This was the Social Scientific question of the month for my Marital and Sexual Lifestyles class.
Here is my submitted response, I thought this would make a great Blog addition to a pre-health site so feel free to comment on this everyone. The 'striking' conclusion after numerous studies of human societies worldwide and animal behavior is "every human society regulates the sexual behavior of its members" (Linda Rouse, pg. 9). The term 'striking' was most appropriate since human sexuality has always been generalized as the product of an individual's experiences and also as their identity. In other cases human sexuality has been concluded as being instinctive or as a biological intuition (an ability predetermined by genes). However, we now learn that specific norms and values govern sexual behavior and "it is in our interactions with others that we learn sexual behavior and our feelings about sex" (Rouse, pg. 9). Anthropologists such as Clellan Ford, Frank Beach, and Ian Robertson provide enlightening insight about human sexuality worldwide. Robertson's extensive cross-cultural analysis shows how the "interplay between biological potentials and cultural norms produce extraordinarily diverse kinds of sexual conducts" (Rouse, pg.11). Robertson noted the variance in sexual conduct from several cultures around the world, each culture having a different sexual norm than the other. Showing clearly that human sexuality cannot be studied and understood with the least degree of ethnocentrism as "sexual behavior is learned through socialization and [conformity] to the prevailing norms in a given society" (Rouse, pg. 9). Ford and Beach published a report in 1951 showing not only how culture mediates sexuality, but also how "sexuality is patterned by learning" with the human brain playing a pivotal role (Rouse, pg. 10). Psychologist Harry Harlow hypothesized that if behaviors such as mating or rearing offspring were instinctive then an animal in isolation should exhibit all of these habits without having to have learned or observed them. Harlow experimented on rhesus monkeys and his results showed otherwise. The male monkeys reared in isolation lack effective copulation abilities and females raised in isolation (and later had offspring) did not show 'normal' mothering behaviors. Linda Rouse states that Harlow's experimental results give good grounds for skepticism about the notion of human sexuality being completely biological. And I concur. From an evolutionary perspective it can be inferred that the same would apply to humans reared in isolation since all primates (humans, monkeys, apes, etc.) share a distant common evolutionary ancestor. Research conducted by behavioral ecologist also confirms a great deal of synapomorphies (shared derived traits) between all primates. Hence, Harlow's results provide strong supporting implications on human sexuality as a learned and society influence trait than a purely instinctive ability. Any thoughts? References: Rouse, L. (2002). Marital and Sexual Lifestyles in the United States: Attitudes, Behaviors, and Relationships in Social Context. Arlington, TX: Haworth Clinical Practice Press, 2002
8 Comments
7/10/2012 09:28:45 pm
Good post. You have well written here on the topic Sexuality. This post contain knowledgeable fact and researches. Thanks a lot.
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Eliel Arrey
7/30/2012 06:41:12 pm
Thank you
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4/17/2013 09:26:25 pm
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9/2/2013 09:30:52 pm
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pk
11/11/2014 04:31:06 am
true we must introspect our culture what r we producing on name sexual joy go through work of pitrim sorokin ,it will help us to understand.
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4/5/2017 09:24:48 pm
My 14-year-old grandson is autistic. He is in puberty. His older sister holds him close front to front, hugging him, like she did when he was younger. I am worried that he will become aroused and try to rape her. I saw him pat her on the rear while in this position. Is this a valid worry? He spends lots of time on the internet unsupervised. I do not know if he is aware of the mechanics of sex. Should I sound the alarm to my daughter?
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Eliel Arrey
11/1/2017 12:02:29 am
Hi Sandy,
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