKINS V. GEORGIA, MILLER V. CALIFORNIA

In 1974, in Jenkins v. Georgia, the Supreme Court unanimously determined that local standards play a very limited role in the determination of what is to be considered obscene

Today, as a result of Jenkins v. Georgia, Miller v. California, & other cases, obscenity prosecutions are rare

COMMISSIONS ON OBSCENITY & PORNOGRAPHY

A national Commission on Obscenity & Pornography reported in 1970 that it found no reliable evidence that pornography caused crime among adults or delinquency among young people

The commission recommended repeal of all laws prohibiting the sale of pornography to consenting adults

But it also recommended that each state adopt laws against the sale of obscene pictorial material to young people

In 1986, however, the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography determined that a relationship existed btwn sexually violent or degrading materials & the amount of sexual violence in society

It also recommended increased prosecution of cases dealing w/ child pornography, that is, pornographic materials that involve photographs of children

OTHER NATIONS PORNOGRAPHY LAWS

Many nations have anti obscenity laws

In some, including Ireland & Italy, such laws are strictly enforced

In Canada, anti obscenity groups have fought for years for stricter laws & stricter enforcement

Many members of these groups seek recognition of the harm resulting from materials that endorse sexual violence against women

But some nations have repealed their obscenity laws

In the late 1960's, for example, Denmark dropped all legal barriers against pornography for adults

Internal
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Outline on Prostitution

External
Links

- Supplement: Prostitution, Feminism, & Critical Praxis

Link

- Supplement: Prostitution, Women, & NOW

Link

- Supplement: Prostitution: Research Male Violence

Link

- Supplement: Prostitution from a Youth Services Perspective

Link

PROSTITUTION IS THE SELLING OF SEXUAL SERVICES

Prostitution is the performance of sexual acts for payment which exists throughout the world, largely in urban areas

Around the world, prostitution is the most common in poor countries where patriarchy is strong & traditional cultural norms limit women's ability to earn a living

Prostitutes fall into different categories, from call girls to street walkers

A young prostitute, generally 16 yrs of age or younger is called a baby pro

About 50 % of clients of female prostitutes are repeat clients

Prostitution is against the law almost everywhere in the US, but many people consider it a victimless crime

About 2/3s of prostitutes are women, but prostitutes also include men & children, who make up about 1/3 of prostitutes

Child prostitution is illegal in every nation, but is never-the-less all too common

Sexual slavery is a form of prostitution that is illegal in every nation where people are forced into sex work

Some prostitutes work for themselves while others work for men known as pimps or for women called madams

In many countries, call services or houses of prostitution, often called brothels, connect prostitutes w/ clients, set fees, & protect prostitutes from dangerous or unwanted customers

A house of prostitution, a place where prostitutes & customers meet for sexual activity, is called a brothel, bordello, whore house, call in service, etc.

Some prostitutes seek customers on the streets & in other public places

Both prostitutes & their clients face a risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS

In many Western countries, much prostitution is related to drug abuse

In the US, for example, many prostitutes sell sexual services to support a drug habit

Social scientists believe that many people in developed countries become prostitutes because they have been emotionally, physically, or sexually abused as children or as adults

PROSTITUTION IS LEGAL IN SOME NATIONS, BUT HAS DEFACTO LEGALITY IN THE US BECAUSE OF LAX PROSECUTION

In developing countries, poverty is the main reason for prostitution

In the US, prostitution is legal only in NV, where each county has the option of allowing houses of prostitution

In Canada, call services are legal, but houses of prostitution are illegal, & prostitutes may not seek customers in public

Prostitution is also legal in parts of So America & Asia, & many European cities have experimented w/ legal prostitution

People in Western countries disagree about whether prostitution should be legalized

Some people think that the legalization of prostitution results in a rise in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases

But others argue that legalization controls the spread of such diseases because it enables govts to require medical inspection of prostitutes

MORAL ATTACKS ON PROSTITUTION ARE THE MAJOR OPPOSITION TO ITS LEGALIZATION

Many people oppose prostitution on moral or religious grounds

Reflecting society's ambiguity about the legalization of prostitution is the moral & cultural ambiguity in Western society

