The Male Heterosexual: Lust in His Loins, Sin in His Soul?

286 Pages·1996·14.409 MB·English

by  Larry A. Morris

THE
MALE
HETEROSEXUAL
This book is dedicated to all men and women
who strive to improve our understanding
of human sexuality
THE
MALE
HETEROSEXUAL
Lust in
His Loins,
Sin in
His Soul?
Larry A Morns
SAGE Publications
International Educational and Professional Publisher
Thousand Oaks London New Delhi
Copyright © 1997 by Sage Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information
storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information address:
^ / Thousand Oaks, California 91320

E-mail: [email protected]

SAGE Publications Ltd.

6 Bonhill Street

London EC2A 4PU

United Kingdom

SAGE Publications India Pvt. Ltd.

M-32 Market

Greater Kailash I

New Delhi 110 048 India

Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Morris, Larry A.
The male heterosexual: Lust in his loins, sin in his soul? /
author, Larry A. Morris,
p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-8039-5639-8 (acid-free).—ISBN 0-8039-5640-1 (pbk.: acid-

free)
1. Sex role. 2. Gender identity. 3. Masculinity (Psychology)
4. Men—Psychology. I. Title.

HQ1075.M69 1997

305.3—dc20 96-45794

97 98 99 00 01 02 03 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Acquiring Editor: C. Terry Hendrix
Editorial Assistant: Dale Grenfell
Production Editor: Michele Lingre
Production Assistant: Karen Wiley
Typesetter & Designer: Andrea D. Swanson
Indexer: Cristina Haley
Cover Designer: Lesa Valdez
Print Buyer: Anna Chin
Contents

Foreword viii

Ronald F. Levant
Acknowledgments xi

1. A Sexual Gender Journey: The Itinerary 1

2. Biological Beginnings: Genes and Juices 8

The Genetic Code 9

Genes and Sexual Differentiation 10

Genes and Sexual Orientation 13

Genes, Hormones, and Sexual Identity 15

Hormones and Puberty 18

Hormones and Sexual Behavior 20

Genes, Hormones, and Aggressive Behavior 24

3. Developmental Milestones: Sexuality Throughout

the Life Cycle 30

Early Sexual Stirrings 31

Childhood Sexual Curiosity and Experimentation 32

Sexual Challenges of Adolescence 36

Sexual Challenges of Young Adulthood 42
Sexual Challenges of the Middle Years 55

Sexual Challenges of the Silver Years 58

4. Sociocultural Variables: Messages From the

Underground 62

Sex and Evolution 63

Sex and the Natural Order of Things 70

Ancient Attitudes Toward Women 71

Ancient Attitudes About Marriage 73

Love and Sex 75

The Evolution of Western Sexuality 77

The Sociocultural Abuse of Sexuality 83

5. Sexual Heroes: Birth of Superpenis 88

Ancient Symbols and Gods 88

Erotic Art 91

Pornography, Sex, and Violence 93

What Sort of Man Reads Playboy? 101

Superheroes 111

Sex, Lies, and Advertising 113

6. Fallen Heroes: Superpenis Meets Kryptonite 120

Problems With Sexual Functioning 121

Sexual Misconduct 128

7. Not for Women Only: Personal Sexual Victimization 148

Rape 148

Childhood Sexual Abuse 152

Circumcision 156

8. Last Dance: Dancing the Dangerous Dance

With Disease 162

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) 163

Common Sexually Transmitted Diseases 167

Less Common Sexually Transmitted Diseases 176

Other Troublesome Infections 177

9. The New Warrior: Sex at the Beat of a Drum? 180

The Seeds of Discontent 181

Enter the Wild Man 185

Mature Masculine Archetypes 188

The New Male 195
10. Achieving True Manhood: Reconstructing

Male Sexuality 199

Cultural Reconstruction 204

Reconstructing Male Heterosexuality 207

Sex and the New Real Man 215

References 217

Index 251

About the Author 273
Foreword

asculinity is in crisis. During the past several
years, the fact that the traditional code of masculinity has collapsed
has become increasingly clear. Many men are confused and demor­
alized in the current climate, and some now react defensively to even
a hint of criticism. To respond to the contemporary male crisis, I
advocate a "reconstruction of masculinity" (Levant & Kopecky, 1995).
In this reconstruction, one would identify those parts of the male
code that are still quite valuable and honor those that provide a basis
for male pride, while at the same time, one also would specify aspects
that are anachronistic or dysfunctional today and find ways to help
men change these. These latter aspects include men's difficulties in
experiencing emotional empathy and in being attuned to their own
emotional processes; the tendency for their vulnerable emotions to
be transformed into anger, rage, and violence; and their tendency to
be limited to a nonrelational orientation to sexuality.
Nonrelational sexuality can be defined as the tendency to experi­
ence sex as lust without any requirements for relational intimacy. In
this situation, objects of sexual desire are often objectified and some
times are in fact objects (as in pornographic books and videos); the
man pursues these objects in an agentic fashion, partly to meet
viii
Foreword
ix
nurturance needs and partly to satisfy another set of needs related to
his sense of adequacy as a man (Brooks, 1995).
A psychological understanding of the problems associated with
male sexuality is urgently needed, for this is one of the dimensions
of the male code that has fallen the farthest and the fastest. The
catalyst has been a seminar on male sexuality conducted by the
media over the past few years. This public deconstruction of male
entitlement and abuse of power in heterosexual relationships began
in 1991 with the broadcasts of Anita Hill's allegations of sexual
harassment against Clarence Thomas and the subsequent Senate
hearings, and continued with the William Kennedy Smith date rape
trail, Mike Tyson's rape trial, the Tailhook scandal, the Woody Allen
mess, Judge Sol Wachter's case, the allegations against Senator Bob
Packwood and President Bill Clinton, and the O.J. Simpson murder
trial.
I want to avoid giving the impression that I view male sexuality
as inherently dysfunctional. On the contrary, I believe that men's
relative freedom from sexual inhibitions and unbridled lustiness can
add a great deal to relationships, and could in fact counterbalance
the tendency among women to suppress lust as a result of their
gender role socialization. Male sexuality becomes a problem, how­
ever, when nonrelational sexuality is the only way that men can
relate intimately. When this is the case, nonrelational sexuality is a
state of being that is less than fully optimal, arising as a defensive
adaptation to a series of socialization experiences and normative
developmental traumas.
It should also be pointed out that nonrelational sexuality exists
along a continuum, from mild to moderate forms, in which a man
may be unable to express caring and affection other than through
sexual acts or in which a man must fantasize about tantalizing sexual
experiences to make love to his wife to more severe problems such
as sexual addiction. In its most severe form, nonrelational sexuality
contributes to men's sexual aggression against women and children,
including sexual harassment, rape, and child molestation.
In this volume, Larry Morris provides what we most need at this
time: a scholarly examination of male (hetero)sexuality in its broad­
est context. Morris surveys, in turn, the biological, developmental
psychological, sociocultural, and historical perspectives on male
sexuality, then takes up the issues of sexual dysfunctions, sexually
transmitted diseases, and the modern men's movement, and finally