Lesson 1.

Gender and Sexuality Across time

Archeological Artifacts reveal that in the distant past, during the dawn of civilizations, human
societies have high regard for women.
 Divine feminine – the sacredness of the woman due to her ability to conceive children.
 Egalitarian – men and women have equitable power and roles.
 Paternity – fatherhood/role of the father in conception – Presumably during the
Agricultural Era.
Industrial Era
Factors were built and men were preferred because they did not have to bear children
for nine months and because of their perceived physical strength.
 Productive sphere (world of public work) – societies have privileged men over other
genders.
 Reproductive Affairs ( world of the home and related tasks) – women revered due to
their ability to conceive have been viewed as solely capable.
Patriarchy
From the greek word Patriarkhes which means “the rule of the father”. It is a social
system where men primarily holds power in the political and the private spheres. In the
social, legal, political, and economic spheres, men are expected to lead while women are
expected to obey and are relegated to the house chores, bearing children, and child care.

Patrilineal society often follows a patriarchal society, this means only men can inherit property
and the family name. Women are not allowed to go to schools, or even vote, because they are
viewed as a weaker sex and should not concern themselves in learning science or politics.

Friedrich Engles - a german philosopher and sociologist. He argue that patriarchy came about
when people started having private property instead of commonal living. As a way to control
the excess wealth generated by these advancements, male dominance was asserted over
women so only the male heir can inherit family wealth.

HISTORICAL VIEWS ON GENDER

Greek

Greek philosopher such as Aristotle and Plato, viewed women as the inferior sex and are
properties of men whose only job was to obey their husbands, bear children, and take care of
the household. They were forbidden to learn philosophy, politics, and science.

Egypt

Herodotus, a Greek historian, observed the Egyptian civilization citing that Egyptian
women enjoyed higher social status that Greek women because they can inherit property and
engage in trade and politics.

China

Confucianism has stringent written rules that dictate how women should conduct
themselves. “Three obedience’s and four virtues” and “Precepts of women” states that women
should obey their father, when married she is to obey her husband, and when widowed she is
to obey her son.

Women have come a long way since the ancient times through the feminist movement,
however, patriarchy has taken on subtle forms of oppression that often go unnoticed such as:
  Sexism - prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination based on sex

 Gender pay gap - men earn more than women

 Underrepresentation in politics, military, executive positions, etc.

 Rape on women and stigma making women ashamed to report the crime

 Very conservative expectations on women on how they behave

 Unrealistic depections of women in fiction, often very sexualized

 Women do more housework and childcare

 Boys were trained to be leaders while women were trained to do house chores.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT (April 30, 1937)

Feminism - is a continuing series of social movements that aim to challenge the

patriarchal society that creates these oppressive political structures, beliefs, and practices
against women.

During the 19th and early 20th century, first-wave feminism spread across the western
countries as women demanded for their right to vote or participate in elections and to be able
to legally own property.
In France, Simone de Beauvoir wrote the book titled “The Second Sex” in 1949. It
outlined how the patriarchal society disadvantaged women by slowly raising her into
submission and hindering their productivity and happiness by relegating them to
housecleaning. This book was intrumental in awakening women about their plight as the “wife-
servant” to their husbands in her famous qoute “one is not born, but rather becomes, a
woman”.
Le Mouvement de Liberation des Femmes or the women’s liberation movement was informed in
Europe and they sought the right to education, right to work, and right to vote in the 1940’s.
Inspired by Beauvoir’s book, second-wave feminism in 1960’s through 80’s, women drew
attention to various social and cultural inequalities such as domestic violence especially marital
rape, reproductive rights, wage inequality, and etc. The 90’s gave birth to the 3rd wave and
2012 started the fourth wave.
The United Nation reports that women do more work than men because even when they work
at the ofice, they are still expected to do household tasks.

Feminism demands equality:

1. Women suffrage - women were not allowed to vote before because they were viewed
as irrational and temperamental and therefore, not able to make rational decisions.
This was changed after world war 1 (1914 to 1918), where letting women to vote since
they can no longer argue that women are “irrational and temperamental”.
2. Equality in politics and society - representation is very important for women, so their
genuine concerns are heard in politics and in society.
3. Reproductive rights means the woman is in control of her body, she can decide for
herself on what she sees is the best for her.
4. Domestic violence - such as marital rape and physical abuse are often dismissed by
society as a part of a “marriage”.
5. Sexual harassment and sexual violence - one woman or child is raped every hour
mostly by someone they know.
 6. Others rights include the right to divorce their husbands, the right to make decisions
on her pregnancy, equitable wages, and equal employment oppurtunity.