Derogatory terms for prostitutes or women who are sexually active are common, as are romantic, positive images as seen the the movie "Pretty Woman" w/ Julia Roberts & Richard Gere

For feminists, the label whore, & thus prostitutes, are part of the patriarchal imagination re-appearing in fantasies both sacred & profane

'Whore' is also a term of abuse often hurled at women in domestic disputes, in encounters of male violence against women & by adolescent boys unsure or fearful of the sexuality of their female peers

A SOCIO HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF PROSTITUTION INDICATES IT IS 'THE OLDEST PROFESSION' WHICH HAS ALWAYS BEEN PERSECUTED, BUT NEVER CONTROLLED

Prostitution has existed throughout history, & is often called 'the first profession'

Prostitution was widespread in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, & China & in European & Asian history, some prostitutes have held high social rank

The history of prostitution is a history framed by attempts to repress & make morally reprehensible the women involved in prostitution whilst accepting, even venerating the desires & fantasies symbolically associated w/ the whore, the prostitute, the fallen woman

The history of prostitution is then also tied to the history & social construction of sexuality, cathexis & desire; gender relations; masculinity; & capitalist exchange relations which increasingly commodify everything, even love

The history of prostitution is one of immense contradictions as the prostitute is a figure represented in varying guises: whore/priestess, whore/goddess

Throughout history, prostitutes achieved a certain level of autonomy leading to education & status w/in ancient Greek society, Chinese society, Europe in the Middle Ages, the US in the colonial & western expansion periods, & others

Prostitutes thus sometimes achieved a certain amount of liberty, independence, power, & autonomy that was not available to other women

Whores became bad women especially as the growth of christianity & later protestantism contrasted the ideal of the good wife & mother w/ the fallen women & sinner

Increasingly w/in the Victorian period, the ideals of social purity & morality contrasted w/ dire economic poverty for working class/underclass women involved in a prolific sex for sale market, particularly in London

Some aspects of contemporary prostitutes' experiences are not so different from the experiences of prostitutes in earlier centuries

Social stigma, violence, social exclusion & reduced personal safety are central to the lived experience of prostitutes as they have been throughout the documented history of prostitution

The stigma against prostitution closely relates to relationships w/ men (clients/pimps) & to paternalistic & patriarchal institutions, mores, & regularized conduct

Historically most societies, nearly all of which are patriarchal, have supported values & norms which prohibited sexual relations outside of the bond of marriage

The situation of prostitutes is unique because while they are stigmatized to such an extent that they are often placed in the lowest status in a society, their clients, primarily men, are often respected members of the community

Prostitutes' clients in most societies retain their status, though they may experience some stigma, while prostitutes attain a very low status

Currently women working as prostitutes are perceived as bad girls, contravening norms of acceptable femininity, suffering whore stigma & increasingly criminalized by state, policing practices & the lack of effective action taken by police & the state to address male violence against women

PROSTITUTION IN MODERNITY IS RISKIER THAN EVER BECAUSE OF AIDS & SEXUAL SLAVERY

Current debates on modernity / later modernity / reflexive modernity center upon the major themes of:
a. de-traditionalization
b. the relocation of authority to the self
c. the incorporation of increased self monitoring
d. reflexive modernization
e. reflexive risk exposure

Reflexivity is the process of being self aware & self controlled

The relationship btwn traditional society & modernity is illuminated through an increasingly reflexive modernity

In general, there has been a reduction in the numbers of visible prostitutes on the street & an increase in male /transsexual prostitution

It is generally believed that in the US, prostitution is riskier today because of AIDS & because of prostitution being driven into the street making violence more probable

A prostitutes' well-being depends on:
a. the risk level of the setting in which she works
b. the reasons she / he entered prostitution
c. whether she / he experienced victimization as a child or adolescent
d. the wealth of her or his environment / clientele

Today there is an increase in the self regulation & organization of prostitution by women themselves; & new forms of machine sexuality coinciding w/ the AIDS era, for example telephone sex, & computer sex

