EDP 362T Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Risky Sexual Behavior, Safe Sex, Adolescent Sexuality
Chapter 7:
Sexuality as shaped by culture:
• Sexual scripts: sexual acts recognized by a particular social group (scripted
behavior):
o Rules or guidelines for expected behavior.
o Dictate punishments for violating the rules.
o Operate at societal, interactional, and individual levels.
o Schemas for sexual concepts and events. Used to guide one’s behavior
and interpret others’ behavior.
• Context of sexual scripts: culturally influenced.
o Romantic ideology: US, guided by romance, love is all you need. Strong
belief love is necessary for relationships, relationships lead to marriage.
Mixed messages on female sexuality, generally negative for women/girls.
Romantic novels and movies perpetuate this ideology.
▪ In much of the world, marriages are arranged by family members,
not by the bridge and groom; strengthening social status is key.
• Are sexual scripts changing?
o Change + and – ways. More egalitarian = both men and women enjoy
sexual pleasure and actively pursue it. Magazines give advice on how to
have good sex. Continue perpetuating that men = wild, aggressive,
animalistic vs. women = coy, indirect, focus on men’s pleasure.
• Sexual scripts diff across ethnic groups and cultures in terms of whether or not
people would marry without love, but men and women are similar within a
culture.
o US: feel lonely when not in a relationship (+ and – feelings about romantic
love).
o Asian students more conservative, less likely to have sex or masturbate.
Latest age to have sex when asked vs. Black girls.
Adolescent sexuality:
▪ In past 40 years, more teens have sex outside of marriage, with N. American
values contributing to changing sexual norms, increasing sex outside marriage
globally.
o More teens are having sex outside marriage.
o Increase greater for girls
o First intercourse occurring at an earlier age.
▪ For both boys and girls, one of the strongest predictors of sexual activity is the
perceived level of sexual activity of their friends. Many report their first sex was
unwanted.
▪ Parents have some influence on teens’ sexual behavior: strongest factor in teens
delaying sexual behavior, was parental caring – parental efforts to control their
behavior were less effective; Parents closer to children while allowing for growing
independence = child less likely to have sex early.
▪ Hormone levels have strong effects on level of girl’s sexual interests, but weak
effects on sexual behaviors. Girls have sex early less likely to use contraception
reliably, more at risk of unwanted pregnancy.
▪ Safer sex: heterosexually
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o US college students believe their peers engage in more risky behavior
than their peers actually reported. Students reported basing their own risk-
taking their perceptions of what others were doing.
o To decrease risky sexual behavior: provide young people with accurate
info about norms for their peer group.
o Sexually active singles underestimate their HIV risk bc they use inaccurate
decision rules.
▪ Many believe it’s okay to have unprotected sex with someone they
know well and like. Many judge risk of HIV infection based on
partners’ appearance. Media rarely shows use of condoms, some
even have negative attitudes towards it.
o Traditional sexual scripts focus on men’s needs and power over sex.
Women may feel less able to express preference for condom use.
Experiencing Sexuality:
▪ First intercourse: gap b/w romantic ideal and reality = college women report more
guilt, less pleasure than men.
o Rate 2.95 on scale of 1-7.
▪ Losing virginity meanings:
o Virginity is a gift given by 1 partner to the other (used more by
heterosexual women).
o Virginity is a stigma that needs to be rid of (used more by hetereosexual
men).
o Virginity loss for heterosexuals = process of becoming and adult; for LGBT
= process of coming out.
▪ Gap b/w real and romance novel ideal
▪ Orgasm:
o I’m not sure (response).
o Up to 80% women have faked an orgasm some point in their lives.
▪ Masturbation: stimulating one’s own genitals, more positive terms = self-
pleasuring/gratification. Most women have sexual fantasies while masturbating.
Only 42% women do vs. all men, with white women higher frequency = higher
body satisfaction. Allows women to have more orgasms with partners, greater
sexual desire, more rapid arousal, higher self-esteem, greater marital
satisfaction.
o Reduces heterosexual women’s dependency on men for sexual
satisfaction.
Lesbian and Bisexual women:
▪ Before 20th century, variety of women’s relationships were honored. Beginning in
20th century, lesbian = disease, stigmatized. 1973 = lesbian removed as a
diagnosis from medical and psychological diagnostic manuals.
o Social institutions to construct and reconstruct reality.
o Research focuses on society’s model of lesbianism.
▪ Research = lesbian sex more satisfying for heterosexual sex for many women.
▪ US lesbians rarely encouraged to explore sexuality. Lesbianism still –
connotation.
▪ Lesbianism:
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