Lesson 2. Gender and Sexuality as a subject of injury

Intro:

Gender is a big part of our individuality and society; it is a form of social organization,
and it is often unnoticed. This studies emerged from the need to analyze how gender, sex, and
sexuality impact our lives, especially how it creates gender inequality.

Gender Role or Sex Role

- sets of culturally defined behaviors such as masculinity and femininity.
In a binary system of viewing gender roles, we only see male and female where men are
expected to be masculine while women are expected to be feminine.
Gender studies is not just for women or all about women, it is about everyone.

Diversity and Inclusion

Gender roles are socially constructed, not innate. Society reinforces these roles
through a lifelong process of normalization, encouraging behaviors that align with traditional
gender expectations.
LGBT people often do not fit in the traditional binary genders roles so they are often
reprimanded, bullied, and discriminated. Gender studies let us analyze the creation and
maintenance of these gender norms, so that it does not create inequalities in our social,
political, and economic spheres.
Gender studies and Research
It utilizes a systematic approach in identifying problems, making hypotheses and
assumptions, gathering data, and making conclusions. This systematic process is referred to as
the research process.
Approaches in Reseach
Since Gender and Sexuality cuts across a variety of issues that could be biomedical,
psychosocial, or political-legal, there is no singular way in concluding the research process.

Qualitative Approach
Focus more on the meanings created and interpretations made by people about their
own personal or vicarious (observed) experiences.
Phenomenology
Conducting intensive interviews with individuals who have experienced a particular
event and understanding their “lived experience”
Hermeneutics
Understanding the meaning of texts (literary works, art works) and what they convey
about human realities: and ethnograohy
Ethnomethodology
Immersing in a community and taking note of their experiences, beliefs, attitudes,
practices.
Quantitative Approach
Is used to described and analyze characteristics of a population or a sample and can
sometimes be used to make generalizations about the entire population based on sample data.
Survey
Collecting information from a sample.

Experiment
Creating actual set-ups to observe behavior of people in an experimental group (a group
receiving treatment) and comparing it to the behavior of people in a control group (a group
without any treatment).

In many cases, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches offers a more

comprehensive understanding of social realities.

Ethics in Gender and Sexuality Research

Informed Consent
Researchers should make sure that the participants in the study are aware of the
purpose and processes of the study they are participating in, and that they shall not force to.
Non-maleficence and Beneficence
A study should not do harm(non-maleficence) to anyone. When involving human, study
should be beneficial(beneficence) for it to be worth implementing.
Confidentiality and Anonymity
Researchers should not reveal any information provided by the participants, their
identity to anyone who are not concerned with the study.
Distributive Justice
Any study should not disadvantage a particular group, especially the marginalized and
the oppressed (e.g., poor people, women, lgbtq+, the elders).

Gender, Sexuality, and Human Ecology

Recognizes the interplay among internal and external environments- physical, socio-
economic, cultural. This approach human sexual lives and experiences at various levels and
spheres of analysis.

Lesson 3. Gender and Sexuality as a Psychosocial issue

Psychological - pertains to anything associated with mental process and behavior.

Social -pertains to anything associated with human relationships, connection and interaction.
Psychology - a field of science which concerns with how people think and feel.
Sociology - a field of science which concerns with the person’s realities and experiences as part
of group and institutions.
Psychological domains
 Affective - pertains to peopl’s emotions and feelings
  Behavior - pertains to people’s actions (overt and covert)
 Cognitive - pertains to people’s thought processes such as memory, perception, and
information-processing.
Psychological dimensions
Our sexual behaviors and gender-related behaviors, originated from what we sense,
think, and feel. Gender and Sexuality is a relational experience.

Self/Other-awareness (self to others)

Awareness - its our conscious understanding of something.

Towards self-awareness:
What am I physiologically?
Am I happy with what I am?how do I genuinely see myself?
How do I feel about myself as a sexual being?
Is there anything good should I do?
Towards other-awareness:
What is the other’s motivation, preferences, and aspiration?
Where am I positioned in her or his life?
How different and or similar am I and other?

Intimacy and Relationship

Two people recognize and become aware of each other, they decide to keep close
distance in each other’s lives, share their personal bubbles, so to speak, and allow frequency of
interaction between them. Human relationship is a bond formed between two or more people,
manifested through communicationand interaction.
Intimacy - the process of knowing others and allowing others to know us.
Socialization - the process by which we learn cultural norms and traditions.

