Intercultural Communication CHAPTER 7 Socialization and Human Sexuality

CHAPTER Socialization and Human Sexuality SOURCE . Socialization and human sexuality . In Boundless sociology . Lumen Learning . Creative Commons International License ) LEARNING OBJECTIVES . Examine the various ways in which a person is sexually , specifically through religion , law , and the media . Analyze the impact of study of sexuality related to how it changed the public perception of sexuality and how people are sexually socialized . Summarize the impact of the Report and the sexual revolution of the 19605 on American sexuality . Explain the development of sexual orientation ( heterosexual , homosexual , bisexual , or asexual ) in terms of both static and fluid sexuality . Describe the phenomenon of homophobia ( both institutional and informal ) and the implications it has for individuals in America . Analyze the efforts of the rights movement to achieve equal rights and opportunities for homosexual , bisexual , and transgendered individuals . Discuss the various ways people can express sexual desire , in both emotional and physical terms . KEY TERMS asexuality Holocaust pornography context homophobia civil unions Defense of Marriage Act ( informal discrimination sexology flirtation institutional discrimination sexual revolution Report sodomy laws binary oral contraception socialization one learns from society how to express one sexuality . As such , sexual expression is part of socialization , the lifelong process of inheriting and disseminating norms , customs , and ideologies and providing an individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within one own society Socialization necessarily implies the inculcation of norms , or behaviors that society marks as valued as opposed to those marked as deviant ( tion , 2020 ) In regards to sexuality , socialization in the , and Western countries most notably adheres to , or the marking of heterosexual unions as normal and homosexual unions as socially abnormal and deviant . While homosexual unions are the types of unions most commonly marked in opposition to normative unions , marks any type of sexual activity as deviant , as heterosexual sexual acts are considered the norm ( 2020 ) There is extreme variation in sexual expression across historical periods and cultures . This indicates that there are no universal sexual norms . Rather , an individual is 104 taught sexual norms of their particular cultural and moment through socialization ( Human Sexuality , 2020 ) At the current moment in Western societies , is evaluated along a continuum of heterosexuality and homosexuality , with heterosexuality as the privileged mode of sexual expression . Obviously , this is a basic it does not capture all of the existing ways in which people behave sexually , but it is the basic rubric by which sexual behaviors are evaluated . In contrast , the Ancient Greeks categorized sexuality not in terms of homosexuality and heterosexuality , but in terms of active and passive sexual subjects . What was salient for the Ancient Greeks was whether one took an active or passive sexual position , whether one was the penetrator or was penetrated . In this sense , biological gender was obviously relevant , but not in the same way as evaluating homosexual or heterosexual orientation . Men could be either active or passive , but women could only be passive ( Homosexuality in Ancient Greece , 2020 ) It is misleading to say that homosexuality was tolerated in Ancient Greece rather , the Ancient Greeks conceived of

SOCIALIZATION AND HUMAN SEXUALITY 105 A heterosexual couple . Heterosexuality is a social norm . and Groom by used under . sexuality in completely different ways than the current Western norm . So how is it that one becomes socialized into certain sexual behaviors and proclivities ?

