Gender and Sexuality through

the Lifespan
Maria Theresa D. Ujano-Batangan
Department of Psychology and
Center for Women’s Studies
University of the Philippines
Recap: Basic Concepts
• Sex
▫ refers to physiological attributes that identify a person as male
or female (i.e. chromosomal, gonadal, hormonal, neurological)

• Gender
▫ refers to widely shared ideas and norms concerning women and
men including ideas about “feminine” and “masculine”
characteristics and behavior; which reflects and influences the
different roles, social status, and economic and political power of
women and men in society
Recap: Basic concepts
• Sexuality
▫ encompasses the sexual knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, values and
behaviors of individuals. It deals with the anatomy, physiology
and biochemistry of the sexual response system; with roles,
identity and personality; with individual thoughts, feelings,
behaviors, and relationships. It addresses ethical, spiritual, and
moral concerns, and group and ethical variations - SIECUS
Human Development
„Refers to the pattern of change that begins at
conception and continues through the life cycle

„Growth
„Maturation
„Learning
Characteristics

„Normative development
„Normative age graded influences
„Normative history graded
influences
„Idiographic development
Human Development
Growth

Maturation

Learning
Processes
Biological  Psychological  Social Processes 
Processes (brain,  Processes  (relationship,atta
body, genes,   (cognition,  chment,etc.)
etc.) emotion, 
behaviour)

HUMAN  
DEVELOPMEN
T

PERIODS 
Prenatal,   Infancy, Early 
childhood, Middle and 
Late childhood, 
Adolescence, Early 
Adulthood, Middle 
Adulthood, Late 
Adulthood
Conceptions of age
„Chronological age
„Biological age
„Psychological age
„Social age
„Historical age
Periods of Development

• Prenatal period: conception to birth

• Infancy: birth to 18-24 months
• Early childhood: 2-5 years
• Middle and late childhood: 6-11 years
• Adolescence: 10-12 to 18-21 years
Periods of Development
ƒ Early adulthood ( 20’s – 30’s)
ƒ Middle adulthood (35-45 to 60’s)
ƒ Late adulthood (60’s – 70’s to death)
Perspectives on
Human Development
„Contemporary views
„Development as natural and adaptive
„Development as context- based
„Development as a product of interpersonal
processes through which humans create reality
„Development as reflective of complex agenda and
interests (power)
Developmental Issues

• Nature / Nurture
• Activity/Passivity issue
• Continuity/Discontinuity issue
• Stability/Change
• Universality/Particularity issue
Life- span Approach (Baltes)
„ Development is life long „ Development shows plasticity
„ Development entails both gain „ Development is influenced by
and loss historical and cultural contexts
„ Relative influence of biology
and culture shift over the life
span
„ Development involves a
changing of allocation of
resources
 Culture
Social Institutions
Community
Family

Child

Peer Group

Mass Media
Exercise
• Sexual development starts in adolescence.
• Men are more concerned with the physical
appearance of their female partners than women
about the physical appearance of their male
partners.
• Sexual desire is an example of an aspect of
human sexuality that can only be explained by
biological theories.
• Individuals with less education masturbate more
frequently than persons with a college education.
Exercise
• Children are sexual beings.
• Men and women aged 90 to 99 still report engaging
in sexual intercourse.
• People negotiating sex with a new partner rarely
have the information necessary to make an
informed decision.
• Most young individuals who have sex for the first
time report that such encounter was unplanned.
• Data show that individuals who are intellectually
challenged are more sexually active than those
closer to normative intelligence.
Gender and Human Development
Gender and Identity Formation

Gender identity is the private experience of the

gender role, and gender role, is the public
expression of gender identity.

-John Money and Anke Ehrhardt

Gender Role and Identity Formation
• Gender identity
▫ awareness of one’s maleness and femaleness, and all
that it implies in one’s society of origin

• Gender roles
▫ behaviors, attitudes, skills and traits that culture
considers as “appropriate” for each sex
Gender roles
• Masculinity and femininity

▫ Bem’s Inventory

▫ Models of Masculinity and Femininity

Models
Bipolar

“All Woman” “All Man”

Hyperfeminine Hypermasculine
Traits Traits
“Marianismo” “Machismo”
Models
Orthogonal
Feminine

Not masculine Masculine

Not Feminine
Models
Oblique
Feminine Androgenous Masculine

Not masculine Undifferentiated Not feminine

Theories of Gender Role Acquisition
Sociobiological Theory:

Emphasizes that biological differences

among men and women account for male –
female differences in gender roles
Theories of Gender Role Acquisition
Identification Theory

