Experience, Meaning, and Identity in Sexuality: A Psychosocial Theory of Sexual Stability and Change

296 Pages·2016·4.981 MB·English

by  James Horley, Jan Clarke (auth.)

E X P E R I E NC E ,
A N T IC I PAT ION A N D
M E A N I NG I N S E X UA L I T Y
A Psychosocial Theory of
Sexual Stability and Change
JAMES HORLEY AND JAN CLARKE
Experience, Meaning, and Identity in Sexuality

James Horley • Jan Clarke
Experience,
Meaning, and
Identity in Sexuality
A Psychosocial Theory of Sexual Stability
and Change
James Horley Jan Clarke
University of Alberta Associate Professor of Sociology
Augustana Campus, Camrose Algoma University, Sault Ste. Marie
Alberta, Canada Ontario, Canada
ISBN 978-1-137-40095-6 ISBN 978-1-137-40096-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-40096-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016944118
© Th e Editor(s) (if applicable) and Th e Author(s) 2016
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Contents
1 Introduction 1
2 Th e Nature and Implications of PCT 35
3 Understanding Multiple Sexualities 71
4 Social Infl uence on Sexual Constructs 89
5 Power Relations in Sexuality 105
6 Interpreting Sexualized Bodies 125
7 Sexual Commodifi cation: Pornography, Prostitution,
and Personal Constructs 147
8 Sexual Off enders 167
v
vi Contents
9 Changing Sexual Interests, Identities, and Behaviours 193
10 Final Considerations 225
Further Reading 245
Name Index 281
Subject Index 291
1
Introduction
We are sexual beings, or at least we can be. Even though virtually all of
us are born with sexual organs, what we choose to do or not do with our
genitalia is up to us. Th is ability to choose appears unique to human
sexuality. We have the ability to decide how to act sexually depending
on our understanding of the situation, our role in it, and our current
desires. If we do not see that sexual behavior is appropriate or necessary
on our part for whatever reason (e.g., lack of desire, vow of abstinence,
something in the situation is askew), we can avoid any type of sexual
involvement or action. We are bound neither by instincts nor innate
drives to reproduce, to engage in sexual behavior for the sake of plea-
sure, or to behave sexually in any way. Th roughout our lives, there are
innumerable reasons why we act in a sexual manner or refrain from any
behavior that could be interpreted as sexual in any way. We will develop
a position here that cognition is much more important to human sexual-
ity than sexual physiology. Cognition and language, two related abilities
that we tend to possess in spades, are fundamental to our sexuality and
to all sexual behavior. While cognition, or at least one aspect of it, will be
discussed throughout this book, language will be considered to a much
lesser extent. A brief word on language—a system of verbal, manual, or
© Th e Editor(s) (if applicable) and Th e Author(s) 2016 1
J. Horley, J. Clarke, Experience, Meaning, and Identity in Sexuality,
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-40096-3_1
2 Experience, Meaning, and Identity in Sexuality
written signs and/or symbols used to communicate—might be useful
here to help to introduce our position on sexuality.
“Male versus female,” “virgin versus slut,” and “heterosexual versus
homosexual” are just a few of the contrasts used by contemporary English
speakers to refer to various aspects of human sexuality. In many quarters,
a contrast such as “straight versus bent,” or the more frequently encoun-
tered today “straight versus gay”, has replaced the “heterosexual versus
homosexual” distinction; and in some academic circles, “constructionism
versus essentialism” is used to distinguish particular theories or positions
concerning sexuality. No doubt such contrasts have been useful in the
cause of making sense of human sexual reproduction, sexual behavior,
sexual diff erences and similarities, social roles and relationships, and
other related matters, but they have been, and continue to be, confi ning
in terms of interpreting sexuality. What happens if, instead of viewing
social actors as either male or female, we begin to understand them as
male or not male, and female or not female? How about changing “gay
versus straight” to “gay versus not gay” and “straight versus not straight”?
Imagine the world of possibilities created by a simple change in wording.
But this is thought rather than a simple linguistic manipulation. We can
interpret our sexual world in diff erent, more complex and multi-layered,
and, frankly, much more interesting ways by rejecting rigid or traditional
means of categorization and considering, or inventing, novel ways of
construing sexuality.
It is diffi cult, if not impossible, to argue that evolution and biology
have no relevance to contemporary human sexual interests, desires, and
behaviors. Collectively, we are the sum of all that has happened to us
ancestrally up to this point in time, and our biological make-up deter-
mines what we are capable of within any given environmental context,
and sets limits on what is possible. Th ere is, however, a signifi cant dif-
ference now between human and infrahuman sexual behavior, and such
a diff erence needs to be taken into account in any satisfactory theory of
human sexuality. Human evolution, if nothing else, has provided us with
an incredible and unique advantage—the brain and central nervous sys-
tem. To deny its evolutionary development is nonsensical, but to focus
on the brain as the source of, say, sexual behavior is far too narrow. It is
not brain structures or processes that account directly for the wide range
1 Introduction 3
of human desires, attractions, and responses. Taking the mind into
account in a serious fashion is required or, if a computing metaphor is
acceptable, an understanding of the software that operates within the
confi nes of the hardware is essential. As humans, and unlike infrahuman
species, we are free from biophysical markers and instinctual demands
(Masters, Johnson, & Kolodny, 1988). Human sexual behaviors are not
simply immediate responses to particular colours, smells, or sounds; sex
among humans is not simply a case of instinctive or automatic responses
to various stimuli. We have no overarching “biological imperative”,
although we may have personal, psychosocial imperatives related to sex.
We take a vast array of contextual features, including both external and
internal factors, into consideration before behaving in a sexual manner.
It is not just the naked body of a desirable individual, however attractive,
that elicits a sexual response from the human observer. After all, a sexual
response is much less likely should a naked individual be pursued by a
knife-w ielding attacker, or sitting on a concrete fl oor of a grimy institu-
tion among other naked individuals, and we are experiencing anxiety due
to the knife or the dirty place full of naked bodies. Th e setting or the situ-
ation is important to human sexual behavior —indeed, all human behav-
ior. We tend to think, and interpret, before we act, although certainly not
in every instance. Understanding what kind of behavior is required in a
particular situation permits survival and adaptation and, while some may
question the quality of our thinking both individually and collectively on
many occasions, it is certainly a key human characteristic.
Our so-called sex hormones (e.g., estrogen, testosterone) play vital
roles in sexual functioning, but they do not determine our sexual behav-
ior—at least not directly. Testosterone, for example, is required by men
in order to produce viable sperm cells, but it is present in both males and
females because it is a releaser hormone (i.e., it promotes the release of
epinephrine into the blood stream). Epinephrine or adrenaline increases
blood fl ow, which provides more available energy to the body. What is
done with the available energy, however, remains a matter of choice for
both sexes. If we are in a situation where danger appears imminent, we
may choose to run, to fi ght, or to employ some other strategy. Similarly,
if we are in a situation where sexual contact appears imminent, we may
choose to run, to engage in sex, or to engage in some other behavior