Human sexual behaviour

human sexual behaviour, any activitysolitary, between

two persons, or in a groupthat induces sexual arousal. TABLE OF CONTENTS
There are two major determinants of human sexual
Introduction
behaviour: the inherited sexual response patterns that
have evolved as a means of ensuring reproduction and that Types of behaviour
are a part of each individuals genetic inheritance, and the Physiological aspects
degree of restraint or other types of inuence exerted on Psychological aspects
the individual by society in the expression of his sexuality.
Social and cultural aspects
The objective here is to describe and explain both sets of
Sexually transmitted diseases
factors and their interaction.

It should be noted that taboos in Western culture and the

immaturity of the social sciences for a long time impeded research concerning human
sexual behaviour, so that by the early 20th century scientic knowledge was largely
restricted to individual case histories that had been studied by such European writers as
Sigmund Freud, Havelock Ellis, and Richard, freiherr von Krafft-Ebing. By the 1920s,
however, the foundations had been laid for the more extensive statistical studies that were
conducted before World War II in the United States. Of the two major organizations for sex
study, one, the Institut fr Sexualwissenschaft in Berlin (established in 1897), was destroyed
by the Nazis in 1933. The other, the Institute for Sex Research (later renamed Kinsey
Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction), begun in 1938 by the American
sexologist Alfred Charles Kinsey at Indiana University in Bloomington, undertook the study
of human sexual behaviour. Much of the following discussion rests on the ndings of the
Institute for Sex Research, which comprise the most comprehensive data available. The
only other country for which comprehensive data exist is Sweden.

TYPES OF BEHAVIOUR
Human sexual behaviour may conveniently be classied according to the number and
gender of the participants. There is solitary behaviour involving only one individual, and
there is sociosexual behaviour involving more than one person. Sociosexual behaviour is
generally divided into heterosexual behaviour (male with female) and homosexual
behaviour (male with male or female with female). If three or more individuals are involved
it is, of course, possible to have heterosexual and homosexual activity simultaneously.

In both solitary and sociosexual behaviour there may be activities that are sufciently
unusual to warrant the label deviant behaviour. The term deviant should not be used as a
moral judgment but simply as indicating that such activity is not common in a particular
society. Since human societies differ in their sexual practices, what is deviant in one society
may be normal in another.
SOLITARY BEHAVIOUR
Self-masturbation is self-stimulation with the intention of causing sexual arousal and,
generally, orgasm (sexual climax). Most masturbation is done in private as an end in itself
but is sometimes practiced to facilitate a sociosexual relationship.

Masturbation, generally beginning at or before puberty, is very common among males,

particularly young males, but becomes less frequent or is abandoned when sociosexual
activity is available. Consequently, masturbation is most frequent among the unmarried.
Fewer females masturbate; in the United States, roughly one-half to two-thirds have done
so, as compared to nine out of ten males. Females also tend to reduce or discontinue
masturbation when they develop sociosexual relationships. There is great individual
variation in frequency, so that it is impractical to try to dene what range could be
considered normal.

The myth persists, despite scientic proof to the contrary, that masturbation is physically
harmful. Neither is there evidence that masturbation is immature behaviour; it is common
among adults deprived of sociosexual opportunities. While solitary masturbation does
provide pleasure and relief from the tension of sexual excitement, it does not have the
same psychological gratication that interaction with another person provides; thus,
extremely few people prefer masturbation to sociosexual activity. The psychological
signicance of masturbation lies in how the individual regards it. For some, it is laden with
guilt; for others, it is a release from tension with no emotional content; and for others it is
simply another source of pleasure to be enjoyed for its own sake.

The majority of males and females have fantasies of some sociosexual activity while they
masturbate. The fantasy not infrequently involves idealized sexual partners and activities
that the individual has not experienced and even might avoid in real life.

Since the masturbating person is in sole control of the areas that are stimulated, the
degree of pressure, and the rapidity of movement, masturbation is often more effective in
producing sexual arousal and orgasm than is sociosexual activity, during which the
stimulation is determined to some degree by ones partner.

Orgasm in sleep evidently occurs only in humans. Its causes are not wholly known. The idea
that it results from the pressure of accumulated semen is invalid because not only do
nocturnal emissions sometimes occur in males on successive nights, but females
experience orgasm in sleep as well. In some cases orgasm in sleep seems a compensatory
phenomenon, occurring during times when the individual has been deprived of or abstains
from other sexual activity. In other cases it may result from external stimuli, such as
sleeping prone or having night clothing caught between ones legs. Most orgasms during
sleep are accompanied by erotic dreams.

A great majority of males experience orgasm in sleep. This almost always begins and is
most frequent in adolescence, tending to disappear later in life. Fewer females have
orgasm in sleep, and, unlike males, they usually begin having such experience when fully
adult.

Orgasm in sleep is generally infrequent, seldom exceeding a dozen times per year for males
and three or four times a year for the average female.

Most sexual arousal does not lead to sexual activity with another individual. Humans are
constantly exposed to sexual stimuli when seeing attractive persons and are subjected to
sexual themes in advertising and the mass media. Response to such visual and other
stimuli is strongest in adolescence and early adult life and usually gradually declines with
advancing age. One of the necessary tasks of growing up is learning to cope with ones
sexual arousal and to achieve some balance between suppression, which can be injurious,
and free expression, which can lead to social difculties. There is great variation among
individuals in the strength of sex drive and responsiveness, so this necessary exercise of
restraint is correspondingly difcult or easy.

SOCIOSEXUAL BEHAVIOUR
By far the greatest amount of sociosexual behaviour is heterosexual behaviour between
only one male and one female. Heterosexual behaviour frequently begins in childhood,
and, while much of it may be motivated by curiosity, such as showing or examining
genitalia, many children engage in sex play because it is pleasurable. The sexual impulse
and responsiveness are present in varying degrees in most children and latent in the
remainder. With adolescence, sex play is superseded by dating, which is socially
encouraged, and dating almost inevitably involves some physical contact resulting in
sexual arousal. This contact, labelled necking or petting, is a part of the learning process
and ultimately of courtship and the selection of a marriage partner.

Petting varies from hugging, kissing, and generalized caresses of the clothed body to
techniques involving genital stimulation. Petting may be done for its own sake as an
expression of affection and a source of pleasure, and it may occur as a preliminary to coitus.
This last form of petting is known as foreplay. In a minority of cases, but a substantial
minority, petting leads to orgasm and may be a substitute for coitus. Excluding foreplay,
petting is usually very stereotyped, beginning with hugging and kissing and gradually
escalating to stimulation of the breasts and genitalia. In most societies petting and its
escalation are initiated by the male more often than by the female, who generally rejects or
accepts the males overtures but refrains from playing a more aggressive role. Petting in
some form is a near-universal human experience and is valuable not only in mate selection
but as a means of learning how to interact with another person sexually.

Coitus, the insertion of the penis into the vagina, is viewed by society quite differently
depending upon the marital status of the individuals. The majority of human societies
permit premarital coitus, at least under certain circumstances. In more repressive societies,
such as modern Western society, it is more likely to be tolerated (but not encouraged) if the
individuals intend marriage. Marital coitus is usually regarded as an obligation in most
societies. Extramarital coitus, particularly by wives, is generally condemned and, if
permitted, is allowed only under exceptional conditions or with specied persons. Societies
tend to be more lenient toward males than females regarding extramarital coitus. This
double standard of morality is also seen in premarital life. Postmarital coitus (i.e., coitus by
separated, divorced or widowed persons) is almost always ignored. Even societies that try
to conne coitus to marriage recognize the difculty of trying to force abstinence upon
sexually experienced and usually older persons.

