Societies that value monogamy, for example, would likely oppose extramarital sex. Individuals are socialized to sexual attitudes by their family, education system, peers, media, and religion. Historically, religion has been the greatest influence on sexual behavior in most societies, but in more recent years, peers and the media have emerged as two of the strongest influences, particularly among U.
Let us take a closer look at sexual attitudes in the United States and around the world. Cross-national research on sexual attitudes in industrialized nations reveals that normative standards differ across the world. For example, several studies have shown that Scandinavian students are more tolerant of premarital sex than are U. A study of 37 countries reported that non-Western societies—like China, Iran, and India—valued chastity highly in a potential mate, while Western European countries—such as France, the Netherlands, and Sweden—placed little value on prior sexual experiences Buss Even among Western cultures, attitudes can differ.
For example, according to a 33,person survey across 24 countries, 89 percent of Swedes responded that there is nothing wrong with premarital sex, while only 42 percent of Irish responded this way.
From the same study, 93 percent of Filipinos responded that sex before age 16 is always wrong or almost always wrong, while only 75 percent of Russians responded this way Widmer, Treas, and Newcomb Sexual attitudes can also vary within a country.
For instance, 45 percent of Spaniards responded that homosexuality is always wrong, while 42 percent responded that it is never wrong; only 13 percent responded somewhere in the middle Widmer, Treas, and Newcomb Of industrialized nations, Sweden is thought to be the most liberal when it comes to attitudes about sex, including sexual practices and sexual openness.
The country has very few regulations on sexual images in the media, and sex education, which starts around age six, is a compulsory part of Swedish school curricula. It would appear that Sweden is a model for the benefits of sexual freedom and frankness. However, implementing Swedish ideals and policies regarding sexuality in other, more politically conservative, nations would likely be met with resistance. In an international survey, 29 percent of U. It is widely believed that men are more sexual than are women.
In fact, there is a popular notion that men think about sex every seven seconds. Research, however, suggests that men think about sex an average of 19 times per day, compared to 10 times per day for women Fisher, Moore, and Pittenger Belief that men have—or have the right to—more sexual urges than women creates a double standard. Ira Reiss, a pioneer researcher in the field of sexual studies, defined the double standard as prohibiting premarital sexual intercourse for women but allowing it for men Reiss This standard has evolved into allowing women to engage in premarital sex only within committed love relationships, but allowing men to engage in sexual relationships with as many partners as they wish without condition Milhausen and Herold Due to this double standard, a woman is likely to have fewer sexual partners in her life time than a man.
According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC survey, the average thirty-five-year-old woman has had three opposite-sex sexual partners while the average thirty-five-year-old man has had twice as many Centers for Disease Control Nearly all college men One of the biggest controversies regarding sexual attitudes is sexual education in U.
Unlike in Sweden, sex education is not required in all public school curricula in the United States. The heart of the controversy is not about whether sex education should be taught in school studies have shown that only seven percent of U. Much of the debate is over the issue of abstinence.
In a survey, 15 percent of U. Forty-six percent believed schools should institute an abstinence-plus approach, which teaches children that abstinence is best but still gives information about protected sex.
Thirty-six percent believed teaching about abstinence is not important and that sex education should focus on sexual safety and responsibility NPR Research suggests that while government officials may still be debating about the content of sexual education in public schools, the majority of U. Some have great sexual performance anxiety.
Dhat is thought to be culturally bound to the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka you can find a variety of curatives sold there , but the idea of a loss of vigor developing from a loss of semen is very old and not confined to South Asia. Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, believed that losing semen through masturbation made boys weak, sickly, pale. There have been reports of European men suffering from koro after smoking too much dope, for example, and if my junior high track coach is any indication, the idea behind dhat is just about universal.
Still, both phenomena, especially in their pathological form, do seem to be more prevalent in Asian culture. The culture somehow makes men susceptible to them. Dionne P. This continuing physical, emotional, and verbal assault from their potential partners, Hip Hop culture, and broader society reinforces the importance of dismantling the frameworks upon which these sexual scripts are supported.
Dismantling a framework is tough, though. Even modern, mature, middle-aged American women and no doubt men, too behave to some degree according to culture.
