ANTH Ch. 9: Sexuality

Sexuality (Schools of Thought)

Evolutionary biology. Constructionist perspective

Three Phases of Falling in Love

Finding the right sexual partner. Building a relationship. Forming an emotional attachment that will last long enough to raise a child

Federal Law regarding Same-Sex Marriage

In June 2013, the Supreme Court ruled the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional

Antioch College

Yes means Yes. Mandates that participants must receive an explicit yes at every step of the encounter. Promotes a more elaborate language for talking and thinking about sex. Appeared to have improved some students sex lives

Asexuality

a lack of erotic attraction to others

Boy Inseminating Ritual

among the Sambia, a small group in Papua New Guinea. Believe that adult men needed to supply boys with semen to ensure their development into manhood. Boys perform fellatio on older men. Created masculinity, made young men into warriors, and prepared them for marriage to women. Means of transferring semen varies by group

Helen Fisher (Evolutionary biology)

analyzes the relationship of body chemistry to sensations of love. Through evolution, humans have developed neurochemicals that drive an evolutionary trajectory of loving. 3 phases of falling in love

Civilians

another group of masu harka. Masculine men who seek to meet other men. Some act like yan daudu, but only in private

Gloria Wekker (western ideas)

argues that Western scholarship mistakenly links all sexual acts between individuals of the same gender to a notion of a homosexual identity that is counterposed to an equally fixed and opposite heterosexual identity. Urges not to impose Western views of sexuality on the whole world, but to understand sexuality in its local reality with the goal of rethinking same gender behavior in cross-cultural perspective

Jonathan Katz

argues that heterosexuality as it is practiced and understood in contemporary US culture is a recent invention. Dictionary lists the first US usage in 1892

White Weddings (roles and inequality)

assumptions about the proper role and relative value of men and women within the context of heterosexuality promote inequalities in the home. Woman is both a wage earner and responsible for the domestic work and child care. Receive unequal pay for equal work

Heterosexuality

attraction to and sexual relations between individuals of the opposite sex

Homosexuality

attraction to and sexual relations between individuals of the same sex

Bisexuality

attraction to and sexual relations with members of both sexes

Sousa (women)

attracts young women to seek opportunities through sex trade that flourishes there. Believe the money they earn will help release them from the hardships of life in their rural, underdeveloped country. Hope to marry a tourist who they imagine will help them acquire a visa and enable them to escape poverty. Often victims of extortion and harassment by police

Biology and Sexuality

biology plays a key role in shaping sexuality because sexuality includes distinct physiological processes. Human sexuality is a distinct outlier in the animal kindom

White Weddings (girls)

brides are not born, they are made. Every girl in US culture is bombarded with cultural symbols and messages about what it will take to have her own white wedding. Barbies, movies, TV shows all celebrate weddings a key life moments. Taught the kiss the bride moment, makeup, heels, go on dates

Legal Marriages (benefits)

convey a wide range of federal and state entitlements that are unavailable to those who are unmarried. Use of heterosexuality to organize life. Inheritance rights, tax benefits, heath care access, social security benefits, visitation rights, health care decisions

Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)

declared marriage to be the legal union between one man and one woman and ensured no state could be forced to recognize the marital rights of gay couples married in another state and restricted federal benefits to heterosexual couples only

Jared Diamond (Human sexuality-summary)

despite the common belief that clues to the essentials of human sex drives and behaviors may be found in nature, it is clear that humans have developed a sex life that lies far outside the natural framework of that of our mammal relatives

Heterosexuality (past)

early references often referred to it as a perversion of the natural order because of its association with sex for pleasure rather than procreation. Victorian ideal considered sex to be for procreation alone

Single European Males

encouraged to live with imported slaves or native concubines. Legislation ensured that these women and children would have no right to claim citizenship or any rights or privileges

Roger Lancaster

explores expressions of sexuality and machismo of a working class Nicaraguan neighborhood

Ann Stoler (power relations)

explores sexuality as an arena for working out power relations by exploring strategies that European colonizers used to control the sexual practices of people under their rule.

Mignon Moore

explores the impact of the intersections of race and sexuality on the identities, relationships and families of black gay women in US

Gloria Wekker

explores the lives of black, working class Creole Women in Suriname, a former Dutch colony in South America. Mati work

Commitment Ceremonies (acceptance)

expressed personal and intimate feelings, including their wish to formalize their bonds of love, acknowledging their connection and making commitment public

Yan Daudu

feminine men in Nigeria. One group of masu harka. Act like women- cook, serve food, sing, dance, work as prostitutes

Richard von Krafft-Ebings

first introduced the modern sense of heterosexuality and homosexuality. Shift in the science community toward the new idea of sex for pleasure

