Chap 10 - Sexuality and Gender

• Primary sex characteristics (Female)

  • Vagina
  • Uterus
  • Ovaries
• Primary sex characteristics (Male)

  • Penis
  • Testes (testicles)
  • Scrotum
  • Prostate gland
• Secondary sex characteristics (Female)

  • Growth spurt
  • Breast development
  • Widening of the hips
  • Pubic hair
  • Fat deposits
• Menarche is the first menstrual cycle, the monthly shedding of the blood and tissue that line the uterus in preparation for pregnancy when conception does not occur
• Impossible for newborn to get menarche, because their body is not fully prepared
• Earlier onset of menarche in developed countries due to better health and nutrition is related to the Secular trend
• Secondary sex characteristics (Male)

  • Enlarged larynx (Adam’s apple)
  • Deepening voice
  • Facial and chest hair
  • Pubic hair
  • Coarser skin texture
  • Large increase in height
• Primary sex characteristics develop as the embryo grows
• Gonads develop at 5 weeks, but the embryo could potentially become either male or female
• Chromosomes of the 23rd pair determine the release of male or female hormones
• The Y chromosome will release testosterone, the male sex hormone or androgens
• If the Y is absent testosterone will not be released and instead the gonads will release estrogens: female sex hormones
• Both male and female will have both testosterone and estrogen, just the ratios differ
• Intersex is a person who possesses ambiguous sexual organs, making it difficult to determine actual sex from a visual inspection at birth
• Gender Identity


  Social norm of male and female (Society stereotypes)
• Psychological influences on gender identity include transgender individuals whose sense of gender identity does not match their external experience or chromosomes
• Gender dysphoria


  When a person experiences gender incongruence, feeling that he or she is occupying the body of the other sex or some alternative gender and has significant distress about the incongruence
• Not all transgender people experience gender dysphoria
• Transsexual


  Individuals who choose to alter physical self through surgery or hormonal treatment
• Hormones exposure during fetal development predisposes the infant to behavior associated with each gender
• Prenatal androgen exposure in females has outcomes that resemble upbringing over hormonal influences
• Gender socialization by teachers, peers, parents, and the media is prevalent enough to make it difficult to determine if biology or environment play the larger role in influencing gender
• Natural selection and neurological differences in males and females also play a powerful role in gender behavior
• Environmental influences: Pressure to conform contributes to cultural gender roles
• Cultural influences: individualistic societies with high standards of living are more accepting of nontraditional gender roles, especially for women
• Gender stereotype


  A concept held about a person or group of people based on being male or female
• Androgyny


  A characteristic of possessing the most positive personality characteristics of males and females regardless of actual sex
• Male advantage in mathematical and spatial skills may be based on female lack of confidence or unequal treatment
• Female superiority in verbal skills
• Males tend to talk with each other in a “report” style
• Females tend to talk to each other in a “relate” style
• Stages of sexual-response cycle (Male)

  • Sexual arousal (excitement)
  • Plateau
  • Orgasm
  • Refractory period
  • Resolution
• Stages of sexual-response cycle (Female)

  • Excitement
  • Plateau
  • Orgasm
  • Resolution
• The refractory period can last for several minutes to several hours to a day or more and tends to increase in length with age
• A female can experience several orgasms before entering resolution
• In Pattern B, there is a longer plateau period but no orgasm
• In Pattern C, the woman goes from excitement to orgasm to a quick resolution without experiencing a plateau period
• The older a person, the longer time of refractory
• The Kinsey Study was a series of sexual behavior surveys in the late 1940s and early 1950s
• The Kinsey Study revealed some highly controversial findings about kinds of sexual behavior common among people in the United States