Sexual Response Variations

                David Reuben’s book was moralistic, homophobic, and looked at the broader sexual connections. It discussed Helen Kaplan, Rosemary Basson, and Sigmund Freud. I find it easiest to relate to Rosemary’s perspective on sexual relationships. She talks about intimacy and the value of long term relationships. However I think you need some intimacy to have a meaningful sexual experience. In my experience I find sexual encounters useless if they involve no intimacy, or affection, and I avoid these encounters because they are self destructive.

I find it hardest to relate to Sigmund Freud’s psycho sexual development theory. I do not think a clitoral orgasm is immature because the clitoris is the only part of the body designed specifically for pleasure. I also do not believe that women have penis envy at all. That doesn’t make any sense. If there is penis envy then there must also be vagina envy, and I doubt any guy would want a vagina unless he was transgendered.  Vaginas bleed and push out babies, and penises are just plain ugly.

Finally I think masturbation is a healthy part of being an adult and it is a release of built up tension as well as a sense of empowerment. If people had sex every time they were sexually frustrated the world would be very overpopulated.

Masters and Johnson

Masters and Johnson's 4 phase sexual response includes: excitement, plateau, orgasmic, and resolution. Throughout these stages men require a period of resolution and women do not. I also learned that blue balls are completely fictional. This makes me happy, knowing that my boyfriends won’t be in pain if they aren’t pleasured. I agree with these stages, because it logically makes sense. I can help students in my class by making sure they know that there is no such thing as blue balls, so they do not have to feel pressured to do stuff with boys when they aren’t ready.

Male anatomy and physiology

In the video “Private Dicks” men exposed I learned many opinions that men had.  The idea that men don’t feel comfortable talking about their penises came as a shock to me.  Also the opinion that if another man looked at a heterosexual male’s penis they assumed it meant that he wanted to perform oral sex. I did not realize that the average penis was 5 to 6 inches. This gives me a better understanding of how males are also insecure about their bodies.  They act all macho but are really just as insecure about their bodies as females are.  I would like to learn more about how men think and the insecurities they have.

When I compare private dicks to vagina monologues I understand that both are addressing very sensitive topics.  I find it easier to relate to the female clips then the males but I understand both, in the sense that we are all insecure in our bodies.

Female anatomy and Physiology

The way we think and feel about our body is socially, culturally, and politically mediated. Political mediations are society’s views on what men and female bodies should look like. Political mediations can come in group form such as the 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd wave feminists. Each of these groups had different goals in changing the way society views women.

Another movement that is trying to make it normal to talk freely about women’s bodies is the vagina monologues. In my response to the vagina monologue clip I take a very nonchalant stance. I do not find it hard to talk about my body or my period. At first listening to the girls speak about sensitive topics was surprising, but soon became casual.  I think the audience responded by laughing awkwardly, and also because they have experienced the same thing. I would like to help girls in my classes be very comfortable in their own bodies, and have a positive self image!  I can do this by accepting everyone and showing pictures of all types of girls stating that they are all unique but equally beautiful.

I feel like my family should have supported my sister more in regards to her weight instead of getting mad at her whenever she ate junk food. I know we thought it was helping by coaxing her into making healthy choices and exercising, but it was probably just cutting down her self esteem.

Alfred Kinsey

Started research on human sexuality

Samples were bias. 

His view on sexual normalcy

Every individual is completely different. Diversity is the only true fact. Sex during marriage is not the only sexual intercourse. Masturbation, oral sex, are also sexual relations. Every way that we express ourselves sexually is considered normal. 

I appreciate this view on sexual normalcy. I agree that everyone is different and we all need to express ourselves in different ways. Being restricted by religion and research would leave me very sexually frustrated. 

Scientific Method

Scientific method

What is your research question? Does teaching sex education cause sexual activity to occur earlier?

What is your hypothesis? I anticipate that having sex education would cause sexual activity to occur earlier.

How will you test your hypothesis? Survey university and college students at one school in each province.

What do you anticipate finding? Draw a conclusion.  I anticipate that having sex education will cause students to have sex earlier.