In the United States and much of Europe, there has been, within the last century, a
progressive trend toward an increase in premarital coitus. Currently in the United States, at
least three-quarters of the males and over half of the females have experienced premarital
coitus. The proportions for this experience vary in different groups and socioeconomic
classes. In Scandinavia, the incidence of premarital coitus is far greater, exceeding the 90
percent mark in Sweden, where it is now expected behaviour.

Extramarital coitus continues to be openly condemned but is becoming more tolerated

secretly, particularly if mitigating circumstances are involved. In some areas, such as
southern Europe and Latin America, extramarital coitus is expected of most husbands and
is accepted by society if the behaviour is not too agrant. The wives do not generally
approve but are resigned to what they believe to be a masculine propensity. In the United
States, where at least half the husbands and one-quarter of the wives have extramarital
coitus at some point in their lives, there have recently developed small organizations or
clubs that exist to provide extramarital coitus for married couples. Despite the publicity
they have engendered, however, extremely few individuals have belonged to such
organizations. Most extramarital coitus is done secretly without the knowledge of the
spouse. Most husbands and wives feel very possessive of their spouses and interpret
extramarital activity as an aspersion on their own sexual adequacy, as indicating a loss of
affection and as being a source of social disgrace.

Human beings are not inherently monogamous but have a natural desire for diversity in
their sexuality as in other aspects of life. Some societies have provided a release for these
desires by suspending the restraints on extramarital coitus on special occasions or with
certain individuals, and in modern Western society a certain amount of extramarital
irtation or mild petting at parties is not considered unusual behaviour.

Discussion of sociosexual behaviour would be incomplete without some note of the role it
has played in ceremony and religion. While the major religions of today are to varying
degrees antisexual, many religions have incorporated sexual behaviour into their rites and
ceremonies. Human beings ancient and continuing interest in their own fertility and in
that of food plants and animals makes such a connection between sex and religion
inevitable, particularly among peoples with uncertain food supplies. In most religions the
deities were considered to have active sexual lives and sometimes took a sexual interest in
humans. In this regard it is noteworthy that in Christianity sexual behaviour is absent in
heaven and sexual proclivities are ascribed only to evil supernatural beings: Satan, devils,
incubi, and succubi (spirits or demons who seek out sleeping humans for sexual
intercourse).

Whether or not a behaviour is interpreted by society or the individual as erotic (i.e., capable
of engendering sexual response) depends chiey on the context in which the behaviour
occurs. A kiss, for example, may express asexual affection (as a kiss between relatives),
respect (a French ofcer kissing a soldier after bestowing a medal on him), reverence
(kissing the hand or foot of a pope), or it may be a casual salutation and social amenity.
Even something as specic as touching genitalia is not construed as sexual if done for
medical reasons. In other words, the apparent motivation of the behaviour determines its
interpretation.

Individuals are extremely sensitive in judging motivations: a greeting kiss, if protracted

more than a second or two, takes on a sexual connotation, and recent studies show that if
an adult male at a party stands closer than the length of his hand and forearm to a female,
she generally imputes a sexual motive to his proximity. Nudity is construed as erotic or even
as a sexual invitationunless it occurs in a medical context, in a group consisting of but one
gender, or in a nudist camp.

PHYSIOLOGICAL ASPECTS

SEXUAL RESPONSE
Sexual response follows a pattern of sequential stages or phases when sexual activity is
continued. First, there is the excitement phase marked by increase in pulse and blood
pressure, an increase in blood supply to the surface of the body resulting in increased skin
temperature, ushing, and swelling of all distensible body parts (particularly noticeable in
the penis and female breasts), more rapid breathing, the secretion of genital uids, vaginal
expansion, and a general increase in muscle tension. These symptoms of arousal eventually
increase to a near maximal physiological level, the plateau phase, which is generally of brief
duration. If stimulation is continued, orgasm usually occurs. Orgasm is marked by a feeling
of sudden intense pleasure, an abrupt increase in pulse rate and blood pressure, and
spasms of the pelvic muscles causing vaginal contractions in the female and ejaculation by
the male. Involuntary vocalization may also occur. Orgasm lasts for a few seconds (normally
not over ten), after which the individual enters the resolution phase, the return to a normal
or subnormal physiological state. Up to the resolution phase, males and females are the
same in their response sequence, but, whereas males return to normal even if stimluation
continues, continued stimulation can produce additional orgasms in females. In brief, after
one orgasm a male becomes unresponsive to sexual stimulation and cannot begin to build
up another excitement phase until some period of time has elapsed, but females are
physically capable of repeated orgasms without the intervening rest period required by
males.

GENETIC AND HORMONAL FACTORS

While all normal individuals are born with the neurophysiology necessary for the sexual-
response cycle described above, inheritance determines the intensity of their responses
and their basic sex drive. There is great variation in this regard: some persons have the
need for frequent sexual expressions; others require very little; and some persons respond
quickly and violently, while others are slower and milder in their reactions. While the
genetic basis of these differences is unknown and while such variations are obscured by
conditioning, there is no doubt that sexual capacities, like all other physiological capacities,
are genetically determined. It is unlikely, however, that genes control the sexual orientation
of normal humans in the sense of individuals being predestined to become homosexual or
heterosexual. Some severe genetic abnormality can, of course, profoundly affect
intelligence, sexual capacity, and physical appearance and hence the entire sexual life.

While the normal female has 44 autosomes plus two X-chromosomes (female) and the
normal male 44 autosomes plus one X-chromosome and one Y-chromosome (male), many
genetic abnormalities are possible. There are females, for example, with too many X-
chromosomes (44+XXX) or too few (44+X) and males with an extra female chromosome
(44+XXY) or an extra male chromosome (44+XYY). No 44+YY males existan X-chromosome
is necessary for survival, even in the womb.

Ones genetic makeup determines ones hormonal status and the sensitivity of ones body
to these hormones. While a disorder of any part of the endocrine system can adversely
affect sexual life, the hormones most directly inuencing sexuality are the androgens (male
sex hormones), produced chiey in the testicles, and the estrogens (female sex hormones),
produced chiey in the ovaries. In early embryonic life there are neither testicles nor ovaries
but simply two undifferentiated organs (gonads) that can develop either into testicles or
ovaries. If the embryo has a Y-chromosome, the gonads become testicles; otherwise, they
become ovaries. The testicles of the fetus produce androgens, and these cause the fetus to
develop male anatomy. The absence of testicles results in the development of female
anatomy. Animal experiments show that, if the testicles of a male fetus are removed, the
individual will develop into what seems a female (although lacking ovaries). Consequently,
it has been said that humans are basically female.

After birth and until puberty, the ovaries and testicles produce comparatively few
hormones, and little girls and boys are much alike in size and appearance. At puberty,
however, these organs begin producing in greater abundance, with dramatic results. The
androgens produced by boys cause changes in body build, greater muscular development,
body and facial hair, and voice change. In girls the estrogens cause breast development,
menstruation, and feminine body build. A boy castrated before puberty does not develop
masculine physical characteristics and manifests in adult life more of a feminine body
build, lack of masculine body and facial hair, less muscular strength, a high voice, and small
genitalia. A girl who has her ovaries removed before puberty is less markedly altered but
retains a childlike body build, does not develop breasts, and never menstruates. Castrated
individuals or persons producing insufcient hormones can be restored to a normal
condition by administration of appropriate hormones.