Well-being as a Psychosocial Goal

A state of satisfaction, meaning, and purpose. There are two sides to well-being.
Objective well-being is observed, outward, and can be evaluated through the presence or
absence of particular elements in our environment. Subjective well-being is our personal
experience of satisfaction, meaning, and purpose. It pertains to our own appreciation of how
well we are.

Dimensions of well-being
The following are the primary dimension of well-being:
 Physical - physical/biological health.
 Emotional - positive feelings; mood stability
 Mental - clarity of mid; healthy thought process
 Material - available and adequate financial and other resources
 Social -healthy positive interaction and relationship with ithers.

Lesson 4. Love, Intimacy, and Relationship

Robert Sternberg - a psychologist renowned for his theory of love asked, in his 1986 paper.

LOVE AS HUMAN EXPERIENCE

Love as a culture universal
Is a phenomenon experienced similarly by people across time and cultures. This means
that humans, whether those who lived in the past or who are living now and regardless of their
geographic location and socio-cultural identities, have experienced love, in one way or another.
The way we appreciate and experience this phenomenon may be unique, but it is a similar
phenomenon altogether.
Love as a social phenomenon
Are events or experience which ensue within our interaction and relationship with
other people. Loving entails communication- the process of giving and receiving information
between and among people. The use of language- symbols that are culturally agreed upon as
processing certain meanings and that are used by people to express certain realities and
worldviews.

Love as an emotion
Are physiological responses that we evaluate psychologically as we experience particular
life event. There are basic emotions such as joy, sadness, fear, disgust, and anger among
others. There are also complex emotion, which are a combination of basic emotions in varying
magnitudes and are made intricate by circumstances surrounding the experience (e.g., the
people involved, the place and time where the emotion is experienced, etc.)
Love as a neurobiological event
The experience of love is associated with various parts of our brain. For instance, the
loving experience is commonly associated with the action of the ventral tegmental area(VTA)
of our brain which is just behind our left eyes. It is also associated with the increased amount in
endorphins- hormones believed to provide humans a good mood.
Theorizing love
Since love is a rather complex idea, which can be described, defined and experienced in
myriad of ways, several theories and frameworks offer diverse perpectives on how it can be
understood and explained.
Psychodynamic view on love
It pertains to psychoanalytic tradition forwarded by Sigmund Freud (a viennese
neurologist). This theory posits that we have desires and motives fueled by our life (eros) and
death (thanatos) instincts. Both fueled our thoughts to stream from our unconscious - the
province of our mind, which are highly unaware of.
Love can be seen as a manifestation of our eros and the placement of our libido(life
energy) unto an object ( a thing or a person towards who we transfer our psychic energies to
ease pain or achieve pleasure).
Color wheel of love
John Alan Lee (1973), a canadian psychologist, states that there are different types of
love.
Primary types:
Eros - sexual and romantic
Ludos - Playful/game love
 Philia - friendly
Storage - Parental/filial love
Secondary type:
Pragma - Pratical love
Mania - Obsessive
Agape - universal love
Philautia - self love

Triangular model of love (by Sternberg, 1986)

This theory looks at love from a psychometric stance, which means that it is generally
concerned about trying to measure love as psychological variable and in determining the
various dimensions and facets that love has as experienced by people.

According to Strenberg (1986)

Passion - refers to the physical/emotional aspect.
Intimacy - pertains to the psychological/relational aspect.
Commitment - pertains to the agency component, that is the choice we make with regards to
engaging and maintaining the loving relationship.
Infatuation - when there is only passion but no other components.
Liking - when there is only intimacy but no other components.
Empty love - when there is only commitment.
Romantic love - when there is passion and intimacy.
Ludic love - when there is passion and commitment.
Friendly love - when there is intimacy and commitment.
Consummate love - when all three components are present (passion, intimacy, and
commitment)

Romantic and compassionate love

Romantic love - is characterized by intense passion “ a state of intense longing for union
with your partner”.
Compassionate love - is characterized by intense intimacy-emotional closeness-which is
also characteristic of liking.

Love languages
Word of affirmation - tend to verbally express their thoughts and feelings of love
towards the people they love.
Physical touch - express love non-verbally through hugs, kisses, or simply, a tap on the
back.
Time - tend to value quality moments with their loved ones.
Gifts - want to show and receive affection through material objects, especially during
special occasions.
Acts of service - are much willing to serve the other person by helping her or him in
things that they do.
Love and Intimate Relationship
An interpersonal relationship that involves emotional or physical closeness between
people and may include sexual intimacy and feelings of romance or love.

