According to Freud, nothing is more important than the choice for a reproductive mate. He views sex in terms of libido, which can be expressed with sexual behaviour. On the other hand, Bandura would argue that sexual arousal leading to an orgasm is a positive reinforcement that will lead to the couple repeating this act more often. The evolutionary biology to understand social behaviour in animals is called socio-biology. The socio-biologist will study human sexual behaviour by examining patterns in other species. From the evolution perspective the most important function of sex is producing healthy offspring. This happens through sexual selection, in which animals that are best at adapting to their environment will survive. Humans choose their mates based on physical attractiveness, which according to the socio-biologist is a way of evaluating one’s health and vigor. This could indicate a better offspring. However, if people only chose mates based on maximum reproductive success, attractiveness should be a more important indicator of mate selection in unhealthy countries.There are several hindrances that can occur with reproduction, two of them are infant vulnerability and maternal death. The first is reduced when the mother is providing care continuously, including breastfeeding. Also, a pair-bond between mother and father and attachment between the child and its parents limit infant vulnerability. Parental investment...

The purpose of this chapter is to provide information about the functionality of parts of the reproductive organs. The female sexual organs are divided into external -and internal organs. The external organs are the clitoris, the inner lips, the mons pubis, the vaginal opening and the outer lips. Together they are called the vulva. Its appearance differs from one woman to another.The clitoris is a sensitive organ that is important in sexual response. It exists from the tip (glans), two copora cavernosa, a knob of tissue and two crura. They develop before birth and the gender organs of one gender are homologous. The clitoris of the female is homologous to the male’s penis because they exist from the same embryonic tissue. The clitoris is also erectile and fills with blood as the penis does. The clitoris is unique because it has no reproductive function.The mons pubis is the rounded and fatty part of tissue covered in pubic hairs.The labia is the part along both sides of the opening of the vagina and also covered with pubic hairs. The Bartholin glands lie inside the inner lips and do not have a significant function. The perineum is the area between the anus and the vagina. The introitus is the opening of the vagina itself. Urine does not pass through the clitoris itself, but through the urethra, which is a separate opening.The hymen is a thin membrane that partly covers the opening of the vagina. It has some openings for menstrual fluid. It can be opened or stretched when the penis moves into the vagina. The hymen may be taken as a sign of...

When a woman is ovulating, the egg is released from the follicle into the ovary and enters the fallopian tube. It starts its journey to the uterus when it is fertilized in about five days. If the egg is not fertilized it degenerates in forty-eight hours. When the sperm is inserted into the vagina it starts its way towards the egg. The sperm is a very tiny cell and exists from the head, midpiece and tail. Sperm contains both RNA and DNA carrying instructions for development of the embryo. Conception does not happen in the uterus, but in the outer part of the fallopian tube. The sperm is attracted to the egg by a chemical attractant. Sperm produces hyaluronidase, which dissolves the thin layer around the egg called zona pellucida. When an egg is fertilized it is called a zygote. In the first eight weeks the conceptus is called embryo and after that foetus. The most important way to improve conception is to have intercourse while the woman is ovulating. The...

Sexual expression contributes to an overall good mental health. Understanding sexual arousal is also important in understanding sexual dysfunctions. Sexual response commonly happens in three stages: excitement, orgasm and resolution. The physiological mechanisms are myotonia and vasocongestion. Vasocongestion takes place when a major deal of blood flows in regional blood vessels, such as the genitals. It is a result of dilation of these blood vessels. Myotonia is the contraction of the muscles throughout the body, so not only in the genitals. The excitement phase is the start of sexual arousal. Vasocongestion causes the erection in males, it happens when the corpora cavernosa and corpus spongiosum fill with blood. Factors such as alcohol, fatigue and age can slow down this process. Several neurotransmitters are involved in this process, for instance, Viagra works on the nitric oxide neurotransmitter. To reverse the erection, the neurotransmitters epinephrine and norepinephrine are involved. In women, a critical sexual response is lubrication of the vagina. This is also a result of vasocongestion. The blood flow through the walls of the vagina causes the capillaries to dilate. Fluid can then seep trough the membranes of the vaginal walls. It does not happen as fast after...

In the United States, the decline of marriage and the rise of new families caused a big change in sexuality in adulthood. This is true for sexual orientation, monogamy, marital sexuality and cohabitation. The sexual development starts from childhood and by the time people are in their adulthood they are aware of their sexual orientation -and identity. The identification of our sexual preferences is a form of maturity in sexual unfolding. Learning to communicate with sexual partners is difficult for a lot of people, because of the lack of role models in our society. Other problems are responsibility about sex and the development of the capacity for intimacy. The never married group of adults are individuals that intended to marry but did not and people who intended to stay single. Many persons are involved in serial monogamy, which is the occurrence of two or more intimate relationships prior to marriage. Why unmarried people have this status can have both voluntary and involuntary reasons. A virgin is described as someone who never had intercourse, rarely dated and has not engaged in sexual intimacy. Many singles that often report unsatisfying sexual...