Beyond their role in developing the secondary sexual characteristics of the body, the
hormones continue to play a role in adult life. An androgen deciency causes a decrease in
a mans sexual responsiveness, and an estrogen deciency adversely affects a womans
fertility and causes atrophy of the genitalia. A loss of energy may also result in both men
and women.

Androgen seems linked in both males and females with aggressiveness and strength of
sexual drive. When androgen is given to a female in animal experiments, she becomes
more aggressive and displays behaviour more typical of malesby mounting other animals,
for example. Estrogen increases her sexual responsiveness and intensies her female
behaviour. Androgen given to a male often increases his sexual behaviour, but estrogen
diminishes his sex drive.

In humans the picture is more complex, since human sexual behaviour and response is less
dependent on hormones once adulthood has been reached. Removing androgen from an
adult male reduces his sexual capacity; but this occurs gradually, and sometimes the
reduction is small. Giving androgen to a normal human male generally has little or no
effect since he is already producing all he can use. Giving him estrogen reduces his sex
drive. Administration of androgen to an adult human female often increases her sex drive,
enlarges her clitoris, and promotes the growth of facial hair. Giving estrogen to a normal
woman before menopausal age generally has no effect whatsoeverprobably because
human females, unlike other female mammals, do not have hormonally controlled periods
of heat (estrus).

Hormones have no connection with the sexual orientation of humans. Male homosexuals
do not have more estrogens than normal males (who have a little) nor can their preferences
be altered by giving them androgen.

NERVOUS SYSTEM FACTORS

The nervous system consists of the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous
system. The brain and spinal cord constitute the central system, while the peripheral
system is composed of (1) the cerebrospinal nerves that go to the spinal cord (afferent
nerves), transmitting sensory stimuli and those that come from the cord (efferent nerves)
transmitting impulses to activate muscles, and (2) the autonomic system, the primary
function of which is the regulation and maintenance of the body processes necessary to
life, such as heart rate, breathing, digestion, and temperature control. Sexual response
involves the entire nervous system. The autonomic system controls the involuntary
responses; the afferent cerebrospinal nerves carry the sensory messages to the brain; the
efferent cerebrospinal nerves carry commands from the brain to the muscles; and the
spinal cord serves as a great transmission cable. The brain itself is the coordinating and
controlling centre, interpreting what sensations are to be perceived as sexual and issuing
appropriate orders to the rest of the nervous system.

The parts of the brain thought to be most concerned with sexual response are the
hypothalamus and the limbic system, but no specialized sex centre has been located in
the human brain. Animal experiments indicate that each individual has coded in its brain
two sexual response patterns, one for mounting (masculine) behaviour and one for
mounted (feminine) behaviour. The mounting pattern can be elicited or intensied by male
sex hormone and the mounted pattern by female sex hormone. Normally, one response
pattern is dominant and the other latent but capable of being called into action when
suitable circumstances occur. The degree to which such inherent patterning exists in
humans is unknown.

While the brain is normally in charge, there is some reex (i.e., not brain-controlled) sexual
response. Stimulation of the genital and perineal area can cause the genital reex:
erection and ejaculation in the male, vaginal changes and lubrication in the female. This
reex is mediated by the lower spinal cord, and the brain need not be involved. Of course,
the brain can override and suppress such reex activityas it does when an individual
decides that a sexual response is socially inappropriate.

DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE IN THE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM

Ones anatomy and sexuality change with age. The changes are rapid in intra-uterine life
and around puberty but are much slower and gradual in other phases of the life cycle.

The reproductive organs rst develop in the same form for both males and females:
internally there are two undifferentiated gonads and two pairs of parallel ducts (Wolfan
and Mllerian ducts); externally there is a genital protrusion with a groove (urethral groove)
below it, the groove being anked by two folds (urethral folds). On either side of the genital
protrusion and groove are two ridgelike swellings (labioscrotal swellings). Around the
fourth week of life the gonads differentiate into either testes or ovaries. If testes develop,
the hormone they secrete causes the Mllerian duct to degenerate and almost vanish and
causes the Wolfan duct to elaborate into the sperm-carrying tubes and related organs
(the vas deferens, epididymis, and seminal vesicles, for example). If ovaries develop, the
Wolfan duct deteriorates, and the Mllerian duct elaborates to form the fallopian tubes,
uterus, and part of the vagina. The external genitalia simultaneously change. The genital
protrusion becomes either a penis or clitoris. In the female the groove below the clitoris
stays open to form the vulva, and the folds on either side of the groove become the inner
lips of the vulva (the labia minora). In the male these folds grow together, converting the
groove into the urethral tube of the penis. The ridgelike swellings on either side remain
apart in the female and constitute the large labia (labia majora), but in the male they grow
together to form the scrotal sac into which the testes subsequently descend.

At birth both male and female have all the neurophysiological equipment necessary for
sexual response, although the reproductive system is not at this stage functional. Sexual
interests, sexual behaviour, and sexual response are seen with increasing frequency in most
children from infancy on. Even newborn males have penile erections, and babies of both
sexes seem to nd pleasure in genital stimulation. What appears to be orgasm has been
observed in infant boys and girls, and, later in childhood, orgasm denitely can occur in
masturbation or sex play.

Puberty may be dened as that short period of time (generally two years) during which the
reproductive system matures and the secondary sexual characteristics appear. The ovaries
and testes begin producing much larger amounts of hormones, pubic hair appears, female
breasts develop, the menstrual cycle begins in females, spermatozoa and viable eggs are
produced, and males experience voice change and a sudden acceleration in growth.
Puberty generally occurs in females around age 1213 and in males at about 1314, but there
is much individual variation. With puberty there is generally an intensication or the rst
appearance of sexual interest. Puberty marks the beginning of adolescence.

Adolescence, from a physical viewpoint, is that period between puberty and the
attainment of ones maximum height. By the latter point, which occurs around age 16 in
females and 18 in males, the individual has adult anatomy and physiology. In late
adolescence the majority of individuals are probably at their peak in terms of sexual
capacity: the ability to respond quickly and repeatedly. During this period the sex drive is at
its maximum in males, although it is difcult to say whether this is also true of females,
since female sexuality, in many societies, is frequently suppressed during adolescence.

Following adolescence there are about three decades of adult life during which
physiological changes are slow and gradual. While muscular strength increases for a time,
the changes may best be described as slow deterioration. This physical decline is not
immediately evident in sexual behaviour, which often increases in quantity and quality as
the individual develops more social skills and higher socio-economic status and loses some
of the inhibitions and uncertainties that often impede adolescent sexuality. Indeed, in the
case of the United States female, the deterioration is more than offset by her gradual loss of
sexual inhibition, and the effect of age is not clear until menopausal symptoms begin. In
the male, however, there is no such masking of deterioration, and the frequency of sexual
activity and the intensity of interest and response slowly, but inexorably, decline.

