Human Sexuality: Dimensions, Behaviors, and Development

Dimensions of Sexuality

  • Biological: Encompasses the anatomical, physiological, and endocrine aspects that differentiate males and females.
  • Psychological: Involves emotions, feelings, beliefs, and values. Personality, thoughts, desires, and identity are also key factors.
  • Sociocultural and Ethics: Each society shapes the development and expression of sexuality, setting guidelines and values for these behaviors.
  • Clinical: Issues such as anxiety or depression can cause psychological problems that impact sexual life and relationships.

Common Sexual Dysfunctions

In Women

  • Inhibited Sexual Arousal: Often referred to as frigidity. Causes include education, sexual ignorance, shame, or fear of rejection.
  • Vaginismus: Muscle spasms that hinder sexual activity.
  • Anorgasmia: Difficulty or inability to achieve orgasm.
  • Dyspareunia: Genital pain during intercourse, often due to lack of vaginal lubrication.

In Men

  • Inhibited Sexual Arousal: Characterized by inhibited desire and absence or decrease of erection.
  • Premature Ejaculation: Ejaculation that is not controlled and not synchronized with a partner.
  • Inhibited Orgasm: Absence of ejaculation after a suitable period of sexual excitement.

Key Aspects of Sexuality

  • Physical Contact: The body conveys feelings and emotions through touch, often more spontaneously and sincerely than verbal language.
  • Pleasure: Feelings of pleasure and displeasure are essential for personal development. Pleasure results from a rewarding relationship with oneself and others.
  • Reproduction: While sexuality is constant throughout life, reproductive capacity is limited to certain ages.

Attitudes Toward Sexuality

  • Prohibitive: Advocated by those who view sex as taboo or shameful. This can lead to ignorance and negative attitudes, hindering healthy relationships.
  • Permissive: A superficial change in attitude, often driven by trends rather than genuine understanding.
  • Growth-Oriented: Focuses on personal potential and development within the context of sexuality.

Variations in Sexual Behavior

  • Exhibitionism: Exposing one’s genitals to others for arousal or shock.
  • Voyeurism: Achieving sexual satisfaction through observing nudity or sexual acts.
  • Transvestism: Using clothes of the opposite sex for sexual stimulation.
  • Fetishism: Sexual attraction to inanimate objects.
  • Sadism and Masochism: Deriving sexual pleasure from inflicting pain (sadism) or receiving pain/humiliation (masochism).
  • Pedophilia: Sexual attraction towards children, often stemming from an inferiority complex.

Goals of Adolescence

  • Develop cognitive and emotional skills.
  • Construct a personal identity.
  • Acquire new social skills.

Psychological Changes During Adolescence

  • Reaffirmation of self.
  • Autonomy.
  • Rich inner world and psychic possibilities.
  • Retreat.

Identity Crisis During Adolescence

  • Introduction of masculinity or feminism based on one’s sex.
  • Bisexual confusion.
  • Need to cope with demanding social roles.
  • Research for an ideological commitment against value confusion.
  • No ambiguous statutes; teenagers now set social norms.

Youth Culture

  • New forms of communication.
  • Individualization.
  • Valorization of the body.
  • Cult of image.
  • Focus on the present.
  • Sensitivity’s time.
  • Consumerism.
  • Nomadism.

Behavioral Styles

  • Passive Behavior: Difficulty expressing thoughts and feelings due to lack of confidence or self-defeating tendencies.
  • Aggressive Behavior: Using physical, psychological, or emotional force to violate the rights and feelings of others.
  • Assertive Behavior: Expressing needs and desires without manipulating or harming others.

Basic Components of Love

  • Intimacy: Feelings of closeness, communication, and connection.
  • Passion: The emotional power of physical attraction.
  • Commitment: The effort to care for and maintain love so it evolves and does not disappear.