Reported by: Kristel Mae Palabao
This Chapter covers …
● Developing the contemporary perspectives on sex
● Sex as a risk and pregnancy avoidance
● Sex as a risk in the context of STDs/HIV and AIDS
● Sex as an interaction between individuals – adding the relationship context
● The broader social context
Developing the Contemporary perspectives on Sex
Sex as Biological, for reproduction
◦Sex was seen as a biological drive that needed to be expressed but which should be expressed within the limitations of its function: reproduction. Sex as Biological, for pleasure
◦From the beginning of the 20th century, there was a shift in perspective.
The emphasis was now on sexual behavior rather than on outcome
( reproduction). This now involved the study of sexual desire, pleasure, and orgasms.
Kinsey Report
◦ developed an analysis of sexual behaviour within models of biological reductionism and argued that sex was natural and therefore healthy.
◦ argued that the sexual drive was a biological force and the expression of this drive to attain pleasure was not only acceptable but desirable.
◦ Kinsey report emphasized the role of sexual pleasure involving both sexual intercourse and masturbation for men and women.
Masters and Johnson
◦ They recorded bodily contractions, secretions, pulse rates and tissue colour changes and described the sexual response cycle in terms of the following phases: (1) excitement; (2) plateau; (3) orgasm; and (4) resolution.
◦ They said that sexual pleasure could be improved by education and sex therapy suggested that masturbation was an essential component of sexuality – sex was for pleasure, not for reproduction. The Hite Reports
◦Illustrates the shift from the outcome of sex to sex as an activity. ◦Hite’s main claim is that ‘most women (70 per cent) do not orgasm as a result of intercourse’ but rather said that women learn to increase clitoral stimulation during intercourse to improve their sexual enjoyment.
Sex as a risk to Health
◦Sex as