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Chapter 1: The Study of Human Sexuality Learning Objectives Sexual Literacy Explain what sexual literacy means and how it relates to emotional literacy. Sexual Science-An Historical Perspective Describe the early clinical history of sexual science. Identify the positive contributions of Freud, Kinsey, Masters and Johnson, and others to sex research. Explain how sex research can improve the sexual well-being of individuals. Understand why sexual research has been disconnected from U.S. policy. Methodology in Studying Sexuality Explain the value of the interdisciplinary perspectives in the study of sexuality. Distinguish between qualitative and quantitative methods in sexual research. Compare and contrast the key approaches to studying sexuality. Evaluate what it means to be a critical consumer of sex research. Human Sexual Rights Explain what makes sexuality a human right, not a privilege. Chapter Outline Chapter 1: The Study of Human Sexuality Learning Objectives 1.1 Discussion Topic 1.1 Discussion Topic 1.2 Learning Objectives 1.2 Discussion Topic 1.3 Discussion Topic 1.4 Discussion Topic 1.5 Discussion Topic 1.6 Discussion Topic 1.7 Learning Objectives 1.3 Discussion Topic 1.8 Discussion Topic 1.9 Discussion Topic 1.10 Discussion Topic 1.11 Discussion Topic 1.12 Learning Objectives 1.4 Discussion Topic 1.13 Discussion Topic 1.14 I. Sexual Literacy Sexual literacy is defined as the knowledge and skills needed to promote and protect sexual well-being. Sexual well-being is both a physical state, defined by positive health in your body, and a subjective or mental state, recognized by feeling positive or joyful about your sexual life. As you develop sexual literacy, you enhance your own holistic sexuality, which means the integration of body, mind, feelings, and social life through sexuality. In becoming sexually literate, you can develop healthy and positive attitudes in your thinking, communication, and lifestyle that will result in satisfying sexual relationships when you decide you’re ready for sexual intimacy. Learning to integrate sexuality into everyday life may help break down some stereotypes about sexuality, such as the notion that not talking about sex to young people is better for them. Research shows the opposite; when people are comfortable talking about sex and actual sexual relations, they express their own desires better, they use less risky behavior when having sex, they know how to deal with sexual aggression better, and they form better relationships. Sexual Well-Being Sexual well-being refers to positive physical, mental, and social correlates of sexuality in your life, such as experiencing good health and pleasure, and satisfaction in intimate relationships. Four elements are fundamental to achieving sexual well-being: Pleasure: It is associated with joy and fun. It involves a basic acceptance of yourself, your body, and the role of pleasure in your own development. Protection: It is keeping your body free of sexually transmitted infections, as well as knowing how to check your body for other medical conditions. It also means knowing how to deal with bullying, date rape, sexual coercion, and sexual harassment. Finally, to ensure that sexual functioning and health can continue throughout life, protection means understanding sexual difficulties that people may experience along the way. Focus: It is about total concentration on an activity. In holistic sexuality, focus means being present and fully alert to what you feel sexually, what a prospective partner may say or do, and how your pleasure and self-protection fit the circumstance. Purpose in life: It strengthens our basic sense of identity and validates our existence in the world, including our love and romantic relationships. Sexual well-being can be a spectrum that goes from less to more. The goal is to achieve greater sexual well-being by expressing more of what you feel. Communication Matters Emotional Literacy and Close Relationships Strong, supportive, close relationships have a positive influence on sexual well-being throughout life. Research shows that being close to other people increases our overall health and well-being, because social relationships are a source of positive emotion, and long-term satisfaction in life; and being close is the basis of sound social policy. Attaining sexual well-being in close relationships requires emotional literacy. Emotional literacy is the capacity to perceive and to express feelings, especially as they surround intimate relationships. Emotional literacy also means not being caught off guard in a vulnerable moment when you need to express your feelings. II. Sexual Science—A Historical Perspective Sexual science is the study of sexual behavior across the human species, all cultures, and individuals. The systematic study of sexual interests, functions, and behaviors began in the 19th century as an extension of medicine and was dubbed sexology. Sexology was quite negative in its treatment of sexuality as a disease and in the way it influenced the norms and values of the late 19th century. In time, researchers in other sciences, including psychology, sociology, anthropology, endocrinology, behavioral genetics, and evolutionary psychology, started studying sexual behavior. Today, this interdisciplinary field looks at many positive aspects of sexuality, such as sexual health and wellness; social and cultural influences; and the relationship between marriage and sexual closeness. The Medical Model of Sexuality The roots of sexual knowledge began with medical doctors who typically saw most sex acts in terms of negative or bizarre symptoms that they could not explain. These symptoms were extremely diverse and included interests such as a desire for sex with animals (bestiality) and a sexual attraction to dead bodies (necrophilia). Additionally, physicians