Purports that children acquire characteristics

and behaviors of their same sex parent that
allow them to learn gender roles.
Theories of Gender Role Acquisition
Social Learning Theory

Emphasizes the role of punishment and reward,

direct instructions and modeling, in learning
gender role behaviors
Theories of Gender Role Acquisition
Cognitive Developmental Theory

Biological readiness in terms of cognitive

development of the child influences how the child
responds to gender cues in the environment.
Theories of Gender Role Acquisition
Gender schema theory

Suggests that gender schema (network of

associations with the concepts of male and
female) organizes and guides an individual’s
perception of gender roles
Gender Socialization
• Agents of socialization in gender role acquisition
▫ Parents
▫ Peers
▫ School
▫ Religion
▫ Media
▫ Others
Consequences of Gender
Socialization: Individual and
Relational
Consequences of Traditional
Male Socialization
• Individual identity synonymous
with occupation
• Limited expression of emotions
• Problems in learning life skills
• Preference for partners who
fulfil traditional notions of
attractiveness
• View women who initiate
relationships negatively
• Perceive that they should be in
control of the rhythm and
content of sexual encounters
Consequences of Traditional
Female Socialization
• Fulfill traditional roles in
relationships and may become
economically dependent
• Play passive role in relationships
• Accept that they are less
valuable and important as males
• Internalize societal standards of
beauty which make them less
satisfied with themselves and
with the process of aging
• Likely to experience role
overload which may cause
resentment in relationships
• Continue to seek sexual
relationships that are
emotionally satisfying
Consequences of Gender Socialization
• Gender bias
▫ Subordination
▫ Marginalization
▫ Double burden
▫ Gender stereotyping
▫ Gender – based violence
▫ Gender discrimination
Sexuality through the Life Span
• Childhood sexuality
▫ Self exploration and stimulation
▫ Experience of genital arousal (reflexive then
becomes intentional)
▫ Sexual rehearsal play
▫ Gender schema
Sexuality through the Life Span
• Pre- adolescent sexuality
▫ Self stimulation becomes more orgasm directed
▫ Sexual interactions
x Same sex
x Opposite sex
Sexuality through the Life Span
• Sexuality in Adolescence
▫ Sexual identity (self concept)
▫ Physiological changes (spermarche and menarche)
▫ Sexual attraction/intimacy
▫ Sexual interactions
▫ Progression of sexual activities
GEOMETRY of Love (Sternberg)
Sexuality through the Life Span
• Sexuality in Adulthood
▫ Sexual identity
▫ Interpersonal attraction
▫ Intimacy
x Erickson
x Intimacy vs. Isolation (20 t 40 years)
x Generativity vs. Stagnation (40 to 65)
x Ego integrity vs. Despair (late adulthood)
x Levine
x Capacity to know one’s own thoughts and feelings
x Willingness to share those feelings
x Interpersonal skills necessary for intimate sharing
Sexuality through the Life Span
• Adulthood
x Forms
x Romantic
▫ Steady
▫ Marital/Extra-marital
▫ Co- habitation

x Friendships
Sexuality through the Life Span
• Adulthood
▫ Aging
x Older adults are able to maintain rewarding sexual
relationships
x Health problems may interfere with an older
person’s ability to sustain healthy sexual lifestyle
x For men and women, aging brings a slowing down
in sexual responsiveness
Domains
• Intrapersonal sexualities

• Interpersonal sexualities
Intrapersonal
• Sexual guilt

• Erotophobia and Erotophilia

▫ Refer to negative and positive reactions to
sexual cues
Intrapersonal
• Self- concept
▫ Way individuals view their spiritual and
emotional self, intellectual and academic abilities,
social competence and physical attractiveness.

• Sexual Self- concept

▫ Individual’s evaluation of his/her own
sexual feelings and actions
▫ Perceived ability to satisfy a partner’s
emotional and sexual needs
Intrapersonal
• Body Image
▫ Individual evaluation of one’s body
▫ Gender variations
▫ Eating disorders
• BARBIE DOLL
Marge Pierce

• The girl child was born as usual

• And presented dolls that did pee- pee
• And miniature GE stoves and irons
• and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy.
• Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:
• You have a big fat nose and fat legs.

• She was healthy, tested intelligent,

• possessed strong arms and back,
• abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity.
• She went to and fro apologizing.
• Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.

• She was advised to play coy,

• exhorted to come on hearty,
• exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.
• Her good nature wore out
• Like a fan belt.
• So she cut off her nose and her legs
• and offered them up.

