UTS 7.2

• Sexuality is experienced in thoughts, behaviors, practices, and relationships
• Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions to men, women, or both
• Attachment

  • Not exclusive to romantic relationships, also seen in friendships, parent-child relationships
  • Oxytocin is the hormone involved in attachment, produced in the hypothalamus
  • Oxytocin is high during activities like sex, childbirth, and breastfeeding
• Lust


  • Driven by desire for sexual gratification to reproduce
  • Testosterone increases libido, estrogen affects sexual motivation
• Complexity of love according to Dr. Helen Fisher

  • Lust
  • Attraction
  • Attachment
• Human sexuality refers to an individual’s sexual interest and attraction to others
• Attraction

  • Distinct from lust, associated with brain's reward behavior
  • Hypothalamus produces dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin during attraction
  • Dopamine makes us feel good, norepinephrine makes us euphoric, serotonin combats stress
• Love


  Believed to arise from the brain, not the heart
• Sexuality is different from biological sex, which refers to physical characteristics
• Sex


  Refers to the physical characteristics including the anatomy of an individual’s reproductive system
• Nature and nurture both play complex roles in sexual orientation development; most people experience little or no sense of choice about their sexual orientation
• Research suggests that sexual orientation ranges along a continuum, from exclusive attraction to the other sex to exclusive attraction to the same sex
• In the Philippines, since 1994, there has been a rise in the proportion of 18-24-year-old youth having sex before the age of 18
• Coming out is often an important psychological step for lesbian, gay, and bisexual people
• Erotic fantasies


  • Serve several important functions for adolescents: creating pleasant sexual arousal, expressing sexual needs, providing insight into sexual desires and preferences, and an opportunity to “rehearse” sexual encounters
• Sexual orientation is defined as an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and or sexual attractions to men, women, or both sexes
• There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay, or lesbian orientation
• Many people hesitate to come out because of the risks of meeting prejudice and discrimination
• Research has shown that feeling positively about one’s sexual orientation and integrating it into one’s life fosters greater well-being and mental health
• Masturbation


  • Allows teenagers to explore their sexuality in a safe and private way, generally regarded as a normative activity
• Sexual Behaviors


  Young people engage in a variety of sexual behaviors covering from fantasy and stimulation to various forms of intercourse
• Urbanization could be accounted for early sexual initiations, with the highest rate from young people in the National Capital Region
• Making out


  • Practiced by some adolescents, involves kissing, rubbing one’s body against another, and even genital touching
• Sexuality


  Experienced in several ways, including thoughts, behaviors, practices, and relationships
• The phrase “coming out” is used to refer to several aspects of lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons’ experiences
• Categories of sexual orientation

  • Heterosexual: sexual attraction is directed to the members of the opposite sex
  • Homosexual (gay or lesbian): sexual attraction is directed to the members of the same sex
  • Bisexual: sexual attraction is directed to both sexes