THE PROSTITUTES' RIGHTS MOVEMENT HAS IMPROVED WORKING CONDITIONS, LEGAL RIGHTS, & MORE

Since the 1970s in No America & the 1980s in Britain is the increase in the regulation & organization of prostitution by women for themselves

The rise of the prostitutes rights mvmt which developed in the 1970s in No America & also in Germany & the Netherlands related directly to the feminist mvmt

This inter-relation btwn feminists & prostitutes has helped to shift the discourse on prostitution out of a legal framework & into a feminist framework focusing first of all upon violence against prostitutes by clients & also pimps & secondly upon prostitution as work

See Also: The Prostitutes Rights Movement

PROSTITUTION IS TRANSITIONING IN STATUS TO BECOME MORE LIKE WORK

For many people, prostitution is experienced & articulated as sex work

Sex work includes any type of work which is primarily related to the recreational or pleasure oriented aspects of sexuality including prostitution & pornography production, as well some forms of entertainment such as dancing or waiting/serving

Prostitutes, like any worker, negotiate the relationship btwn psychic processes created by the work, & social processes, btwn self & the wider social world

Burawoy called the process of dealing w/ the stresses, contradictions, social stereotypes, etc. at work 'making out'

Prostitutes make out by dealing w/ violence against prostitutes, the resistance women engage in in order to maintain stable self identities whilst labeled & treated as 'other' as marginal & criminal through the operation of what Gail Pheterson (1986) has called the 'whore stigma'

Like all work, prostitution, the experiences, needs, meanings & practices of the sex worker, is shaped by the socio histl context of the society in which it exists

There have been shifts in the social organization of prostitution from tradition to later modernity from a moral to legal to feminist discussions & today all 3 go on simultaneously

The feminist discourse on prostitution centered initially upon violence & pornography & more latterly upon work, rights & human liberties

Advocates for prostitutes seek to promote the understanding of women's lived experiences contextualised w/in an understanding of the sociology of work, the feminization of poverty, as well as the rise of the prostitutes rights mvmt

Advocates for prostitutes are demanding that prostitution be accepted as work & that female & male prostitutes be given the same rights & liberties as other workers

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Outline on Sexual Violence

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- Supplement: Herstory of Domestic Violence

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SEXUAL VIOLENCE IS A TYPE OF ABUSE WHICH INCLUDES PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, VERBAL, CHILD, & EVEN NEGLECT

Sexual violence, which ranges from verbal abuse to rape & assault, is widespread in the US

Domestic violence refers to physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological abuse btwn marital partners, former partners, & other adults who are, or have been, in close relationships

Women are morel likely to be injured by a family member than a stranger

The family is the most violent group in society with the exception of the police & the military

Most experts distinguish domestic violence from the mistreatment of the elderly or of children

Both men & women may act violently toward each other, but women are more likely than men to be injured or murdered by their partners

Domestic violence leaves long lasting effects on its victims & their families

Victims may abuse alcohol or drugs & experience depression, eating disorders, or display other types of psychological distress

They are also more likely than non victims to consider or attempt suicide

Children who witness domestic violence often experience emotional & psychological distress & they are more likely than other children to become violent

VICTIMS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE, LIKE VICTIMS OF MOST CRIMES, KNOW THE PERPS, & IS WIDESPREAD W/ REPORTING RISING

Because sexual violence & abuse in general is often unreported to police, statistics on these crimes are low

Estimates range from 960,000 incidents of violence against a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend per year to three million women who are physically abused by their husband or boyfriend per year

Around the world, at least 1 in every 3 women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime

31 % of women report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives

Nearly 25 % of Am women report being raped & / or physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, cohabiting partner, or date at some time in their life

In 2001, more than half a million American women were victims of nonfatal violence committed by an intimate partner

In 2001, women accounted for 85 % of the victims of intimate partner violence & men accounted for approximately 15 % of the victims

While women are less likely than men to be victims of violent crimes overall, women are 5 to 8 times more likely than men to be victimized by an intimate partner

