1. Chapter 8
Sexuality

2. Sex: A Biological Issue
Sex refers to the biological distinctions between females and males
Primary sex characteristics refer to differences in genitalia
Secondary sex characteristics refer to the physically distinctive characteristics that occur as we mature
The term “sex” also refers to sexual activity, including intercourse that leads to sexual gratification and possibly reproduction.

3. Sex: A Cultural Issue
Sociologists point out that sexual activity is also guided by human culture
Cultural norms define who can have sex with whom
age
marital status
sex of partners

4. Sexual Attitudes in the United States
How people think about sex, as well as sexual practices themselves, has changed over the course of this nation’s history
During the colonial era, the European settlers’ lack of effective birth control methods resulted in most communities holding strict norms that treated sexuality simply as a matter of reproduction

5. Sexual Attitudes in the United States
Landmarks in the nation’s changing view of sexuality include:
Advances in technology giving people control over reproduction
Post WW II research of Alfred Kinsey that concluded that Americans were not as conventional about sex as many had believed

6. Sexual Attitudes in the United States
The “sexual revolution” that embraced a culture of freedom following the introduction of the birth control pill in 1960
The feminist movement’s challenge of men’s power that took a stand against a number of practices associated with sex, including pornography, rape, and incest

7. The Sexual Counterrevolution
By the 1970’s, conservatives called for return to traditional “family values”
Did not succeed in turning back the clock

8. Sexual Orientation
Sexual orientation refers to an individual’s romantic, emotional, and sexual attraction to another person
Sexual orientation can include partners of the same sex (homosexuality), the other sex (heterosexuality), either sex (bisexuality), or neither sex (asexuality)

9. What Gives Us a Sexual Orientation?
Cultural Factors
Sexual orientation has much to do with one’s society
Once definitions of heterosexual and homosexual became accepted, people with homosexual experiences were set apart

10. What Gives Us a Sexual Orientation?
Biological Factors
Sexual orientation appears to be fixed at birth
Both genes and hormones play a part in determining sexual orientation
Simon LeVay- the key is in the brain

11. Homosexuality and Public Policy
Prior to the 1970s, homosexuality was widely regarded as wrong
This created a hostile atmosphere that resulted in most lesbians and gay men staying “in the closet”
In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association declared that it no longer considered homosexuality to be a mental disorder

12. Homosexuality and Public Policy
Recently, public attitudes have become more accepting of homosexuality
Lawrence et al v. Texas
Struck down law preventing sodomy between same-sex couples
However, mixed public attitudes have produced conflicting policies on sexual activity

13. Gay Marriage In 1996, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act
Allows states to ignore same-sex marriage performed in another state
Some corporations and other countries offer benefits to domestic partners
In 2004, the Supreme Court of Massachusetts ruled that gay men and lesbian women had the right to marry

14. The Gay Rights Movement
Originated in a few large cities in the mid 1950s.
The “Stonewall Riot” on June 27, 1969 was a defining moment in the growth of the movement
Soon after, the term “homophobia” was used to demonstrate that the problem was people who would not accept others simply because of their sexual orientation

15. Pornography
Pornography refers to words or images that cause sexual arousal
“Soft-core” pornography shows or describes nudity and suggests sexual activity
“Hard-core” pornography contains explicit descriptions or images of sexual acts
The real issue: At what point does sexual material run afoul of the law and become obscenity?

16. Is Pornography a Social Problem?
Conservatives treat sex as a moral issue
Pornography is a social problem because it undermines morality
Liberals are divided over whether pornography is a social problem
Some liberals contend that what people choose to read or view is their own business
Others object to pornography as demeaning to women

17. Pornography and Violence
In 1985, the U.S. Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography was formed to investigate how people react to sexual materials
It concluded that while exposure to pornography causes sexual arousal and increases sexual activity, it does not cause violent behavior
It warned that viewing pornography containing violence makes people more accepting of violent acts

18. Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment refers to unwanted comments, gestures, or physical contact of a sexual nature
The rise of the women’s movement in the 1960s was primarily responsible for the definition of such behavior as a social problem
In 1976, a federal court declared that sexual harassment amounted to illegal sexual discrimination (Williams v. Saxbe)

19. Sexual Harassment
The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) identifies two types of sexual harassment –
quid pro quo (one thing for another)
subtle forms of behavior not intended to be harassing