The rest of this section seeks to explore how socializing agents impress sexual norms into their members by looking at three primary agents of socialization religion , the law , and the media . Given that most religions seek to instruct their ers on the proper and holy ways in which to live life , it follows that most religions seek to offer guidance on the proper ways to sexually comport oneself . For example , many evangelical Christians value abstinence and believe that men and women should wait until marriage to engage in sexual activity ( Human Sexuality , 2020 ) The Catholic Church asserts that homosexuality is unholy . Leaders of the faith promote sexual activity between married couples to reinforce the marital bond and produce dren . Like most of the other denominations of religions , Islam encourages sexual activity so long as it is practiced by married partners ( Human Sexuality , 2020 ) This is not to say , of course , that all adherents to a particular faith stringently follow the faith guidelines , but rather that individuals growing up within a particular religion are instructed on how to behave sexually . The legal system is another mechanism through which individuals are instructed on proper sexual conduct . The laws within a particular jurisdiction simultaneously and create social norms regarding sexuality . For ple , based on American law , Americans are socialized to believe that prostitution and rape are improper forms of sexual behavior . The interactions of homosexual sexual acts and their ( il ) legality provides an opportunity to see how the law both mirrors and molds American standings of sexual norms . Sodomy laws , or laws ing particular sexual acts between two consenting partners such as anal sex between two men , were on the books in most American states for decades . While sodomy laws in the United States often targeted sexual acts between persons of the same sex , many statutes employed broad enough to outlaw certain sexual acts between persons of different sexes as well , sometimes even acts between married persons ( Sodomy Law , 2020 Lawrence Texas , 2020 ) The media is one example of a cultural gram through which individuals encounter normative discourses of sexuality . Individuals are socialized to the sexual behaviors that they see on television , in movies , and in books . These representations are typically heteronormative . explicit depiction of sexual subject matter or a display of material of an erotic another way in which individuals are socialized towards particular sexual practices through the media . Over 70 of men ages who use the Internet view at least one pornographic website a month ( 2016 ) studies show that many of these addition to female pornography attempt to incorporate the actions they witness in into their own sex lives . SEXUAL BEHAVIOR STUDY Background Alfred was an American biologist who is to be the founder of sexology , or the scientific study of human sexuality , including human sexual interests , behavior , and function ( 2020 ) trained as a biologist and entomologist at Harvard and obtained a teaching post at Indiana University . There , he interested in human sexuality In 1935 , delivered a lecture to a faculty discussion group where he attacked the widespread ignorance of sexual structure and physiology and advanced the notion that delayed sexual experience , or waiting to engage in sexual activity until marriage , was harmful . This lecture sparked intensive research that resulted in the Report . The report refers to two different book publications based on his research of human sexuality Sexual Behavior in the Human Male ( 1948 ) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female ( 1953 ) The books

106 were widely read and became a media star ( Alfred , 2020 ) The Report was the most extensive analysis of human sexuality conducted to its day . Data was gathered primarily by means of subjective interviews , conducted according to a structured questionnaire memorized by the experimenters . the research team went out and conducted the interviews themselves , rather than relying upon data , What resulted was the largest collection of statistical information about adult sexuality in the United States ( Reports , 2020 ) The Scale A large section of the Report was devoted to the idea of sexual orientation . The Report is frequently invoked to support the common estimate of one in ten Americans being a homosexual , However , proved of using terms like homosexual or heterosexual , as he believed that sexuality is prone to change over time and that sexual behavior must be understood both as physical contact as well as purely psychological , such as desire , attraction , and fantasy . Instead of using the categorization , developed the Scale system . This system attempts to describe a persons sexual history or episodes of sexual activity at a given point in time , rather than assigning an individual an overarching and permanent sexual tion ( Reports , 2020 ) The scale ranked sexual behavior from zero to six , with zero being completely heterosexual and six being completely homosexual . As one can see , rejected the idea of a permanent status of sexual orientation and instead chose to rely on a rating relating to a particular The Institute for Research in Sex , Gender , and Reproduction . The photo shows Morrison Hall at Indiana University , home of the Institute . Morrison Hall by Commons is used under . moment in ones life , indicating that sexuality changes over time , Nevertheless , Scale is effectively a version of the binary , not allowing for other interpretations of sexuality ( Orientation , 2020 ) associates actually added an additional category , to represent , or people who experience no sexual desire ( Reports , 2020 ) In this way , report is of its particular cultural and historical moment , in that it conceives of American as only occurring along this binary . According to , of White males aged 20 to 35 were given a rating of three for this period in their lives , meaning that they were equally heterosexual and homosexual , further found that of single females aged 20 to 35 and of previously married females were given a rating of three for this period of their lives ( Reports , 2020 ) The report also states that nearly 46 of the male interview subjects had reacted sexually to persons of both sexes in the course of their adult lives , and 37 had at least one homosexual experience , Sexuality Within Marriage The study also gave statistics on sexuality within marriage that had never before been reported , According to , the average frequency of marital sex reported by women in their late teens was times per week , 22 times per week for women by the age of 30 , and once per week by women by the age of 50 . estimated that half of all married males had some extramarital experience at some point in their married lives , Among sample , 26 of females had extramarital sex by their forties , found that between 10 and 16 of married females aged 26 to 50 were engaged in tal sex ( Reports , 2020 ) Critical Response report was wildly successful . The two books together sold over copies and were translated into thirteen languages . They may be considered some of the most successful and literature of the twentieth century . The reports are associated with a change in public perceptions of sexuality . A mere decade after the reports were published , the oral contraceptive was introduced and the sexual revolution began . The sexual revolution was a social movement from the to the that increased acceptance of sex outside of marriage ( Sexual Revolution , 2020 ) SEXUAL BEHAVIOR SINCE The publication of the Report , the of norms in American sexuality by Alfred , in the early

