THE SEXUAL SELF &

THE GENDERED CONSTRUCTIONS OF SEXUALITY

GEC 1- Understanding the Self

By: Noemie DC. Bunye, LPT, RPm

Technological University of the Philippines
College of Liberal Arts
Department of Social Sciences
AGREE OR DISAGREE

WE CANNOT CONTROL
SEXUAL URGES
AGREE OR DISAGREE

Our SEXUALITY is purely

biological.
AGREE OR DISAGREE

Sexual orientations embody

cognitive, affective, and
behavior domains.
AGREE OR DISAGREE

We are born with sexuality.

AGREE OR DISAGREE

Sex and gender are the same.

Sexual Self on Socio- biological Aspects
- It encompass, physical, emotional, and social domains.
- Bodily transformations and secondary characteristics
during adolescence trigger the physiological responses,
leading to beliefs and behavior associated to sex.

At Birth:
MALE- penis
FEMALE- vagina

ADOLESCENCE Stage - stage wherein sexual curiosity

is at its peak. Adolescence engaging in sexual activity as
influenced by biological and socio- cultural factors.
 Biology of
Sex
PHYSIOLOGICAL
CHANGES
(Adolescent’s
Reproductive
System)

When
triggered
(Sensitive to
stimuli)

 Sexual urges
 Sexual Arousal
https://www.medicinensex.com
Diversity of sexual behaviors
Masturbation
Premarital Sex
Marital Sex
Extramarital Sex
Heterosexuality
Homosexuality
Bisexuality
 Consequences of sexual
choice

 Pregnancy
Sexually Transmitted Disease
FACTS
There is no cure for HIV, although antiretroviral treatment
can control the virus, meaning that people with HIV can live
long and healthy lives.

Most research is looking for a functional cure where HIV is

reduced to undetectable and harmless levels in the body
permanently, but some residual virus may remain.

Other research is looking for a sterilising cure where HIV is

eradicated from the body completely, but this is more
complex and risky.

Trials of HIV vaccines are encouraging, but so far offer

partial protection only.
Traditional Sex Role Stereotypes
Traditional MAN
as hunter and initiator of sexual
activity; more powerful and demanding
sex drive; stronger, more powerful figure
in a relationship

Traditional WOMAN
as being pleasant, cooperative, placating,
flirtatious, and attending to her appearance
and the pleasure of the male, while
retaining a respectable and ladylike
demeanor in public (LADY in the kitchen
and WHORE in the bedroom)
Media and Popular Culture
• BOYS
– strong expression of sexuality with
minimal involvement with partner
SEX enhances his reputation

• GIRLS
–to be good but potentially sexy,
waiting for the right man to come along
to unleash that potential
SEX has negative effect on her
reputation (too soon/often = SLUTS,
uninterested = DOGS)
Sexual Scripts and Discourses
• SCRIPTS as learned rules of sexual
behavior that consist of directions
for what we will do and plans of
action for how we will do it, and
with whom (Gagnon & Simon)

• Early scripts arise out of listening to

others talk (boys = SEX TALK),
absorbing POPULAR CULTURE –
watching movies, videos, TV,
reading magazines & books
Gender - Socialized Sexual Scripts
What is the meaning of sex for
boys/men and girls/women?

 BOYS/MEN –SEX for satisfaction

of sexual desires; purely physical release
or PLEASURE unconnected to
relationships

 GIRLS/WOMEN –SEX and LOVE are

inextricably intertwined, LOVE makes
sex right (reason for sex is love)
Gender - Socialized Sexual Scripts

• GIRLS/WOMEN = “some day my

prince will come”

 ROMANTIC NOVELS –women as

passive, “good” victims who are
saved by a strong, powerful male
and live happily ever after
(PASSIVE)
Gender - Socialized Sexual Scripts

• BOYS/MEN = “if you really

loved me, you would have sex
with me”

 SEX TALK –loud joking about

women’s body parts, fixation on
female bodily functions, fantasies
of invasion or rape, projection of
horniness on sexually attractive
young women(ACTIVE)
How are boys/men and girls/
women socialized to view sex?
• BOYS/MEN
- enjoy sexuality, initiate sexual relations,
take pride in sexual experience
- SEX IS A MALE GOAL

• GIRLS/WOMEN
- “good girls” don’t want sex
- AVOIDING SEX IS A FEMALE GOAL
 How do we see men and women
who enjoy lots of sex?