If one must arbitrarily select an age to mark the beginning of old age, 50 is appropriate. By
then, most females have experienced menopausal symptoms, and most males have been
forced to recognize their increasing physical limitations. With menopause, the female
genitalia gradually begin to atrophy and the amount of vaginal secretion diminishesthis is
the direct consequence of the cessation of ovarian function and can be prevented, or the
symptoms reversed, by administering estrogen. If a female has had a good sexual
adjustment prior to menopause and if she does not believe in the fallacy that it spells the
end of sexual life, menopause will have no adverse effect on her sexual and orgasmic
ability. There is reason to believe that if a woman remains in good health and genital
atrophy is prevented, she could enjoy sexual activity regardless of age. Males in good health
are also capable of continuing sexual activity, although with an ever-decreasing frequency,
throughout old age. The male has more difculty in achieving erection, cannot maintain
erection as long, and must have longer and longer rest periods between sexual acts. The
amount of ejaculate becomes less, but most old males are still fertile. The Cowpers gland
secretion (called precoital mucus) diminishes or disappears entirely. According to Kinseys
data, about one-quarter of males are impotent by age 65, one-half by age 75, and three-
quarters by age 80. One must remember, however, that some unknown but certainly
substantial proportion of this impotence may be attributed to poor health.

In general, the female withstands the onslaughts of age better than the male. The
reduction in the frequency of marital intercourse or even its abandonment is more often
than not the result of male deterioration.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS

EFFECTS OF EARLY CONDITIONING

Physiology sets only very broad limits on human sexuality; most of the enormous variation
found among humans must be attributed to the psychological factors of learning and
conditioning.

The human infant is born simply with the ability to respond sexually to tactile stimulation.
It is only later and gradually that the individual learns or is conditioned to respond to other
stimuli, to develop a sexual attraction to males or females or both, to interpret some stimuli
as sexual and others as nonsexual, and to control in some measure his or her sexual
response. In other words, the general and diffuse sexuality of the infant becomes
increasingly elaborated, differentiated, and specic.

The early years of life are, therefore, of paramount importance in the development of what
ultimately becomes adult sexual orientation. There appears to be a reasonably xed
sequence of development. Before age ve, the child develops a sense of gender identity,
thinks of himself or herself as a boy or girl, and begins to relate to others differently
according to their gender. Through experience the child learns what behaviour is rewarded
and what is punished and what sorts of behaviour are expected of him or her. Parents,
peers, and society in general teach and condition the child about sex not so much by direct
informational statements and admonitions as by indirect and often unconscious
communication. The child soon learns, for example, that he can touch any part of his body
or someone elses body except the analgenital region. The child rubbing its genitals nds
that this quickly attracts adult attention and admonishment or that adults will divert him
or her from this activity. It becomes clear that there is something peculiar and taboo about
this area of the body. This genital taboo is reinforced by the great concern over the childs
excretory behaviour: bladder and bowel control is praised; loss of control is met by
disappointment, chiding, and expressions of disgust. Obviously, the analgenital area is not
only a taboo area but a very important one as well. It is almost inevitable that the genitalia
become associated with anxiety and shame. It is noteworthy that this attitude nds
expression in the language of Western civilizations, as in privates (something to be kept
hidden) and the German word for the genitals, Scham (shame).

While all children in Western civilizations experience this antisexual teaching and
conditioning, a few have, in addition, atypical sexual experiences, such as witnessing or
hearing sexual intercourse or having sexual contact with an older person. The effects of
such atypical experiences depend upon how the child interprets them and upon the
reaction of adults if the experience comes to their attention. Seeing parental coitus is
harmless if the child interprets it as playful wrestling but harmful if he considers it as
hostile, assaultive behaviour. Similarly, an experience with an adult may seem merely a
curious and pointless game, or it may be a hideous trauma leaving lifelong psychic scars. In
many cases the reaction of parents and society determines the childs interpretation of the
event. What would have been a trivial and soon-forgotten act becomes traumatic if the
mother cries, the father rages, and the police interrogate the child.

Some atypical developments occur through association during the formative years. A child
may associate clothing, especially underclothing, stockings, and shoes with gender and sex
and thereby establish the basis for later fetishism or transvestism. Others, having been
spanked or otherwise punished for self-masturbation or childhood sex play, form an
association between punishment, pain, and sex that could escalate later into sadism or
masochism. It is not known why some children form such associations whereas others with
apparently similar experience do not.

Around the age of puberty, parents and society, who more often than not refuse to
recognize that children have sexual responses and capabilities, nally face the inescapable
reality and consequently begin inculcating children with their attitudes and standards
regarding sex. This campaign by adults is almost wholly negativethe child is told what not
to do. While dating may be encouraged, no form of sexual activity is advocated or held up
as model behaviour. The message usually is be popular (i.e., sexually attractive), but
abstain from sexual activity. This antisexualism is particularly intense regarding young
females and is reinforced by reference to pregnancy, venereal disease, and, most
importantly, social disgrace. To this list religious families add the concept of the sinfulness
of premarital sexual expression. With young males the double standard of morality still
prevails. The youth receives a double message, dont do it, but we expect that you will. No
such loophole in the prohibitions is offered young girls. Meanwhile, the young males peer
group is exerting a prosexual inuence, and his social status is enhanced by his sexual
exploits or by exaggerated reports thereof.

As a result of this double standard of sexual morality, the relationship between young
males and females often becomes a ritualized contest, the male attempting to escalate the
sexual activity and the female resisting his efforts. Instead of mutuality and respect, one
often has a struggle in which the female is viewed as a reluctant sexual object to be
exploited, and the male is viewed as a seducer and aggressor who must succeed in order to
maintain his self-image and his status with his peers. This sort of pathological relationship
causes a lasting attitude on the part of females: men are not to be trusted; they are
interested only in sex; a girl dare not smile or be friendly lest males interpret it as a sign of
sexual availability, and so forth. Such an aura of suspicion, hostility, and anxiety is scarcely
conducive to the development of warm, trusting relationships between males and females.
Fortunately, love or infatuation usually overcomes this negativism with regard to particular
males, but the average female still maintains a defensive and skeptical attitude toward
men.

Western society is replete with attitudes that impede the development of a healthy
attitude toward sex. The free abandon so necessary to a full sexual relationship is, in the
eyes of many, an unseemly loss of self-control, and self-control is something one is urged to
maintain from infancy onward. Panting, sweating, and involuntary vocalization are
incompatible with the image of dignity. Worse yet is any substance once it has left the
body: it immediately becomes unclean. The male and female genital uids are generally
regarded with disgustthey are not only excretions but sexual excretions. Here again,
societal concern over excretion is involved, for sexual organs are also urinary passages and
are in close proximity to the dirtiest of all placesthe anus. Lastly, many individuals in
society regard menstrual uid with disgust and abstain from sexual intercourse during the
four to six days of ow. This attitude is formalized in Judaism, in which menstruating
females are specically labelled as ritually unclean.

In view of all these factors working against a healthy, rational attitude toward sex and in
view of the inevitable disappointments, exploitations, and rejections that are involved in
human relationships, one might wonder how anyone could reach adulthood without being
seriously maladjusted. The sexual impulse, however, is sufciently strong and persistent
and repeated sexual activity gradually erodes the inhibitions and any sense of guilt or
shame. Further, all humans have a deep need to be esteemed, wanted, and loved. Sexual
activity with another is seen as proof that one is attractive, desired, valued, and possibly
loveda proof very necessary to self-esteem and happiness. Hence, even among the very
inhibited or those with weak sex drive, there is this powerful motivation to engage in
sociosexual activity.

Most persons ultimately achieve at least a tolerable sexual adjustment. Some unfortunates,
nevertheless, remain permanently handicapped, and very few completely escape the
effects of societys antisexual conditioning. While certain inhibitions and restraints are
socially and psychologically usefulsuch as deferring gratication until circumstances are
appropriate and modifying behaviour out of regard for the feelings of othersmost people
labour under an additional burden of useless and deleterious attitudes and restrictions.