SOCIALIZATION AND HUMAN SEXUALITY 107 19505 contributed to the sparking of the sexual , or the loosening of sexual mores demanding sex between heterosexual married partners that occurred in the . While other were still stigmatized in most environments , the sexual revolution was marked by popular acceptance of premarital sex . Studies have shown that between 1965 and 1975 , the number of women who had had sexual intercourse prior to marriage showed a marked increase . The social and political climate of the was a unique one in which traditional were often challenged loudly by a very vocal minority ( Sexual Revolution , 2020 Sexual Revolution in 19605 America , 2019 ) study of sexuality contributed to the sexual revolution of the in two ways . First , prior to the Report , no one had interviewed and such an exhaustive and comprehensive analysis of Americans sexual desires and practices . report reached the conclusion that few Americans are heterosexual in desire or practice as indicated by the Scale , or a numeric scaling of individuals along a continuum from complete heterosexuality to complete homosexuality . Though the Report was published in the popular press , it was a study conducted by a biologist at an academic institution . readers of the Report imbued the with a sense of authority and professed faith in their accuracy . While other sexual and acts were still marked as , society began to accept that other existed . The Report was one step towards and behaviors becoming accepted by society as normal . ond , one can not underestimate the of the mere publication of the Report , independent of its . Prior to its publication , sexuality was ered uncouth to include in conversation , initiated a national environment more tolerant to conversations about sexuality , which in and of itself loosened the grip of normalized , marital heterosexual relations ( Reports , 2020 ) Another product had a profound impact on the development of the sexual revolution the of oral contraception . The pill provided many women a more affordable way to avoid pregnancy . Before the pill , there was a lack of affordable and safe options for contraception , rendering unwanted pregnancy a serious risk of premarital sexual activity . In 1960 , the Food and Drug Administration licensed the drug , enabling its legal sale . However , many states still outlawed the use of in order to and enforce an ethic in which sexual activity was only acceptable for reproduction , The The The landmark Supreme Court case Connecticut affirmed women right to use birth control . Photo a Day Project . February 2006 Birth Control by Jenny Lee Silver IS used under ( pill became an even more favored and socially acceptable means of birth control in 1965 when the Supreme Court decided the case of Connecticut . In its ion , the Supreme Court held that the government could not dictate the use of contraception by married couples because such action would be a violation of the right to marital privacy implied in the Bill of Rights , The ruling furthered access to birth control and contributed to a sexual environment in which society increasingly accepted premarital sex ( Sexual Revolution in 19605 America , 2019 ) SEXUAL ORIENTATION Sexual orientation describes an enduring pattern of , romantic , sexual , or some combination of the opposite sex , the same sex , both , or ( Sexual Orientation , 2020 ) The varying forms of these attractions are generally divided into the following categories . heterosexuality , or attraction to members of the opposite biological sex . homosexuality , or attraction to members of the same biological sex . bisexuality , or attraction to members of both logical sexes . asexuality , or attraction to neither biological sex Some individuals have tried to avoid these categories of sexual orientation by not describing themselves as , or asexual and preferring the umbrella term queer Part of the opposition to the gender binary is that it creates heteronormative assumptions that mark as normal and homosexuality deviant merely because it is the opposite of heterosexuality .