Gender is one of the most basic status characteristics. People feel uncomfortable with uncertainty about another person’s gender. This is rooted in the gender binary, the classification of people into either the category male of female. The emphasis on gender in societies is codified with gender roles, this is a set of norms or culturally defined expectations to define how people of one gender should behave. A stereotype is a generalization about a group of people that differs those people from others. Heterosexuality is an important part of gender roles and stereotypes.Gender roles are a product of culture. Intersectionality is the approach where the meaning and consequences of the use of multiple categories for difference, identity and disadvantage. Effects of gender should not be considered in isolation, but the category woman should be accompanied by the categories that also apply in this woman, such as ethnicity, social class, religion and sexual orientation. People then may be part of both a privileged and disadvantaged group.African Americans: there are two factors that are significant in the cultural heritage of African Americans, one is their past of slavery and second is the racial suppression that followed. This leaves African Americans with mixed stereotypes. There is the Jezebel, who is immoral and...

Scientists have the tendency to describe behaviour in terms of normal or abnormal. Abnormal sexual behaviour is described with the following terms: sexual deviance, sexual variance, paraphilias and perversion. One approach in describing abnormal behaviour is the statistical definition, it classifies rare and uncommon sexual behaviour as abnormal. In the sociological approach the dependence on culture is acknowledged. Abnormal sexual behaviour is described as deviant in the society. The psychological approach (Buss, 1966) describes abnormal sexual behaviour as inefficient, bizarre and discomforting. The medical approach is classified by the DSM. It recognises eight forms of abnormalities: sexual masochism, frotteurism, sexual sadism, fetishism, voyeurism, transvestism, pedophilia and exhibitionism.The definition of paraphilia is the intense sexual interest in sexual stimulation other than with normal human partners. Paraphilia is not necessarily a mental disorder but might require intervention. When the person feels great distress either caused by societal pressure or unwilling sexual partners the paraphilia can be classified a disorder. The general diagnostic criteria described in the DSM...

In many societies the exchange of money and sex is a prominent feature. A lot of money is made in the porn industry and prostitution. These subjects involve controversial -and legal issues, but also attract a lot of customers. People that engage in partnered sex and are rewarded with material gifts, money or other payment are considered commercial sex workers or prostitutes. The venue where this sex word takes place depends on the client and type of sex worker.A call girl works via cell phone or online and makes appointments outside of her own residence. This type of sex worker often has a middle-class background and may be a graduate from college. She might have regular customers and has control over who visits her. The call girl often provides her clients with an illusion of intimacy.A brothel comes in many forms. Some are fancy mansions where guests are well-treated, some are clip joints where the man’s money was stolen while he was sexually occupied. The workers are often Latina, and the Latinos are the preferred clientele (Dank et al., 2014).There are also in-call services where a woman services a client regularly for sexual gratification. The autonomy of the sex worker in this scenario is less than...

It is important to know, how to prevent and treat sexually transmitted diseases (STD) or sexually transmitted infections (STI). Sexually transmitted infections are more common among youth, age fifteen to twenty-four and the infections human papillomavirus (HPV), trichomoniasis and chlamydia are the most common. Prevention efforts are not working as well as they should as this age group accounts for half of the STIs in the United States. An example of a STI caused by a bacterium is Chlamydia, the chlamydia trachomatis is a bacterium that can be transmitted trough sexual contact. It can infect the genital organs of both men and women. Adolescent girls have a particularly high infection rate of chlamydia compared to Gonorrhea. This is important, because the symptoms can be similar, but the treatment for Gonorrhea does not work for Chlamydia. The symptoms are discomforting urination and it can be detected using a urine sample (or sample of cells in the vagina). The problem with Chlamydia is that about seventy-five percent of the women, and fifty percent of men do not have any symptoms, they are asymptomatic. Therefore, many people go untreated. This can cause urethral damage, infection of the epididymis and proctitis (in men that performed anal intercourse). The most extreme complication is pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and infertility. Also, a baby born from a...

Many sexual behaviours, such as adultery or sex with someone younger than eighteen are crimes in the United States. There are several laws that tell people about their sexual behaviour. Laws about sex are ancient and has its roots in the Hebrew Bible. These rules were used to regulate the religious morals. Even though sex has become a much more private subject, most societies have laws for sexual behaviour. These rules should free people from sexual assault and coercion and that children should not be sexually exploited. Fornication is illegal because this often results in extramarital births. It is compelling that the Judeo-Christian religion still determines some sexual laws since constitution forbids imposing others with religious beliefs. However, these sexual laws resemble rather moral than religious belief. The Victorian compromise refers to the conflict in attitudes about sexuality and results in the law not criminalizing the behaviour per se, but the conduct that is visible to the outside world. The study of sex and the law reflects inequality, sexuality, sexual identities and individuality of a society. The categorization of sexual laws is difficult because no-one knows how many there are....