SEXUAL PROBLEMS
Sexual problems may be classied as physiological, psychological, and social in origin. Any
given problem may involve all three categories; a physiological problem, for example, will
produce psychological effects, and these may result in some social maladjustment.

Physiological problems of a specically sexual nature are rather few. Only a small minority
of people suffer from diseases of or decient development of the genitalia or that part of
the neurophysiology governing sexual response. Many people, however, experience at some
time sexual problems that are by-products of other pathologies or injuries.

Vaginal infections, for example, retroverted uteri, prostatitis, adrenal tumours, diabetes,
senile changes of the vagina, and cardiovascular conditions may cause disturbance of the
sexual life. In brief, anything that seriously interferes with normal bodily functioning
generally causes some degree of sexual trouble. Fortunately, the great majority of
physiological sexual problems are solved through medication or surgery. Generally, only
those problems involving damage to the nervous system defy therapy.

Psychological problems constitute by far the largest category. They are not only the
product of socially induced inhibitions, maladaptive attitudes, and ignorance but also of
sexual myths held by society. An example of the latter is the idea that good, mature sex
must involve rapid erection, protracted coitus, and simultaneous orgasm. Magazines,
marriage books, and general sexual folklore reinforce these demanding ideals, which
cannot always be met and hence give rise to anxiety, guilt, and feelings of inadequacy.

Premature ejaculation is a common problem, especially for young males. Sometimes this is
not the consequence of any psychological problem but the natural result of excessive
tension in a male who has been sexually deprived. In such cases, more frequent coitus
solves the problem. Premature ejaculation is difcult to dene. The best denition is that
offered by the American sexologists, William Howell Masters and Virginia Eshelman
Johnson, who say that a male suffers from premature ejaculation if he cannot delay
ejaculation long enough to induce orgasm in a sexually normal female at least half the
time. This generally means that vaginal penetration with some movement (although not
continuous) must be maintained for more than one minute. The average American male
ejaculates in two or three minutes after vaginal penetration, a coital duration sufcient to
cause orgasm in most females the majority of the time. Various methods of preventing
premature ejaculation have been tried. One is for the male to excite the female more
during the foreplay so that she reaches orgasm more rapidly after penetration, but this
technique often excites the male as well and defeats its purpose. Another common
method is for the male to think of nonsexual matters, which may prove effective but
reduces his pleasure. The most effective therapy is that advocated by Masters and Johnson
in which the female brings the male nearly to orgasm and then prevents the males orgasm
by briey compressing the penis between her ngers just below the head of the penis. The
couple come to realize that premature ejaculation can thus be easily prevented, their
anxiety disappears, and ultimately they can achieve normal coitus without resorting to this
squeeze technique.

Erectile impotence is almost always of psychological origin in males under 40; in older
males physical causes are more often involved. Fear of being impotent frequently causes
impotence, and, in many cases, the aficted male is simply caught up in a self-
perpetuating problem that can be solved only by achieving a successful act of coitus. In
other cases, the impotence may be the result of disinterest in the sexual partner, fatigue,
distraction because of nonsexual worries, intoxication, or other causessuch occasional
impotency is common and requires no therapy.

Some males, however, are chronically impotent and require psychotherapy or behaviour
therapy. Such impotency is thought to be the result of deep-seated causal factors such as
unconscious feelings of hostility, fear, inadequacy, or guilt. Primary impotence, the inability
to ever have achieved erection sufcient for coitus, is more difcult to treat than the far
more common secondary impotence, which is impotence in a male who was formerly
potent.

Ejaculatory impotence, the inability to ejaculate in coitus, is quite rare and is almost always
of psychogenic origin. It seems associated with ideas of contamination or with memories of
traumatic experiences. Occasional ejaculatory inability may be expected in older men or in
any male who has exceeded his sexual capacity.

Vaginismus is a powerful spasm of the pelvic musculature constricting the vagina so that
penetration is painful or impossible. It seems wholly due to antisexual conditioning or
psychological trauma and serves as an unconscious defense against coitus. It is treated by
psychotherapy and by gradually dilating the vagina with increasingly large cylinders.

Dyspareunia, painful coitus, is generally physical rather than psychological. It is mentioned

here only because some inexperienced females fear they cannot accommodate a penis
without being painfully stretched. This is a needless fear since the vagina is not only highly
elastic but enlarges with sexual arousal, so that even a small female can, if aroused, easily
receive an exceptionally large penis.

Disparity in sexual desire constitutes the most common sexual problem. It is to some
extent inescapable, since differences in the strength of the sexual impulse and the ability to
respond are based on neurophysiological differences. Much disparity, however, is the result
of inhibition or of one person having been subjected to more sexual stimuli during the day
than the other. The partner who has been seeing sexually attractive persons periodically
during the day and who may have had an opportunity to relax on the way back from the
ofce or store is naturally more interested in coitus than the partner who has not been
exposed to sexual stimuli. Another cause of disparity is a difference in viewpoint. Perhaps
one person anticipates coitus as a palliative to compensate for the trials and tribulations of
life, whereas another may be interested in sex only if the preceding hours have been
reasonably problem-free and happy. Even in cases of neurophysiological differences in sex
drive, the less-motivated partner can be trained to a higher level of interest, since most
humans operate well below their sexual capacities.

Psychological fatigue, a growing disinterest in sexual behaviour with a particular partner,

sometimes constitutes a problem. Humans are subject to monotony, and coitus may
become routine or even a chore. Lessening frequencies of marital coitus are more often the
result of this than of age. The solution lies in varying the time, the setting, and in breaking
away from habitual techniques and positions.

Preferences for or antipathies toward particular positions, techniques, or times frequently

cause trouble. One partner may desire mouth-genital contact or anal stimulation that the
other partner nds disagreeable or perverse. Some wish to have coitus in the light, others
insist upon darkness; some prefer morning, others evening. The possibilities for
disagreement are legion. Even if disagreements stemming from needless inhibition are
overcome, there still remain disparities in preference, and these should be met by the
philosophy that, by giving pleasure to another, one obtains pleasure. Needless to say, no
partner should insist upon that which is abhorrent to the other after the latter has made
honest attempts to cooperate.

Lack of female orgasm, anorgasmy, is a very frequent problem. One should differentiate
between females who become sexually aroused but do not reach orgasm and those who
do not become aroused. Only the latter merit the label frigid. It is common for females not
to achieve orgasm during the rst weeks or months of coital activity. It is almost as though
many females must learn how to have orgasm, for after having had one they respond with
increasing frequency. In some cases, the female initially has no idea how to copulate
effectively and simply lies passive, expecting the male to bring her to orgasm. Other
females resist orgasm because the feeling of being swept away and losing control is
frightening. In most cases, however, anorgasmy is simply the result of years of inhibition
having been trained since childhood to avoid yielding to the sexual impulse, it is difcult to
metamorphose into a responsive and orgasmic being. In the nal analysis, anorgasmy is
psychological in origin; few, if any, females lack the neurophysiology necessary for orgasm,
and anthropology shows that in sexually permissive societies virtually all females have little
difculty in attaining orgasm in coitus.

Anorgasmy is treated by removing inhibitions, by teaching coital techniques, and by

inducing orgasm through noncoital methods. The effective therapist should also impress
upon the female that not reaching orgasm is no sign of failure or inadequacy on her part or
her partners and that sexual activity is very pleasurable to both, even if orgasm does not
ensue. Indeed, some females derive great pleasure and satisfaction without orgasm, a fact
that should be made known to anxious male partners. Too great a concern over orgasm
defeats itself. As Kinsey once pointed out, thinking is the enemy of sexual pleasure, and a
female can scarcely have orgasm if she is worrying about whether she will attain it or not
and if she senses that her partner is mentally turning the pages of a marriage manual.

