The Perception of Human Sexuality throughout History

    In contrast to our contemporary understandings, back in the late nineteenth and twentieth century sexology had just emerged and cast a new way of understanding. There were controversial views on sex and its benefits or dangerous. Our view of sexuality was quite intertwined with biblical and religious inputs. At this time understandings and terminology of same-sex sexual relations were linked with mental illness or considered sinful. Laws were in place to criminalize male sexual activity.

Unlike sex, the history of sexuality is dependant upon society and limited by its language in order to be defined and understood.

Sex. It is everywhere. We see in television shows. In magazines. On the Internet. But sex is still seen as a taboo subject in our society. I believe that being educated about sexuality is vitally important to one health. Understanding one’s body and how it impacts your life. To understand how your beliefs about sexuality and sex have developed one needs to look back over the years and how your beliefs were engrained in your life. This essay will be based on my reflection by looking back on my sexual history on how and what have significantly impacted my development of sexuality. The focus will be on my reflection of answering the sexual history questions and how I have changed and developed over the years. It is important to analyze and reflect to understand how I came to be today, that the past has created my ideas and beliefs about sex and sexuality that have shaped me.

Human sexuality is a common phrase for all, and anything, pertaining to the feelings and behaviors of sex for the human race. Sexuality has been a topic that has been discussed and studied for as far back as 1000 years B.C. and is still being studied today. As the discussion of sexuality has progressed through history, theories have been created based on research and experiments that scholars have implemented, based on their own perceptions of human behavior. Out of the many theories that pose to explain sexual behavior, Sexuality Now explained ten that are seemed to be the most overlapped, and built off of theories. Of these theories, two that were discussed in the text were the behavioral and sociological theory. These two theories cover some of the basic ideas of what could possibly influence a person’s sexuality.

Social attitudes about “homosexuality” in ancient Rome differed remarkably to those assumptions of the contemporary Western civilization. The Greeks and Romans had no concept of homosexuality or heterosexuality; the ancient world was exceptionally tolerant of homosexuality, or more specifically bisexuality, as these relationships had been present even in Trajan’s reign. Male prostitutes were appropriately common on the streets, however, what was of great consequence within the sexual relationship between two men were age and the status of sexual dominance and sexual submission (Potts). Men were free to take part in sexual behaviors with other men without any perceived loss of social status, provided that the older male of higher status was in the commanding position. This status reflected on ones manhood and masculinity, “the role of the submissive reduced the passive partner to the level of a woman (Potts).” Nevertheless, Men were still expected to have sexual attraction and relationships towards women because virility and procreation were important to Roman

Similarities and differences can be found between ancient Athenians and today’s western world and their attitudes towards sexual behavior – the most prominent difference being the Athenians goal of moderation and the western

Societies use gender and sexuality to create order, but what is gender? What is sexuality? "Gender is the self and anatomical identity, the norms and expectations that society expects from you" (9/5), and sexuality is "the identity of individuals based on their sexual behavior, identity on who you are attracted to" (9/5). Grecian culture is practiced very widely; two Greek civilizations were formed, the Spartans and the Athens. Athens was a capitalist society, Essentialists argued homosexuality is the same over time, while Social Constructivist argue homosexuality is never the same (9/26). In Athens Greece, sexuality established hierarchies in the way of allowing two males to have a relationship, but one of the males was in charge. Erastes was the lover, typically married with children, whereas the Eromenos was loved. A relationship between an erastes and an eromenos was known as a pederasty and the man couples would go to a phratrie, this was a house where they could drink and socialize (9/26). This established hierarchies because an erastes was an older man, he had more power and was a man of higher class. It was against law for the older man or man of higher class to caught being penetrated; older men generally had facial hair and men of lower classes did not. An image shown in Kuefler can help expand knowledge about sexual practices such as pederasty; these pictures often depict either couples with large age gaps or couples with barley

Many of us grew up enjoying the myths and legends about Greek gods, mortals, and monsters that have been enjoyed by adults and children around the world for thousands of years. But not many, if any, would remember ever reading about homosexual relationships involving the great deities and brave heroes. In facts, those pieces of information were considered by our moral standards unappropriated and negligible, such that they had to be distorted in some way before the stories reach the public. The Greeks in Plato’s Symposium, however, are loud and proud of their homosexuality. Some argue that same-sex romance is the ideal and most honorable example of love since it guides the lover and the beloved to achieve the highest goods of life – wisdom

Greek popularity of erotic behavior lay in strict division of social life and family to the realm of male and female. Marriage were usually not for love, but to fill traditions and strengthen men’s social status. The men spent their time mostly in their own company and the company o "hetairai" - looking for friendship and understanding, and erotic fascination.

The Dark Age remnants induced the Greeks to strengthen their ability to fight, to build their society just for war. All men from sixteen to sixty had to serve in military force. Serving in military drove Greek men delay their marriage until age of thirty. In the results, they had to release their sexual life by using female slaves, prostitutes, or another man as sexual partners (Backman, p.116.) The training for every soldier to make them overcome the instinct was also the problem leading the development of homosexuality. In the other hands, homosexual was accepted in the ancient Greek with the separation of the sexual education. Virginity female who expected to become bride usually enjoyed the toy in her girlhood to get experienced in their

Throughout history, definitions of sexuality within a culture are created and then changed time after time. During these changes, we have seen the impact and power one individual or group can have over others. In the Late Nineteenth Century into the Early Twentieth Century, we see multiple groups of people and or authorities taking control over the idea of sex and how they believe society is being impacted by sex. At this point in time, society had groups of people who believed they had the power to control how society as whole viewed and acted upon sex. Those particular groups and ideas changed many lives and the overall definition of sexuality within that culture.

Married Love was an unprecedented book, which inadvertently redefined female sexuality. Often regarded as the precursor of sex-manuals, Married Love launched Stopes’ enormously successful career as a writer. Published in 1918, Married Love reviewed the intertwining relationship of marriage, sex and contraception, which in Stopes’ view were the fundamental components of a fulfilling and rewarding marriage. Like all discourse, Married Love is heavily embedded within a distinct historical and cultural context. Darwinian theory and the development of eugenics had a phenomenal impact on Stopes. Recognising the equal sexual desire of women would make Married Love greatly influential in the shaping of modern perceptions into female sexuality.

Since ancient times, the understanding the concept of sexuality has had its ups and downs since sexuality has been perceived by different philosophies be these in the family the moral, the professional and even in the political (as in this where the laws are created, even when are contrary what it is establish God.) These same views have been seeing sexuality as something ugly, dirty or degrading and in many instances allowing many sexual issues as legal as the pornography, and prostitution.

Sexual behavior is a significant part of a human’s life that differs between people. According to Myers (2011) there are biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors that play a role in the sexual behavior of humans. Things such as sexual development serve as the basis in order to be able to have sex. Biological influences are those such as sexual maturity, sexual orientation, and hormones such as testosterone. Psychological influences are impacted by such biological factors along with exposure to stimulating conditions. Social-cultural influences include family and society values, religious and personal values, cultural expectations, along with media (p. 360).

2Introduction Ancient theories and ideologies about sexuality, circled around the power of dreams, the individual as a sexual being, the power of self cultivation and