Lecture 1a: Introduction
Part 2: concepts and definitions
What age group do we mean by youth? -> adolescents between 12-25
years old.
The concepts we are talking about:
- Sex or sexuality: the act of having sex, penetrative intercourse.
Depends on how you define it. Sexuality is sexual orientation (gay,
lesbian etc.).
- Sex (‘sekse’) and gender: the biological characteristics. Gender is
not the same as sex.
- Sexology: scientific study of sexuality. It is more clinical.
- Sexual health: risks of sex, but also include pleasure and positive
things of sex.
WHO working definition of sexuality:
“…a central aspect of being human throughout life encompasses sex,
gender identities and roles, sexual orientation, eroticism, pleasure,
intimacy, and reproduction.
Sexuality is experienced and expressed in thoughts, fantasies, desires,
beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviors, practices, roles, and relationships.
While sexuality can include all of these dimensions, not all of them are
always experienced or expressed. Sexuality is influenced by the
interaction of biological, psychological, social, economic, political, cultural,
legal, historical, religious, and spiritual factors.”
It shows that sexuality is not only understood of behaviors but also as
context (biological, social, historical).
Part 3: historical overview of sexuality research
Changes of
dominant
perspective
,First scientific developments (1900-1940):
- From religious-moral to medical-psychiatric.
- German psychoanalysts layed foundation for sexology: Von Krafft-
Ebing, Freud -> often considering female desire deviant.
- 1906: Birth of sexology as a science (Iwan Bloch)
o Hirschfeld & Bloch: Founded Sexual Science Institute.
o Havelock Ellis, Bloch & Hirschfeld: research on homosexuality.
- First steps of moving away from LGBT as disease, immoral or a
crime.
Post WW2
Alfred Kinsey (US, 1894-1956): Pioneer of sex research
- Biologist, zoologist, sexologist
- “The Kinsey Reports” (1948, 1953) based on 5000 and 6000
interviews.
- Revolutionary: he moved the field from medical to multiple
disciplines (biology, sociology, etc.).
- Taxonomy of human sexual behaviors (including pedophilia):
describing the full spectrum of observable sexual behavior, without
moral claims about right/ wrong.
- Introduced scale to ‘measure’ level of homosexuality.
- Controversial in his time: revelations about masturbation, orgasm,
premarital sex, homosexuality, differences and similarities between
men and women, and more.
John Money (1921-2006):
- Psychologist, sexologist.
- Groundbreaking clinical empirical studies on gender identity
development among intersex children.
- Introduced the term ‘gender’ (1955): all those things that a person
says or does to disclose himself or herself as having the status of
man or woman. It includes, but is not restricted to, sexuality in the
sense of eroticism.
- Criticized for Bruce/Brenda/David Reimer sex reassignment study.
Raised a boy as a girl.
Sexual liberation (60s)
Masters & Johnson
- 1966: discovery of the human sexual response
cycle.
o Stage 1: excitement.
o Stage 2: plateau.
o Stage 3: orgasm.
o Stage 4: resolution.
- The human response cycle is a natural
physiological process, can be blocked by
psychological inhibitions.
- Controversial methods: observing people having
sex (hiring prostitutes).
, - Layed foundations for behavioral therapy of sexual disfunctions.
1973-2000
- Michel Foucault, Jonh Gagnon, William Simon, Shere Hite, Susan
Brownmiller.
- Emergence of social-constructivist perspectives
- Dismissal of the Freudian idea of ‘sexual instinct’
- Growing attention for sexual violence, sexual equality (m/f)
- Sexuality = product of societal regulation, norms, meaning, and the
freedom/ right to express themselves.
- Sexual behavior = social behavior.
o Social behavior is sensitive for interpersonal and intra-
psychological culture scripts.
1974: removal of homosexuality of the DSM.
- After heated debate, 58% of 10.000 APA psychiatrists voted that
homosexuality is no longer a ‘mental disorder’.
- Increased awareness:
o What is normal and what is abnormal?
o What is sexual ‘deviance’ or ‘variation’?
Recent developments
1998/2005: ‘discovery’ of the full anatomy of the clitoris - Helen O’Connell,
US urologist.
Part 4: in pursuit of pleasure
Ellen Laan:
Groundbreaking research into female sexual arousal psychologist/
sexologist/ professor /founder of Sexual Wellbeing Nederland.
Some myths maintaining sexual inequalities (Between heterosexual
cisgender men/ women):
- Men are from Mars, women from Venus.
o Of 30 sexual behaviors, only 4 moderate differences, and
80,26% overlap.
- Penis and vagina are important for reproduction and therefore for
sexual pleasure.
o Penis-in-vagina sex does not facilitate women’s orgasms.
Sexual inequality observations:
- Orgasm gap:
o Rutgers Sex under 25: Do you usually have
orgasms during sex with last sexual partner?
o We do know that lesbian women have much
higher percentage of orgasm than heterosexual
women.
- Sexual pain:
, o About 10% of women always have pain during intercourse, in
men this is rare.
o Over 50% of young women in NL says they sometimes have
pain.
o The expectation of pain impairs arousal -> more pain.
- Sexual coercion and sexual violence:
o Percentages vary in research, but in general, there is a large
gap in victimization (and perpetration) of sexual violence
between girls and boys.
o Sex under 25 (2023):
#metoo/ SV: 66% of girls vs. 29% of boys.
Forced to have sex: 20% of girls versus 4% of boys.
For LGBT+ these numbers are often even higher.
Sexual similarity observations:
Men and women are similar in the capacity to experience sexual pleasure:
- Responsivity to sexual stimuli.
- Sexual desire.
- Sex drive/ hormones (no, men aren’t always in the mood…).
But: In cishetero relationships, men and women have different
opportunities for
sexual pleasure:
- Gendered scripts (penis-in-vagina sex does not facilitate women’s
orgasms).
- This impacts the EXPECTATION of pleasure, which in turn may impact
sexual response.
Toward sexual equality:
- A prioritization of pleasure for all: health benefits.
- Diversity/inclusion: reduce impact of gendered scripts.
- Discourse of similarities instead of differences.
