Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Bonobos
Through reading an article about the sexual behaviors of the Bonobo Monkey, it became more apparent to me that humans' sexual behavior is greatly influenced by emotion and cultural norms. The Bonobo live an egalitarian lifestyle that promotes the female dominance and kinship that is important in later life... and these are the only primates whose female population engages in such behavior. Engaging in sexual behavior amongst same sex Bonobo is not uncommon, as well as different sexual positions akin to "missionary" in humans. If humans and apes are close relatives and this behavior is not a) looked down upon, and b) a frequent behavior in the Bonobo community, why is it looked down upon in our culture? There seems to be a stead fast power hold that men, in general, are not willing to release.. not only with who "runs the house" but with human sexual norms... just a few thoughts...
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Afghanistan...
I was listening to NPR the other day and came across a story about religious traditions being carried out in Afghanistan. They were reporting that in this certain fundamental community that it is, and has been, a tradition for adolescent boys (approximate age of 14) to be taken by adult men, dressed in womens clothes, dance for hours, then perform sexual acts with the older men. The reporter asked them if in any way that this could be perceived as wrong. The men state that it's tradition, and tradition can't be wrong or changed, and that it's their religious duty to perform these ceremonies. In some cases, homeless boys performed these acts not willingly, but as a means to make some money to live.
This made me wonder a few different things.
*Are these boys going to grow up and perform these same acts on others?
*How does this affect their ability to form and maintain relationships in the future?
*What, if anything, will change traditions such as these? - side note- I realize that even though I personally condemn these acts, who's to say that if I were born into this society that I might be an advocate?
You hear things of this nature about other cultures and it makes others cringe. It further proves the point that gender identity is a social construction of truths and taboos within that specific culture. In some cultures, the acts performed on these men might be considered a right of passage to becoming a man... It's hard not to judge and more difficult to imagine what it's like to be surrounded by points of view that are different than mine..
Just a few thoughts is all....
This made me wonder a few different things.
*Are these boys going to grow up and perform these same acts on others?
*How does this affect their ability to form and maintain relationships in the future?
*What, if anything, will change traditions such as these? - side note- I realize that even though I personally condemn these acts, who's to say that if I were born into this society that I might be an advocate?
You hear things of this nature about other cultures and it makes others cringe. It further proves the point that gender identity is a social construction of truths and taboos within that specific culture. In some cultures, the acts performed on these men might be considered a right of passage to becoming a man... It's hard not to judge and more difficult to imagine what it's like to be surrounded by points of view that are different than mine..
Just a few thoughts is all....
Monday, September 13, 2010
Life's Greatest Miracle
"Life's Greatest Miracle"
This was a film that provided an in depth, technical (but not confusing) analysis of the beginning of life of a human being. Featuring one couple in particular, this film examined the intricate processes we all underwent in order to develop from an egg/sperm combo to a full fledged crying baby.
The whole process is rather remarkable. I'm continually amazed by nature's ability to create life through rapidly dividing cells. As this is a blog for my Human Sexuality class, I think it's fit to mention that same cells that create a penis in a male are the same cells that form a clitoris in a female (the penis develops if the testosterone created reaches those cells or not). It makes me wonder why there is an overwhelming amount of gender polarization in our culture when males and females began as the exact same thing. Beyond that, not everyone is born with the "perfect set" of genitalia, so to polarize every single human being in to one of two categories seems a bit nonsensical.
As I sat at the back of the class watching this video, it was interesting to watch the reactions from classmates as the live birth was being shown. Including me, I saw most of us kind of cringe and look away... except for (I'm assuming) the ones who have either a) been in a delivery room already or b) was the one who had given birth. The topic of sexuality and the birthing process seems to have a stigma attached to it. I wonder what it will take to remove these from the general public view. More education? More outward conversation? More understanding?
Just a few thoughts is all....
This was a film that provided an in depth, technical (but not confusing) analysis of the beginning of life of a human being. Featuring one couple in particular, this film examined the intricate processes we all underwent in order to develop from an egg/sperm combo to a full fledged crying baby.
The whole process is rather remarkable. I'm continually amazed by nature's ability to create life through rapidly dividing cells. As this is a blog for my Human Sexuality class, I think it's fit to mention that same cells that create a penis in a male are the same cells that form a clitoris in a female (the penis develops if the testosterone created reaches those cells or not). It makes me wonder why there is an overwhelming amount of gender polarization in our culture when males and females began as the exact same thing. Beyond that, not everyone is born with the "perfect set" of genitalia, so to polarize every single human being in to one of two categories seems a bit nonsensical.
As I sat at the back of the class watching this video, it was interesting to watch the reactions from classmates as the live birth was being shown. Including me, I saw most of us kind of cringe and look away... except for (I'm assuming) the ones who have either a) been in a delivery room already or b) was the one who had given birth. The topic of sexuality and the birthing process seems to have a stigma attached to it. I wonder what it will take to remove these from the general public view. More education? More outward conversation? More understanding?
Just a few thoughts is all....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)