Lastly, sexual problems are often perpetuated by the inability of the partners to
communicate freely their feelings to one another. There is a curious and unfortunate
reticence about informing ones partner as to what does or does not contribute to ones
pleasure. The partner must function on a trial-and-error basis, ever on the alert for signs
indicating the efcacy of his or her efforts. This muteness is even more pronounced when it
comes to an individual making suggestions to the partner. Many persons feel that a
suggestion or request would be interpreted by the partner that he or she had been inept or
at least remiss. As with any other problems, sexual problems can be overcome or
ameliorated only if the individuals concerned communicate effectively.

SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ASPECTS

The effects of societal value systems on human sexuality are, as has already been
mentioned, profound. The American anthropologist George P. Murdock summarized the
situation, saying:

All societies have faced the problem of reconciling the need of controlling sex
with that of giving it adequate expression, and all have solved it by some
combination of cultural taboos, permissions, and injunctions. Prohibitory
regulations curb the socially more disruptive forms of sexual competition.
Permissive regulations allow at least the minimum impulse gratication
required for individual well-being. Very commonly, moreover, sex behavior is
specically enjoined by obligatory regulations where it appears directly to
subserve the interests of society.

The historical heritage is, of course, the foundation upon which the current situation rests.
Western civilizations are basically Greco-Roman in social organization, philosophy, and law,
with a powerful admixture of Judaism and Christianity. This historical mixture contained
incompatible elements: individual freedom was cherished, yet there was a great emphasis
on law and proper procedure; the pantheism of the Greeks and Romans clashed with
Judeo-Christian monotheism; and the sexual permissiveness of Hellenistic times was
answered by the antisexuality of early Christianity.

In terms of sex, the most important factor was Christianity. While other vital aspects of
human life, such as government, property rights, kinship, and economics, were inuenced
to varying degrees, sexuality was singled out as falling almost entirely within the domain of
religion. This development arose from an ascetic concept shared by a number of religions,
the concept of the good spiritual world as opposed to the carnal materialistic world, the
struggle between the spirit and the esh. Since sex epitomizes the esh, it was obviously
the enemy of the spirit. Beginning in the 2nd century, Western Christianity was heavily
inuenced by this dichotomous philosophy of the Gnostics; sex in any form outside of
marriage was an unmitigated evil and, within marriage, an unfortunate necessity for
purposes of procreation rather than pleasure. The powerful antisexuality of the early
Christians (note that neither God nor Christ has a wife and that marriage does not exist in
heaven) was in part due to their apocalyptic vision of life: they anticipated that the end of
the world and the Last Judgment would soon be upon them. There was no time for a
gradual weaning away from the esh; an immediate and drastic approach was necessary.
Indeed, such excessive antisexuality developed that the church itself was nally moved to
curb some of its more extreme forms.
As it became evident that human existence was going to continue for some unforeseeable
length of time and as occasional intelligent theologians made themselves felt, antisexuality
was ameliorated to some extent but still remained a foundation stone of Christianity for
centuries. This attitude was particularly unfortunate for women, to whom most of the
sexual guilt was assigned. Women, like the original temptress Eve, continued to attract men
to commit sin. They were spiritually weak creatures prone to yield to carnal impulses. This
is, of course, a classic example of projecting ones own guilty desires upon someone else.

Ultimately, legal control over sexual behaviour passed from the church to the state, but in
most instances the latter simply perpetuated the attitudes of the former. Priests and
clergymen frequently continued to exert powerful extralegal control: denunciations from
the pulpit can be as effective as statute law in some cases. Although religion has weakened
as a social control mechanism, even today liberalization of sex laws and relaxation of
censorship have often been successfully opposed by religious leaders. On the whole,
however, Christianity has become progressively more permissive, and sexuality has come to
be viewed not as sin but as a God-given capacity to be used constructively.

Apart from religion, the state sometimes imposes restrictions for purely secular reasons.
The more totalitarian a government, the more likely it is to restrict or direct sexual
behaviour. In some instances, this comes about simply as the consequence of a powerful
individual (or individuals) being in a position to impose ideas upon the public. In other
instances, one cannot escape the impression that sex, being a highly personal and
individualistic matter, is recognized as antithetical to the whole idea of strict governmental
control and supervision of the individual. This may help explain the rigid censorship exerted
by most totalitarian regimes over sexual expression. It is as though such a government,
being obsessed with power, cannot tolerate the power the sexual impulse exerts on the
population.

SOCIAL CONTROL OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR

Societies differ remarkably in what they consider socially desirable and undesirable in
terms of sexual behaviour and consequently differ in what they attempt to prevent or
promote. There appear, however, to be four basic sexual controls in the majority of human
societies. First, to control endless competition, some form of marriage is necessary. This not
only removes both partners from the competitive arena of courtship and assures each of a
sexual partner, but it allows them to devote more time and energy to other necessary and
useful tasks of life. Despite the beliefs of earlier writers, marriage is not necessary for the
care of the young; this can be accomplished in other ways.

Second, control of forced sexual relationships is necessary to prevent anger, feuding, and
other disruptive retribution.

Third, all societies exert control over whom one is eligible to marry or have as a sexual
partner. Endogamy, holding the choice within ones group, increases group solidarity but
tends to isolate the group and limit its political strength. Exogamy, forcing the individual to
marry outside the group, dilutes group loyalty but increases group size and power through
new external liaisons. Some combination of endogamy and exogamy is found in most
societies. All have incest prohibitions. These are not based on genetic knowledge. Indeed,
many incest taboos involve persons not genetically related (fatherstepdaughter, for
example). The prime reason for incest prohibition seems to be the necessity for preventing
society from becoming snarled in its own web: every person has a complex set of duties,
rights, obligations, and statuses with regard to other people, and these would become
intolerably complicated or even contradictory if incest were freely permitted.

Fourth, there is control through the establishment of some safety-valve system: the
formulation of exceptions to the prevailing sexual restrictions. There is the recognition that
humans cannot perpetually conform to the social code and that well-dened exceptions
must be made. There are three sorts of exceptions to sexual restrictions: (1) Divorce: while all
societies encourage marriage, all realize that it is in the interest of society and the
individual to terminate marriage under certain conditions. (2) Exceptions based on kinship:
many societies permit or encourage sexual activity with certain kin, even after marriage.
Most often these kin are a brothers wife or a wifes sister. In addition, sexual joking
relationships are often expected between brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, and cousins.
While coitus is not involved, there is much explicit sexual banter, teasing, and humorous
insult. (3) Exceptions based on special occasions, ranging from sexual activity as a part of
religious rites to purely secular ceremonies and celebrations wherein the customary sexual
restrictions are temporarily lifted.

Turning to particular forms of sexual behaviour, one learns from anthropology and history
that extreme diversity in social attitude is common. Most societies are unconcerned over
self-masturbation since it does not entail procreation or the establishment of social bonds,
but a few regard it with disapprobation. Sexual dreams cause concern only if they are
thought to be the result of the nocturnal visitation of some spirit. Such dreams were once
attributed to spirits or demons known as incubi and succubi, who sought out sleeping
humans for sexual intercourse.