noted an interest in sex for pleasure and not for reproduction, a practice that was generally frowned upon. Sexual behaviors that deviated from reproduction came to be thought of as sexual degeneracy, meaning impairment or decline of sexual function. Nineteenth century doctors also considered masturbation a serious sexual disease that could lead to degeneracy and death. They believed that it could be spread like the common cold, and people brought children to medical clinics looking for a cure. With little research or knowledge of sexuality outside their clinics, 19th century physicians—who were universally male—applied their own ideas to classifying and treating sexual diseases and atypical sexual behavior. Some of their attitudes were biased against women. Some doctors were also prudish, ignorant about sex, and focused on highly puritanical theories of sex. Doctors in the 19th century, and well into the 20th century, tended to see sex as a disease to be cured or a problem to be fixed, never as something positive. From these negative beginnings, sexual science struggled for decades with the perception that sex was mostly diseased and abnormal. A New Approach to Sex Research Sexuality research was built on a new approach to science in the late 1800s. This approach used scientific investigation to explain reality instead of using magic, faith, folklore, personal beliefs, or tradition. The new advocates for scientific investigation believed that the scientific study of sexuality could improve people’s sexual health, and society at large, by breaking away from the old idea that sex was a disease. An important cornerstone of the new approach was Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. Evolution is the general idea that change occurs in all life forms over time by the process of one generation of species passing inherited characteristics on to the next. Darwin was a British naturalist who used evolutionary theory to explain how sexuality contributes to the diversity of life. This theory built on the widely held scientific view that through the individual’s sexual development, the history and development of a species was actually recreated. When something went wrong in evolution or development, it could cause sexual symptoms. A number of Darwin’s contemporaries in a variety of fields adopted a systematic approach to the study of sexuality that followed this view and laid the foundation of modern sex research in Europe. Foremost among them were Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Magnus Hirschfeld, Havelock Ellis, and Sigmund Freud. Richard von Krafft-Ebing The German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing published a highly successful series of dramatic case studies of sexual diseases, titled Psychopathia Sexualis, in which he named and classified some of the most unusual sexual behaviors of his day. He coined the term fetishism to describe the sexual attraction to physical objects, such as boots, or to human appendages, such as feet or toes. He was particularly known for treating masturbation. He collected his patients’ histories and differentiated between what he called normal and abnormal in sexuality. He called the abnormal sexual symptoms perversions, by which he meant unusual or extreme sexual urges or acts. Magnus Hirschfeld Magnus Hirschfeld, was influential in two ways: He was the first to use surveys to study sexual behavior in groups of people. He helped found the homosexual rights movement in Germany. He conducted numerous clinical studies and was regarded as a sexual reformer who worked with early feminists to improve women’s lives. He founded the Institute for Sexual Research in Berlin. The first of its kind, this treatment center housed tens of thousands of books on sex and was linked with the effort to create societal and scientific support for homosexual rights. Havelock Ellis Over many decades as a psychiatrist and psychologist, the great British medical doctor and psychologist, Havelock Ellis, saw thousands of patients, traveled the world, wrote dozens of books, and became one of the foremost authorities in the treatment of sexual problems. He typically studied what went wrong with people’s sexuality. Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist who revolutionized the study of the unconscious, as applied to personality, sexuality, and symbolism that dominated sexual science until late in the 20th century. Freud theorized a more complex sexuality built upon pleasure. He treated sexuality from infancy onward as a fundamental part of human nature. He believed that people’s earliest sexual desires and fantasies revolved around a sexual attraction to the opposite-sex parent involving incest, and that children had to repress their incestuous feelings, because these were totally forbidden and led to madness. He founded psychoanalysis, a treatment approach that focuses on the unconscious mind and “talking therapy.” Many researchers today criticize his methodology by saying that his practices were flawed because he observed only adults, not children, and not in the real world outside of his office. These and many other criticisms of Freud’s approach led later scientists, including Alfred Kinsey, to create totally different methodologies. Nonetheless, Freud’s contributions to the study of personality and human sexuality remain important. He helped to develop the notion of biological bisexuality, the idea that people may be naturally attracted to both sexes. He also recognized that body has erogenous zones, major areas of the body—especially the mouth, genitals, and anus—that are highly sensitive to sexual stimulation. In the 20th century, sex researchers grew to reject many of Freud’s ideas, and methodology. They critiqued the idea that sex was a disease and began to see themselves as part of a positive movement to reform the