108 person sex is not homosexual bisexual heterosexual person IS nol red , sexual orientation does not only refer to ones sexual practices , but also includes a cal component , like the direction of an individual erotic desire . Sexual identity and sexual behavior are closely related to sexual orientation , but they are distinguishable . Sexual identity refers to an individual conception of their own sexuality , while sexual behavior limits ones standing of sexuality to behaviors performed ( Figure ) People may or may not express their sexual orientation in their behaviors ( Sexual Orientation , 2020 ) Development of Sexual Orientation The primary tension in conversations about sexual tion addresses whether sexual orientation is static or , whether one is born with an immutable sexual orientation , or whether one develops sexual orientation . Each of sexuality manages our understanding of what sexual orientation means in different ways , particularly when combined with political debates about Organizations that subscribe to the static tion of sexual orientation fall on both sides of the political divide . Some organizations are socially and politically , advancing the view that sexuality , left untreated , is static . These organizations tend to , or conceive of them as an illness that must be corrected through medical or therapeutic means . Some of these institutions offer sexual tion therapies in which individuals who are attracted to members of the opposite sex but do not want to have those attractions can try to become solely attracted to members of the opposite biological sex . Many of these programs are FIGURE diagram depicting the relationships between assigned sex and sexual orientation . and are preferred terms for some populations , because homosexual and heterosexual assign a sex to the person being described . Se by Andrea Commons IS used under . religiously motivated 79 of men who said that they had changed their sexual tion said that they had done so for religious reasons , while 93 indicated that religion was extremely or very important to them ( Sexual Orientation Change Efforts , 2020 ) Sexual Reorientation A amount of professional and academic doubt exists about the of these reorientation programs . No major mental health professional organization has sanctioned efforts to change sexual orientation and virtually all of them have adopted policy statements cautioning the profession . These include the American Psychiatric Association , the American Association , the American Counseling ation , the National Association of Social Workers in the USA , and the Royal College of Psychiatrists . According to the American Psychological Association and the Royal College of Psychiatrists Gay and Lesbian Mental Health Special Interest Group , there is no sound that sexual orientation can be changed ( Sexual Orientation Change Efforts , 2020 ) Though they obviously disagree with the conceit that homosexuality needs to be treated , many major gay rights advocacy groups mirror the underlying assumption that homosexuality is a static sexual orientation . The idea that sexual orientation is not a choice , but that rather one is born with an assigned orientation , is pervasive in lar conceptions of sexual orientation . This idea runs up against studies that demonstrate how widely sexual varies in light of cultural and historical stances , indicating that one environment and cultural context play roles in determining one sexual orientation ( Sexual Orientation , 2020 ) HOMOPHOBIA Homophobia is a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards homosexuality or people perceived as sexual . Homophobia is observable in critical and hostile behavior like discrimination and violence . Much like

SOCIALIZATION AND HUMAN SEXUALITY 109 A homophobic protest in the United States . Frequently , homophobia is prompted by religious beliefs . by Elven Barnes used under ( racism or sexism , homophobia involves the targeting of a specific population of individuals with certain traits . Homophobia , or the fear of lesbian , gay , bisexual , der , and queer ( individuals , is often the impetus for discrimination , which can be expressed through either institutional or informal means ( Homophobia , 2020 ) Institutional discrimination involves the state apparatus . If homophobic discrimination is institutional , it means either that sex acts are criminalized or that individuals are denied the same legal rights as heterosexuals ( Discrimination , 2020 Employment Act , 2020 Homophobia , 2020 ) Informal discrimination is not necessarily sanctioned by the state , but involves social pressures against individuals , behaviors , and identities . In the United States , the social disapproval of sexuality is not evenly distributed throughout society That being said , it is more or less pronounced according to age , ethnicity , geographic location , race , sex , social class , tion , political , and religious status ( Societal Attitudes toward Homosexuality , 2020 ) Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to have negative attitudes about people who are . Likewise , people who sider themselves to be religious are more likely than secular individuals to hold negative views about people , Historical Institutional Homophobia Holocaust On many occasions in Western nations in the twentieth century , individuals have been stigmatized because of homophobia . After the rise of Adolf Hitler , homosexuals were one of the many groups targeted by the Nazi Party and became victims of the Holocaust . Beginning in 1933 , gay organizations were banned , scholarly books about sexuality were burned , and homosexuals within the Nazi itself were murdered , Between 1933 and 1945 , an estimated men were arrested as homosexuals , of whom some were officially sentenced to ment . Most of these German men served time in regular prisons , but an estimated to were forced to serve their time in concentration camps , Like and the disabled , Hitler labeled homosexuals as defective and persecuted them ( Persecution of Homosexuals in Nazi Germany , 2020 ) Current Institutional Persecution of Homosexuals Today , homosexuality is still punishable by death in some countries around the world , for example , sex acts and most Ugandans consider to be taboo . In October , 2009 , a member of the Parliament introduced the Bill to broaden the of relationships and apply the death penalty to repeat offenders ( Rights in , 2020 ) Under the statutes of the bill , individuals convicted of a single act of sex would receive life imprisonment . Additionally , individuals or companies promoting rights would be nationally penalized . The bill also created a public policing policy under which citizens would be required to report any sexual activity within 24 hours or face a maximum penalty of three years in prison , Additionally , if citizens were found to be engaging in sexual or tic activities outside the country , would request extradition , The bill was signed into law in February 2014 but annulled just five months later ( sexuality Act , 2014 , 2020 ) Homophobia and the United States Although sex acts are legal in the United States , people still face institutional because they are not the same rights as heterosexual couples . Most evidently , couples are not allowed to wed in most states , Gay marriage has become a sensitive political issue over the past decade , partially due to the fact that the federal government and state governments have different laws about gay marriage . Until 2015 , the federal government did not recognize gay marriage , but individual states could choose to recognize it ( Figure ) In 1996 , the federal government passed the Defense of Marriage Act . According to this act , the federal government could not recognize gay marriages , and a state that did not recognize gay marriage did not have to accept the marriage license given to a couple in a ent state that did recognize marriages ( Defense of Marriage Act , 2012 ) Supreme Court decisions in 2013

