The second section of the documentary will focus on the aspect of gender identity throughout the history of sexuality. As sexual identity and gender identity are entirely different, it is important to include both topics and, for the issue of gender identity, to highlight its own diverse spectrum and the subsequent social stigmas and medical developments that have surfaced around it. Throughout sexual history, whether an individual identified as male, female, or intersex, controversy and societal disapproval often occurred if the individual’s identity did not match the gender they were biologically born as, per their genital structure. By the mid-nineteenth century, corrective surgery for the polysemous gender community had taken root. Particularly …show more content…
In fact, religion has particularly been the most influential factor in the cultural and political constraints that have stifled the study of sex. The most popular religion in the world is Christianity, which holds that the first humans, Adam and Eve, lost their innocence and divine good graces when they ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. This forbidden fruit is the symbolic representation of Adam and Eve’s knowledge of sex and clearly adheres a sinful, ruinous connotation to sex and sexuality. Islam and Judaism also orate that sex is only sanctified in marriage and is hallowed only for the purpose of procreation. With the threat of damnation at hand, it is no surprise that the majority of the world’s population has felt reluctant to tolerate or be open towards the study of sexuality and the idea of pleasure-seeking sexual desire. The limitation of sexuality throughout the world is founded in the fear of divine peril, which has prompted governments to stifle sexuality through mandated dress codes, laws on exposure in media, contraception and abortion laws, marriage laws and many others. The dissension between the development of sexual study and religion must be discussed in order to explain the global restrictions on the theme of sexuality and to uncover the discrimination that follows people who deviate from the holy norm of heterosexual monogamy for reigning religions. Religious fear has led to practices such as conversion therapy, circumcision, the banishment or imprisonment of unwed mothers, as well as many other anti-sexual behaviors. The connection between religion and the history of sexuality must be addressed in the
To start with, let's take a type of religion, christianity, and the United States’s society and see how their views of sex are. Since the christian religion is large , I will narrow it down to my christianity, Baptist, in order to avoid conflict with other christian
The sexual behaviors religion deems moral, the levels of scientific understanding in sexual matters and what the media deems sexualy ideal all profoudly influence how a society view and behave with regards to sexuality. For example, if religion being a primary influence in a society deems sexualy activity to only be appropriate between a monogamous, married couple, and should only be talked about between those couples, then it’s likely individuals within that society will hold very conservative views on sex. Additionally, in a society with poor scientific understanding of human sexual behaviour and function, will be a perfect breeding ground for urban myths and misinformation, such as the idea that a woman’s hymen breaks when she loses her virginity. Conversely in a society where media is the primary influencer, of the society promotes and propagates objectifying views of women’s body, it’s more likely that the majority view of sex in that society is that it’s something that’s done by a man to a women, and that giving sex to a man is (or is one of several) a woman’s primary purpose.
Discussion of issues related to non-normative sexual and gender identities as related to mental health began in the 19th century (Drescher, 2010). Initially medical and psychiatric providers viewed issues related to gender identity as resulting from delusional thought processes (Drescher, 2010). As a result the concept of surgery as a solution to gender identity differences was viewed as unnecessary and ultimately an incorrect form of treatment (Drescher, 2010). In 1952 the first gender reassignment surgery was performed in Denmark on an American citizen (Drescher, 2010). The publicity in the American media that followed this surgery brought the concept of gender identity to the public eye. During the 1960s research about gender identity started to develop and it was the work of Money, Stoller, Benjamin, and Green that ultimately change professional and public concept of Gender Identity (Drescher, 2010). These four individuals were among the first to conduct clinical and academic research on gender identity and gender roles (Drescher, 2010). As a result of their research beliefs about non-normative gender identity shifted from a problem of the mind to a biological disorder that was fixed and should be treated with
For years, many scholars have provided many discussions over the topic of gender and sexuality. However, one needs to ask themselves: Are these two topics, gender and sexuality, useful as a category for historical analysis? The articles written by both Joan W. Scott and Afsaneh Najmabadi, answer such a question. By critically examining and assessing their two article, can the usefulness of gender and sexuality as a category for historical analysis be proven.
The change in society’s views on sexuality during the 1960s created a moral shift in which people and cultural values shifted away from many traditional biblical ethics. With inspiration from African American and their movements in civil rights, many young women sought to achieve gender equality with males despite the society’s cookie-cutter view of women as housewives in the 1950s. In 1963, Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique as an outlash against the view of the traditional American housewife. Friedan took inspiration from Holocaust survivor Bruno Bettelheim’s analysis of the psychological abuse imposed by the Germans on their prisoners and compared the average suburban home to “comfortable concentration camps” (Wolfe). Alan
Known as the Two Sex theory, devised by historian Thomas Laqueur, female sexuality would be characterized purely by a woman’s reproductive potential, where the concept of an innate maternal instinct would become the new prioritized ideal. The female orgasm was renounced by a new essence of masculine superiority. This notion can be asserted with the Phallocentric inclination of the late 18th century, examined by historian Tim Hitchcock, as period characterized by penetration and precedence of the phallus. This “both encouraged and made possible the denigration of female sexuality and perceived passivity.” Consequently this caused the de-emphasis of female sexual pleasure and desire. However, female sexual identity would reemerge with potency, attributed to social flux, the emerging field of sexology and disposition of the interwar years.
The paper written by Kennedy and Davis, which was called The Reproduction of Butch-Fem Roles: A Social Constructionist Approach, provides further evidence that the history of sexuality is young and
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.
The movement of Purity balls is a very interesting and prevalent movement in our society. Many women choose abstinence at a very young age. This choice is made with the encouragement of their fathers. Throughout this essay I will examine religion, as an institution, that governs women’s bodies and sexuality. I will first, describe my opinions on purity balls, secondly, analyze the patriarchal dominance between a father and his daughters, and finally look at some of the redeeming aspects and the consequences of limited knowledge of sexual education.
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.
In today’s society things are being expressed and experienced at younger ages, than ever before in our time. Children and teenagers are discovering their sexuality at very early ages. Sexuality is the discovering of who you are and what makes you different from everybody else.
From my early experiences with fashion, these lead me to continue to follow all through my academic process, my favorite classes all through elementary school were Art, this continued until high school. In high school, I explored more into the world of fashion and more behind the scenes of the fashion industry. During my junior year of high school, I took a job a K-mart I learned about not only fashion but retail. I learned a great deal in the job about visual merchandising, during this time through a class in high school we were given the opportunity to spend the day with the Austin American statesman, I was chosen to spend the day with marketing department, I learned a great deal and this really changed my outlook for my career path at the
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.
One event that defined a part of my life that involved literacy was when I had to write a
Today, one in three murder mysteries go unsolved in the United States. The same can be applied to the mysterious murders of Abby and Andrew Borden. Both were found hacked to death in their home by their daughter, Lizzie. That fateful day in the summer of 1892 has been subject to many works of fiction, such as: movies, books, and even a few musicals. It is still unknown who committed the crime, though theorists have contemplated who the possible suspects since the crime was committed. While Lizzie Borden being the murderer is the main theory, other suspects like Emma Borden, Bridget Sullivan, and John Morse may have been the cause of the untimely deaths of Andrew and Abby Borden.