place of sexuality in society to make people healthier. Two early anthropologists were part of this critical movement: The first researcher was Bronislaw Malinowski, a physicist who became an anthropologist and was the first scientist to study human sexual behavior in a non-Western society. To do this, he invented participant-observation field study, a research method in which the researcher observes behavior outside a clinical setting in its own cultural and linguistic context. The second researcher was Margaret Mead, a cultural anthropologist and feminist who helped to pioneer field work studies of childhood and adolescent sexual development in other cultures. Margaret Mead Margaret Mead was perhaps the first important woman sex researcher in the United States. Her first book, Coming of Age in Samoa, was very famous at the time because she reacted to Freud and showed that culture was more important than personality or biology in the development of sexual behavior, especially among teenagers. Sex Research Comes of Age As the influence of physicians and clinicians declined and social and behavioral scientists began to study sexuality in the 20th century, more and more people challenged the moralistic idea that all sex was a symptom of disease, an expression of sin, or the product of abnormal personality. Alfred Kinsey In the late 1930s, Alfred Kinsey rejected Freud’s methods and focused on people’s actual sexual behavior in the real world. Though he came from a strong religious background and grew up feeling that all sex was basically wrong, Kinsey loved nature and went on to develop an unshakable faith in science and the notion that sex was a good thing. Inspired by his own bisexuality and wanting to help people who were scared of sex, Kinsey applied scientific methodology to eliminate superstition and harmful stereotypes. Rather than treat abnormal patients on a one-to-one basis, or probing the unconscious desires, as Freud had done, Kinsey studied the actual behaviors of large populations of normal people, including for the first time women, ethnic minorities, and homosexuals. His studies of human sexual behavior convinced him that there was huge natural variation in sexuality in human populations, and that bisexuality was normal. Kinsey began his research in 1937 when most Americans lived in small towns. For this undertaking, he pioneered the scientific survey study, using a questionnaire to reveal the attitudes and behaviors of a large number of people. With funding from the Rockfeller Foundation, Kinsey and two colleagues, psychologist Wardell Pomeroy, and sociologist Clyde Martin, expanded the study to include representative samples, individuals who represent diverse segments of the population of interest. Kinsey and his colleagues discovered that people in the United States were engaged in far more types of sexual behaviors than previously believed, including masturbation, premarital sex, and homosexuality. But the findings that made mass media headlines came from Kinsey’s study of female sexuality. Surveys of females found that they masturbated, like men, had homosexual relations, and engaged in premarital and extra-marital sexual relationships. Mary Calderone Mary Calderone became the first woman doctor to promote contraceptives and she took a more positive view on human sexuality. She believed that women had a right to sexual pleasure and was a strong advocate of marriage and mutual pleasure of spouses in marital relations, though she was not as supportive of sex outside of marriage. Calderone opposed the medical establishment for blocking distribution of birth control information to all people in the United States who went into doctor’s offices in the 1950s and 1960s. She felt that everyone had a right to birth control and family planning information, though many male doctors disagreed with her at the time. Masters and Johnson Between 1957 and 1965, a research team in St. Louis, Missouri, began an 8-year study, during which time they observed in their laboratory more than 10,000 complete cycles of orgasm in 382 women and 312 men. William H. Masters, a gynecologist, and Virginia E. Johnson, a psychologist, worked together to understand how people became aroused and what went wrong when they couldn’t have an orgasm. Like Kinsey, the Masters and Johnson team were critical of Freud’s emphasis upon verbal reports. So they implemented a new laboratory method for the study of orgasm and sexual functioning that was clinical, based on large numbers of participants, and utilized controlled observation in a lab. Masters and Johnson developed a technique to help couples deal with sexual dysfunctions, broadly defined as problems that interfere with enjoyment of sexual intercourse or orgasm. By talking with the couple over a two-week period, they helped to make people more comfortable with sex, so that they could relax and enjoy their sensual feelings. Masters and Johnson’s work was both fascinating and controversial, because they created the context for direct observation of sex in the lab. But critics still wonder if their observations actually changed people’s sexual functioning in the lab. Nevertheless, Masters and Johnson made important discoveries about the physiological responses of sexual intercourse: One is that women generally could have multiple orgasms. Another is that there is a period after intercourse, known as the refractory period, when men cannot ejaculate. They also disproved Freud’s belief that the only real orgasm for women is in the vagina. Michele Foucault Building on decades of social and cultural studies by historians and sociologists, Michele Foucault, a French philosopher and historian of sexual ideas, wrote a series of books and papers describing how history, context, institutions, roles, and ideas shape sexuality. He also showed how societal laws and concepts help regulate the