I could use this method if I was trying to conduct a study or do research. I could also use this in my classroom to test my teaching methods on students. I could try out different activities and use this method to formulate results.

Principles of critcal thinking

Today we learned how to be critical thinkers! I have learned this in previous years but it is always a good reminder to take information at face value until further exploring is done. There are 7 principles of critical thinking:

1)      Be skeptical- this means to be weary of this information given. Do not be gullible and naïve with every piece of hearsay.

2)      Examine the definition of terms- the word field. This word can stand for something you play sports on, an area of study, or a farmers land. Knowing the meaning of words can help understand the point the author is trying to get across.

3)       Examine assumptions of arguments- Take the statement abortion is murder. For this to be true you have to assume and abortion is viciously taking the life of a human being, and you also have to assume that a fetus is a human being.

4)      Don’t draw conclusions from evidence-just because there is a bear patrol and no bears does not mean bear patrol is doing its job. Correlation doesn’t mean causation.

5)      Consider alternative interpretations of evidence- a study says that college students who received sexual education in school generally became sexually active earlier. We must take into consideration whether or not college students are sexually active earlier that non college students as well.

6)      Consider kinds of evidence-research from professionals as opposed to word of mouth.

7)      Don’t oversimplify- It is not a matter of black or white, or love or hate, it is much deeper than that.

8)      Don’t over generalize- Just because one group of people is a certain way doesn’t mean every group is the same.

Premises-Something that is stated.

Assumptions- Something that is unsaid.

From this I am once again reminded to be skeptical of information and take them at face value as opposed to true facts. I agree with this whole model! I will take this information into account when I am researching for any papers. Making sure to check credentials of the information I am receiving. 

Habermas Paradigms

Last class we learned about Habermas Paradigms. These are global perspectives on looking at almost any situation imaginable. There are three Paradigms; Empirical-Analytic, Critical Theoretic, and Situational Interpretive.  

Empirical-analytic is the model in which we look at things through a scientific mindset. This means we use observations, predictions and control groups to base our decisions. We research and make decisions mainly through textbooks.

Critical Theoretic model is mostly relatable to Karl Marx view on society. This view is that society is full of conflict between the working class (proletariat) and Business owners/ managers called the bourgeoisie. Society and its individuals are defined by their relationship to the means of production. Therefore critical theoretic paradigm is that society is full of competing groups and most often the majority ideal becomes the standard ideal. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t still minority groups such as feminist groups and the queer theory, it simply means that the majority ideal is the one that prevails.

The final paradigm is Situational interpretive. This is the idea of basing decisions and opinions on our inner feelings and gut instincts. It is the perspective of taking things at face value and not overanalyzing them. Such is the case of “love”, how do you begin to scientifically analyze love and its inner workings. This is something that should be taken for what it is, an indescribable phenomenon.

In my opinion most topics can be approached by the empirical-analytic method. They can be broken down, studied, and experimented upon. Using this approach can give hard facts in which to begin to base one’s own perspective.

 I find that the critical theoretic paradigm is merely a generalization to society as a whole. As well, just because the majority of people in Alberta feel a certain way about something, doesn’t cause me to automatically feel the same way

Also I have realized that the situational interpretive paradigm is most relating to the way I approach most problems. How do I feel about this? How does it correspond to my morals and ethics? Do I have a bad feeling about making this decision? Are often questions I ask myself before making a decision? This is my first step to forming an opinion. After if I feel I do not have enough information on the subject I will use the empirical approach to help form my opinion further.

In my classroom I would use mostly the situational interpretive paradigm followed by the Empirical analytic to make decisions. Such as what to teach, how to teach it, and how I overall run my class. What has worked in the past? How does it make me feel? How do my students react to it?

In teaching swimming lessons I often read the swimmers body language to determine if I am teaching the right technique at the right time. If they feel uncomfortable with the pace, it is irrelevant if previous classes have moved at this pace and achieved success.  

Ready! Go!

A wise man once said getting stared is half the battle. So here is my start.