When the researchers crunched the numbers from SWAN, they found that the sex middle-aged women had, and how often they had it, depended, in part, on their ethnic heritage. Yet these cases are generally not socially sanctioned, ritualised or institutionalised to the same extent as same-sex relationships that have been allowed for elite men. This is an outcome of most societies being patriarchal, and conferring special rights and privileges to men over women.
Adrienne Rich documented this historical pattern using the idea of compulsory heterosexuality , which has been forced upon women for much of history, in many though certainly not all cultures. Perhaps it is only at this period of time, following sex-wave feminism, that social scientists are able to capture these patterns. Yet historically and cross-culturally, it has been men who have enjoyed more latitude to engage in same-sex practices, up until recent centuries. This shows how much culture shapes sexuality.
These patterns go against conventions of sex and biology that many people in Western cultures draw on when thinking about sexuality. The map below illustrates more cultures that similarly recognise gender roles beyond male-female and sexual orientations beyond heterosexuality click to enlarge.
All of this Straight, Bi, Gay. Black, Yellow, White! Confusing right? I mean, how do I dignify how I identify? How is it I find my place in a race that graces the face of this Earth. And what is my individuality worth? Who I am is someone so profound that words can never define. Zevallos, Z. Like Like. Hi Claire.
Hi i think your blog is interesting and it helped in so many ways and im very grateful for that. Hi Bryan. Thanks very much! Appreciate you stopping by to let me know. Yes, I enjoyed your descriptive article on sexuality, etc. I hold a M. Hi Patrick. Thanks very much for your comment. Great to know my article has resonated with you. Good luck in your journey towards teaching the sociology of sexuality! Discovered your site just in time for my summer sociology class on sexualities.
I just finished teaching a course on global sexualities. Wish I had discovered your work before that, as I would have included links to your work.
Hi Sineanahita. Thank you very much for your kind words. Lovely feedback, thank you! I loved reading this and found it really helpful with my assignment on LGBT community and social construct of sexuality. I would like to reference parts of it in my work and wondered when this was written so I can add a date to my reference?
Hi Liv. In contrast, American male behavior is subject to strong social sanction if it veers into homosocial territory because of societal homophobia. Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender LGBT. It can be expressed as antipathy, contempt, prejudice, aversion, or hatred; it may be based on irrational fear and is sometimes related to religious beliefs.
Homophobia is observable in critical and hostile behavior such as discrimination and violence on the basis of sexual orientations that are non-heterosexual. Gays, lesbians, and bisexual people regularly experience stigma, harassment, discrimination, and violence based on their sexual orientation. Research has shown that gay, lesbian, and bisexual teenagers are at a higher risk of depression and suicide due to exclusion from social groups, rejection from peers and family, and negative media portrayals of homosexuals.
Discrimination can occur in the workplace, in housing, at schools, and in numerous public settings. Much of this discrimination is based on stereotypes and misinformation. Major policies to prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation have only come into effect in the United States in the last few years.
The majority of empirical and clinical research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender LGBT populations are done with largely white, middle-class, well-educated samples. This demographic limits our understanding of more marginalized sub-populations that are also affected by racism, classism, and other forms of oppression.
In the United States, non-Caucasian LGBT individuals may find themselves in a double minority, in which they are not fully accepted or understood by Caucasian LGBT communities, and are also not accepted by their own ethnic group.
Many people experience racism in the dominant LGBT community where racial stereotypes merge with gender stereotypes. Queer theory is a perspective that problematizes or critiques the manner in which people have been taught to think about sexual orientation.
Queer theorists reject the dichotomization division of sexual orientations into two mutually exclusive outcomes—homosexual or heterosexual.
Rather, the perspective highlights the need for a more flexible and fluid conceptualization of sexuality—one that allows for change, negotiation, and freedom. The current system used to classify individuals as either heterosexual or homosexual pits one orientation against the other. This mirrors other oppressive systems in modern culture, especially those surrounding gender and race black versus white, male versus female, etc.
Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. Gender and Sexuality. Search for:. Human Sexuality and Culture Though biology plays an important role, the way in which sexuality is expressed and acted upon is highly influenced by culture. Learning Objectives Examine cultural and historical influences on human sexuality.
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