Everything about Sexual totally explained
Generally speaking,
human sexuality is how people experience and express themselves as sexual beings. The study of human sexuality encompasses an array of social activities and an abundance of
behaviors, actions, and societal topics.
Biologically, sexuality can encompass
sexual intercourse and sexual contact in all its forms, as well as
medical concerns about the
physiological or even
psychological aspects of sexual behaviour.
Sociologically, it can cover the
cultural,
political, and
legal aspects; and
philosophically, it can span the
moral,
ethical,
theological,
spiritual or
religious aspects.
As
Michel Foucault wrote in
The History of Sexuality, the concept of what activities and sensations are "sexual" is historically (as well as regionally and culturally) determined, and it's therefore part of a changing "discourse". The
sexual meanings (meanings of the erotic dimension of human sexual experience), are
social and cultural constructs, they're made subjective only after cultural and social mediation. Being the main force conditioning human relationship, sex is essentially
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 institutions (religion, marketing, the educational system, psychiatry, etc.) control and shape human relationships. To escape this cultural "sexuality" Foucault suggest to focus on "bodies and pleasures".
Biological aspects
The biology of human sexuality examines the influence of biological factors, such as organic and neurological response,
heredity,
hormones, and
sexual dysfunction; it examines the basic functions of reproduction and the physical means to carry it out. The biological perspective helps to analyze the factors, and ultimately aids in understanding them and using them to deal with sexual problems.
Sexual behavior can be a
disease vector.
Safe sex is a relevant
harm reduction philosophy.
Monogamy is also espoused, however, practicing safe sex with many committed partners, referred to as
serial monogamy or
polygamy, isn't as safe, particularly among adolescents.
Sex as exercise can produce some health benefits.
Sociocultural aspects
Human sexuality can also be understood as part of the social life of humans, governed by implied rules of behavior and the
status quo. This focus narrows the view to groups within a society. The sociocultural aspect examines influences on and from
social norms, including media such as politics and the
mass media. These sorts of media can help to bring about massive changes in the social norm — examples include the
sexual revolution and the rise of
feminism.
The link between constructed
sex meanings and
racial ideologies has been studied. Sexual meanings are constructed to maintain racial-ethnic-national boundaries, by denigration of "
others" and regulation of
sexual behavior within the
group. "Both
adherence to and
deviation from such
approved behaviours, define and reinforce racial, ethnic, and
nationalist regimes."
Sex education
Sex education is the introduction of sexual topics within an educational context. Almost all western countries have some form of sex education, but the nature varies widely. In some countries (such as Australia and much of Europe) "age-appropriate" sex education often begins in pre-school, whereas other countries (notably the USA) leave sex education to the pre-teenage and teenage years. Sex education covers a range of topics, including the physical, mental, and social aspects of sexual behavior.
Psychological aspects
The psychological study of sexuality focuses on psychological influences that affect sexual behavior and experiences. Early psychological analyses were carried out by
Sigmund Freud, who believed in a
psychoanalytic point of view. He also conjectured the concepts of
erogenous zones,
psychosexual development, and the
Oedipus complex, among others.
Behavior theorists such as
John B. Watson and
B. F. Skinner examine the actions and consequences and their ramifications. These theorists would, for example, study a child who is punished for sexual exploration and see if they grow up to associate negative feelings with sex in general.
Social-learning theorists use similar concepts, but focus on cognitive activity and
modeling.
Gender identity is a person's own sense of identification as female, male, both, neither, or somewhere in between. The social construction of gender has been discussed by a wide variety of scholars,
Judith Butler notable among them.
Sexual behaviour
Human sexual behaviour encompasses the search for a partner or partners, interactions between individuals,
physical or
emotional intimacy, and sexual contact. Some cultures will find only sexual contact within marriage acceptable; however, extramarital sexual activity still takes place.
Unprotected sex may result unwanted
pregnancy or
sexually transmitted diseases. In some areas,
sexual abuse of individuals is prohibited by law and considered against the norms of society.
Sexual activity and lifestyles
Heterosexuality
sexes.
Different-sex sexual practices are limited by laws in many places. United States marriage laws may serve the purpose of encouraging people to only have sex (and children) within marriage.
Sodomy laws were seen as discouraging same-sex sexual practices. Laws also ban adults from committing
sexual abuse, committing sexual acts with anyone under an age of consent, performing sexual activities in public, and engaging in sexual activities for money (
prostitution). Though these laws all cover same-sex sexual activities, they may differ with regards to punishment, and may be more frequently (or exclusively) enforced on those who engage in same-sex sexual activities. Laws also control the making and viewing of
pornography, including pornography which portrays different-sex sexual activities.
