SOCIOL 4A03 Lecture Notes - Libido, Middle Ages, Chromosome
15 views2 pages
Sex history:
-in antiquity=the days of ancient Rome/Greece (Mesopotamian civilization)
-had a lot of sexual imagery, fertility cults, they were upfront about sexuality
-in middle ages, especially w/ Christianity, it became erota-phobia
-they say the body is corrupt and sinful and it gets in the way of worshipping God
-best way to avoid this was to go into isolation
20th century=the sexual century
-things changed
-first half, sex was a taboo, don’t discuss but if people did, they used code words
“she’s in a family way”=pregnant
-by the middle of the 20th century there was survey research
Kinseysex researcher
-before him, sexual behaviour was unexplored
Masters and Johnsondid experimental research
-put wires on men and women and put them in a room
-took a record of what happened when they engaged in sexual activities
Cher Heightsalso did survey research like Kinsey
-this all informed us about sexual behaviour
-before 1950, this was taboo
Freudwas an essentialist
-invented psychotherapy (psychiatrists) and psychoanalysis (physicians)
-contrast essentialism vs. constructionism
-essentialism= nature is what shapes humans
-constructionism= sees differences as constructed by socialization process
-differences in male and females are due to the biology
-a boy develops strong independent sexuality by identifying w/ his father and separating from his mother
-females develop a “penis envy”sense of inferiority
-many cultures have placed women on pedestals
-b/c of their ability to create new life
-men should instead be in awe of women
-Freud got the sexual century going
-the sex drive is located in the idlibido=sex drive
-the id is part of personality where you find instinctual drives
-it is at the root of all human motivation and behaviour
-idea of the unconscious and repression
-when things happen to us that are traumatizing and of sexual nature, people will repress those
-Freud’s personality:
-Id- responsible for human behaviour (where libido is)
-Ego-the middle
-Superego- conscience and reality
-this is where culture can morality is
-the id does not care about the superego and all it wants is release and gratification
-therefore, they are always in conflict and so the ego mediates this
-Freud says that overwhelmingly, humans are sexual animals and are driven by their sexual impulse
Max Faber? humans are also driven by ideas (that you get from culture)