Petting among most preliterate societies is done only as a prelude to coitusas foreplay
rather than as an end in itself. In some parts of sub-Saharan Africa, however, petting is used
as a premarital substitute for coitus in order to preserve virginity and avoid pregnancy.
There is great variation in petting and foreplay techniques. Kissing is by no means universal,
as some groups view the mouth as a biting and chewing orice ill-suited for expressing
affection. While some societies emphasize the erotic role of the female breast, otherssuch
as the Chinesepay little attention to it. Still others regard oral stimulation of the breast
unseemly, being too akin to infantile suckling. Although manual stimulation of the
genitalia is nearly universal, a few peoples abstain because of revulsion toward genital
secretions. Not much information exists on mouthgenital contact, and one can say only
that it is common among some peoples and rare among others.
A considerable number of societies manifest scratching and biting in conjunction with
sexual activity, and most of this is done by the female. Sadomasochism in any other form,
however, is conspicuous by its absence in preliterate societies.

An enumeration of the societies that permit or forbid premarital coitus is complicated not
only by the double standard but also by the fact that such prohibition or permission is
often qualied. As a rough estimate, however, 40 to 50 percent of preliterate or ancient
societies allowed premarital coitus under certain conditions to both males and females. If
one were to count as permissive those groups that theoretically disapprove but actually
condone such coitus, the percentage would rise to perhaps 70.

In marital coitus, when sexual access is not only permitted but encouraged, one would
expect considerable uniformity in frequency of coitus. This expectation is not fullled: social
conditioning profoundly affects even marital coitus. On one Irish island reported upon by a
researcher, for example, marital coitus is best measured in terms of per year, and among
the Cayapas of Ecuador, a frequency of twice a week is something to boast of. The coital
frequencies of other groups, on the other hand, are nearer to human potential. In one
Polynesian group, the usual frequency of marital coitus among individuals in their late 20s
was 10 to 12 per week, and in their late 40s the frequency had fallen to three to four. The
African Bala, according to one researcher, had coitus on the average of once or twice per
day from young adulthood into the sixth decade of life.

Marital coitus is not unrestricted. Coitus during menstruation or after a certain stage of
pregnancy is generally taboo. After childbirth a lengthy period of time must often elapse
before coitus can resume, and some peoples abstain for magical reasons before or during
warfare, hunting expeditions, and certain other important events or ceremonies. In modern
Western society one nds menstrual, pregnancy, and postpartum taboos perpetuated
under an aesthetic or medical guise, and coaches still attempt to force celibacy upon
athletes prior to competition.

Extramarital coitus provides a striking example of the double standard: it is expected, or

tolerated, in males and generally prohibited for females. Very few societies allow wives
sexual freedom. Extramarital coitus with the husbands consent, however, is another
matter. Somewhere between two-fths and three-fths of preliterate societies permit wife
lending or allow the wife to have coitus with certain relatives (generally brothers-in-law) or
permit her freedom on special ceremonial occasions. The main concern of preliterate
societies is not one of morality, but of more practical considerations: does the act weaken
kinship ties and loyalty? Will it damage the husbands social prestige? Will it cause
pregnancy and complicate inheritance or cause the wife to neglect her duties and
obligations? Most foreign of all to Western thinking is that of those peoples whose marriage
ceremony involves the bride having coitus with someone other than the groom, yet it is to
be recalled that this practice existed to a limited extent in medieval Europe as jus primae
noctis, the right of the lord to the bride of one of his subjects.
Sexual deviations and sex offenses are, of course, social denitions rather than natural
phenomena. What is normative behaviour in one society may be a deviation or crime in
another. One can go through the literature and discover that virtually any sexual act, even
childadult relations or necrophilia, has somewhere at some time been acceptable
behaviour. Homosexuality is permitted in perhaps two-thirds of human societies. In some
groups it is normative behaviour, whereas in others it is not only absent but beyond
imagination. Generally, it is not an activity involving most of the population but exists as an
alternative way of life for certain individuals. These special individuals are sometimes
transvestitesthat is, they dress and behave like the opposite sex. Sometimes they are
regarded as curiosities or ridiculed, but more often they are accorded respect and magical
powers are attributed to them. It is noteworthy, however, that aside from these
transvestites, exclusive homosexuality is quite rare in preliterate societies.

In conclusion, the cardinal lesson of anthropology is that no type of sexual behaviour or

attitude has a universal, inherent social or psychological value for good or evilthe whole
meaning and value of any expression of sexuality is determined by the social context within
which it occurs.

CLASS DISTINCTIONS
Differences in sexual behaviour between classes within technologically developed societies
are very marked. Civilizations are made up of class hierarchies, and the different subgroups
normally develop their own value systems. Most of the knowledge of the sexual behaviour
and attitudes of ancient cultures is that of the upper or ruling class; the behaviour and
feelings of the slaves and peasants were seldom recorded. There is the impression
probably a correct onethat throughout history the lower socio-economic class was the
most permissive. Sex has always been one of the few pleasures of the poor and oppressed.
On the other hand, one must not overlook the fact that a fanatical Puritanism can also
ourish at the bottom of the social scale, and, hence, one can never assume that low status
and sexual permissiveness are inevitably linked.

The Kinsey studies showed considerable social class differences in sexuality in the United
States, chiey in that the lower class was more tolerant of nonmarital coitus. More recent
studies indicate that these class differences have rapidly broken down. Increased literacy
and the inuence of mass media have made the population more homogeneous in sexual
attitudes. One can nd, moreover, reversals of the previous pattern: a lower class person on
the way up the social ladder may be quite conservative in his sexual views, feeling that this
facilitates upward mobility, whereas the person secure in his or her high social status often
feels that he or she can afford to out convention. Actually, the most sexually liberal are
those at the very bottom, who have nothing to lose, and those at the very top, who are
beyond social retribution.

The great middle class remains the bastion of traditionalism, and it is here that the double
standard of morality is most prominent. The intellectualized liberalism of the upper level
seeps down only slowly, and the pragmatic egalitarianism of the lower level does not
penetrate far upward.

ECONOMIC INFLUENCES
Systems of production and distribution have had a growing inuence on sexual behaviour
since the Industrial Revolution. The old family pattern was inexorably disrupted by the rise
of the industrial state. Children were no longer kept at home to share in the work and be
economic assets but left for school or for nonfamily employment, and the degree of
parental control diminished. The working wife employed outside the home, once found
only among the impoverished, has gradually become the typical wife. With her enhanced
economic power and her greater association with people outside the home, she became
less a chattel. As the population left the family farm and tight-knit small communities for
anonymous big-city existence, not only parental but societal controls over behaviour were
weakened. Society became increasingly nomadic with improved transportation and job
opportunities. Cultural and ethnic subgroups that formerly would have had little contact
were thrown together in the same schools, factories, ofces, and neighbourhoods.

All of this vast uprooting and rearranging naturally altered sexual attitudes and behaviour.
The individual no longer had the option of choosing to conform or depart from a rather
clear-cut sexual moral code but instead was faced with a multiplicity of choices of varying
degrees of social acceptability. The major sexual changeone still in progresswas the
emancipation of women, which brought with it an increasing acceptance of premarital
sexual activity, the concept of woman as a human being with her own sexual needs and
rights, and the possibility of terminating an unhappy marriage without incurring serious
social censure. A second major change was the erosion of simplistic value systems: with
increased mobility and social mixing, the individual learned that the values and attitudes
he or she had unquestioningly accepted were not necessarily shared by neighbours and co-
workers. As a result, life became not only more complex but more permissive. This growing
tolerance has in recent decades extended, to a limited extent, to homosexuality. There is no
evidence that homosexuality or other deviant behaviour has measurably increased as a
result of societys urbanization and technological progress, but one gains the impression of
an increase simply because these topics, previously unmentionable, are now openly
discussed in the mass media.

