u02d1 Teaching Genders about Sex

What cultural or religious factors influence the teaching of the different sex organs in females and males? In your
comment, examine why girls are often not taught terminology and boys are. Address ways males and females are
alike and different in how they acquire sexual information. Include any resource information about this historical
attitude with documentation.

 Resources
o  Attributes and Evaluation of Discussion Contributions.
o  Professional Communications and Writing Guide.

Sex education is often influenced by societies’ prevailing sociocultural and religious views.
Religious views, such as in the major religions of Christianity and Islam have long regarded
females as the weaker sex possessing greater propensity for erotic plasticity and immoral sexual
behavior. Biblical injunctions and divine mandates such as, “And Adam was not deceived, but
the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. Nevertheless she will be saved in
childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self control” (1 Timothy 2:14, 15;
New King James Version) emphasize the vulnerability of women to sexual temptation and
require women to fulfill more maternal and domestic roles.
Islamic traditions have systemic patriarchal prohibitions on women’s dress and behavior as
preventative measures to guard against the sexual vulnerabilities and erotic plasticity of women.
Some women even perceive that it is their duty to undergo female genital mutilation as a part of
their submission to Islam which often teaches that without it women are consumed with sexual
desires and may lose their chastity before marriage (Rathus, Nevid, & Fichner-Rathus, 2004).
Another reason for the gender differences in sex education is the common sociocultural
perspective of the power differential between men and women (Baumeister, 2000). Men are
typically stronger, more aggressive and tend to hold positions of sociopolitical and economic
power. Some researchers believe that this power differential is linked to male reproductive
patterns and goals.
Therefore this suggestion indicates that women may be more socially malleable in regards to
male power and aggressive sexual advances. African American and Hispanic cultures tend to
hold traditional and conservative toward gender roles and the acceptance of a greater level of
sexual promiscuity for men and boys. Research indicates that both cultures show a higher level
of sexual activity for males as opposed to females (Logan, Cole, Leukefeld, 2002). Hispanic
men are expected to be sexually dominant and more knowledgeable about sex.
As a result, greater emphasis on male sexual anatomy and terminology over female often reflects
the prevailing religious and cultural perspectives on men and women. Furthermore, researchers
indicate that the sexual revolution of the sixties and seventies produced a greater effect upon the
erotic plasticity of women than men. Women are typically expected to resist sexual advances, but
are subject to changing their minds and engaging in greater erotic plasticity than men. Men are
considered sexual aggressors. Sex education is often driven by curtailing and controlling the
sexual advances of men thus indirectly regulating the perceived erotic plasticity of females.
Anthony Rhodes
General Psychology Ph.D.

References

Rathus, S. A., Nevid, J. S., & Fichner-Rathus, L. (2004). Human sexuality in a world of

diversity (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN: 0205406157.

Baumeister R. (2000). Gender differences in erotic plasticity: The female sex drive as socially
flexible and responsive. Psychological Bulletin [serial online]. May 2000;126(3):347-374.
Retrieved from: PsycARTICLES, January 19, 2011.
Logan T, Cole J, Leukefeld C. (2002). Women, sex, and HIV: Social and contextual factors,
meta-analysis of published interventions, and implications for practice and
research. Psychological Bulletin. 128(6):851-885. Retrieved from PsycARTICLES January 19,
2011.