1. Healthy Relationships and Sexuality: Making Commitments

2. Healthy Relationships

3. Characterizing and Forming Intimate Relationships
Behavioral interdependence
Mutual impact
Need fulfillment
Social approval and reassurance
Emotional attachment
Feelings of love
Emotional availability
Ability to give and receive

4. How Intimate Is a Relationship
Figure 5.1

5. Forming Intimate Relationships
Families
Family of origin
Establishing friendships
Enjoyment
Acceptance
Understanding

7. Forming Intimate Relationships
Significant others, partners, couples
Fascination
Exclusiveness
Sexual desire
Giving the utmost
Being an advocate or champion

8. Common Bonds of Friends and Lovers
Figure 5.2

9. Forming Intimate Relationships
Theories of love
Intimacy
Passion
Commitment
There are many different definitions of love. How would you define it?

10. Forming Intimate Relationships
Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love
Intimacy – closeness, sharing, emotional support
Passion – lust, attraction, sexual arousal, sharing
Compassion – decision to be open to love, commitment to relationship

11. Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love
Figure 5.3

12. ABC News: Healthy Interpersonal Relationships
Play
Video
| Healthy Interpersonal Relationships
Discussion Questions
Were you surprised at how many people are involved in Internet dating? Why or why not?
Discuss both the advantages and disadvantages of Internet dating.
Are there certain types of individuals that may benefit the most from joining an Internet dating web site?

13. Communicating: A Key to Good Relationships
People communicate differently
No two people communicate in the exact same way
Communicating how you feel
The ability to communicate assertively is an important relationship skill.
Past communication styles may be different in relationships and a couple may have a difficult time communicating.

14. Communicating: A Key to Good Relationships
Improving your communication skills
Learn to share and self-disclose
Get to know yourself
Become more accepting of yourself
Be willing to discuss your sexual history
Choose a safe context for self-disclosure
Learn to listen

15. Gender Issues in Relationships
Genderlect
Coined by Deborah Tannen to categorize the differences in men’s and women’s language patterns
Styles in Decision Making
Picking Partners
Similarities
Reciprocity
Attraction
What do you look for when picking a partner?

16. Overcoming Barriers to Intimacy
Dysfunctional families
Inhibits psychological growth and/or self-love
Obstacles to emotional/mental health
Jealousy in relationships
Overdependence on the relationship
High value placed on sexual exclusivity
Severity of the threat
Low self-esteem
Fear of losing control

17. Committed Relationships
Marriage
Monogamy
Serial monogamy
Open relationships
Cohabitation
Common-law marriage

18. Committed Relationships
Gay and lesbian partnerships
Significant increase in 2000 census – three times the reported number than in 1990 census
Probably much higher than reported
Staying single
86% of American men
75% of American women

19. Staying single Increasingly common to marry later or remain single
75% of American women, 86% of American men, aged never been married
Many new social groups support single lifestyle
Sexual intimacy may not be present, but other interactions with loved ones fulfill many needs for intimacy

20. Success in Relationships
Partnering scripts
Most children are raised with a strong script of what is expected of them as adults
Society provides constant reinforcement for traditional couples
People who have not chosen an “traditional” partner may experience a great deal of stress

21. Success in Relationships
Being self-nurturant
Love yourself
Accountability
Accepting responsibility for personal decisions, choices, actions
Self-nurturance
Developing individual potential through a balanced and realistic appreciation of self-worth and ability

22. Having Children…or Not?
Many factors to consider
Relationships change when a couple decides to have children
Resources and attention are split
Existing stressors in a relationship further accentuated when parenting added to responsibilities
Having a child is not a cure for a bad relationship, and may actually increase stressors on the relationship
Blended families more common
Those other than heterosexual couples now parenting
Over 25% of school-aged children living in families headed by single parents

23. When Relationships Falter
Communication breakdown
When and why relationships end
Divorce rate is 41%
Illness
Finances
Unmet expectations

24. When Relationships Falter
Coping with failed relationships
Recognize and acknowledge your feelings
Find healthful ways to express your emotions
Spend time with friends, both old and new
Don’t rush into the “rebound” relationship

25. Building Better Relationships
Elements of Healthy Relationships
Good communication
Intimacy
Friendship
Trust
Predictability
Dependability
Faith

27. Your Sexual Identity Facts All eggs carry an X chromosome
Sperm carry an X or a Y chromosome
Sex hormones play a major role in puberty
Male – testosterone
Female – estrogen, progesterone
Pituitary gland- gonadotropins
Secondary sex characteristics

28. Your Sexual Identity Sex Biological condition of being male or female
Gender
Psychosocial condition
Gender roles
Gender identity
Gender-role stereotyping
Androgyny
Socialization

29. Your Sexual Identity Sexual orientation
Best understood by using a multifactorial model, which incorporates biological, psychological, and socioenvironmental factors.
Heterosexual
Homosexual
Bisexual
Homophobia
Irrational fear or hatred of homosexuality
Why is sexual orientation controversial in our society?