Women are 7 to 14 times more likely than men to report suffering severe physical assaults from an intimate partner

Women of all races are about equally vulnerable to violence by an intimate partner

33 % of women homicide victims are killed by spouses or ex spouses

SOCIO HISTORICAL ANALYSIS

Domestic violence has a record that goes back as far as the historical record, which according to many social scientists is when patriarchy began

See Also: The Origin of the Family, Private Property & the State

See Also: The Development of the Patriarchal Family

During the reign of Romulus in Rome, wife beating was accepted & condoned under The Laws of Chastisement

During the Middle Ages, in Europe, squires & noblemen beat their wives as regularly as they beat their serfs; & the peasants faithfully followed their lords' example

During the Middle Ages, the Church sanctions the subjection of women

During the Early Industrial Era, around 1792, In A Vindication of the Rights of Women, Mary Wollstonecraft seeks changes in the education for women & kinder treatment by husbands & lovers

In 1829, in England, a husband's absolute power of chastisement is abolished

In the late 1800s, US courts begin to show signs that they might hold husbands responsible & found guilty of marital rape

Even in the 20th C, most social scientists, law professionals, & other experts considered domestic violence a "private matter"

Today most experts recognize it as a dangerous social problem

A variety of services help prevent & treat domestic violence, including shelters for battered women

Shelters provide a wide range of programs, including legal assistance & counseling for victims & their children

Since the 1980's, all 50 states of the US have enacted laws that specify domestic violence & violence against women as crimes

Laws have made it easier for women to obtain restraining orders, court orders designed to prohibit offenders from contacting their victims

Many states also require police officers to arrest offenders in cases of domestic violence

The fed govt passed the Violence Against Women Act in 1994

The fed govt grants money to state & local govts to establish programs & shelters for battered women

The Violence Against Women Act also identifies stalking (repeatedly threatening, following, & harassing a victim) as a crime

THE CAUSES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ARE WIDE RANGING & PARALLEL THE CAUSES OF OTHER SOC PROBS

The causes of domestic violence include patriarchy, poverty, unemployment, crime, econ exploitation & other soc probs, & also have a causative effect on these very soc probs, i.e. they interact

Most of the 'direct / relationship' causes of dom violence can be characterized as a function of patriarchy

There is no single reason for domestic violence

Many offenders have a history of alcohol or drug abuse

Some abusers experience stress caused by unemployment, sexual difficulties, & low job satisfaction

The most abusive offenders tend to have severe emotional problems

Numerous offenders were abused as children

There are several theoretical views of the nature of rape, including the
a. victim precipitated theory
b. the psycho pathology of rapists
c. feminist theories of rapists & the culture of violence against women
d. social disorganization theory

While Freud wrote on the psychological & social roles of men & women, he never commented on sexual violence

Rape is actually an expression of power

Date rape refers to forcible sexual violence against women by men they know

Rape myths, the false belief that women want rape, & hostility toward women are two cultural factors that predisposes men to engage in aggressive behavior toward women

Some cultural features enhance the likelihood of violence in general, & violence against women

Individualism is the cultural norm that predisposes one to pursue one's own interests w/ as little regard for others as society allows

Collectivism is the cultural norm that predisposes one to pursue group, organizational, or societal interests w/ as little regard for oneself as society allows

Asian cultures are more collectivist & have less sexual violence against women than American cultures

The fact that Asian cultures are collectivist means that empathy tends to be more common, & this is viewed as a protective factors against aggression

Related to our culture of individualism is our acceptance of wide differentials of power & control

A culture of power & control makes it more acceptable to control women, workers, or any subordinate group

Economic dependency exacerbates the problem of power & control, & it also makes victims of abuse more likely to accept abuse & stay in bad relationships

Stress is also a factor in sexual violence, abuse, crime, & other social problems

The question of whether men are inherently violent, or more violent than women, has not been definitively answered, though history offers ample evidence of man's violent nature