110 I Performed and recognized I Recognized when performed elsewhere Only recognized by the state and federal governments I Mixed jurisdiction not performed by tribal government Mixed jurisdiction not performed or recognized by tribal government FIGURE marriage in the United States ( 2019 ) Laws regarding marriage varied by state in the . The federal government could not recognize gay marriage , and individual states could choose whether or not they would recognize the practice . This work , Marriage in the US 2019 , is a derivative of Marriage in the United States by with data from Stephen , which is used under . Marriage in the US 209 is licensed under by Judy . and 2015 ruled the acts provisions unconstitutional and unenforceable ( Defense of Marriage Act , 2020 Sex Marriage in the United States , 2020 ) Informal Homophobia Prejudices do not have to be institutionalized to be ful . Many instances of homophobia and discrimination occur by informal means . Homophobia can occurs when heterosexual individuals feel anxiety about being perceived as gay by others . This phenomenon is most commonly experienced by adolescent boys . The taunting of boys seen as eccentric , many of whom are usually not gay , is said to be endemic in rural and suburban American schools . At times , this abuse can lead taunted individuals to take risks in efforts to prove a normative masculinity . Adolescents in the United States often use phrases like thats so gay in a pejorative sense . THE MOVEMENT FOR GAY AND LESBIAN CIVIL RIGHTS The Rights Movement refers to the attempts of bian , gay , bisexual , and transgender advocates to improve the legal and social status of people . Historically , people have faced prejudice and discrimination ( Rights in the United States , 2020 ) Since the , individuals and organizations have worked to come prejudice against people . The organizations in the US . that worked to improve the standing of people Were known as organizations . organizations were clubs of gay men and lesbian women who sought equality for gays and lesbians . These clubs served as social spaces in which gay men and lesbian Women could meet other homosexuals with Whom they could form romantic and sexual ships . Moreover , they were early sites of political action on behalf of gays and lesbians . organizations such as the Society and the Daughters of politicians and business owners to create gay friendly establishments . The efforts of these types of clubs led to a growth in the number of bars and social clubs , making it easier for homosexual individuals to other homosexuals to associate with . organizations , however , did not lead to any demonstrations or protests , and did not result in widespread legal or social changes for people . Prior to the , most states in the United States had laws against sodomy , generally as any sexual tact other than heterosexual intercourse ( Sodomy Laws in the United States , 2020 ) Thus , homosexuality was essentially illegal . The surge in the number of bars in the 19505 led to police against that were frequented by gays and lesbians in the and . One such crackdown was the raid on the Stonewall Inn , a bar in Greenwich Village , New York City that was frequented by gay men , drag queens , and male . When police raided the bar in 1969 , the customers resisted arrest . Neighborhood dents joined in the resistance , resulting in several nights of rioting . The Stonewall Riots are often cited as the major protest by people against the of homosexuality . The riots gained much media attention and served as visible evidence that there was a large lation people that could be organized into a politically active group ( Stonewall Riots , 2020 )

SOCIALIZATION AND HUMAN SEXUALITY 111 ?