Evolutionary Biology

focuses on the ways in which human evolution has created biological drives embedded in genes that shape the brain and control hormones. Drives work instinctively to ensure reproduction of the species. Helen Fisher

Constructionist Perspective

focuses on ways in which people, events, and cultural environment around us shape our sexual desires and behaviors. Focuses on the process through which humans are enculturated from birth to channel those feelings and desires into a limited number of acceptable expressions

Nigerian (conversation of homosexuality)

forcing the conversation into restrictive binary categories of heterosexuality and homosexuality endangers the existence of local sexual expression by placing indigenous expressions into a debate about foreign influence, imperialism, and western decadence

Commitment Ceremonies (resistance)

form of resistance against the cultural norms and legal standards that denied gays the recognition of their lives and loves in ways readily provided to heterosexuals. Part of efforts to legalize same sex marriage and advocate for the benefits associated with marriage.

South Africa

gay rights were included in the new constitution of 1994

Black Lesbian Women (prior to 1980s)

gay sexuality in minority communities was rarely articulated in public settings. Rarely recognized as a component of the community's larger experiences of discrimination and struggle. Openly gay was perceived to flout notions of respectability that had developed in the black middle class and that its leadership promoted as important tools to combat racist stereotypes

Ocytocin and Vasopressin

generate feelings of calm and security associated with a long partnership- attachment

White Weddings (constructing heterosexuality)

human sexuality is constructed in culture. Weddings are public celebrations of romantic love and key cultural institutions through which we learn what it means to be heterosexual.

Heterosexual Imaginary

idealized version of weddings and married life maintains an illusion of well being in patterns of relationship between men and women that in reality may not be present. Misleadinly encourages us to assume that the patterns of heterosexuality that we have inherited are natural, timeless, and unchanging.

White Weddings (availability)

industry does not depict a diverse population in advertising insinuating that white weddings are for white people. Most Americans cannot afford the average wedding

Yan Daudu (Competition and language)

internal competitions may emerge for material and symbolic resources. Admiration, attention, boyfriends. Language becomes a way to compete. Linguistic skill, creativity, and nimbleness provide keys to success

Sex Work

labor through which one provides sexual services for money. More than a survival strategy for girls in Sousa, it is an advancement strategy

Yaren Harka

language of the Yan Daudu. Secret in group code drawn from common Nigerian Hausa dialect. Tease, flirt, and toss around innuendos in a way inaccessible to outsiders. Provides an opportunity to build community and solidarity

Black Lesbian Women (Identities)

many middle class white lesbian couples experience sexuality as the primary framework that shapes their identity. Many in the black lesbian community find that race is the primary framework that shapes their identity

Cochon

men who passively receive anal sex in Nicaragua. Queer, fag, gay.

Machista

penetrator. Still considered a manly man. Their role to is to achieve sexual conquest whenever possible with whoever is available. Acts out machismo, enhancing status by dominating the weaker person

Masu Harka

people who do the deed. Men who have sex with men in Nigeria. Do not see homosexual behavior as incompatible with marrying women, forming families, and having children.

Transgender

people whose gender identity or gender expression differs from the sex they were assigned at birth

Commitment Ceremonies

play multiple roles in the gay and lesbian community, serving as rituals of resistance and rituals of acceptance

US Sexuality Conversations

popular conversations about sexuality in US often focus on same gender sexuality. Anthropology has worked to shift scholarly attention to focus on the norm and the process by which the particular expression of heterosexuality has become the norm

White Weddings (power dynamics)

power dynamics disadvantage women while being obscured by the idealism and romance that US culture wraps around these institutions. Historically, hetero marriages included legal stipulations that made women economic and sexual property of husbands

Sousa, Dominican Republic

prime destination for white male European sex tourists. Little sex tourism money reaches local Dominican hotels, restaurants, and businesses. Local workers toil for low wages. Well-funded tourist hotels have undermined the local tourist industry

Public Opinion of Same-Sex Marriage

public opinion of same sex marriage continues to shift in US culture, especially among younger generations

Black Lesbian Women (now)

recognition of same-sex relationships and families has increased in the black community. Black political and religious leaders have begun to address issues related to gay sexuality as matters of civil rights and fairness

Cultural Institutions

regulate many aspects of sexuality. Marriage, divorce, monogamy, polygamy, age of consent, incest, reproductive rights, LGBT rights

Alfred Kinsey (rejected claims)

rejected the claims that humans represent two discrete populations, heterosexual and homosexual. Studies showed that same gendered attraction, fantasies, and experiences to be much more common than previously thought. Sexual behaviors shift over a lifetime

Mati (men)

relationships with men may center on having children or receiving economic support. Frequently choose a visiting relationship with men rather than marriage to keep their independence