SOCIAL POLICIES TO REDUCE SEXUAL VIOLENCE INCLUDE ZERO TOLERANCE, EDUCATION, SOC MVMTS, END SEX DISCRIMINATION, & THERAPY FOR VICTIMS & PERPS

1. Zero tolerance for sexual violence

The criminal justice system ( CJS ) must have the laws, personnel, & resources to prosecute all instances of sexual violence, as well as child & elder abuse

- Mandatory sentences & counseling for crimes against women

- The state, not the victim, becomes prosecutor in crimes against women

- All 50 states have marital rape laws that prohibit forced sex even in marriage, but these laws vary widely in there strength & enforcement

2. Expand education & research on the effects of gender socialization & objectification of women, men, & sexuality

3. Groups or social movements such as NOW & AAUP which support women's rights, work to end sexism, etc. must organize, cooperate & work together

4. To reduce sexual violence, the general policies to end sex discrimination in the economy must be embraced to ensure women's status by eliminating the traditional view of women as second class citizens

- Stronger laws around wage discrimination

- Stronger laws around occupational discrimination & the glass ceiling

5. Social psychological therapy for victims & perpetrators

Many programs are available to treat people who commit domestic violence

Judges often require men who assault their wives to attend these programs as a condition of their sentence

The purpose of behavior therapy is create new learning, that is to learn how to respect others, solve problems, & deal w/ feelings

Communities across US established shelters to provide counseling and temporary housing for women and children of domestic violence

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Outline on Functionalism on Sexuality

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DEVELOPING NORMS AROUND SEXUALITY IS FUNCTIONAL / USEFUL / NECESSARY FOR SOCIETY

Functional analysis examines the fact that every society has regulated marriage & sexuality, establishing strong norms around it

From a biological perspective, sex allows our species to reproduce

From a psychological perspective, sex is the expression of Eros, the life force, of our animal nature

From a social perspective, sexuality permits pair bonding, usually in the form of marriage

From a social perspective, sexuality permits group bonding in the form of families, extended families, & in traditional societies, the tribe or larger social org

Culture & social institutions regulate w/ whom & when people reproduce & / or have recreational sex

IN FUNC TH, IF A PRACTICE, SUCH AS PROSTITUTION, EXISTS IN SOCIETY, IT MUST BE 'FUNCTIONAL'

The manifest function of prostitution is the exchange of two values: sex & money

Because of the power of sexuality in our society, prostitution is more frequently viewed as sexual than economic

The latent functions of prostitution is to preserve the family unit

According to Kingsley Davis, prostitution is widespread because of its latent function

Davis assumes that if prostitution were not allowed, the family would be in jeopardy because the man would leave for sex, & / or the woman would leave because the man was in another relationship, as opposed to "merely" having an encounter w/ a prostitute

For functionalists, society, in the form of social institutions such as religion, the govt, etc., would have eliminated prostitution if they desired

CRITIQUES OF FUNCTIONALISM ON SEXUALITY INCLUDE ITS PATRIARCHY, DIVERSITY IN SEXUALITY, SOCIETY'S DEV OF SEX NORMS, & SEX NORMS ADJUSTING AS OTHER SOC STRUC CHANGE

Feminists modify the functionalist argument to the extent that it is the power of patriarchy & not male concern w/ the family that keeps prostitution as a common relationship

The conservative functionalist approach of Davis ignores the great diversity of sexual ideas & practices found w/in every society

Moreover, sexual patterns change over time, just as they differ around the world

As family & sexual relations change, other social structures adjust to them as seen in the development of the legal system to deal w/ divorce

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Outline on Symbolic Interactionism on Sexuality

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The symbolic interaction ( SI ) approach highlights how, as people interact, they construct everyday reality, including the changing views of sexuality

THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF SEXUALITY IS ACCOMPLISHED BY THE SAME PRACTICES THAT CONSTRUCT OTHER BEHAVIOR: 3 WAY DYNAMIC AMONG SELF, SOCIETY, & THE PROCESSES OF SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION

Almost all social patterns involving sexuality have seen considerable change over the course of the 20th C

