The Mystery of Enormous Breasts and Penises

Class 3

 Consider where you learned about sex?

◦ Parents, peers, friends?

◦ How accurate do you think your information is/was when you were 13? 15?  Time magazine/CNN survey (Stogdill, 1998) ◦ ◦ 74% of teens say friends and TV were major sources of information.

10% of teens say parents provided more information.

Courses on Sexuality

What would the average 18 year old answer, in America?

The hymen is a reliable indicator of whether or not a woman is a virgin.

Sperm can be produced only in an environment several degrees lower than normal body temperature.

Excessive masturbation can cause serious medical problems.

True

or False ? Quiz

The inner 2/3 of the vagina is highly sensitive to touch.

Many men experience nipple erection when they become sexually aroused.

Most men and women are capable of multiple orgasms.

Breast size in women is related to the number of Mammary glands.

True

or False ? Quiz

Menstrual discharge consists of sloughed off uterine tissue, blood, and cervical mucus.

For hygiene reasons, you should avoid sex during Menstruation.

True

or False ? Quiz

A girl can get pregnant as soon as she starts having menstrual periods.

Ovulation generally occurs just before menstruation.

After a vasectomy, a man can reach orgasm but cannot ejaculate.

AIDS is the diagnosis for people who have human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

True

or False ? Quiz

The combination birth control pill works primarily by preventing implantation of a fertilized egg.

Taking the oral contraceptive pill results in fewer serious health problems than do pregnancy and childbirth.

Women show their highest levels of sexual desire at the time of ovulation.

There are about 12 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases in the United States each year.

True

or False ? Quiz

Women who have masturbated to orgasm during adolescence generally have less difficulty reaching orgasm during intercourse than women who never masturbated.

Most women do not show symptoms in the early stages of gonorrhea or chlamydia.

Gonorrhea, syphilis, and herpes can be successfully treated with antibiotics.

True

or False ? Quiz

In vitro fertilization involves a process where part of fetal development occurs in a test tube.

It is usually safe to have sexual intercourse during the 7 th and 8 th months of pregnancy.

“Prepared childbirth” (e.g., Lamaze) refers to delivering a baby without the use of drugs.

Most healthy people in their 60s and older continue to engage in sexual behavior.

True

or False ? Quiz

The frequency of sexual relations is highest for married couples aged 25 to 35.

Adult male homosexuals have lower than normal levels of male hormones.

Douching is an effective method of birth control.

Recent evidence indicates that environmental factors are most important in determining one’s sexual orientation.

True

or False ? Quiz

Prostitutes are generally hypersexual and have pathological sexual needs.

Most convicted rapists committed their crimes because of an uncontrollable sex drive.

There is a demonstrated link between the availability of pornography and sex crimes.

It is against the law in many states for a married couple to engage in sexual behaviors other than penile-vaginal intercourse.

True

or False ? Quiz

Most cases of child molestation involve an acquaintance of a relative of the child.

A pregnant woman can transmit syphilis to the unborn baby.

Exhibitionists and voyeurs often attempt to rape their victims.

Nocturnal emissions (“wet dreams”) are often an indication of a sexual problem.

True

or False ? Quiz

A woman’s ability to have vaginal orgasms is related to penis size.

Oral herpes can be transmitted to another person’s genitals by oral-genital contact.

Unless testosterone is present during embryonic development, nature has programmed everyone to be born a girl.

True

or False ? Quiz

  Lack of education about contraception ◦ Teen Pregnancy ◦ ◦ HIV prevalence STD outbreaks (some with NO CURE) 3 out of 5 teens in the US say they do NOT have enough information about Birth Control

Societal Issues

 Sexual Attractiveness ◦ What parts of the body are erotic?

◦ ◦ When grandparents/parents say there is too much sex on TV? What does that mean?

   Too much ankle? Too much kissing? Too much genitalia?

In other cultures the view might be very different.

Cross-Cultural Comparisons

 ◦ ◦ ◦ Consider your armpit….

◦ In Abkhazian, men are highly aroused at seeing a woman’s armpit.

Navel’s in Samoa Knees in New Guinea and the Celebes Islands Penis pins in Borneo

Sexual Attractiveness

  Kissing? Universal?

◦ Western cultures primarily  Not shared by the Japanese, Hindus of India and others.

Permissive Cultures  Mangaians ◦ Teenage boys and girls are instructed in how to please their partner.

◦ Encouraged to have many partners  at adulthood become monogamous

Behaviors and Attitudes

 “Repressed” Cultures  ◦ ◦ Inis Baeg Children never told about menstruation or pregnancy No nudity, not even when parents care for children, or with one’s spouse • Men believe sex is dangerous to their health so it is done as quickly as possible.

The Extremes on the Continuum

How would you measure this?

Repressed Permissive Inis Baeg Mangaians

Where is the U.S.? Now? 1920? 1940? 1960?

    Sex for procreation or recreation?

For physical pleasure or spiritual union?

Daily? Weekly? Every five years?

Monogamy or Polygamy?

Differences in more than practice…

 Given the diversity of the population of the United States… ◦ Oral-Genital sexual relations    Common for white middle-class (esp. College educated) But not as common among African Americans.

Also not common among low-educated or low income groups

Diversity within U.S. Culture

 Given the diversity of the population of the United States… ◦ Gender Roles  The double-standard common in Latin American countries.

◦ Permissiveness differs by generation/religion  Asian Americans are least permissive, but are more accepting of abortion (not a moral issue in Eastern religions)  Number of generations since immigration

Diversity within U.S. Culture

 Old Testament Judaism ◦ “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it.” –(Genesis 1:28, Revised standard version) ◦ ◦ Sex for procreation; celibacy neglects an obligation Sons valued: Women are property of husband’s family line  Rape  violation of property rights  Women having extra/pre-marital sex  stoned

Historical Perspectives on Sexuality

 Judaism ◦ No shame in the physical body.

◦ ◦ ◦ Sex within marriage was widely accepted and was seen as a gift from God.

Any behavior between husband and wife was accepted as long as the man did not ‘spill his seed’ Women were guaranteed sexual rights (in spite of their ‘property’ status in other matters)

Historical Perspectives on Sexuality

     Physical love is separate from Spiritual Love St. Paul  Body is evil and must be controlled by the mind (see dualism) Celibacy is spiritually superior to marriage.

Sex is not for pleasure, only procreation.

Disgust for the human body: “Between feces and urine we are born.” --St. Augustine

Christianity

     Women grouped with children and regarded as asexual.

Sex was a ‘wifely duty’ Tissot (1741)—Masturbation would lead to blindness, consumption, and insanity.

Loss of semen was as detrimental as loss of blood.

U.S. b/w 1865 and 1932 awarded 33 patents for sexual restraint devices.

Victorianism

  Myths abound ◦ Menstruating women can spoil a ham (British Medical Journal, 1878) During this same period… ◦ Prostitution ◦ ◦ Pornography and Extramarital Affairs flourished

Victorianism

     Industrial Revolution  Women’s movement  time and mobility women not asexual Penicillin  fewer STI concerns The “Pill”  Women can control contraception Premarital sex was more acceptable (at least among the younger generation)

The Sexual Revolution

   Make Love not War continued into the 1980s In the 1980s the emergence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, changed the way sex was regarded.

Condoms were used more often and there was a general decline in teen pregnancy and STI cases.

The End of the Sexual Revolution?