Laws repealed or struck down before 1970 Laws repealed or struck down from I Laws repealed or struck down from I Laws repealed or struck down from I Laws repealed or struck down from I Laws struck down by the US . Supreme Court in 2003 in Lawrence . Texas FIGURE laws in the United States ( 2016 ) This map depicts when laws that criminalized sex were overturned by state in the United States . This work , Laws in the US 2016 , is a derivative of Map of US Sodomy Laws by LOl with data from Commons , which is used under Laws in the US 2016 is licensed under ) After Stonewall , large organizations of advocates arose to challenge discrimination against people . For example , leaders organized the first Gay Pride march to commemorate the one year anniversary of the wall Riots and to loudly declare their desire for equality ( Stonewall Riots , 2020 ) First and foremost on the gay rights platform was the need to overturn laws that made homosexuality illegal . Throughout the , activists in many states succeeded in having state legislatures overturn laws banning homosexuality . This coincided with a period in which sexual mores were generally in the . Nonetheless , by the many states still outlawed homosexuality It was not until 2003 that the Supreme Court decided that states could not criminalize ( Figure ) Sodomy Laws in the United States , 2020 ) An issue that has been central to the rights movement since the late is marriage . At the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights , recognition of lesbian and gay relationships was a primary demand made by demonstrators . Indeed , many protestors participated in a mass wedding in front of the Internal Revenue Service ( IRS ) to highlight the ways in which tax code married heterosexual . Because they were denied the right to marry , gay and lesbian couples could not taxes jointly , often could not share custody of children , and lacked hospital visitation rights and rights of inheritance , among other of marriage ( Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights , 2020 ) In response to same sex couples attempts to gain state marriage licenses , the US . Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act ( in 1996 . marriage as between one man and one woman in federal law , meaning that the federal government would not confer to couples granted licenses by states . It additionally stated that states did not need to recognize marriages granted by other states ( Defense of Marriage Act , 2012 ) by the early , many states began to consider legalizing marriage . The to do so was in 2004 . Connecticut , Iowa , New , New York , and Vermont passed similar laws between 2008 and 2011 , and , since then , the remaining states have followed suit . Other states have passed laws ing for civil unions . Civil unions provide the legal of marriage to couples , but not the title of marriage . Beginning with Denmark in 1989 , civil unions under one name or another have been by law in several , mostly developed , countries in order to provide couples with rights , and responsibilities similar ( in some countries , cal ) to civil marriage ( Civil Union , 2020 Unions in the United States , 2019 ) On 26 , 2015 , the Supreme Court ruled in Hodges that state laws banning violate the Fourteenth Amendment and that states must license and recognize marriages ( Sex Unions in the United States , 2019 ) SOCIAL CONTEXT AND SEXUAL BEHAVIOR Sexual behavior refers to the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality People engage in a variety of sexual acts from time to time , and for a wide

112 variety of reasons . Sexual activity normally results in arousal and physiological changes in the aroused son , some of which are pronounced while others are more subtle . Sexual activity also includes conduct and activities which are intended to arouse the sexual interest of another , such as strategies to or attract partners ( mating and display behavior ) and personal interactions between , such as and foreplay . Human sexual activity has sociological , cognitive , emotional , behavioral and biological elements , including physiological processes such as the reproductive , the sex drive and pathology sexual intercourse and sexual behavior in all its forms and personal bonding and shared emotions during sexual activity ( Human Sexual Activity , 2020 ) Socialization and Sexual Behavior Since sexuality is expressed through means learned by socialization , social context is bound to sexual behavior . Socialization is the lifelong process of ing and disseminating norms , customs , and ideologies and providing an individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within one own society . Socialization necessarily implies the inculcation of norms , or behaviors that society marks as valued . Because socialization teaches members of a society how to behave , behaviors that are not taught as normalized and socially acceptable are marked as deviant ( Socialization , 2020 ) Understanding Sexual Behavior Individuals are taught to use social cues to interpret intent . This is most obviously demonstrated in associated with . Flirting is a playful activity involving verbal communication and body language by one person toward another , used to sometimes indicate an interest in a deeper relationship with the other ( ing , 2020 ) In some social , a hug could platonic friendship , as in the case of two coworkers hugging upon hearing the news that their project was KEY TAKEAWAYS With regard to sexuality , socialization in the and Western countries most notably adheres to , or the marking of heterosexual unions as normal and homosexual unions as socially abnormal and deviant . Religion , the law , and the media are three primary agents of socialization that teach people how to behave sexually . There is extreme variation in sexual expression across historical periods and cultures . This indicates that there are no universal sexual norms . An embrace context matters . Russian President Boris ( right ) and President ( left ) of congratulate each other on a treaty signed in 1994 between Russia and on the delimitation of powers between them . In a different context , the same gesture could have very different connotations . archive 65537 and by Alexander Commons used under . successfully received . In other , the hug could be interpreted as sexual interest , Thus , social context is when one considers potentially sexual behavior . Socialization and Normalized Sexual Behavior Because sexual behavior is by socialization , what is deemed normal can vary widely across cultures , In some cultures , sexual activity is considered acceptable only within marriage , although premarital and extramarital sex are also common . Some sexual activities are illegal either universally or in some countries , and some are considered against the norms of a society . For example , sexual activity with a person below some age of consent and sexual assault in general are criminal offenses in most jurisdictions , In the current Western moment , heteronormative norms are privileged , meaning that heterosexual expressions of sexuality are more accepted than homosexual expressions . However , sexuality is not thought of in the same way across space and time rather , different cultures and different historical moments think of sexuality in entirely different ways . developed the Scale , which was a numerical ranking of sexual behavior on a scale of complete ity to complete homosexuality .