George Levinger (1982) postulated that there are stages that intimate relationship go through:
Acquaintance - meet up through circumstances and first learn about basic information
of one another.
Buildup - frequency of interactiom increase. The involved parties begin to introduce one
another to each other’s friends and families.
Consolidation and Continuation - when people commits long-term relationship with one
another, either through a personal agreement or social-legal agreement.
Decline or Deterioration - some intimate relationship are unable to sustain and maintain
their commitments or attraction.
Ending - for those intimate relationship who are unable to address the causes and
circumstances leading to the deterioration of their relationship, the stage culminate into ending
or termination of the agreements.

Lesson 5. SEX AND SENSES

Definition of Terms:
• Sensorium – the totality of our senses and perception; a conglomerate of the individual
sense organs.
• Olfaction – sense of smell.
• Tactile – something associated with touch
• Pheromone – a substance believed to be emitted by organisms and which is thought to
be influencing social behaviors.
• Major Histocompatibility Complex – a set of protein molecules associated with the
immune system.
Five Senses:
1. Sense of Sight (visual)- Our eyes enable our sense of sight, so that we are able to see
visual stimuli (color, size, shape) in the environment.
2. Sense of Smell (olfaction)- Our nose enables sense of smell, so that we are able to
experience scent.
3. Sense of hearing (audition)- Our ears allow us sense of hearing, so that we are able to
experience sounds of varying tones, pitches, and volume.
4. Sense of Taste (gustation)- Our tongue is covered with taste buds that allow us sense of
taste, so that we are able to experience the taste (e.g., saltness, sweetness, bitterness, etc.) of
our food and other objects we pt in our mouth.
5. Sense of Touch/Feeling- We have sensory reception in our skin, muscles and joints
which allow us the sense of touch/feeling, so that we are able to have tactile experiences, e.g.,
heat or its absence, various texture, various physical pressure.
 These five senses comprise our sensorium-the totally of our sensory experiences and
perception. While we receive information from our environment through the senses, our brain
has the ability to organize and interpret these numerous stimuli into meaningful ideas that are
useful for our choices (behavior).

HUMAN AFFECT AND THE SENSES

Affective Primary Hypothesis (Zajonc 1980) postulates that in may cases, cognitive
processing (i.e., higher order thinking) plays a lesser role compared to our emotional responses
in eliciting behavior. By virtue of the hypothesis, by default, our emotions take precedent
primarily because these are only processed and modulated by the limbic system-the emotional
part of our brain which is more primitive compared to the ones responsible for higher order
thinking (e.g., neocortex). PRIMARY EMOTIONAL RESPONSES 1. FIGHT- response is when we
face adverse or dangerous stimuli squarely. 2. FLIGHT- response is when we move away from
the adverse or dangerous stimuli. 3. FREEZE- response on the other hand is when you are
startled and are unable to make a choice thus unable to move.

SENSE AND SEXUALITY

1. Visual Experience- Humans are predominantly visual. Our societies highly rely on visual
culture to co-create meaning and convey information. For instance, our language has a visual
component, as observed our writing systems. Visual culture is an essential element of our
society. It is only appropriate to utilize these visual cues since visual memory is deemed
superior to other forms(Cohen et. al 2008). Rupp and Wallen (2007)Men respond more to
visual sexual stimuli and to be influenced by the sex of the actors in a sexual scenario. Women
were found to be more influenced by context, although they, too, are responsive to the sexual
content of a visual stimuli.
2. Olfactory Experience- Olfaction in non-huamn animals, which are believed to be
microsmatic organisms, or organisms having greater sense of smell, have been an interest
among psychologists since the 1950s. Conversely, humans and apes are generally believed to
be microsmatic (lesser levels of olfaction) compared to their non-ape counterparts. Sense of
smell may play an important part in our sexual response. Scientist have tried to explain how
human olfaction influence sexuality. They identified through possibilities: Signature Odor – the
unique way that each individual smells. Pheromones – substances putatively excreted by our
glands which signals mood and affects social behaviors. Some chemicals thought to be human
hormones are: androstadienone (AND), a testosterone-like substance found in male sweat,
saliva, and urine; estratetraenol (EST), an estrogen-like found in female urine, and I-pyrroline, a
substance found in human semen, pubic sweat, and smegma.
3. Tactile Experience- Touch is observed to be an element of intimacy, our body is covered
in skin, often referred to as the largest bodily organ. Our skin totally accounts for 16 to 20% of
our body weight. It is a sensitive organ as every square inch of it houses more than a thousand
nerve endings. Hence, in social interactions, particularly intimate ones, touch holds meaning.
Touch has some element: Tactile element – pertains to the experience relative to the object
being felt: Is it rough? Is it smooth? Is the surface hard or soft? Thermal element – Is it warm or
cold? Vibrational element – Is the pressure of the touch strong or weak? Is the sensation
moving and pulsating or steady and stationary? Threshold of Tactile Experience: Primary
Erogenous Zone – very sensitive to touch (mouth, anus, genitals, and nipples). Secondary
Erogenous Zone – also sensitive to touch (back, cheek, neck, and buttocks). Oxytocin – it is
referred to as the “love hormone”.
4. Auditory Experience- Social interactions are not only visual, but also auditory processes.
Our human language often has a verbal counterpart to the written language. In fact, historically,
much of our culture are passed on through oral traditions, even before the writing system was
developed. Sexual activities are also a verbal communication process, Sounds give additional
context to sexual situations.
Lesson 6. Sexual Behavior