WOMEN -- sluts, tramps,

• MEN -- Romeo, stud, pigs, bimbos, promiscuous,
playboy, stallion, player sex addicts, nymphomaniacs
Why do girls/women have sex?
• EMOTIONAL CLOSENESS

- To express love and achieve

greater intimacy (associate sex
with love, being in love as
reason for having sex)
- Fear of pregnancy, lack of
interest, lack of enjoyment
Why do boys/men have sex?
• PLEASURE
- To establish maturity and
achieve social status (more
apt to have sex with
strangers, more sexual
partners, dissociate sex with
love)
- Fear of AIDS and fear of
rejection
 Gender Convergence?
• Towards expressed
motives for sex and
attitudes toward sexual
encounters

• LOVING, CARING, AND

AFFECTION as primary
motivations for having
sex among most boys and
girls (middle-class, educated)
Gender Convergence?
• More RELATIONSHIP
- ORIENTED motives
for sex for boys

• Acknowledging of
AROUSAL AND
PLEASURE for
engaging in sex for girls
Sexual Orientation – The scientifically accurate term for an individual’s enduring
physical, romantic and/or emotional attraction to members of the same and/or opposite
sex, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and heterosexual (straight) orientations.

Gender Identity – One’s internal, personal sense of being a man or a woman (or a boy
or a girl), for transgender people, their birth-assigned sex and their own internal sense of
gender identity do not match.

Gender Expression – External manifestation of one’s gender identity, usually expressed

through “masculine,” “feminine” or gender-variant behaviour, clothing, haircut, voice or
body characteristics. Typically, transgender people seek to make their gender expression
match their gender identity, rather than their birth-assigned sex.

Intersex – Describing a person whose biological sex is ambiguous. There are many
genetic, hormonal or anatomical variations that make a person’s sex ambiguous (e.g.,
Klinefelter Syndrome). Parents and medical professionals usually assign intersex infants
a sex and perform surgical operations to conform the infant’s body to that assignment.
This practice has become increasingly controversial as intersex adults speak out against
the practice. The term intersex is not interchangeable with or a synonym for transgender.
LGBTIQQSA2SXYZ
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex,
Queer, Questioning, Straight Allies, Two Spirited,
Everyone Else
Psychosexual theory
Erogenous Zones
• Parts of the body with strong pleasure giving qualities

Fixation
- not able to fully resolve a conflict in a
particular stage
- overgratification or undergratification
Psychosexual Theory
Age Name Pleasure source Conflict
Weaning away
Mouth: sucking, biting,
0-2 Oral from mother's
swallowing
breast
Anus: defecating or
2-4 Anal Toilet training
retaining faeces
Oedipus (boys),
4-5 Phallic Genitals
Electra (girls)
Sexual urges sublimated
into sports and hobbies.
6-puberty Latency
Same-sex friends also help
avoid sexual feelings.
Physical sexual changes
reawaken repressed
puberty
onward Genital needs. Social rules
Direct sexual feelings
Psychosexual Stages
1. Oral Stage
- governed by SELF- LOVE:
undifferentiated ego

Oral Receptive Weaning: Oral Sadistic:

Low frustration,
Frustration increases Aggressive when
needs are satisfied
needs are not met
with minimum
-copes with anxiety
anxiety through stimulating
mouth
2. Anal Stage
Anal Triad: orderliness, stinginess, obstinacy

Early Anal Toilet Training Late Anal

Sadistic drives are Friendly interest towards

stronger feces
- Aggressive behavior
frustration in toilet - Negative reaction of
training parents’; anal character
3. Phallic Stage
Girls Boys
a. Electra Complex a. Oedipus Complex
b. Penis Envy b. Castration Anxiety
c. Identification c. Identification
4. Latency Stage- (4- 5 th year to puberty)
- libido is less urgent
- acquire important moral and social values
- suppress sexual desires, displace to wholesome
activities
- homosexual phase: exclusion of opposite sex
5. Genital Stage
(Adolescence – Adulthood)
- rapid increase in sexual tension
- sexual desire is back with
vengeance!
- conflict between Id and Superego
- Sexual attraction to opposite sex
returns
- due to internalized moral code
- Displace sexual urges to another
love object
Wala na FINISH na..
Finish na!
My Sexual Self