SOCIALIZATION AND HUMAN SEXUALITY 113 open discussion of sexuality in the 19505 contributed to the sexual revolution of the following decade , in which social standards that limited sex to heterosexual marriage were . he Report is frequently invoked to support the common estimate of one in ten Americans being a homosexual . he Report was the largest study of norms in American sexuality to its time , conducted by Alfred . he development of oral contraception also contributed to the of social regulations on sexuality . he sexual revolution was a social movement in which social of sexuality became more lax . he scale is a numeric scaling of individuals along a of complete heterosexuality to complete homosexuality . he varying forms of these attractions are generally divided into the following categories heterosexuality , homosexuality , and asexuality . place of these categories , some prefer to think of queer sexual a broader term that refers to any form of sexuality . The is a continuum of complete heterosexuality to complete , with bisexuality in the middle . is the assumption that heterosexual are normal to the exclusion of other sexual . Sexual identity is an conception of their own sexuality . he primary debate in conversations about sexual orientation is whether sexual orientation is static or fluid , whether one is born with an immutable sexual orientation , or whether one develops sexual orientation . Sexual reorientation therapies seek to convert homosexuals into heterosexuals . Sexual reorientation therapies seek to convert homosexuals into Homophobia is expressed through prejudice and discrimination , which can either be institutional or informal . REFERENCES Alfred . 2020 , January 26 ) In Wikipedia . Civil union . 2020 , February 17 ) In Wikipedia . Defense of Marriage Act . 2012 , In Wikipedia . Marriage , Act Defense of Marriage Act . 2020 , February 16 ) In Wikipedia . Marriage , Act The phrase refers to the community of lesbian , gay , bisexual , transgender , and queer individuals . state and the law , while informal discrimination refers to social controls and prejudices . In the United States , social disapproval of homosexuality is not evenly distributed throughout society . That being said , it is more or less pronounced according to age , ethnicity , geographic location , race , sex , social class , education , political tion , and religious status . Civil unions are ceremonies that grant couples in some states legal equality , even if not by the name of Though some states have equal rights laws , many gay and lesbian couples are still denied the same marriage rights as heterosexual couples and can not taxes , share custody of children , have hospital visitation rights , or inherit equally . The first organizations in the that worked to improve issues were known as organizations , such as the Society and the Daughters of . Sodomy laws are laws against any sexual contact other than intercourse . The Stonewall Riots were riots in New York City in 1969 that is frequently thought of as the start of the movement by people to homosexuality . 1986 , the Supreme Court found that states could homosexuality in Bowers . 2003 , the Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence Texas that laws violated an right to privacy . 2015 , the Supreme Court ruled in . Hodges that states must license and recognize marriages . Sexual behavior refers to the manner in which humans ence and express their sexuality . are taught to use social cues to interpret sexual intent . This is most obviously demonstrated in behaviors with flirtation . sexual activity has sociological elements . Social context is therefore essential when one considers potentially sexual behavior . Discrimination . 2020 , February 19 ) In Wikipedia . Discrimination Employment Act . 2020 , January 10 ) In Wikipedia . Flirting . 2020 , February ) In Wikipedia . 2020 , February 13 ) In Wikipedia . Homophobia . 2020 , February 20 ) In Wikipedia .

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