Sexuality

Sexuality

Approaches to understanding sexuality are categorized as either essentialist or social constructionist. Essentialism, focusing on the individual expression of human desire and pleasure, favors a biological explanation. Social constructionism, focusing on the relationship between individual and society, explores how sexuality is embedded in historical, political, and social practices. Foucault (1979) traces the history of the heterosexuality/homosexuality dichotomy to processes that began in the nineteenth century and the birth of sexology. Challenging essentialist conceptualizations of sex and sexuality as transhistorical and stable categories, Foucault claims that the discursive invention of sexuality as a biological instinct fundamental to understanding an individual's health, pathology and identity lead to biopower. While sex denoted the sexual act, sexuality symbolized the true essence of the individual. Sexual behavior represented the true nature and identity of an individual. While the sexologists favored a biological explanation, Freud's psychoanalytic theory of sexual development led to the psychological construction of different sexual identities. The individual progresses from an initial polymorphous sexuality in early childhood through to the development of a mature stable heterosexual identity in adulthood; homosexuality is a temporary (adolescent) stage of development. To sociologists, sexuality is derived from experiences constructed within social, cultural, and historical contexts. Sexual identities and behaviors develop herein; norms and cultural expectations guide individuals.

Sexual Foundations of society

The sex drive is one of the building blocks of human social life. While no inborn drive compels humans to act in any particular way, each drive consists of a set of recurrent tension states which impels people to some kind of activity to relieve the tension. Sexuality includes all the feelings and behavior linked to sex through either biology or social learning. The human shares with the anthropoids the biological fact of continuous sexuality meaning that the female may be sexually active at any time. The human female passes through no biological cycles of sexual acceptance and rejection. There are some species whose males and females associate continuously while mating only seasonally. Continuous sexuality therefore is not necessary for continuous association but it is a guarantee that the sexes will associate continuously. This makes continuous sexuality a part of the biological basis for human social life.

Thus human sex drive is notable for continuous sexuality which ensures the continuous association of the sexes, desire for continuity which makes for enduring sexual partnerships, the desire for variety which conflicts with the desire for continuity and remarkable pliability with sex interest channeled through whatever patterns a society has established as normal.

Sex – Differences

The human sexes are visibly different in some physical characteristics. Work-role ascription in simple societies was highly affected by physical sex differences. Men considerably exceed women in average upper body strength. Although women do a lot of moderately heavy physical labor in many societies, tasks calling for great strength or speed such as hunting, fighting, tree clearing or heavy lifting are nearly always done by men. The almost continuous childbearing and nursing in most societies has generally limited women’s work to that which could be combined with baby care work which was reptetive, interruptible and calling for no great physical strength. This had the effect of assigning most of the adventurous and exciting work to men and most of the drudgery to women. Yet there are several instances showing that functional practicality was not the only determinant of the gender work roles. In modern societies physical strength and reproductive function are less important factors in work-role ascription. Even the physical differences are shrinking.

In many fields of athletic competition, women are catching up with men. The gap between men’s and women’s records in all events which both enter has narrowed by an average of 1/3.According to Maccoby and Jacklin about the sex differences among Americans- the research shows boy’s greater aggressiveness, boys’ greater mathematical and visual –spatial differences and girls’ greater verbal ability. There are no significant sex differences in sociability, self-esteem, higher cognitive learnings, analytic ability, achievement motivation and responsiveness to visual stimuli. It is not certain that these ability differences are biological. They may be but not proved. All sex differences apart from reproductive system are average differences. These are not very great with a great deal of overlapping. It clearly shows that aside from physical strength and reproduction most sex differences are social products, not biological building blocks.Sex roles can be whatever a society makes them.

