Youth and sexuality
Hoorcollege 1 - Sexuality Research in the Past Century and Now & Gender Differences
- Youth is a fluid concept.
- Sex = act of having sex (heterosexual)
- Sexuality = experiences related to sex
- Sexual health = dealing with sexual risks (SRHR)
o Sexual disfunctions/sexual violence/ healthy sex (pleasure-based)
- Sex (gender)
- Sexuality = experienced in thoughts, fantasies….. (wide scope)
WHO working definition of sexuality (2006)
- “…a central aspect of being human throughout life encompasses sex, gender identities and
roles, sexual orientation, eroticism, pleasure, intimacy and reproduction.
- Sexuality is experienced and expressed in thoughts, fantasies, desires, beliefs, attitudes,
values, behaviours, practices, roles and relationships.
- While sexuality can include all of these dimensions, not all of them are always experienced or
expressed. Sexuality is influenced by the interaction of biological, psychological, social,
economic, political, cultural, legal, historical, religious and spiritual factors.”
Historical overview
- 1900-1940
o First period of large growth of scientific interest, sexology research and societal
influence
o Dominated by physicians, which was a divergence from the past (in which sexuality
was mostly a moral issue)
- Post-WW2
o More interdisciplinary (also biology, psychology, sociology)
o US leading in sexology (Kinsey, Money)
o Europe: first feminist wave e.g. Simone de Beauvoir (La deuxieme sexe, 1949)
- Sexual liberation (’60)
o Sexual revolution, second feminist wave, oral contraceptives
o Masters & Johnson, “discovery” human sexual response
- 1973-2000
o Social-constructionist versus medicalization/ evolutionary perspective
o Simon & Gagnon: The social sources of human sexuality
o 1974: Homosexuality removed from DSM (no longer considered a mental disorder)
o More attention for sexual violence and inequality (Shere Hite, susan Brownmiller)
- Recent developments
o Professionalization sexology
o “discovery” of the full anatomy of the clitoris
o More attention for sexual pleasure and inequality, e.g., orgasm gap
,Alfred Kinsey
- Biologist, zoologist and sexologist
- wrote the Kinsey report (a lot of interviews)
- It was revolutionary, because he moved the field from medical to interdisciplinary
- Taxonomy of human sexual behaviours (including paedophilia)
- Controversial in his time: revelations about masturbation, orgasm, premarital sex,
homosexuality (37% of all men have had homosexual orgasm), differences and similarities
between men and women, and more He was just describing
- Sexuality was more like a scale
John money (1921-2006)
- psychologist, sexologist
- Ground-breaking clinical empirical studies on gender identity development among intersex
children
- Introduced the term ‘gender’ (1955): all those things that a person says or does to disclose
himself or herself as having the status of man or woman. It includes, but is not restricted to,
sexuality in the sense of eroticism.
- Criticized for e.g. David Reimer sex reassignment study
Experiments were unethical in this time, but he introduced the term gender. He was
important in term of saying gender is not the same as biological sex
- Questioned Freud so, he was about the social perspective
William Masters & Virginia Johnson
- 1966: ‘discovery’ of the human sexual response cycle
o Stage 1: Excitement
o Stage 2: Plateau
o Stage 3: Orgasm
o Stage 4: Resolution
- A natural physiological process, can be blocked by psychological inhibitions
- Controversial methods: observing people having sex
- Layed foundations for behavioural therapy of sexual dysfunctions
o Described stages and these layed foundations
The 70’s
- Henry Foucault, Jonh Gagnon, William Simon Shere Hite, Susan Brownmiller
- Emergence of social-constructivist perspectives
o Became a more social concept
- Dismissed the Freudian idea of ‘sexual instinct’
- Growing attention for sexual violence, sexual equality (m/f)
- Sexuality = product of societal regulation, norms, meaning, and the freedom/ right to express
themselves
- Sexual behavior = social behavior
o Sensitive for interpersonal and intra-psychological cultural script
, 1974: removal of homosexuality from the DSM
- After heated debate, 58% of 10.000 APA psychiatrists voted that homosexuality is no longer a
‘ mental disorder’
- Increased awareness:
o What is normal and abnormal?
o What is sexual ‘deviance’ or ‘variation’?