While the old monolithic value systems broke down and individuals were accorded a wider
variety of choices in terms of sexual life, there developed a paradoxical trend toward
homogeneity as a result of mobility, the mass media, and increasing economic parity.
Geographical and social-class differences in sexual attitudes and behaviour have steadily
lessened. The plumbers family and the bankers family are now indistinguishable in terms
of dress; both have automobiles; their offspring attend the same schools; and they share
the same newspapers, magazines, and television programs. One might summarize by
saying that society is homogeneous in that everyone now has available a wide diversity of
sexual attitudes and activities.

LEGAL REGULATION
Sex laws, the origins of which, as mentioned above, are found within the church, are unique
in one important respect. Whereas all other laws are basically concerned with the
protection of person or property, the majority of sex laws are concerned solely with
maintaining morality. The issue of morality is minimal in other laws: one can legitimately
evict an impoverished old couple from their mortgaged home or sentence a hungry man
for stealing food. Only in the realm of sex is there a consistent body of law upholding
morality.

The earliest sex laws of which there is knowledge are from the Near East and date back to
the 2nd millennium BC. They are remarkable in three respects: there are great omissions
certain acts are not mentioned whereas others receive detailed attention; some laws seem
almost contradictory; and penalties are often extraordinarily severe. One obtains the
distinct impression that these laws were case lawthat is, laws formulated upon specic
cases as they arose rather than being the result of lengthy judicial deliberation done in
advance. These laws inuenced Judaic and, hence, Christian thinking, and some were
immortalized in the Bible, chiey in Leviticus.

As mentioned earlier, when secular law replaced religious law, there was rather little
change in content. In Europe the Napoleonic Code represented a break with tradition and
introduced some measure of sexual tolerance, but in England and the United States there
was no such rift with the past. In the latter country, as each new state joined the union, its
sex laws simply duplicated, to a great extent, those of pre-existing states; legislators were
disinclined to debate sexual issues or to risk losing votes by discarding or weakening sex
laws.

Sex laws may be grouped in three categories: (1) Those concerned with protection of
person. These are based on the element of consent. These otherwise logical laws become
problematic when society deems that minors, mental retardates, and the insane are
incapable of giving consenthence, coitus with them is rape. (2) Those concerned with
preventing offense to public sensibilities. Statutes preclude public sexual activity,
exhibitionism, and offensive solicitation. (3) Those concerned with maintaining sexual
morality. These constitute the majority of sex laws, covering such items as premarital coitus,
extramarital coitus, incest, homosexuality, prostitution, peeping, nudity, animal contact,
transvestism, censorship, and even specic sexual techniqueschiey oral or anal. Laws
relating to sexual conduct and morality are generally far more extensive in the United
States than in western Europe and most other areas of the world.

In recent years, in Europe and the United States, a number of highly respected legal,
medical, and religious organizations have deliberated on the issue of the legal control of
human sexuality. They have been unanimous in the conclusion that, while laws protecting
person and public sensibilities should be retained, the purely moral laws should be
dropped. What consenting adults do in private, it is argued, should not be subject to legal
control.

In the nal analysis, sexuality, like any other vital aspect of human life, must be dealt with
on an individual or societal level with a combination of rationality, sensitivity, and tolerance
if society is to avoid personal and social problems arising from ignorance and
misconception.

Paul Henry Gebhard

The Editors of Encyclopdia Britannica

SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES

Infections transmitted primarily by sexual contact are referred to as sexually transmitted
diseases (STDs). Caused by a variety of microbial agents that thrive in warm, moist
environments such as the mucous membranes of the vagina, urethra, anus, and mouth,
STDs are diagnosed most frequently in individuals who engage in sexual activity with many
partners.

In the past, a disease transmitted sexually was more commonly called a venereal disease, or
VD, and was applied to only a few infections such as gonorrhea and syphilis. Actually more
than 20 STDs have been identied, and infections caused by Chlamydia trachomatis,
herpes simplex virus, and human papillomavirus, although underreported, are believed to
be more prevalent than gonorrhea in the United States. Although the incidence of some
STDs has reached epidemic proportions, it was not until the advent of the acquired
immunodeciency syndrome (AIDS) that the need to restrain the transmission of these
diseases gained serious attention.

AIDS is a deadly disease for which there is no known cure. This fact has made prevention of
the spread of HIV (see below) infection a top priority of the health-care community, with
education concerning safer sexual practices at the fore. The safe sex strategy, which
includes encouraging the use of condoms or the practice of abstinence, has been
introduced to prevent the spread not only of AIDS but of all STDs. Stemming the
transmission of disease rather than relying on treatment, which in the case of AIDS does
not even exist, is the basic tenet of the safe-sex doctrine.

Preventing the transmission of STDs is also important because many of these diseases do
not produce initial symptoms of any signicance. Thus, they often go untreated, increasing
their spread and the incidence of serious complications; untreated chlamydial infections in
women are the primary preventable cause of female sterility.

COMMON SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED ORGANISMS

Bacteria, parasites, and viruses are the most common microbial agents involved in the
sexual transmission of disease. Bacterial agents include Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which
causes gonorrhea and predominantly involves the ureter in men and the cervix in women,
and Treponema pallidum, which is responsible for syphilis. The parasite Chlamydia
trachomatis causes a variety of disordersin women, urethritis, cervicitis, and salpingitis
(inammation of the ureter, cervix, and fallopian tubes, respectively) and, in men,
nongonococcal urethritis. Sexually transmitted viral agents include the human
papillomavirus, which causes genital warts. Infection by this virus, of which there are more
than 20 types, has been linked to cervical carcinoma. Herpes simplex virus II is the
causative agent of genital herpes, a condition in which ulcerative blisters form on the
mucous membranes of the genitalia.

ACQUIRED IMMUNODEFICIENCY SYNDROME

AIDS is caused by the human immunodeciency virus (HIV), a pernicious infectious agent
that attacks the immune system, leading to its progressive destruction. The virus is found in
highest concentrations in the blood, semen, and vaginal and cervical uids of the human
body and can be harboured asymptomatically for 10 years or more. Although the primary
route of transmission is sexual, HIV also is spread by the use of infected needles among
intravenous drug users, by the exchange of infected blood products, and from an infected
mother to her fetus during pregnancy.

The progression of the syndrome does not follow a dened path; instead nonspecic
symptoms reect the myriad effects of a failing immune system. These symptoms are
referred to as AIDS-related complex (ARC) and include fever, rashes, weight loss, and
wasting. Opportunistic infections such as Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, neoplasms
such as Kaposis sarcoma, and central nervous system dysfunction are also common
complications. The patient eventually dies, unable to mount an immunologic defense
against the constant onslaught of infections.

A blood test can be used to detect HIV infection before the symptoms begin to manifest
themselves, and all individuals who may be at even the slightest risk of infection are
encouraged to be tested in order to prevent the unknowing spread of HIV to others.
Identication of infection before the onset of the disease, however, does not promise a
better prognosis; the vast majority of those infected with HIV will ultimately succumb to
AIDS. Although development of a vaccine is being pursued, it is not yet available and
education remains the best way to prevent transmission of this lethal disease.

The Editors of Encyclopdia Britannica

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