April 16, 2015 Biology of Human Sexuality- Reaction Assignment #1 When it comes to sex research both Objective Statements and Value Judgements influence the quality of it. An objective statement is a statement based on one looking at sex as more of an object or thing rather than morally, which is described as a Value Judgement. As oppose to Objective Statements, Value Judgements can only tell us how we ourselves feel about sexuality, largely influencing the quality of sex research. Value Judgments imply how an individual should behave whereas Objective statements describe how people actually behave, therefore providing an in depth view of sex when it comes to research. Biases and Stereotypes play a major part in sex research as well.
CONCEPTION PHYSICAL Conception is the beginning of human development and happens when the sperm meets an egg. In the first month, the first two weeks will be the embryo attaching itself to the uterine wall. After 25 days, the baby’s body will start to develop (only the head, followed by the trunk and arm buds). The heart will also start beating. By 30 days, the baby will be a quarter of an inch long.
Gender refers to culturally constructed distinctions between femininity and masculinity. Individuals are born female or male but they become feminine or masculine through complex developmental processes that take many years to unfold. For example, women usually look after babies while men are the providers. The evolutionary approach argues that gender role division appears as an adaptation to the challenges faced by the ancestral humans in the EEA. Therefore, the role differences we observe are more of a product of our biological inheritance than acquired through socialisation.
Hormones: Its Effects on Behavior and Gender Identity PSY 340 Biological Foundations of Psychology July 1, 2012 Gary Mayhew Hormones: Its Effects on Behavior and Gender Identity Hormones are essential in regulating body functions and maintaining homeostasis. They also hold another important role, which is reproduction. Hormones help define our sex, and gender identity. It is because of hormones that gender identity and sexual orientation is mainly affected by nature and not by nurture. This is important statement because it proves that gender identity and sexual orientation is not purely choice, but driven by biological forces.
This includes our organs and genitalia. When we all were young the sex also defined the masculinity and femininity of the person. But in today's society no matter the actual sex or gender of the person. the dominating role is perceived as the masculine role and the weaker or more submissive person is perceived as the feminine role. Do our concepts of gender and sex contribute to the ways we embrace gender and sex in diversity?
Is gender a social construction? Gender describes the characteristics that a society or culture delineates as masculine or feminine. So, is gender due to the biological makeup or is it due to the social surroundings and the way we are brought up? From a sociological perspective, nature does not fully determine gender identity. It is a mixture biology and socialization.
Eysenck’s personality theory states criminal behaviour is a result of genetics and the nervous system. Those with extrovert personalities are more likely to commit crime. These personalities are as a result of the RNS dampening down the nervous system which makes the person seek stimulation which they find in crime such as fighting and joy riding. Furthermore Eysenck goes on to say that those with Neuroticism are also more likely to commit more crime due to adrenaline being forced in to the blood stream by the ANS. Eysenck has conducted personality and genetic studies which support his theory., criminals and non-criminals were compared and crimples were found to score more highly on the P and N scale.
Are gender and sex the same thing? Explain why or why not? According to Monash University, “Gender describes the characteristics that a society or culture delineates as masculine or feminine” and “Sex refers to biological differences; chromosomes, hormonal profiles, internal, and external sex organs” (A.Nobelius, 2004). I believe gender and sex are different. Main difference is, gender describes external view of a person such as their behavior or voice and sex describes in more biological features such as their physical appearance or their organism.
It is a central organizing principle of societies, and often governs the processes of production and reproduction, consumption and distribution,” (FAO, 1997). Gender and sex are put into categories and they are not the same thing. Sex in biological and physiological terms refers to male and female and defines them in such ways as breasts, testicles, women’s menstruation cycle, and hormones. Gender also refers to socially constructed roles, activities and behaviors. How do gender and sex contribute to the concepts and constructions of masculinity and femininity?
Sarah Meador ANT 110 Dr. Passariello 15 November, 2011 Analysis of “Amity and Aggression” In his article “Amity and Aggression: A Symbolic Theory of Incest,” Paul Roscoe makes an interesting argument about cross-cultural understandings of incest. His three overarching points in his paper include the following: firstly, that humans develop a sense of incest aversion as a result of close familial relationships that emerge during a child’s initial developmental years; secondly, that sexual relationships are biologically and culturally associated with acts of aggression; and lastly, that incest aversion and incest taboos have a biological foundation but are primarily the result of enculturated understandings of family, lineage, and kinship ties. Though his focus is primarily on the fact that incest is primarily an individualistic and malleable definition of certain (usually prohibited) familial relationships, dependent upon cultural nuances and social penalties, he also makes interesting connections to other disciplines. By framing incest aversion and prohibition in terms of a biological, psychological, and cultural reaction Roscoe creates an atmosphere of interdependence and universality among the disciplines. His analysis contributes not only to anthropological understandings of incest, but also provides insight into the seeming universality of human behavior, and subtly raises the larger theme that interconnectivity between ideas and explanations is necessary for a larger understanding of human nature and the workings of the world.