31. Sexual Anatomy and Physiology

32. Female Sexual Anatomy and Physiology
External female genitals
Mons pubis – pad of fatty tissue covering the pubic bone
Labia minora – folds of mucous membrane
Labia majora – folds of skin and erectile tissue that enclose openings
Clitoris – female sexual organ, only known function is pleasure
Urethral opening – urine leaves the body
Vaginal opening – opening to the vagina
Hymen – a thin membrane that may cover the vagina in some women
Perineum – the area between the vulva and anus

33. Female Sexual Anatomy and Physiology
Figure 5.4

34. Female Sexual Anatomy and Physiology
Internal female genitals
Vagina – a tubular organ that serves as a passageway from the uterus to the outside of the female body
Uterus (womb) – hollow, muscular, pear-shaped
Endometrium – inner lining of the uterus, either prepares the uterus for implantation or menstrual flow
Fallopian tubes – extending from the uterus, two thin tubes where sperm and egg meet
Ovaries – almond-sized structures suspended on either side of the uterus that produce the female hormones

35. Side View of the Female Reproductive Organs
Figure 5.5

36. Female Sexual Anatomy and Physiology
Puberty and the menstrual cycle
Endocrine system
Hypothalamus
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)
Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)
Luteinizing hormone (LH)
Ovaries produce estrogens and progesterone

37. Female Sexual Anatomy and Physiology
Menarche – first menstrual period
Generally starts between ages 9 to 17
Body fat influences onset of puberty
Menstrual cycle
28 days long
Proliferative phase, secretory phase, menstrual phase
Menopause – permanent cessation of menstruation
Generally between ages 41 and 60
Onset symptoms aided by hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

38. The Three Phases of the Menstrual Cycle
Figure 5.6

39. Hormonal Control and Phases of the Menstrual Cycle
Figure 5.7

40. Male Sexual Anatomy and Physiology
External genitals
Scrotum – protects the testes
Penis – deposits semen
Internal genitals
Testes – manufacture testosterone
Epididymis – sperm ripen here in a comma shaped structure at the back of the testes

41. Male Sexual Anatomy and Physiology
Internal genitals
Vas deferens – stores and transfers sperm
Urethra – passes sperm and urine
Seminal vesicles – provides fluids to semen
Prostate gland – provides fluids to semen
Cowper’s glands – secretes fluid that lubricates the urethra

42. Side View of the Male Reproductive Organs
Figure 5.8

43. Human Sexual Response Process Excitement/arousal – vasocongestion
Plateau phase – nipples and penis erect
Orgasmic phase – muscles contract
Resolution phase – profound relaxation
Refractory period – most men unable to become aroused following resolution

44. Expressing Your Sexuality
“Normal” sexual behavior
Heterosexual standard
Coital standard
The orgasmic standard
Two-person standard
Romantic standard
Safer sex standard

45. Expressing Your Sexuality
Sexual expression
Celibacy – avoidance or abstention from sex
Autoerotic behaviors – sexual fantasy & masturbation
Kissing and erotic touching – nonverbal sexual communication
Manual stimulation – use of sex toys
Oral-genital stimulation
Cunnilingus – oral stimulation of the female’s genitals
Fellatio – oral stimulation of the male’s genitals
Vaginal intercourse – penis into the vagina
Anal intercourse – insertion of the penis into the anus

46. ABC News: Love and Sexuality
Play
Video
| Love and Sexuality
Discussion Questions
Are you surprised by the high percentage of women who say that they are sexually unsatisfied? Why or why not?
Why do you think so many women have difficulty expressing their needs and desires during sexual intercourse?
Discuss some of the statements that women shared as to what they thought the opposite sex should know about them.

47. Expressing Your Sexuality
Variant sexual expression
Group sex
Transvestism
Fetishism
Exhibitionism
Voyeurism
Sadomasochism
Pedophilia
Autoerotic asphyxiation
How many of these variant behaviors have you heard of?

48. Difficulties That Can Hinder Sexual Functioning
Sexual desire disorder
Inhibited sexual desire (ISD)
Sexual aversion disorder
Sexual arousal disorder
Erectile dysfunction or impotence
Orgasmic disorders
Premature ejaculation
Female orgasmic disorder

49. Difficulties That Can Hinder Sexual Functioning
Sexual performance anxiety
Sexual pain disorder
Dyspareunia
Vaginismus
Seeking help for sexual dysfunction
Chose a qualified sex therapist or counselor

50. Difficulties That Can Hinder Sexual Functioning
Drugs and sex
Alcohol can inhibit sexual response
Tendency to blame the drug for bad behavior
“Date Rape Drugs”
Rohypnol (“roofies”)
Gamma-hydroxybutrane (GHB)