What is Sexuality?
Sexuality is a central aspect of human identity,It encompasses gender, gender identity,
roles, sexual brientation, eroticism, pleasure, intimacy and reproduction,
Sexuality is a core dimension of being human which includes the following:
1. The understanding of, and relationship to the human Body
2. emotional attachment
3. love
4.Sex
5. gender
6. gender identity
7.Sexual orientation
8. Sexual intimacy
9. Pleasure
10.reproduction
The dimensions of sexuality
Sexuality is at the heart of our lives. It is expressed through its various dimensions:
1) the biological dimension
2) the psychological, affective and relational dimension
3) the sociocultural dimension
4) the moral, spiritual and religious dimension
5) the ethical and legal dimension
Sexuality – is the quality or state of being sexual:
a. Condition of having sex.
b. Sexual activity.
c. Expression of sexual receptivity or interest especially when excessive
Person’s sexuality can be:
1. Heterosexual – A person attracted to people of the Opposite sex.
2. Hopposite – A person attracted to people of the same Sex.
3. Bisexual- The word ‘bi’, meaning two’, refers to a person’s attraction to both genders
(male and female).Asexual-Asexuality is the absence of sexual attraction.
Gender is pervasive in our society with people constantly attributing gender to other people
because it iswhat we are socialized to do.
Different Factors and Lineages of Gender Stereotyping:
Individual Factors Differences - Physical and demographic
Cognitive Factors – Categorization of information
Family Factors – Family upbringing
Socio-Cultural Factors – Social and cultural status quo
Organizational Factors- Organizational culture.
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the way people experience andexpress themselves sexually.
Types of sexuality
Below are definitions of some types of sexuality.
Alloromantic
– A person who identifies as all romantic experiences romantic attraction to others.
Allosexual
– This is an umbrella term. A person who identifies as allosexual typically feels sexual
attraction toward other people.
Androsexual
People who Consider themselves androsexual feel attraction toward men, males, or
perceived.
Aromantic
-Amay not feel any romantic attraction toward anyone.
Asexual
– Asexual is an umbrella term, broad spectrum of sexual orientations
Some orientations that exist within the asexuality spectrum include:
a. Sex-averse:
This is when a person is averse to or Entirely disinterested in sex and sexual
behavior.
b. Sex-favorable:
This is when a person has positive Feelings toward sex in some situations.
c. Sex-indifferent:
This refers to those who feel neutral about sex and sexual behavior.
d. Sex-repulsed:
This refers to those who are repulsed by sex and sexual behavior.
e. Sapiosexual:
they do not experience sexual attraction but still desire to engage in sexual behavior
or have a sexual relationship.
f. Libido asexual:
This term refers to those who are asexual and experience sexual feelings that they
can satisfy with masturbation or self-stimulation.
g. Graysexual:
experience sexual attraction either infrequently or not very intensely.
h. Grayromantic:
experience romantic attraction either rarely or not very strongly.
Autoromantic
– experience a romantic attraction toward themselves.
Autosexual
- experience a sexual attraction toward themselves
Bicurious
- People who identify as bicurious are interested in having a sexual or romantic
experience with someone of the same gender.
Biromantic
– feel romantic,but not necessarily sexual, attraction to more than one gender.
Bisexual
– A person who identifies as bisexual can be anygender.
Demisexual – they have already established a strong emotional bond.
Gay – A person who identifies as gay typically only feels sexual attraction toward people of
the same gender.
Gynesexual or gynosexual –feel sexual attraction toward women, females and perceived
femininity irrespective of whether or not they were assigned female at birth.
Heteromantic –experience romantic attraction, but not necessarily sexual attraction, to
those of a different gender.
Heterosexuality – People who are heterosexual, or “straight,”typically feel sexual and
romantic attraction toward people who are of a gender different from their own.
Homoromantic – romantically attracted to those of a similar gender to their own. They may
not be sexually attracted to people of the same gender.
Homosexuality – emotionally and physically attracted to people of the same gender.
However, this term is outdated and may have negative connotations due to the past.
Lesbian – Those who identify as lesbian are usually women who feel sexual and romantic
attraction to other women.
Monosexual - encompassing all sexual orientations that feel a romantic or sexual attraction
toward only one gender.
Multisexual – encompasses all sexual orientations in which people are attracted to more
than one gender..
Pansexual and omnisexual- people who feel attraction toward people of all genders and
sexes.
Panromantic – experience romantic attraction, but not sexual attraction, to someone of any
gender or sex.
Polysexual – People who identify as polysexual feel sexual or
Romantic attraction toward more than one gender.
Queer – People of all sexualities under the LGBTQIA+umbrella may also identify as queer.
Spectrasexual – romantically and sexually attracted to multiple sexes, genders, and gender
identities but not all of them.
Some of the stressful experiences that can affect the mental health of an LGBTI person are:
1. feeling different from other people
2. being bullied (verbally or physically)
3. feeling pressure to deny or change their sexuality 4. Feeling worried about coming out,
and then being rejected or isolated
5. feeling unsupported or misunderstood
Helping someone struggling with their sexuality and Mental health
If you are worried that someone you know has a mental health problem, look out for
changes in their mood,behaviour, relationships, appetite, sleep patterns, coping
The digital landscape for sexuality education
With the emergence of an increasing number of apps,web pages, chat groups, social media
sites and social media influencers, the sexuality education landscape is changing.
Young people’s perspectives
Youngpeople’s engagement in ‘digital spaces’is diverse,changes continuously and is gender
and context-specific.
The impact of digital spaces delivering sexuality education
Despite the rapid expansion in digital information and education, little is known about the
effectiveness of online provision of information or education around sex,relationships and
sexuality or its appropriateness for differentage-groups.
Why does sexuality matter?
A person’s Sexuality determines whom They feelromantic or sexual attraction toward.
Gender and Reproduction
Reproductive role is a role that is associated with the responsibilities of child care and
domestic tasks
Reproductive Health
Within the framework of WHO’s definition of health as a state of complete physical, mental
and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, reproductivehealth
Importance of Reproductive Health/pxaa
It is very important for an adult and adolescent to be aware of sexual health, reproduction,
contraceptives, STDs.
Theories can be generally divided into three families:
1. Biological
2. Socialization
3. Cognitive
Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual Theory
1. The Id is present at birth and represents everything
2. The Ego develops as a result of our attempts to satisfy your needs
3. The Superego arises from the Ego and develops as aninternal representation of the
moral values
On this basis, he broke the self-down into two components or “phases:
1. the “I” - represents the part of the self that acts on its own initiative or responds
2. the “me.”- represents the part of the self in whichone recognizes the “organized sets of
attitudes”
Four stages of child socialization (Accdg to Mead)
1.,preparatory stage
2. play stage
3. game stage
4. generalized other
Kohlberg developed a theory of moral development in three levels:
1. Pre conventional- lack of higher level of cognitive ability
2. Conventional- youngsters become increasingly aware of others feelings
3. Post- conventional – begin to think of morality
Kohlberg stages of gender development
1. Gender labelling
2. Gender stability
3. Gender consistently
General Strain Theory
According to this theory, studies suggest that gender differences between individuals can
lead to externalized anger