Dopamine

released to promote feelings of romance as relationships deepen

Alfred Kinsey (reports- quantitative data)

reliance on quantitative results reinforced the emerging popular and scientific consensus that because it was the sex most people were having, heterosexuality was the functional norm for human sexuality

Alfred Kinsey (reports- Scale)

reports contributed to the establishment of heterosexuality as the dominant ideal in US culture. By placing heterosexual and homosexual on opposite ends of his scale, he reinforced cultural assumptions that these were opposite and irreconcilable categories

Same-Gender Sexuality (research)

research and analysis of same gender sexuality must recognize that the identical physical acts may be understood in multiple ways and have vastly different social significance in different cultures or historical periods

Sexology

scientific study of sexuality that emerged in US in late 19th century. Sought to understand the essence of human sexuality as it was expressed naturally through sexual behavior

Machismo

shapes relationships between men and women and men and men. Real men are aggressive and masculine. Macho states is always at risk and must always be performed

European Colonizers

sought to establish clear boundaries of European identity and protect their rights to the profits of colonialism and their privileges as members of what they considered the dominant race.

Boy Inseminating Ritual (homosexuality)

strengthened young Sambian men's masculine identity and did not threaten their heterosexual identity and desire or make other members consider them effeminate. Essential act that prepared them to transition out of a feminized childhood dominated by women

Ellen Lewin

studied both personal and political dynamics of gay and lesbian commitment ceremonies. Couples created rituals to recognize themselves and celebrate their love

Alfred Kinsey

suggested that human sexuality was much more diverse than commonly assumed. Found that sexuality does not fit into simplistic categories and that it is marked by diversity, flexibility, and fluidity. Studies revealed a continuum of sexual behavior. Created the Kinsey scale

Jonathan Katz (heterosexuality- new meaning)

suggests heterosexuality as we think of it is not the same as reproductive intercourse. Is is a particular arrangement between the sexes that includes reproductive intercourse and ideas about the practice and purpose of sex that have not always been socially assumed

Jared Diamond (Human sexuality)

suggests human sexuality is completely abnormal by standards of the 30 million species. Most mammals live individually and do not raise offspring together. Most engage in public sex. Most only have sex when females ovulate. Human women go through menopause whereas other mammals remain fertile their entire lives. Humans, dolphins, and bonobos are the only mammals that have sex for fun

Mignon Moore (Suggestion)

suggests that by risking the disruption of this particular version of respectability, black women who live openly as lesbians offer an alternative manifestation of respectability at the intersection of sexuality and race

White Weddings (boys)

taught to buy flowers, wear tuxes, pay for dates, lead when dancing, initiate sex

Sexuality (definition)

the complex range of desires, beliefs, and behaviors that are related to erotic physical contact. The cultural arena within which people debate about what kinds of physical desires and behaviors are right, appropriate, and natural

Nicaragua ("homosexuality")

the same acts that in the US would reveal someone's essential homosexuality is interpreted differently. Active, aggressive men enhance their masculinity even if they engage in same gender sexual activity

Constructionist Perspective (categories)

traces the ways in which through culture, human groups arrange the diversity of sexuality into a limited number of categories that are imagined to be discrete. Masks the actual diversity of sexuality (homosexuality and heterosexuality)

Sex Tourism

travel, usually organized through the tourism sector, to facilitate commercial sexual relations between tourists and local residents

Testosterone

triggers the sense of excitement and desire for sexual gratification

Anti-Gay Rhetoric

unifies Muslim fundamentalist, Christian orthodox, and evangelical groups. Threatens to close off the possibility of recognizing the diversity of sexual desires, practices, and identities of individuals and local communities

Nigerian View of Homosexuality

viewed as a part of the wave of Western influences that have been flooding their country. Govts see the push for recognizing gay rights as human rights as simply a new front of Western imperialism.

Sexual Violence

violence perpetrated through sexually related physical assaults such as rape. Attention to this on college campuses has increased

Yan Daudu (Islam)

with introduction of Islamic sharia law, they have faced increased persecution, harassment, and marginalization on account of their gender and sexual nonconformity

Mati

women who form intimate spiritual, emotional, and sexual relationships with other women. 3/4 engage in mati work at some point in their lives. May engage in sexual relationships with both men and women, sometimes simultaneously, sometimes consecutively

European Colonizers (rules)

wrote rules for sexual liaisons and marriages. Dutch restricted the immigration of European women to Asia. Single European males were recruited but prohibited from marrying women of the colonies. Colonized men were portrayed as a sexual danger. Gender specific sexual sanctions delineated lines of power between European men and women

Mati Work (Netherlands)

young Surinamese women have emigrated from the former colony to its former colonizer in search for economic opportunities. Often developed in relationships between young immigrants and older black women of Surinamese parentage who are Dutch citizens. Relationships are fraught with power dynamics. Does not parallel European ideas of lesbianism