Lesson 1

• Sex is the biological basis of being male or female
• Gender is a social concept on how men and women should think, feel, and act, referring to femininity or masculinity of a person's role and behavior defined by society
• Sexuality is a natural and healthy part of life, encompassing everything about being male or female
• Sexuality involves:

  • The name given at birth
  • The toys played with
  • The clothes worn
  • The friends played with
  • The roles and responsibilities at home
• Sex chromosomes determine the sex of humans and many animals, with X and Y chromosomes known as sex chromosomes and all other chromosomes called autosomes
• Heterogametic sex are individuals with two different sex chromosomes (XY)

  • Homogametic sex are individuals with the same sex chromosomes (XX)
• Estrogen is a female hormone that cycles monthly, while men produce ten times more testosterone than women
• Estrogen generates stable mood and a sense of well-being, feminine sexual behavior, neuron growth and improved cognition

  • Testosterone generates a sense of separateness, aggression and risk-taking, sex drive and sexual fantasy, anxiety or energy leading to poor concentration, assertiveness and self-confidence, visual-spatial ability and interest in moving things, and violent, criminal, or psychotic behavior
• Estrogen promotes neuron interconnections for a more distributed female brain, while testosterone and related hormones masculinize boys in the womb, lateralizing the male brain into specialized compartments
• Oxytocin facilitates childbirth and nursing for women, influences female social behavior, promotes nesting, monogamy, pair bonding, nurturing, acceptance, and protection of offspring, mate selection, social interaction, sexual reproduction, maternal attachment to an infant, and release of milk for the baby to survive
• Vasopressin causes water retention and high blood pressure, promotes partner recognition, sexual arousal, courting behavior, monogamy, pair bonding, mate guarding, affects a number of behaviors especially in mating, sense of separateness, social and sexual behavior of men, creates a sense of public communication, paternal behavior to spouse and child
• Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender
• Bisexuality is being attracted to people of the same gender as yourself and to different genders

  • Pansexuality is being attracted to all genders
  • Asexual refers to a person who has no sexual feelings or desires
  • Homosexuality and Heterosexuality are part of human sexuality
  • Transgender is a phenomenon of dissatisfaction where a person feels a lack of correspondence between physical sex and psychological gender
• Nature and nurture play a complex role in shaping our sexual orientation according to the American Psychological Association
• The complexities of human sexuality can be overwhelming, and it is important to appreciate the many different faces of human sexuality by looking at our own experiences on our journey of discovering our sense of being a man or a woman