Saturday, February 28, 2009
Pornography
, or obstencenity (which is the legal term), is any material, pictures, films, printed matter, or devices dealing with sexual posses or acts considered indecent by the public. Traditionally, the distribution and sale of pornography has been illegal in most countries. Only in Denmark have all restrictions on pornography been withdrawn (since 1969).
Although Massachusetts had antiobscenty laws in colonial times, federal antipornography legislation in the United States was not passed until1842. Sending such matter through the mails became illegal in 1865. Late in the century enforcement of the laws was vigorous, due largely to the efforts of Anthony Comstock and the Committee for the Suppression of vice. In Great Britain the first antipornography legislation, the Obscene Publication Act, was passed in 1857.
Defining pornography has from the beginning proved to be a complex legal problem because public attitudes change; materials considered pornographic in Victorian society may not be considered remarkable today. Thus the enforcement of the antipornography laws has involved suppression of several works of literature currently regarded as masterpieces, including the novels Ulysses, by James Joyce, and Lady Chatterley’s Lover, by D. H. Lawrence. Several obscenity cases have been brought before the U.S Supreme Court. In Roth v. United States (1957), the Court affirmed for the first time the traditional position that pornography was “not within the area of constitutionally protected speech” and evolved a three part definition of obscenity: matter that appeals to prurient interests, offends current standards, and has no redeeming social value. In 1973 (Miller v. California and four companion cases) the court reversed earlier decisions, ruling that the matter could be left to the discretion of individual states, where “contemporary community standards” were to be applied in judging whether or not material is pornographic. In 1892 the Court upheld a New York statue prohibiting the production and sale of materials depicting children in sexuality explicit situations. Child pornography was thus added to the category of “speech” that is not protected by the 1st Amendment.
The huge increase in the quantity and types of pornography that have become available since the 1960s, however, has left many people uneasy. Although the national Commission on obscenely and Pornography in 1970 could find no link between the consumption of the pornography in 1970 could find no link between the consumption of pornography and antisocial behavior, the depiction of violence directed against women in pornographic material was then comparatively rare.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
PREMARITAL SEX AND GENDER BAHAVIOR
American has changed their views of sex, sex role, and marriage in the last several decades-and many have also changed their sexual behavior.
New Attitudes toward Premarital Sex
Premarital sex is more widely talked about than it was several decades ago. Among young people there’s less belief in the ‘double standard’ that says premarital sex is all right for men but not for women. More unmarried college woman today say they’ve engaged in sexual intercourse – the number has moved from about 40 percent in the 1950s to at least 80% in the 1970s Teenagers, too, may be more likely to approve of premarital sex, and some may be more likely to engage in it if there is an emotional commitment between the partners – though the widespread notion of promiscuous teenager is a myth
New attitudes Toward Gender Behavior
Traditional expectations for ‘male’ and ‘female’ behavior have also begun to change, both in marriage and outside marriage. It is now more widely recognized that environment plays an important role in shaping each individual’s identity as a male or a female, and more people now realize that if men and women are different, it isn’t because they’re just born that way.
There are some inborn differences in the way male and female babies behave that are noticeable shortly after birth, but these differences are not as great as people one assumed. Meanwhile, from the first announcement of a baby’s sex, society imposes different expectations depending on which sex it is. The baby gets either a girl’s name or a boy ‘s name, either a pink blanket or a blue one.
The parents tend to talk more with a baby girl and to roughhouse more with a baby boy. When small girls flirts with her father , he may flirt back. When a small boy wants to play with a ball, Dad play catch. These responses contribute to the child’s growing sense of being male or female. Even by the age of three or four, most children have a strong gender identity and have begun to learn behavior appropriate to their gender.
Today social conditioning that shaped the typical man and typical woman of yesteryear is changing. Little girl are now encouraged to be more physically active, even to join Little League teams. More mothers are working and they provide different role models from the homemakers of several decades ago.
New Attitudes toward Premarital Sex
Premarital sex is more widely talked about than it was several decades ago. Among young people there’s less belief in the ‘double standard’ that says premarital sex is all right for men but not for women. More unmarried college woman today say they’ve engaged in sexual intercourse – the number has moved from about 40 percent in the 1950s to at least 80% in the 1970s Teenagers, too, may be more likely to approve of premarital sex, and some may be more likely to engage in it if there is an emotional commitment between the partners – though the widespread notion of promiscuous teenager is a myth
New attitudes Toward Gender Behavior
Traditional expectations for ‘male’ and ‘female’ behavior have also begun to change, both in marriage and outside marriage. It is now more widely recognized that environment plays an important role in shaping each individual’s identity as a male or a female, and more people now realize that if men and women are different, it isn’t because they’re just born that way.
There are some inborn differences in the way male and female babies behave that are noticeable shortly after birth, but these differences are not as great as people one assumed. Meanwhile, from the first announcement of a baby’s sex, society imposes different expectations depending on which sex it is. The baby gets either a girl’s name or a boy ‘s name, either a pink blanket or a blue one.
The parents tend to talk more with a baby girl and to roughhouse more with a baby boy. When small girls flirts with her father , he may flirt back. When a small boy wants to play with a ball, Dad play catch. These responses contribute to the child’s growing sense of being male or female. Even by the age of three or four, most children have a strong gender identity and have begun to learn behavior appropriate to their gender.
Today social conditioning that shaped the typical man and typical woman of yesteryear is changing. Little girl are now encouraged to be more physically active, even to join Little League teams. More mothers are working and they provide different role models from the homemakers of several decades ago.
Friday, February 6, 2009
The Physiology of Human Sexual Response
Many people find that one of their biggest problems in enjoying sex is the feeling that the opposite sex is alien, too different to be understood. Actually, although your partner's body may look different from yours, researchers have found that male and female physical sexual responses are quite similar.
Both men and women have the capacity to experience four general stages, starting with excitement, moving into a plateau phase of sexual tension, resolving the tension in orgasm, and then returning to the normal, relaxed state. Both men and women also experience similar physiological changes when they are sexually all over his or her body increase tension in a generalized sexual response known as myotonia. Both men and women also experience increased blood flow, known as vasocongestion, to their genital organs during sexual arousal.
Despite these similarities, however, men and women do differ in their sexual wants and desires. And individual men and women may have very distinct sexual needs and distinct feelings about their sexual responses. It is important to remember that our thoughts and feelings about our sexuality more important role in determining our sexual behavior than our physiology does.
Both men and women have the capacity to experience four general stages, starting with excitement, moving into a plateau phase of sexual tension, resolving the tension in orgasm, and then returning to the normal, relaxed state. Both men and women also experience similar physiological changes when they are sexually all over his or her body increase tension in a generalized sexual response known as myotonia. Both men and women also experience increased blood flow, known as vasocongestion, to their genital organs during sexual arousal.
Despite these similarities, however, men and women do differ in their sexual wants and desires. And individual men and women may have very distinct sexual needs and distinct feelings about their sexual responses. It is important to remember that our thoughts and feelings about our sexuality more important role in determining our sexual behavior than our physiology does.
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