sexual behavior of human populations. In the 1980s, gay and lesbian scholars, and feminists, extended Foucault’s approach to study how sexual movements were helping to advance people’s identities and rights. National Health and Social Life Survey Toward the end of the 20th century, researchers realized that Kinsey’s studies from the mid-20th century were outdated. It was time for a new and more representative survey study in the United States, to include ethnic diversity to understand how sexuality was changing, and to learn about the role of pleasure in sexual behavior. In the early 1990s, a team from the University of Chicago undertook a new study of sexual behavior using the latest scientific sampling and interview techniques. Lead by sociologist Edward O. Laumann, the research team sampled 3,432 men and women from all ethnic groups to rectify the problem of the earlier Kinsey surveys that neglected diversity. This effort included a new way of creating a true large random sample—that is, a sample in which every element in the population has an equal chance of being selected. The survey, known as the National Health and Social Life Survey (NHSLS), uncovered some very surprises about how sexuality had changed since Kinsey’s work. For example, oral and anal sex was found to be a lot more common. The NHSLS study also sparked controversy by reporting that homosexuality occurs less frequently in the population than reported by Kinsey and colleagues in 1948. In addition, the NHSLS study raised an old controversial question: Is sexual behavior the consequence of nature or nurture? The NHSLS study indicates that people’s sexual attitudes and behaviors have evolved, and there appears to be greater tolerance and acceptance of diversity. But, there remains confusion and ignorance about the role of research and science in helping people achieve sexual well-being. Controversies in Sexuality: What Makes People Heterosexual?—Nature or Nurture? In the 19th century, sexologists tried to show that medical symptoms or physical factors caused sexual behavior, especially the abnormal side of it. They considered sex drives and sexual desire as primarily determined by nature, especially for men. By the mid-20th century, this view began to change. First, Alfred Kinsey suggested that the sexual expression existed on a continuum from heterosexual to homosexual, influenced by a combination of biology (nature) and culture (nurture). Then Foucault showed how particular forms of sexual behavior occurred only in certain historical societies. In the 1970s and 1980s, many social scientists followed this change and researched how sexuality was influenced more by society and culture, than biology. They studied what was called the social construction of sexual behavior, meaning, how the social, cultural, political, economic, and other institutional forces shape sexual behavior. However, in taking this view, they never explained why most people are heterosexual. Sex and Social Policy Progress has occurred in the application of sexual science in U.S. society, though not in all areas, and the changes are often accompanied by political reaction. Researchers attribute this reaction in part to sexual illiteracy. Today, we are coming to realize that creating policies that foster sexual well-being are good not only for protection of sexual health, but also for the societal increase in positive relationships and family functioning. For example, sexuality policies that foster comprehensive sexual education can contribute to students’ focus, protection, and possibly, performance in school. Unfortunately, a variety of recent research studies reveal that some politicians oppose rational planning and good public health care when it comes to family planning. When sex research is applied correctly, it can provide benefits, as revealed by experiences in some Western European nations. Some of these nations, in comparison to the United States, have lower rates of sexually transmitted infection (STIs), lower rates of unintended pregnancy, better mental and physical health correlates of sexual behavior, and generally a higher level of sexual well-being. In the United States, there exists a “code of silence” surrounding broad sexual health and education discussion, rather than sound public policy, particularly with respect to issues such as teen pregnancy, homosexuality, and reproductive decisions. Sexual literacy could help change this situation if the next generation supports proactive policies online and in the real world. III. Methodology in the Study of Sexuality The study of sexuality uses a broad range of standard methods of research including individual clinical studies, fieldwork, surveys, laboratory experiments, and qualitative studies, to name a few. Sex researchers must abide by a code of ethics as they gather information about people’s intimate behavior. Interdisciplinary Perspectives Because human sexuality holistically involves all aspects of the body, mind, heart, and experience, the study of sexuality involves biological, social, psychological, and health sciences. These disciplines provide an interdisciplinary perspective that helps to integrate all aspects of the field of human sexuality. The body and its biological functioning are part of this interdisciplinary knowledge. In studying sexuality, interdisciplinary research has three basic goals: To better understand human sexual behavior. To help predict the sexual behavior of others. To influence laws and policies regarding sexual behavior. Ethics of Sexual Research Sex research raises issues regarding ethics and personal rights. Researchers must protect people who participate in sex research. Additionally, researchers must strive to include all segments of society in sexuality studies, because historically, ethnic minorities were left out. When research is conducted with people, it is