• In the casket displayed on satin she lay

• with the undertaker’s cosmetics painted on,
• a turned-up putty nose,
• dressed in a pink and white nightie.
• Doesn’t she look pretty? Everyone said.
• Consummation at last.
• To every women a happy ending.
Interpersonal
• Body Politics: refers to practices and policies
through which power of society regulate the
human being as well as the struggle over the
degree of individual and social control of the
body
▫ Power
x Institutional power (government and law)
x Disciplinary power (economic production)
x Discretionary power (consumption)
x Personal power (relationship)
Interpersonal
• Gupta
▫ Practices
▫ Partners
▫ Pleasures/pressures/pain
▫ Procreation
• Dixon- Mueller
▫ Sexual partnerships
▫ Sexual acts/behaviors
▫ Sexual meanings
▫ Sexual sources of desire and enjoyment
Sexual Identity Formation
• Heterosexual identity

• Gay identity

• Lesbian identity

• Bisexual identity

• Transgender identity
Sexual Identity Formation
• Sexual Celibacy
▫ Levels
▫ Voluntary vs. Involuntary celibacy

• Asexual
Sexual Orientation
• Elements
▫ Cognitions
▫ Emotions
▫ Social attraction/intimacy
▫ Behaviors
Sexual Orientation
• Bell, Weinberg and Hammersmith Study
▫ Sexual orientation determined prior to adolescence
▫ Same- gender attractions experienced 3 years before
overt behavior
▫ Lesbians and gay men tend to have a history of
heterosexual relationships
▫ Identification with parent of either gender have no
effect on the development of sexual orientation
▫ No support for the hypothesis that any particular type
of mother produces children with same sex
orientation
Sexual Identity
“Even a superficial look at other societies and some
groups in our own society should be enough to convince
us that a very large number of human beings –
probably a majority- are bisexual in their potential
capacity for love. Whether they will become exclusively
heterosexual or exclusively homosexual for all their
lives and in all circumstances or whether they will be
able to enter into sexual and love relationships with
members of both sexes is, in fact, a consequence of the
way they have been brought up, of the particular
beliefs and prejudices of the society they live in, and, to
some extent, of their own life history.”
- Margaret Mead
Coming out and Well- being
• New self- awareness may be associated with
anxiety and feeling of self- contempt
• The more “closeted”, the greater the
psychological problem, intrapsychic tension and
social introversion
• Coming out to self related to positive self-
esteem
• Disclosure to others is related to positive self-
esteem and self regard
Coming out and Well- being
• The longer one has been out to others, the higher
the self-esteem level
• Disclosure to parents is also correlated positively
to self- esteem
Coming out and Parent- Child
Relationship
• Stages (Robinson and De Vine)
▫ Shock/awareness
▫ Denial/impact
▫ Guilt /adjustment
▫ Anger /solution
▫ Acceptance/integration
Sexuality and Society
• Art and Media
▫ Pornography: photographs, films, or literature
intended to be sexually arousing through explicit
depictions of sexual activity
▫ Obscenity: depiction of sexual activity ion a
repulsive or disgusting manner
▫ Erotica: artistic representations of nudity or
sexual activity
Sexuality and Society
Sexual citizenship (Carl Stychin) :
“articulates sexuality in the public sphere
through claim for rights and participation
while cultivating and claiming a right to
separate spaces for sub -cultural life”
Sexuality and Society
• Law
▫ Constitution
▫ Laws and Policies
x Gender discrimination
x Gender- based violence
x Sexuality education
x Sexual and reproductive health
Sexuality and Society
• Religion and Spirituality
▫ Moral values
x Essentialist and Constructivist (Natural Laws vs.
Situation Ethics)
x Hedonism and Asceticism
x Fundamentalism and Secularism
x Feminine and Masculine
x Plurality
x Principle of non coercion
x Principle of non deceit
x Principle of treatment of people as ends
x Principle of respect for beliefs
Challenges
Promotion of
• Gender- fair society: a society where women and
men share equally in responsibilities, power ,
authority and decision making.
• Gender- sensitivity: the ability to recognize gender
issues and to recognize women’s different
perceptions and interests arising from different
social position and gender roles.
• Gender awareness: the ability to identify problems
arising from gender quality and discrimination,
even if these are nor evident on the surface and are
“hidden” ; is a higher level of gender
conscientization
• Gender equality denotes women and men
enjoying the same status, opportunities for
realizing their potentials; including the ability to
participate in the public sphere and enjoying the
benefits from the results of development.
• Gender equity denotes the equivalence in life
outcomes for women and men, recognizing their
different needs and interests, and requiring a
redistribution of power and resources.
• Sexual and reproductive health: The integration
of the physical, emotional, intellectual and
social aspects of sexual being in ways that
enhance personality, communication and love.
(WHO)
Salamat po!