Courtship, or dating, is the process through which some people choose potential sexual and/or marital partners. Among straight (presumably
middle class) teenagers and adolescents in the mid-20th century in America,
dating was something one could do with multiple people before choosing to "go steady" with only one, the eventual goal being either sex, marriage, or both. More recently
dating has become what
going steady was and the latter term has fallen into disuse.
Different-sex sexual practices may be
monogamous, serially monogamous, or
polyamorous, and, depending on the definition of sexual practice,
abstinent or
autoerotic (including
masturbation).
Different moral and political movements have waged for changes in different-sex sexual practices including courting and marriage, though in all countries, changes are usually made only at a slow rate. Especially in the
USA, campaigns have often sparked and been fueled by
moral panic. There, movements which claim to strengthen different-sex sexual practices within marriage are seen by others to discourage same-sex sexual practices, such as
Defense of Marriage Act and the proposed
Federal Marriage Amendment.
Homosexuality
Same-sex sexuality involves two individuals of the same sex. It is possible for a person whose sexual identity is heterosexual to get involved in sexual acts with people of the same sex, for example,
mutual masturbation in the context of what may be considered "normal" heterosexual teen development. Homosexual people who pretend to lead a life of heterosexuality are often referred to as living "closeted" lives, that is, they hide their sexuality in "
the closet". The term "closet case" is a derogatory term used to refer to another homosexual that hides his or her homosexuality or bisexuality, and "
coming out" or "
outing" refer to making that orientation (semi-) public voluntarily, or by others against their wishes, respectively.
The definition of
homosexuality is a sexual attraction to members of one's own sex, though people who engage exclusively in same-sex sexual practices may not identify themselves as
gay or
lesbian. However, the degree of attraction complies with the varying levels of frequency, willingness, and/or interest. In sex-segregated environments, individuals may seek sex with others of their own sex (known as
situational homosexuality). In other cases, some people may experiment or explore their sexuality with same (and/or different) sex sexual activity before defining their
sexual identity. Health campaigns and officials often seek to target self-identified "straight" or bisexual
men who have sex with men (MSM) as opposed to self-identified "gay" or
homosexual men.
Despite stereotypes and common misconceptions, there are no forms of sexual activity exclusive to same-sex sexual behavior that can not also be found in opposite-sex sexual behavior, save those involving contact of the same sex genitalia such as
tribadism and
frot.
Among some communities (called "men on the DL" or "
down-low"), same-sex sexual behavior is sometimes viewed as solely for physical pleasure. Men on the "down-low" may engage in regular (though often covert) sex acts with other men while continuing sexual and romantic relationships with women.
Auto-erotic sexuality
Autoeroticism is sexual activity that doesn't involve another person as partner. It can involve
masturbation, though several
paraphilias don't require a partner.
Though many autoerotic practices are relatively physically safe, some can be dangerous. These include
autoerotic asphyxiation and
self-bondage. The potential for injury or even death that exists while engaging in the partnered versions of these
fetishes (
choking and
bondage, respectively) becomes drastically increased due to the isolation and lack of assistance in the event of a problem.
Alternative sexuality
A number of "alternative sexualities" exist. These are usually based upon individual choice. They range from the broadly accepted or tolerated, through to the highly controversial and illegal.
Examples of these less common or alternative sexualities include
BDSM activities where
dominance and submission activities are central features of sexual activity, through to
zoosexuality where there's human-animal sexual activity.
Coercive and abusive sexuality
Sexual activity can also encompass sexual abuse - that is, coercive or abusive use of sexuality. Examples include:
rape,
lust murder,
child sexual abuse, and
zoosadism (animal abuse which may be sexual in nature), as well as (in many countries) certain non-consensual paraphilias such as
frotteurism,
telephone scatophilia (indecent phonecalls), and non-consensual
exhibitionism and
voyeurism (known as "
indecent exposure" and "
peeping tom" respectively).
Sexual pleasure
Sexual pleasure is
pleasure derived from any kind of sexual activity. Though
orgasm is generally known, sexual pleasure includes erotic pleasure during
foreplay, and pleasure due to
fetish or
BDSM.
Study of sexuality
In contemporary academia, sexuality is studied in the fields of
sexology and
gender and sexuality studies, among many other fields.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Sexual'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://human_sexuality.totallyexplained.com">Human sexuality Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