1998/2005: ‘discovery’ of the full anatomy of the clitoris - Helen O’Connell, US urologist
Ellen Laan (1962-2021)
- Ground-breaking research into female sexual arousal Psychologist/ sexologist/ professor
- Myths maintain sexual inequalities:
o Men have a biological need for sex → “libido does not exist”
It is a phenomenon that is made up to keep inequalities in place
o Penis and vagina are important for reproduction and therefore for sex → “Only
heterosexual men have vaginal orgasms”
o Sex differences lead to sexual gender differences → “The capacity for sexual pleasure
is similar in men and women”
Sexual inequality observations
- Orgasm gap
o In heterosexual relationships, women have fewer orgasms then the men with whom
they have sex (65% vs 95%; Frederick et al. 2018)
o Women in lesbian relationships have more orgasms
- Sexual pain
o About 10% of women always have pain during intercourse, in men this is rare
o Pain during intercourse is prevalent in young women (>50% in NL, De Graaf et al.,
2005)
It’s not normal to experience pain
o The expectation of pain impairs arousal -- > more pain (Brauer et al., 2007)
Creates a vicious cycle
- Sexual coercion & sexual violence
o Sexual violence is more common among women
Sexual EQUALITY observations
- Men and women are similar in the capacity to experience sexual pleasure
o Responsivity to sexual stimuli
o Sexual desire
o Sex drive/ hormones (no, men aren’t always in the mood…)
- But: men and women have different opportunities for sexual pleasure (in heterosexual
relationships)
o Gendered scripts, coital imperative
o The way our bodies are build (vagina is more on the inside)
o Sexual inequalities
Hoorcollege 1 - Sexuality Research in the Past Century and Now & Gender Differences
- Youth is a fluid concept.
- Sex = act of having sex (heterosexual)
- Sexuality = experiences related to sex
- Sexual health = dealing with sexual risks (SRHR)
o Sexual disfunctions/sexual violence/ healthy sex (pleasure-based)
- Sex (gender)
- Sexuality = experienced in thoughts, fantasies….. (wide scope)
WHO working definition of sexuality (2006)
- “…a central aspect of being human throughout life encompasses sex, gender identities and
roles, sexual orientation, eroticism, pleasure, intimacy and reproduction.
- Sexuality is experienced and expressed in thoughts, fantasies, desires, beliefs, attitudes,
values, behaviours, practices, roles and relationships.
- While sexuality can include all of these dimensions, not all of them are always experienced or
expressed. Sexuality is influenced by the interaction of biological, psychological, social,
economic, political, cultural, legal, historical, religious and spiritual factors.”
Historical overview
- 1900-1940
o First period of large growth of scientific interest, sexology research and societal
influence
o Dominated by physicians, which was a divergence from the past (in which sexuality
was mostly a moral issue)
- Post-WW2
o More interdisciplinary (also biology, psychology, sociology)
o US leading in sexology (Kinsey, Money)
o Europe: first feminist wave e.g. Simone de Beauvoir (La deuxieme sexe, 1949)
- Sexual liberation (’60)
o Sexual revolution, second feminist wave, oral contraceptives
o Masters & Johnson, “discovery” human sexual response
- 1973-2000
o Social-constructionist versus medicalization/ evolutionary perspective
o Simon & Gagnon: The social sources of human sexuality
o 1974: Homosexuality removed from DSM (no longer considered a mental disorder)
o More attention for sexual violence and inequality (Shere Hite, susan Brownmiller)
- Recent developments
o Professionalization sexology
o “discovery” of the full anatomy of the clitoris
o More attention for sexual pleasure and inequality, e.g., orgasm gap
,Alfred Kinsey
- Biologist, zoologist and sexologist
- wrote the Kinsey report (a lot of interviews)
- It was revolutionary, because he moved the field from medical to interdisciplinary
- Taxonomy of human sexual behaviours (including paedophilia)
- Controversial in his time: revelations about masturbation, orgasm, premarital sex,
homosexuality (37% of all men have had homosexual orgasm), differences and similarities
between men and women, and more He was just describing
- Sexuality was more like a scale
John money (1921-2006)
- psychologist, sexologist
- Ground-breaking clinical empirical studies on gender identity development among intersex
children
- Introduced the term ‘gender’ (1955): all those things that a person says or does to disclose
himself or herself as having the status of man or woman. It includes, but is not restricted to,
sexuality in the sense of eroticism.
