Lecture 5.docx - Chapter 9 Sexual Expression u25cf Sexual...

Chapter 9 Sexual Expression
● Sexual behavior is rich with emotions
● Important characteristics in terms of sexual attractiveness
○ Youthfulness
○ Health
● Various cultures emphasize:
○ Eyes, height, weight, size, and shape of genitals
● American ideals of beauty are NOT universal
○ Breasts are not erotic in several cultures
○ Plump women are preferred over thin women
● Sexual strategies theory by David Buss (2003)
○ Evolutionary perspective
○ Prominent theory explaining human mating
○ Gender difference in short and long term relationships
■ Women: more selective because of reproductive costs, will prefer long
term relationships
○ Men: seek variety and short-term relationships
● Differences exist due to differences in reproductive investment and reproductive
physiology
● Hooking up or “friends with benefits”
○ Casual sex among adolescents and young adults
○ Reasons for engaging in hookups varying between genders
■ Fits with male evolutionary mating views
■ Women were more likely to hope that the hookup will turn into a
committed relationship
● Sexual scripts in our culture are highly gendered
○ Strongly influence our sexuality as men and women
○ Components
■ Cultural scripting-tells us which behavior patterns are acceptable and
unacceptable
■ Intrapersonal scripting-enable people to give meaning to their
physiological responses
■ Interpersonal scripting-area of shared conventions that make sexual
activities possible
● Autoeroticism
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