Sexuality

1
Sexuality Children

• By Raquel Tatuem and Melanie Martin

2
Sexual development

• Although society shuns the idea of children and
  sexuality, it is a very natural occurrence.
  Sexual development starts as early as birth
  continually growing until post-adolescence
  (adulthood). Understanding the sexual development
  in the different age brackets helps us gain the
  necessary knowledge of how children associate
  sexuality to their identity.

3
Sexual development Birth - 2

• Getting caught http//www.youtube.com/watch?vDY-
  3GyMJ3Ik
• 3 to 5 months curious about body
• According to Pediatrics, the Official Journal of
  the American Academy of Pediatrics, signs of
  masturbation include but are not limited to
  vocalizations with quiet grunting, facial
  flushing with diaphoresis, and pressure on the
  perineum with characteristic posturing of the
  lower extremities
• touching and even masturbation are normal and
  natural

4
Sexual development 2-5

• learn to dress and undress themselves
• children really like to be naked
• very interested in how others look under their
  clothes
• Children at this age will begin to use language
  to name their body parts and bodily functions

5
Sexual development 6-9

• boys and girls begin to look noticeably different
• some girls may start early stages of puberty
• Children often become curious about sexuality as
  they begin to go through these physical changes
• Children at this age usually understand the
  secrecy that surrounds sexuality as well as what
  behavior is appropriate in public

6
Sexual development 10-12

• childrens sexual development is very active
• girls start having periods, and their breasts
  begin to develop
• Boys voices change, and they start to grow pubic
  hair
• Masturbation can be helpful as young people start
  feeling new urges

7
Learning sexuality

• Dolls and toys
• A recent report released from 2007 study shows
  that a variety of media including song lyrics,
  television shows, dolls and even the way tweens
  are posing in magazines, (Miley Cyrus), may help
  young girls think of their bodies in a an overly
  sexualized way.

8
Learning sexuality media sexual implications

• Sexualization occurring in media
• Sexualization is defined as "when a person's
  value comes only from her/his sexual appeal or
  behavior, to the exclusion of other
  characteristics, and when a person is sexually
  objectified, e.g., made into a thing for
  another's sexual use.
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vOtJMdXM5oIk

9
Learning sexualityparents

• Young girls especially learn about their looks
  and confidence through their households
• parents responsibility to address what is seen on
  television
• Tyra on sex crisis http//www.youtube.com/watch?v
  kb5JfgMIGzEfeaturerelated

10
Learning sexuality friends

• Many children learn from their friends the
  expectations about sex and their sexuality. These
  friends usually learn what they know from the
  media, their parents and other friends. So the
  cycle of the media continues to interrupt the
  knowledge acquired by young children in regards
  to sexuality

11
Learning sexualityteachers

• In school, many sexuality classes have strict
  boundaries as to what they can discuss. It
  usually talks about abstinence, the male and
  female genitalia and menstruation

12
Gender vs. sex

• Gender is NOT sex
• Gender is a process that creates social
  differences that define woman and man
• Sex is the determination by body part
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vpWc1e3Nbc2g

13
Gender vs. sex gender identity development

• Gender Socialization-the process of teaching
  members of a society the values, expectations,
  and practices of the larger culture.
• We dont just learn gender once we learn to do
  gender over time in nearly every social
  interaction we experience
• A study by Rubin et al. 1974 found that parents
  describe their daughters as softer,
  finer-featured, and littler than sons
• Because the infants were physically very similar,
  the researchers concluded that parents were not
  reacting to real differences between children as
  much as they were applying gender stereotypes
  that could possibly result in differential
  treatment of their male and female children

14
Gender vs. sex gender identity development
Yikes!!! Baby Bangs
15
Gender vs. sex homosexuality

• Masculinity epitomized by qualities of
  aggression, limited emotionality, and
  heterosexuality
• Mom on her gay children http//www.youtube.com/wa
  tch?vx1oIDQbW35A
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v7S5usRgY720feature
  related

16
Pressures of sex Religion Vs. Morality

• Morality is thought to be a persons individual
  beliefs as to what is right and wrong, not given
  to them by anyone else
• Religion is to acquire a deep conviction of the
  validity of religious beliefs and practices
• Religion is taught and enforced to some extent.
  When this is applied to sexuality, it can
  conflict with your morality. Children may have
  this trouble when it comes to making decisions
  about their sexuality.

17
Pressures of sex race

• Sexuality for ethnic groups especially, have been
  targeted as more promiscuous
• Television shows such as Vh1's Flavor of Love and
  Ray J all depict women, of all races, demeaning
  themselves and pushing up on these men in overtly
  sexual manners
• With pregnancy, "Voices of a Generation Teenage
  Girls on Sex, School, and Self, done in 1999,
  reports say that African-American and Hispanic
  girls described pregnancy as a "choice" while
  White and Asian-American girls described it as an
  "accident" and cautioned against the "risk" and
  "danger" of sexual activity.

18
Pressures of sex society

• In a study 52 of respondents referred to "sex"
  and/or "boys" as major issues
• Of all age groups, only 11-year-olds did not
  mention "pressure to have sex" as an issue at all
• We try to wear the right clothes, be slim, and
  not say the wrong thing. Most girls would do
  anything to get a boyfriend. Girls also don't
  stay true to themselves. While trying to fit in,
  they becomes clones of each other."
• "Girls tear each other down all the time,
  slashing one another's reputation when they
  should be coming together."

19
Reflection questions

• What are your earliest memories of establishing
  sexuality? When do you remember knowing about it?
• Did your parents talk to you about sex?
• What did the TV say about sex? What is the media
  saying today?
• What did school teach you about sex?
• Homosexuality Is it nature or nurture?
• Did you feel pressured to have sex? If so, what
  were the pressures?
• Is it realistic to wait until marriage to have
  sex?
• Does the media make sex okay for boys and bad for
  girls?