- Criticized for e.g. David Reimer sex reassignment study
Experiments were unethical in this time, but he introduced the term gender. He was
important in term of saying gender is not the same as biological sex
- Questioned Freud so, he was about the social perspective
William Masters & Virginia Johnson
- 1966: ‘discovery’ of the human sexual response cycle
o Stage 1: Excitement
o Stage 2: Plateau
o Stage 3: Orgasm
o Stage 4: Resolution
- A natural physiological process, can be blocked by psychological inhibitions
- Controversial methods: observing people having sex
- Layed foundations for behavioural therapy of sexual dysfunctions
o Described stages and these layed foundations
The 70’s
- Henry Foucault, Jonh Gagnon, William Simon Shere Hite, Susan Brownmiller
- Emergence of social-constructivist perspectives
o Became a more social concept
- Dismissed the Freudian idea of ‘sexual instinct’
- Growing attention for sexual violence, sexual equality (m/f)
- Sexuality = product of societal regulation, norms, meaning, and the freedom/ right to express
themselves
- Sexual behavior = social behavior
o Sensitive for interpersonal and intra-psychological cultural script
, 1974: removal of homosexuality from the DSM
- After heated debate, 58% of 10.000 APA psychiatrists voted that homosexuality is no longer a
‘ mental disorder’
- Increased awareness:
o What is normal and abnormal?
o What is sexual ‘deviance’ or ‘variation’?
1998/2005: ‘discovery’ of the full anatomy of the clitoris - Helen O’Connell, US urologist
Ellen Laan (1962-2021)
- Ground-breaking research into female sexual arousal Psychologist/ sexologist/ professor
- Myths maintain sexual inequalities:
o Men have a biological need for sex → “libido does not exist”
It is a phenomenon that is made up to keep inequalities in place
o Penis and vagina are important for reproduction and therefore for sex → “Only
heterosexual men have vaginal orgasms”
o Sex differences lead to sexual gender differences → “The capacity for sexual pleasure
is similar in men and women”
Sexual inequality observations
- Orgasm gap
o In heterosexual relationships, women have fewer orgasms then the men with whom
they have sex (65% vs 95%; Frederick et al. 2018)
o Women in lesbian relationships have more orgasms
- Sexual pain
o About 10% of women always have pain during intercourse, in men this is rare
o Pain during intercourse is prevalent in young women (>50% in NL, De Graaf et al.,
2005)
It’s not normal to experience pain
o The expectation of pain impairs arousal -- > more pain (Brauer et al., 2007)
Creates a vicious cycle
- Sexual coercion & sexual violence
o Sexual violence is more common among women
Sexual EQUALITY observations
- Men and women are similar in the capacity to experience sexual pleasure
o Responsivity to sexual stimuli
o Sexual desire
o Sex drive/ hormones (no, men aren’t always in the mood…)
- But: men and women have different opportunities for sexual pleasure (in heterosexual
relationships)
o Gendered scripts, coital imperative
o The way our bodies are build (vagina is more on the inside)
o Sexual inequalities