20. Prostitution Prostitution is the selling of sexual services
Prostitution, as well as soliciting the services of a prostitute, is against the law everywhere in the United States, except in parts of Nevada
In a global perspective, prostitution is most common in low-income nations

21. Prostitution
Prostitutes are a diverse category, with better or worse working conditions depending on their physical attractiveness, age, and level of education
Although prostitution is against the law almost everywhere in the United States, law enforcement is selective

22. Prostitution
Worldwide, “sex tourism” is on the rise, with the fastest increases in Africa and Eastern Europe.
In the areas where “sex tourism” occurs, as many as 100 million children live on the streets and sell sex to survive

23. Prostitution Enforcement of prostitution is selective
According to COYOTE (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics), a sex worker’s rights organization founded in 1973, 90 percent of women arrested for prostitution are street walkers from low social class backgrounds. Very few are high status call girls

24. Teenage Pregnancy
In the US, almost 1 million teenage girls become pregnant each year
About 2/3 decide to keep their babies and 1/3 have abortions
Recently, the pregnancy rate for girls in their early teens has been rising
Teenage girls at highest risk for pregnancy are from poor families

25. Teenage Pregnancy
The costs of teenage pregnancy.
For men and women both young and poor, parenthood can be financially devastating
The babies are affected the most
Infants born to teens have lower birth rates and a higher risk of physical and developmental problems
Most have no fathers and grow up at high risk of becoming single parents themselves

26. Teenage Pregnancy
A possible solution to the problem of teenage pregnancy is sex education in schools
Programs of sex education explain to young people
how their bodies grow and change
how reproduction occurs
how to avoid pregnancy by using birth control or abstaining form sex altogether

27. Abortion Abortion is the deliberate termination of a pregnancy
Abortion is perhaps the most divisive issue involving sexuality in the United States today
Each year, 860,000 abortions are performed in the US, which is one for every three live births

28. Abortion
In the U.S., from the colonial era until the mid-19th century, early-term abortion was legal
By the early decades of the 20th century, laws banning abortion had been enacted in every state
In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all laws that banned abortion (Roe v. Wade)

29. Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Diseases spread by sexual contact
There are more than fifty kinds of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
Rates of infection for most STDs - including gonorrhea, syphilis, and genital herpes - began to rise during the sexual revolution of the 1960s

30. Sexually Transmitted Diseases
The most serious of all STDs is Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
In the U.S., the recent trend in AIDS deaths is downward.
Officials recorded 16,371 deaths in 2002
There were 26,464 new cases of AIDS recorded in the U.S. in 2002
In some regions of the world, AIDS is fast becoming a medical catastrophe

31. Sexually Transmitted Diseases
While HIV is infectious, it is not contagious
Specific behavior that puts people at risk for HIV infection include:
anal sex
sharing needles when using drugs, and
any drug use (including alcohol) because it impairs one’s judgment)

32. Sexually Transmitted Diseases
The US government was slow to respond to the AIDS crisis
Once the epidemic spread into the heterosexual population, officials gave the problem serious attention

33. Structural-Functional Analysis: Controlling Sexuality
A structural-functional perspective on sexuality emphasizes the importance of cultural norms guiding sexuality
Societies observe incest taboos
Traditional norms favor legitimate offspring

34. Symbolic-Interaction Analysis: Defining Sexuality
Highlights the variable meanings people attach to sexuality
The meaning of virginity
Learning sexual roles
People socially construct sexuality just as they create the rest of the reality they experience

35. Social-Conflict Analysis: Sex and Power
The social-conflict paradigm highlights social inequality
Women as sexual objects
Queer theory
A body of theory and research that challenges the heterosexual

36. Conservatives: The Value of Traditional Morality
Conservatives support conventional norms that claim sexuality belongs within the traditional bonds of marriage
Premarital sex and extramarital sex are social problems
They condemn prostitution and pornography because they violate traditional standards of decency and because they threaten marriages

37. Conservatives: The Value of Traditional Morality
Conservatives oppose abortion on demand because it gives one person the power to end the life of another who is innocent and helpless
Overall, the conservative answer to sexual social problems is strong social institutions

38. Liberals: Sex and Individual Choice
All people should have considerable choice in how they express their sexuality
Their attitude is one of tolerance
The limits of liberal tolerance come when someone is threatened with harm
Liberals support making abortion available to all – and leaving the decision on any individual case up to the woman involved

39. Radicals: Going to the Root of the Problem
A common element in all of the issues cited in this chapter is social inequality
These social problems come about because one category of people has power over another