A cross cultural analysis or histl analysis of sexuality demonstrates that perhaps sexuality is one of the most diverse types of relationships in which humans engage

The wide variety of sexual patterns demonstrates that people spend time & energy constructing their gender & sexuality

The wide variety of sexual patterns demonstrates that the social construction of sexuality is an intricate pattern, & demonstrates more than most relationships that one person's self, i.e. social identity is constructed in a the social env of others' social identity

An analysis of sexuality shows, more than other relationships, the interdependency of all social roles: an 'American Woman' is that modern form of woman to an American man, but is viewed very differently by another culture, & she can be herself only w/ the 'American Man,' & vice versa

GLOBAL COMPARISONS OF SEXUALITY REVEAL PARTICULAR UNIVERSAL CHARACTERISTICS RELATED TO PATRIARCHY, MARRIAGE, DIVORCE, VIRGINITY, ETC., BUT ALSO WIDE VARIATION

The broader our view, the more variation we see in the meanings people attach to sexuality

The global view of sexuality, the family, romance, etc. may broadly be divided btwn traditional relations which have their roots in pre industrial societies, & modern relations which are historically less than 2 centuries old

A CRITICAL REVIEW HOLDS THAT S - I IGNORES STRUCTURAL FORCES SUCH AS RELIGION, THE MEDIA, & OTHERS IMPACTING SEXUALITY

The strength of the symbolic interaction approach lies in revealing the constructed character of familiar social patterns

One limitation to this approach is that not everything is so variable

As is the case w/ many SI approaches, the SI approach to sexuality ignores the structural forces which functionalism & conflict theory demonstrate such as the power of patriarchy as an overall organizing force on our self identity today

The social construction of sexuality takes place w/in the pre existing social structures of contemporary peer grps, the family, religion, etc.

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Outline on Conflict Theory on Sexuality

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The conflict theory approach shows how sexuality reflects patterns of social inequality & also how it helps perpetuate them

SEXUALITY & GENDER ARE ONE BASIS SOCIAL OF INEQUALITY AS SEEN IN PATRIARCHY, SEXUAL LIBERTY, & MORE

Feminists have used a conflict theory model to demonstrate the group interests of men & women in gender & sexuality relations

From a feminist perspective patriarchy is the exploitation of women by men & it occurs in all classes, but is the least powerful in the middle class

Patriarchy demands not only the physical control of womens' bodies, but also ideological control of how we, society, view gender, sexuality, the family, etc.

Besides patriarchy's ability to keep women subordinate to men for sexuality, family tasks, etc., patriarchy also keeps women out of traditional economic relationships limiting their influence in the economic sector

Studies show that if women had economic opportunities, few would be involved in prostitution

Thus for women, prostitution is clearly more of an economic transaction, i.e. they are not doing it for sexual adventure

Defining women in sexual terms amounts to devaluing them from full human beings into objects of men's interest & attention

QUEER THEORY EXAMINES OPENNESS, MARGINALIZATION, ETC. IN RELATION TO SEXUALITY, ESP HOMOSEXUALITY

Homosexuals are removing the power from such words as queer by voicing their interests in a manner that turns partriarchy's slanders against itself

Queer theory refers to a growing body of knowledge that challenges an allegedly heterosexual bias in sociology

The queer orientation begins w/ the assertion that our society is characterized by heterosexism, a view stigmatizing anyone who is not heterosexual as "queer"

Like feminists, gay activists view anti gay sentiment as an extension of patriarchy which seeks to maintain an ideology of the normalcy of traditional gender, sexuality, family, etc. relations

If patriarchs allowed the questioning or deconstruction of the line btwn straight & gay, then people might also begin to question the other boundaries of traditional, patriarchal relations

A CRITICAL REVIEW IS THAT SEXUALITY IS NOT POWER LADEN FOR ALL

Applying the social conflict approach shows how sexuality is both a cause & effect of inequality

But the conflict approach overlooks the fact that sexuality is not a power issue for everyone

The conflict paradigm under represents the progress our society has made toward eliminating injustice

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