Friday, February 23, 2007

sexuality, sexual orientation and sex

am trying to pin down some basics (as i understand them) as briefly and clearly as poss. please factor in inherent limitations of such a disgusting method of presentation! :D

sexuality sexual orientation sexual acts



is about attitudes is about emotional & physical responses physical responses
for internal self expression
may be expressed or kept to one's self. sometimes the expression may be as part of a group identity and culture and be political

may be expressed with one's self or with others, often more private than group expression
self evolved concept self evolved but may be influenced by surrounding culture is heavily influenced by culture and politics

is the basis for evolution of concepts sex and sexual orientation
often dictates a "prescribed" or "appropriate" sexual behaviour is greatly influenced by ideas of sexuality and sexual orientation

associated with a history and culture
associated with a history and cultural norms pretty much every sexual act has been around forever?!
not regulated, although expression may be confined by social dictates
is often dictated by country, culture, tradition, religion, science, etc as being appropriate or otherwise

is often dictated by country, culture, tradition, religion, science, etc as being appropriate or otherwise

not very developed in children. they're more aware of sensual than sexual.

children may discover attraction to a particular sex, but not really a determinant of adult orientation.
children arent sexual beings.
cannot be abusive
cannot be abusive, though it can make other people feel threatened or defensive
can be abusive

rights and responsibilities are not directly a part of this framework, may be inherited from gen belief systems
rights and responsibilities can become an issue, depends on personal-political awareness. a distinct set of rights and responsibilities, may be dictated by group/social politics or self generated


and evidently my template heartily dislikes excel-columns-cut-and-pasted. due to implicit approval of their sentiments, complete ignorance of coding and general disinclination to break my head over it, am not struggling to make it neat now.

solpa adjust madi.


what dyou know. problem beeyootifully resolved - thank you very much!

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2 Comments:

Blogger Krish said...

I am surprised at many of them..but this one just makes me inquisitive!

"a distinct set of rights and responsibilities, may be dictated by group/social politics or self generated "- Sex and Sexual act as I see it, are purely individualistic. I agree they are influenced by Society- as in my orientation- but acts...those are seldom dictated by the society-coz Society has no idea on wht is happening- Sexual Orientation is not on the same league...so while I wud understand the effect of society on Sexual Orientation, Sexual Acts is something out of it. I wudnt assume a causal effect of society on it!

11:31 am  
Blogger m. said...

krish: i could briefly say "bugger off!", only you wouldnt be able to legally do so in india. a sexual act regulated by a law. (havent you heard of article 377 ??)
society isnt exactly disconnected from people. lots of people have sex. lots of people have opinions about how other people should have sex. these they may enforce as laws. article 377 in its original form wasnt about regulating a sexual orientation. it was to regulate sexual activity.
every political ideology covers sex either directly or indirectly. what do you think intercaste marriage resistance is about? or the eugenic desire for only the "perfect" people to mate for reproduction to create more "perfect" children?

7:30 pm  

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