important to include certain measures to protect the participants, to enable them to understand what the research is about, and to know how it may affect them. These protections include: Ensuring that data collection is done anonymously and confidentially Ensuring that participants are of legal age Authenticating that the participant’s attitudes, experiences, and behaviors are truthful as reported in terms of their age, ethnicity, and gender Insuring that no harm is done to research participants Research Designs Sexual science employs a variety of research designs, which are scientific models that lay out the aims, methods, and analysis of data. In general, every kind of research method can be categorized as either: Quantitative research—focuses on gathering numeric information or nonnumeric information that is easily encoded into a numeric form. Qualitative research—involves the collection and analysis of qualitative (i.e., non-numerical) data to search for patterns, themes, and holistic features. Quantitative methods are designed to ensure objectivity, be able to generalize the results, and ensure validity and reliability. Objectivity refers to the absence of personal bias. Research attempts to confirm or support a question of interest or hypothesis, which is a proposition set forth to explain some observation, method, or data analysis. Generalizability means the extent to which research findings and conclusions from a study conducted on a sample population can be applied, or generalized, to the population at large. Reliability refers to the extent to which a measure, procedure, or instrument yields the same result on repeated trials. Validity is the extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure. Quantitative research is concerned with studying how one variable impacts another. A variable is something that can be changed, such as a characteristic or value. Variables are generally used in research to determine if changes to one thing result in changes to another. In research there are two different kinds of variables: Independent variable(s)—variable(s) being manipulated to test their affect on the dependent variable. Dependent variable—variable that is being measured. The relationship between the independent and dependent variable is called a correlation, a statistical measurement of the strength of the relationship between two variables. Some common approaches to data collection used in sexuality research are case study, surveys, interviews, direct observation, and experiments. Case Study The case study is a popular research method used by professionals in clinical psychology, medicine, and sexuality, that dates back to 19th century sexology. In a case study, a researcher studies a single individual or very small group in depth. Usually the researcher follows this individual or small group closely over time. In case studies, researchers use direct observation, questionnaires, and testing to collect information or data. Researchers may also gather information by analyzing medical records, journals, diaries, or other historical records of the individual or small group being studied. The main disadvantage of case study research in sexuality is that it is hard to generalize the results to a larger population. Another disadvantage is that case studies are also often based on the retrospective self-report, which is an account of a memory of an event in one’s life. While people may have great knowledge about their own lives, they may not remember certain aspects of their lives clearly, or may misremember certain aspects. This distortion of recalled events is the retrospective bias. In addition, people may avoid divulging information for personal reasons, either intentionally or accidentally. Surveys and Interviews Researchers use surveys to identify the knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors of a large group of people. Types of surveys include self-administered written questionnaires, face-to-face interviews, telephone surveys, and Internet-based surveys. An advantage of face-to-face interviews is that they allow researchers to build a rapport with each participant to draw out authentic answers and information. An interviewer can also vary the sequence of questions depending on how a person responds to previous questions. In addition, an interviewer can ask a person in an interview to clarify information in order to increase understanding of the answer. Printed surveys and questionnaires do not really have this kind of flexibility The downside to face-to-face interviews is that they can be costly to conduct, as they require a significant time investment. Also, the personal nature of the interview may overwhelm some individuals, which can lead to dishonest responses or purposeful omissions of information. Questionnaires are much less costly than face-to-face interviews because they can be given to large groups of people at one time. Another advantage of questionnaires is that they can assure anonymity, which means the responses may be honest. Internet surveys offer the possibility of even greater numbers of respondents from a wide geographic area over a relatively short period of time. This method is also very popular with students because it is relatively inexpensive or free and allows access to populations that may otherwise be very difficult to reach. However, researchers agree that while Internet-based researches offer real advantages, they also raise serious methodological problems. Direct Observation Direct observation provides an opportunity to observe natural behaviors in context as they occur. A great deal of information can be collected about people by watching them in person, as researchers have learned from field studies. Researchers conduct direct observation studies in small to moderate size samples of people and record their behaviors or responses. Reliability