In the 1930s and 1940s, a group of scientists tried to explain homosexuality by looking for “masculine” traits in lesbians and “feminine” traits in homosexual men. They claimed that gay men had broad shoulders and narrow hips (indicating “immature skele­tal development”) and lesbians had abnormal genitalia, including larger-than-average vulvas, longer labia minora, a larger glans […]

How prevalent are homosexuality, heterosexuality, and bisexuality in society? Kinsey and his colleagues (1948) found that 37% of men and 13% of women reported that they had had at least one adult sexual experience with a member of the same sex that resulted in orgasm and that about 4% of men and 3% of women […]

Kinsey and his colleagues (1948) believed that relying on the categories “ho­mosexual” and “heterosexual” to describe sexual orientation was inadequate. They also suggested that using a category such as “homosexual” was not as helpful as talking about homosexual behavior. Trying to decide who is a ho­mosexual is difficult; trying to compare amounts or types of […]

ead through the following descriptions of differ­ent sexual lifestyles. How would you categorize these people? Who is heterosexual? Who is homo­sexual? Who is bisexual? Susan, 45 years old: / have been in an exclusive, monogamous lesbian relationship with Michele for 21 years. After 8 years with Michele, I de­cided I wanted a child and had […]

How should we categorize a person’s sexual orientation? Take a moment to read Personal Voices, “Defining Sexual Orientation.” Here you will see that the simplest way to categorize a person’s sexual orientation seems to be through sexual behavior: with whom does he or she have sex? However, if that were our sole criterion, we would […]

What Determines Sexual Orientation? ■ PERSONAL VOICES Defining Sexual Orientation Models of Sexual Orientation: Who Is Homosexual? Measuring Sexual Orientation: How Many Are We? Why Are There Different Sexual Orientations? Biological Theories: Differences Are Innate Developmental Theories: Differences Are Learned Sociological Theories: Social Forces at Work Interactional Theory: Biology and Sociology Homosexuality and Heterosexuality in […]

ollowing are some sexual activities that are rated for safety. Remember that engaging in hookups (casual sex) and alcohol use are two activities that can increase your risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted in­fection. Typically, unsafe behaviors involve contact with se­men, blood, or other body fluids. Those behaviors that are considered safe include activities that […]

he following excerpt is from an article that ap­peared in the September-October 1999 issue of Modern Maturity magazine. Recently I was talking to my girlfriend, who is a sextu­ple heart-bypass veteran, about my husband. She had been calling me to help support me during my hus­band’s hospitalization with chest pain. He was sched­uled for an […]

Two of the most frequent complaints among elderly men are decreases in sexual desire and also in the ability to perform. Because of these changes, masturbation increases, and rates of sexual intercourse decrease (C. B. White, 1982). Research on older homosexual men has found that they continue to be sexually active; however, they tend to […]

As men and women age, a variety of physical changes affect sexual functioning and be­havior. We will now discuss these physical changes and their affect on sexual behavior. (We will discuss more of the challenges of aging and health concerns in Chapter 14.) Physical Changes As people age, they inevitably experience changes in their physical […]