Behavior - refers to actions. Things that we do, both overt (observable) and covert (not readily
observable by the naked eye).
Motivation - something that drives us to do something.
Duration - how long does an action take place.
Intensity - the magnitude by which it is done.
Diversity - what are the varieties of a similar behavior done in various context.

Sexual Behaviors
Are actions of humans agree to interpret as an expression of their sexual motivation or
intentions.
 Masturbation - the stimulation of one’s genitals can be considered as auto-erotic (self-
directed).
Erotic behaviors
They involve any of the primary or secondary eroctic zones. Erotic motivation can also
be directed to other people of the same-sex or of the opposite sex.
 Homoerotic behaviors - are sexual behaviors oriented to the same sex.
 Heteroerotic behaviors - are used to refer to sexual behaviors oriented to the other
sex.
Copulation
The insertion of the penis to the vagina.

Two common position:

Ventral-ventral position - male and female species are facing each other.
Ventral-dorsal position - the insertion of the penis to the vagina is from behind.
Non-copulatory
 Kissing
 Hugging
 Caressing
Fellatio
Oral stimulation of the penis
Cunnilingus
Oral stimulation of the vagina
Anal sex
Stimulation or penetration of the anal orifice.

Sexual Response Cycle

The sequence of events from arousal to orgasm to resolution of sexual tension.
Masters and Johnson’s Mode (1966,1970)l proposed the four phases in cycle.
 Excitement - the initial stage where sexual arousal begins: Erection of the penis for
male, while vagina lubrication for female. Both male and female humans, heart rate
increases during the excitement phase.
 Plateau - represent a period of sustained arousal where the physical changes that
began during excitement phase become more intense.
 Orgasm - the climax of the sexual response cycle by intense pleasure and a release of
sexual tension.
 Resolution - the body returns to its pre-aroused state. The physical effects of arousal
subside, and the body begins to relax.
Kaplan’s model(1979) sees the sexual response cycle as having relatively independent stages.
 Desire - the psychological component in which it involves sexual thoughts and feelings
that are necessary for satisfying sexual experience. It does not necessarily translate
into action
 Arousal - (like the excitement and plateau in the first model). but it does not
necessarily translate into orgasm.
 Orgasm - (like the orgasm and resolution in the first model). it is the completion of the
sexual response.
Sexual response dysfunction
 Sexual desire disorder - when an individual has low levels of desire or has an aversion
to sexual activities.
 Sexual arousal disorder - when an individual has problems in achieving necessary
physiological state for copulation(e.g., erectile dysfunction for men)
 Sexual orgasm disorder - when an individual has problems in achieving orgasm
 Sexual pain disorder - when there is an experience of pain during the sexual response
cycle. Dyspareunia (painful erection) and Vaginismus (vaginal spasms).
Paraphilias
When an individual gets sexually aroused by an object, a person, or a circumstance that
are unusual.

Paraphilic disorder - is when the urge or act lasts for at least six months and is a manifestation
of clinically significant distress. The following are the common paraphilic disorder:
 Exhibitionism - pleasure from exposing one’s genitals to nonconsenting people.
 Fetishism - arousal from non-living objects
 Pedophilia - arousal from children
 Sexual masochism - arousal from actual suffering and humiliation
 Sexual sadism - arousal from actually inflicting pain to others
 Transvestic fetishism - arousal from wearing clothes of women(men only)
 Voyeurism - observing other people engaged in sexual activities.