Sexual Behavior

Discussion on sexual behavior;

1. Do you believe sexual orientation is an issue that we, as a society, should be involved in? Why or why not?

Overview

Sexual behavior refers to the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts from time to time, and for a wide variety of reasons. Sexual activity normally results in sexual arousal and physiological changes in the aroused person, some of which are pronounced while others are more subtle. Sexual activity also includes conduct and activities which are intended to arouse the sexual interest of another, such as strategies to find or attract partners (mating and display behavior), and personal interactions between individuals, such as flirting and foreplay.

Human sexual activity has sociological, cognitive, emotional, behavioral and biological elements, including physiological processes such as the reproductive mechanism, the sex drive and pathology; sexual intercourse and sexual behavior in all its forms; and personal bonding and shared emotions during sexual activity.

Understanding Sexual Behavior

Individuals are taught to use social cues to interpret sexual intent. This is most obviously demonstrated in behaviors associated with flirtation. Flirting is a playful activity involving verbal communication and body language by one person toward another, used to sometimes indicate an interest in a deeper relationship with the other. In some social contexts, a hug could demonstrate platonic friendship, as in the case of two coworkers hugging upon hearing the news that their project was successfully received. In other contexts, the hug could be interpreted as sexual interest. Thus, social context is essential when one considers potentially sexual behavior.

Sexual orientation. Humans evolved to have a range of sexual orientations, as did simpler animals that evolved earlier on. Humans also evolved to have moral notions about sex, to assist survival in highly resource-constrained environments. Since then, humans have modified their environments considerably, resulting in enormous riches. This makes much of the desire to moralize about sexual "social issues" irrelevant. As such, social interventions in sex often produce far more harm than advantage. Therefore, people should have their freedom to act on their own sexual orientation left to them. https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Sociology/Introduction_to_Sociology/Book%3A_Sociology_(Boundless)/20%3A_Sexuality/20.01%3A_Socialization_and_Human_Sexuality/20.1G%3A_Social_Context_and_Sexual_Behavior#:~:text=very%20different%20connotations.-,Socialization%20and%20Normalized%20Sexual%20Behavior,extramarital%20sex%20are%20also%20common.