of data increases with more representative samples and the accuracy of tape recordings and video-taped studies. Another advantage of direct observation studies is that the observation by researchers eliminates the possibility of falsification because they are observing behavior as it occurs. A disadvantage of direct observation is self-selection: one could argue that it takes people who are extremely comfortable with themselves, their body, and their sexual performance to agree to engage in such private behaviors in front of others. This skews the sample, then, because people who are uncomfortable in this situation will not agree to be part of the study. Experiments Experimental research involves researchers putting more limitations into place, to examine or predict how changes in independent variables influence dependent variables. Correlation studies, which are a subtype of experiments, look for relationships across a broad range of variables but do not determine if one variable causes another. Sexuality research that is experimental often focuses on physiological responses to various stimuli, such as sexual imagery that arouses a response in the brain or genitals or both. The response is measured by instruments attached to the genitals that monitor physiological or sexual arousal responses, such as heart rate, pupil dilation, and brain activity. The benefit of experimental methods is that the influence of external variables can be somewhat controlled. In addition, experimental studies allow researchers to draw conclusions about cause and effect relationships among the variables of interest. The drawbacks to experimental research are that the laboratory setting can influence the behavior of participants. In addition, experimental research can be costly. Participatory Action Research Participatory Action Research (PAR) is a relatively new social method of gathering and using information that involves strong community participation. Rather than a set of procedures for collecting information, PAR involves the people who are affected most directly by issues in the community in the effort to apply the research to their benefit. This approach to sex research also helps to motivate greater community participation in the study, whether it concerns sex education, date rape, coming out as homosexual, or being sexually active in a community that discourages sex outside of marriage. PAR is a way to build and strengthen sexual well-being in communities by increasing people’s understandings of each other’s sexual lives, their relationships, and themselves. Methods for gathering information in PAR include: Community-based surveys Group discussions Individual interviews Community art projects to represent experiences through visual art, poetry, spoken words, theatre, or music Photo or video documentation Storytelling and oral history Employing this approach enables the researchers to create an action plan with the community to help ensure that the research and community realize complementary goals. As PAR suggests, the study of human sexuality is very much an applied science. IV. Human Sexual Rights Universal human rights are freedoms to which all humans are entitled, such as the freedoms of speech and religion, freedom from violence or intimidation, and the most basic right of all, to life. These rights are based on inherent qualities of life: freedom, dignity, and equality of all human beings. In the past, some societies did not respect diversity and violated basic human rights. But it was the experiences of World War II, including the genocide of millions of Jewish people and other groups that led to a call for human rights as a global perspective. As information about mass killings, rape, sexual torture, sexual abuse, and the violation of people’s bodies through medical experiments and forced sterilization during World War II came to light, a new world order of universal human rights emerged. The United Nations (UN) Charter, signed in 1945 by 50 countries, stated as one of its goals, “To promote… universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without discrimination as to race, sex, language, or religion.” By 1948, members of the UN adopted The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first international document to delineate human rights. It was many years before research and positive changes in the world revealed that human sexuality rights were largely left out of this document. The emergence of the AIDS pandemic exposed this weakness in policies and rights around the world. Today there is a growing consensus among scientists, policy experts, and sex educators about the need to protect reproductive, sexual, and gender rights. That’s because decades of study have revealed that when people feel safe and secure in their right to pursue their individual sexual pleasure, reproductive potential, and expression of sexual and gender identity, they are healthier in general and are better able to attain their full potential as human beings. Human sexual rights violations can destroy sexual well-being, and possibly life itself. These violations may include forcing people to have sex, to have abortions, or to be sterilized, thus denying people the right to contraceptives, executing or imprisoning people because of their sexual or gender orientations, and forcing people to have their genitals altered as well as being raped and sexual coerced. Globally, human rights policies increasingly include sexual health and well-being as their stated goals. Not only have some nations passed laws to support these rights, but they have also aligned themselves through international organizations and treaties, especially the United Nations, to advance sexual well-being. While sexuality as a human right is laden with the politics and controversies of individual countries, research surrounding these rights is