The Impact of Culture on Sexuality - Essay Example

The impact of culture on sexuality The impact of culture on Human Sexuality Human sexuality is a term which can be defined from different perspectives depending on the culture which a person has grown up in. Some people defined it as a behavior which a person develops when he or she reaches adolescent stage while others define it as the hormonal change in a maturing person. Scholars however, define human sexuality as the sexual attraction to the opposite sex on attaining maturity stage (Bolin & Whelehan, 2009). Other scholars still go ahead and provide that human sexuality not only encompasses attraction, but it also includes the sexual beliefs, knowledge, perception, values and behaviors of an individual (Greenberg, Bruess, Conklin, 2010). Being a part of our total personality, human sexuality involves the interrelationship of biological, psychological and sociocultural dimensions. It will thus be influenced by ethical, spiritual, cultural and moral concerns of a person. The culture of a person mainly constitutes his or her beliefs concerning a particular issue. The beliefs of a person on the other hand, will shape his or her behavior and in turn will shape his or her personality. The cultural aspects will impact an individual’s sexuality in the following ways: Impact of cultural taboos and injunctions in a country Different cultures will uphold different taboos and thus shaping the human sexuality of the individuals living in that particular country (Bolin & Whelehan, 2009). Taking for example a country like Somalia, it contains injunctions called incest taboos. This refers to the prohibition against marrying a close relative (Bolin & Wheleman, 2009). Such a taboo will control the sexuality of an individual living in such a society because as long as such a person will live with relatives for a long period of time, his or her sexuality will continue being stifled. Research also shows that in most African countries, young people are not allowed to show up their feelings to the opposite sex, leave alone being in sexual relationships. In such countries, the marriage partner of an individual is normally determined by the parents or the elders of the community (Bolin & Whelehan, 1999). In such communities, the rate of teenage pregnancies was reported to be low and cases of patients with sexual transmitted diseases were also reported to be very low in the hospitals. Thus, clearly the cultural rules upheld in such countries extensively shaped the human sexual desires of an individual (Baumeister, 2001). Impact of cultural dressing on the human sexuality of a person; different cultures entertain and prohibit different dressing codes. Taking for instance the Muslim community, women are supposed to wear long and free dresses as their culture depicts. In such cultures, sexual desires arising from unethical dressing will be controlled. In other cultures apart from the Muslim culture, a female, whether married or unmarried, should put on clothes that at least cover three quarters of their bodies. Research proves that in such communities, individuals were unlikely to engage in pre-marital sex. Such communities also reported to have very rare cases of rape. In other cultures however, taking the example of the US (Greenberg, Bruess & Conklin, 2010), young generation especially college students, were reported to have had sexual encounters by the time they completed their teenage years. These are the results of having an uncontrolled human sexuality. The culture in such countries was also found to be free and open with no regulations. The dress code of such students was thus reported to be exposing and unethical and disreputable. Sexual relations before marriage in such countries were also found to be normal, consequently leading to a large number of teenage pregnancies. The culture of such developed community as US and the Mexico City is also found to be shaped by modernity and technological developments. Study showed that in countries like the U.S, the wide spread current technology led to misuse of contraceptives by women. Many women use abortion as a contraceptive which is not right. In Mexico, Brazil and China, cases of multicultural influences were also found to be vast and normal (Greenberg, Bruess & Conklin, 2010). The culture of such countries was found to be shaped by the technological changes and in turn shaping their ways of life. The human sexuality was completely uncontrolled and some of the women were even found to have had more than five abortions by the time they hit their forties. Other countries however, taking the example of Turkey, have a culture that takes female virginity to be precious. Sexual encounters before marriage are considered to be immoral and technology is even used to run virginity tests on students in schools. Those found to have lost their virginity are then expelled by the school principles. The culture also has put virginity rules in place, such as: only persons who are virgins can be employed as nurses. These cultures have really shaped the human sexuality of such individuals since most of them were found not to engage in premarital sex for fear of the awaiting consequences (Greenberg, Bruess & Conklin, 2010). Impact of cultural education on human sexuality; study shows that cultures whose education system encompasses sexual education such as peer counseling were likely to have a controlled human sexuality. Sexual awareness created in such countries ensured that they did not engage in uncontrolled sexual activities (Ferraro & Andreatta, 2009). Taking the example of Sweden, study shows that due to a certain degree of openness and thinking about sexuality, students are more conversant with the issue and thus will be more cautious when addressing issues concerning contraceptives, abortion and sexual intercourse. With these attitudes and practices, the human sexuality of most of the people in the young generation is controlled leading to a very low rate of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (Greenberg, Bruess & Conklin, 2010). In other cultures however, the ways of life of individuals are shaped by the media, music and movies. Scholars pointed out that cultures which were more influenced by the media were likely to have their human sexuality controlled by the media too. People, and especially teenagers, were likely to imitate what they viewed in the media and the movies. Such a culture which fully embraces such media practices, is deemed to put all that media act into real life practice thus leading to a compromise of the sexuality of those involved (Suggs & Miracle, 1999). With most of the communities encouraging chastity in terms of human sexuality, others do not see it as an issue. Taking the example of the communities which allow sex outside marriage; we see that though not a good idea, with the community encouraging it, it is likely that an individual would just find him or herself with more than one sexual partners. Evidently thus, the behavior of such an individual will have been shaped by the customs and freedoms of the society and not by his or her free will (Aggleton, 2007). Our culture greatly influences our sexuality. The way in which you react to sexual issues will significantly depend on what you have been taught or what you have learnt over time concerning the issue. The changes in the social circumstances or even technological issues will also affect the behaviors of people; a fact which is very evident in the U.S. This is mainly because human beings are known to change with the environment. When the U.S culture encouraged the issue of homosexual marriages, many individuals took it as a fancy fact and embraced without a second thought just because it was like a new fashion. Statistics indicate that consequently the number of sexual relationships had greatly increased compared to previous years; an indication of how their sexuality had been impacted. References Aggleton, P. (2007). Culture, Society and Sexuality: A Reader. (2nd ed.). New York: Baumeister, R. (2001). Social Psychology and Human Sexuality: Key Readings. New York: Bolin, A., & Whelehan, P. (1999). Perspectives on Human Sexuality. New York: SUNY Press. Bolin, A., & Whelehan, P. (2009). Human Sexuality: Biological, Psychological, and Cultural Perspectives. New York: Taylor & Francis. Ferraro, G. P., & Andreatta, S. (2009). Cultural Anthropology: An Applied Perspective. (8th ed.). USA: Greenberg, J., Bruess, C., & Conklin, S. (2010). Exploring the Dimensions of Human Sexuality. (4th ed.). London, U.K: Suggs, D. N., & Miracle, A. W. (2004). Culture, Biology, and Sexuality, Issue 32. Georgia: University of Georgia Press. Read More