Changing sex roles

Women’s roles have shown great change throughout history. Women’s status was fairly high in ancient Egypt in sense of considerable independence, power and choice and low in early Greece and Roman Empire. The traditional sex-role ascription assumed a series of sex differences in abilities and limitations which are no longer believed by educated people. In traditional societies like Indian society it was easy to attribute one’s discriminatory practices to the will of God but it is now not acceptable. It is widely believed that normal sex roles are normal for only a specific time and place .Thus the intellectual foundation for the subordinate roles of women have been negated. The importance attributed to the work one does have always been closely related to one’s status and power. In ancient societies priests seemed to have greater control over the people. In hunting societies where men caught the food and women generally prepared it the man’s success in hunting determined whether the group ate or starved.

In agricultural societies, women’s contribution to food supply increased and women’s power also increased. Industrialization both in developed and developing countries lowered the status of women. It made men the primary breadwinners and women the helpers. But during the later stages of industrialization and in the post industrial society family size started shrinking and more women started working in factories. According to a research done by Blood and Wolfe the wife’s power within the family tends to vary according to how closely her pay check matches her husband’s. It can be safely said that while women have been slow in gaining power equal to their economic contribution, the economic base for male dominance is reducing considerably in both developed and developing nations.

Masculinity and Feminity

Masculinity and femininity refer to the differing feelings and behavior expected of males and females at a particular time and place and is largely a product of sex-role socialization. Such socialization has been accomplished in many ways, many of which are unintended and unconscious. In many societies men are being rewarded for being aggressive, competitive and career –oriented. Girls are required to be gentle and homely. Men have been trained to direct and command, women have been trained to obey and serve and to get their way through manipulation. Men are rated according to their career advancement while women are evaluated by their domestic skills. In many ways the sexes have been socialized to feel differently about themselves and to act differently. There is ample evidence to prove that sex-role stereotypes are very much alive today. In almost every work activity men are judged to be more competent than women.

A number of studies show that when women are successful it is likely to be attributed to either luck or great effort while men’s success is more often attributed to ability. No legislation can achieve genuine sex equality unless there are changes in the ways men and women feel about themselves and each other. Changing sex-role stereotypes is not easy. Our institutions are saturated with sexism deeply entrenched with tradition. Most personnel policies have been based upon the assumption that men’s career interests are primary and enduring while women’s career interests are temporary and secondary to their other interests.

Homosexuality

The term homosexual is applied both to persons who have a strong preference for sex partners of the same sex and to those who regardless of sex preference engage in sex relations with persons of the same sex.According to Ford a capacity to respond sexually to both sexes is present among humans and many other species. Homosexuality appears at least occasionally in all or nearly all human societies. It is either absent, rare or secret in about one third of the societies studied by Ford and Beach. In about two-thirds some form of homosexual behavior is considered acceptable and normal for at least some categories of people or stages of life. Homosexuals are very much like heterosexuals in every thing except sexual preference. A number of studies have found no other personality traits that distinguish homosexuals from heterosexuals. Apart from difficulties arising from the social treatment of homosexuals, personality maladjustments are no more common among homosexuals than among heterosexuals. The mental illness theory sees homosexuals as victims of sex-role confusion. According to psychiatric opinion the male homosexual is often a product of a dominating but seductive mother and a cold remote father. But the most comprehensive research study of homosexuals comparing large samples of homosexuals and heterosexuals found no significant differences in family backgrounds, parental types or relationships with parents. Several studies have found significant differences between the hormone levels of homosexuals and heterosexuals.

The social –learning theory holds that one learns homosexual behavior through the same reward-punishment system that shapes most social learning. According to this theory if most childhood and adolescent interaction with the opposite sex is pleasant and rewarding one becomes a heterosexual; if these experiences are uncomfortable and anxiety laden and if attempts at heterosexual intercourse are unsatisfying one may become a homosexual. The increased social acceptance of homosexuals in recent years has apparently not increased the number of homosexuals as expected if homosexuality were a learned sex role. There is no convincing evidence that having a homosexual parent, uncle or neighbor increases the likelihood of a child’s becoming a homosexual. It is difficult to agree upon rational set of social policies concerning homosexuality unless more research and studies are carried out.