Youth and Sexuality (YoSe)
A combination of online scientific articles.
Table of contents
Lecture 1 2
Alfred Kinsey and the Kinsey Report: Historical overview and lasting contributions - V. L.
Bullough (1998) 2
In pursuit of pleasure: A biopsychosocial perspective on sexual pleasure and gender - E.
Laan, V. Klein, M. Werner, R. Van Lunsen, & E. Janssen (2021) 3
The steps of sexuality—A developmental, emotion-focused, child-centered model of
sexual development and sexuality education from birth to adulthood - R. Cacciatore, E.
Korteniemi-Poikela, & R. Kaltiala-Heino (2019) 9
Seks onder je 25e. Seksuele gezondheid van jongeren in Nederland anno 2023
(samenvatting) - H. De Graaf, A. Oldenhof, Y. Kraan, T. Beek, L. Kuipers, & K. Vermey
(2024) 13
Lecture 2 14
Do hormones influence women’s sex? Sexual activity over the menstrual cycle - S.
Caruso, C. Agnello, C. Malandrino, L. Lo Presti, C. Cicero, & S. Cianci (2014) 14
Testosterone and sexual desire in healthy women and men - S. Van Anders (2012) 15
Doing gender in sex and sex research - I. Vanwesenbeeck (2009) 16
Evolutionary psychology and feminism - D. Buss & D. Schmitt (2011) 24
Lecture 3 30
A developmentally informed adaptation of minority stress for sexual minority adolescents
- J. Goldbach & J. Gibbs (2016) 30
Interventions to reduce blatant and subtle sexual orientation- and gender identity
prejudice (SOGIP): Current knowledge and future directions - F. Cramwinckel, D.
Scheepers & J. Van Der Toorn (2018) 33
Subtle and Intersectional Minority Stress and Depressive Symptoms Among Sexual and
Gender Minority Adolescents of Color: Mediating Role of Self-Esteem and Sense of
Mastery - E. Mereish, L. Parra, R. Watson et al. (2022) 38
Lecture 4 40
Romantic relationships and sexuality in adolescence and young adulthood: The role of
parents, peers, and partners - D. Van De Bongardt, R. Yu, M. Deković & W. Meeus
(2015) 40
Only sluts love sexting: youth, sexual norms and non-consensual sharing of digital
sexual images - M. Naezer & L. Van Oosterhout (2021) 44
Lecture 5 46
Development of multidisciplinary sexual assault centres in the Netherlands - M. Covers,
W. Karst & I. Bicanic (2022) 46
A bioecological theory of sexual harassment of girls: Research synthesis and proposed
model - C. Brown, S. Biefeld & N. Elpers (2020) 47
The complexities of sexual consent among college students: A conceptual and empirical
review - C. Muehlenhard et al. (2016) 53
Lecture 6 59
, 1
Comprehensive Sexuality Education - I. Vanwesenbeeck (2020) 59
The state of adolescent sexual and reproductive health - M. Liang, et al. (2019) 62
, 2
Lecture 1
Alfred Kinsey and the Kinsey Report: Historical overview and lasting
contributions - V. L. Bullough (1998)
The study of sexuality was dominated by the medical perspective before 1940.
- Alfred Kinsey brought a new approach to this by introducing a variety of disciplines
and approaches.
- He also challenged a lot of common beliefs about sexuality.
Sex research (1890-1940)
The modern study of sexuality began in the 19th century, when it was dominated by
physicians.
- Havelock Ellis was a prominent figure in promoting sexual knowledge. He became a
physician just so he could study sex safely.
● He required most of his knowledge via correspondence with volunteers.
- Magnus Hirschfeld was also a physician.
● He required information via interviews and early on he depended mainly on
historical data and personal knowledge.
The data most physicians gathered was clouded by their own opinions and the zeitgeist.
- Most medical writings on sexual topics came from psychiatrists, especially those who
were psychoanalytically trained.
● However, most of these investigations were flawed by assumptions.
○ E.g. “homosexuals are ill”.
The committee for research in the problems in sex (CRPS) mostly funded bench scientists to
study sexual behaviour. And then sexual behaviour wasn’t the main focus of the funded
study.
Kinsey comes on the scene
Alfred Kinsey was a bench scientist, a biologist with a PhD and an expert on gall wasps.
● The university of Indiana wanted to create a course on marriage and family.
○ This course provided information about sex rather than highlighting the
dangers of sexually transmitted diseases, which was done by the American
social hygiene association.
Thurman Rice teached about sex and wrote about it.
○ He taught that masturbation is harmful, condemned premarital intercourse,
and was fearful of Kinsey’s course of marriage. Rice objected to the openness
of sex that Kinsey had.
○ His perspective is very typical for the hygiene approach to sex.
- Kinsey didn’t want to be politically biassed. He criticised his colleagues that took a
political stand.
- Kinsey researched sex by inventorying the existing knowledge about sex and
interviewing his students about their sex lives.
● Parents of students started to complain about Kinsey’s teaching, so Kinsey
was asked to stop his questions or to stop teaching. He chose the latter and
devoted much of his life to researching sex.
, 3
The CRPS was totally impressed by Kinsey and at some point Kinsey received half of the
CRPS budget.
What Kinsey did
Kinsey saw himself as a totally objective researcher, but this is probably impossible.
- Kinsey discussed and studied homosexual behaviour. This caused him to be hated
by a lot of people. However, Kinsey saw homosexuality as another form of sexual
activity.
- He also claimed that extramarital sex didn’t have to undermine a marriage.
- He researched intergenerational sex. He found that individuals who experienced this
as children were not seriously harmed by it. These findings and researches caused a
lot of controversy.
- He studied female orgasms in marriages and thereby challenged the common belief
that women were asexual.
Kinsey saw sex as just another part of human behaviour.
In pursuit of pleasure: A biopsychosocial perspective on sexual pleasure
and gender - E. Laan, V. Klein, M. Werner, R. Van Lunsen, & E. Janssen (2021)
Sexual pleasure = “the physical and/or psychological satisfaction and enjoyment derived
from shared or solitary erotic experiences, including thoughts, fantasies, dreams, emotions,
and feelings” - The World Association of Sexual Health (WAS).
- According to the WAS sexual pleasure is a cornerstone of sexual health.
Most organisations monitor sexual health of a population using statistics on contraceptive
use, teenage pregnancies, abortions, condom use, rates of STIs and sexual violence.
The ‘dangers’ of sexual pleasure
Rubin mentioned in a paper that western religious traditions have considered sex to be a
“dangerous, destructive, negative force”.
- Medicane and psychiatry condemned sexual acts that didn’t surrounded procreation
→ the idea that erotic variety is ‘dangerous, unhealthy, depraved, and a menace to
everything’.
- The domino theory of sexual peril states that sex is an uncontrollable biological force
that, if not repressed, will lead to societal chaos and anarchy.
These ideas tend to reinforce parents into thinking that a positive approach to sexual health
and sex education will encourage children and adolescents into participating in sex.
● Comprehensive sex education is associated with sexual pleasure, starting later with
sex, more consistent condom use and contraception use, and lower unwanted
pregnancy, vice versa.
Health benefits of pleasure
The experience of sexual satisfaction, sexual pleasure, and positive sexual self-esteem
improves sexual health, mental health, and physical health outcomes. As well as improving
relationship quality and general life satisfaction.
- In young women sexual pleasure was positively associated with autonomy,
self-esteem, and empathy.