more generally helping to reveal the extent of the most vulnerable sexual populations globally. This research helps to create more humane discussions about how rights interact with such terrible factors such as poverty in challenging sexual health and well-being. Over the past 30 years many organizations have used research to link sexual health and reproductive, sexual, and gender orientation rights. The World Health Organization (WHO) has played the most critical role in championing this new era of rights. The WHO’s sexuality rights have been added to the human rights that were already recognized. Notably, these rights include: The right to teach and learn about sex The right to respect people’s bodies The right to be sexually active or not The right to choose when and how to have children or not The right to pursue sexual pleasure in a safe and satisfying way There are a variety of rights that support sexual well-being, including reproductive rights, gender identity, and sexual rights related to the expression of desires, feelings, needs, and intimate relationships. Helping to protect people against all kinds of challenges to their sexual well-being, including gender and sexual violence, is one of the great outcomes of the sexual literacy approach. Key Terms Sexual literacy—the knowledge and skills needed to promote and protect sexual well-being Sexual well-being—the condition of experiencing good health, pleasure, and satisfaction in intimate relationships Holistic sexuality—the integration of body, mind, feelings, and social life in our sexuality Emotional literacy—the capacity to perceive and to express feelings, especially as they surround intimate relationships Sexual science—the study of sexual behavior across the human species, all cultures, and individuals Sexology—systematic study of sexual interests, functions, and behaviors Sexual degeneracy— impairment or decline of sexual function Evolution—the general idea that change occurs in all life forms over time Fetishism—the attraction to physical objects such as boots or to human appendages Perversions—sexual urges or acts considered unusual or extreme in a specific culture Repress—in Freudian terms, to suppress upsetting sexual feelings or memories to keep them from causing mental distress or motivating unacceptable behavior Psychoanalysis—treatment approach’ known as talking therapy, developed by Freud to uncover feelings and memories hidden in the unconscious mind Biological bisexuality—the idea that people may be naturally attracted to both sexes Erogenous zones—major areas of the body, especially the mouth, genitals, and anus, that are highly sensitive to sexual stimulation and excitement Field study—a research method in which the researcher observes behavior outside a clinical setting in its own cultural and linguistic context Survey study—investigations of different kinds of sexuality employing representative samples of people from different populations to establish norms of some kind, such as sexual health norms Representative samples—components of the natural population that represent diverse segments of the population of interest Sexual dysfunction—the inability to enjoy sexual intercourse or achieve orgasm Refractory period—the normal response immediately after ejaculation, when men cannot ejaculate Random sample—a sample in which every element in the population has an equal chance of being selected Social construction—the social, cultural, political, economic, and other institutional forces that shape sexual behavior. Interdisciplinary perspective—the holistic integration of research in different disciplines to describe and explain all of human sexuality. Research designs—scientific models that lay out the aims, methods, and analysis of data in research. Quantitative research method—a type of study that focuses on sample design and on large representative or random samples. Qualitative research method—a type of study that focuses on meaning and context, with small or non-random samples or both. Objectivity—the absence of personal bias in research. Hypothesis—a proposition set forth to explain some observation, method, or data analysis. Generalizability—the extent to which research findings and conclusions from a study conducted on a sample population can be applied, or generalized, to the population at large. Reliability—the extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure. Independent variable—a variable that is manipulated to test its effect on other variables in a research study. Dependent variable—the variable that is being measured in a research study. Correlation—the statistical measurement of the strength of a relationship between variables, such as dating and marriage. Case study—a research method that professionals in clinical psychology, medicine, and sexuality use to study a single individual or very small group in depth. Retrospective self-report—an account of a memory of an event in one’s life. Retrospective bias—the tendency for people to not remember certain aspects of their lives clearly or to misremember certain aspects. Direct observation—a data collection method that provides the researcher an opportunity to observe natural behaviors in context as they occur. Experimental research—a data collection method that involves researchers putting more limitations into place, to examine or predict how changes in independent variables influence dependent variables. Participatory action research (PAR)—collecting information that honors, centers, and reflects the experiences of people most directly affected by issues in their communities. Universal human rights—freedoms to which all humans are entitled, such as the freedoms of speech and religion, and the most basic right of all, to life. Instructor Manual for Human Sexuality: Self, Society, and Culture Gilbert Herdt, Nicole Polen-Petit 9780073532165, 9780077817527
