Understanding Sex and Gender

• Sex refers to biological features classifying someone as male or female, including sex organs, chromosomes, hormones, and secondary sex characteristics.
• Sex chromosomes (XX or XY) classify a person as female or male.
• Gonads produce sex hormones and gametes (ova and sperm), determining sex.
• Gender encompasses social and cultural beliefs about what it means to be a boy/man or girl/woman.
• Gender identity is a person's deep sense of being a boy/man, girl/woman, both, neither, or fluid.

Social Role Theory

• Social Role Theory acknowledges physical differences between genders but emphasizes how societal expectations and structures limit opportunities for both.
• Cultural stereotypes about gender influence behavior and create distinct social roles.
• Understanding gender requires recognizing larger social and cultural institutions.
• Division of labor, stemming from perceived differences, leads to gender role expectations and stereotypes.
• Gender roles are expectations of how females and males should think, act, and feel in a culture.
• Gender stereotypes involve fixed, oversimplified images, e.g., women as emotional, men as rational.
• Individuals internalize gender roles and stereotypes, influencing self-evaluation and life choices.

Gender Differences in Aggression

• Aggression is behavior intended to harm another person.
• Men are more prone to physical aggression.
• Overt aggression involves directly harming another physically or verbally.
• Girls are more relationally aggressive than boys.
• Relational aggression is harming social standing through exclusion or spreading rumors; subtle and secretive.

Evaluating Evidence for Gender Differences

• Gender differences are most significant in physical aggression.
• Differences in cognitive ability and sexuality are weaker.
• Gender similarities hypothesis suggests men and women are more alike than different.
• A significant difference is that men are generally attracted to women, and women to men.

Issues Regarding Sexual Orientation

• Sexual orientation is the direction of an individual’s erotic interests.
• Homosexuality is erotic and emotional feelings for the same sex (gay).
• Heterosexuality is erotic and emotional feelings for the opposite sex (straight).
• Bisexuality is attraction to both sexes.
• Pansexuality is attraction regardless of sex, gender, or gender identity.
• Asexuality is a lack of sexual attraction to others.
• Heterosexuality is stable over time.
• Diverse sexual orientations are more likely to shift, especially in adolescence and among young women.
• Sexuality differs from gender identity.
• Homosexual behavior occurs across cultures, regardless of tolerance.
• The majority of people are heterosexual.
• Non-heterosexual orientations range from 2% to 15% of the population.
• Being raised by a gay parent does not increase the likelihood of being gay.
• No specific parenting style causes homosexuality.
• Most gay people have straight parents.
• Sexual experience or childhood experimentation does not predict adult homosexuality.
• Multiple factors influence sexual orientation.
• There's variation within any group.
• Studies vary in how they measure sexual orientation.
• Research poses challenges such as representativeness of the group studied.
• Twin studies indicate the heritability of same-gender sexual behavior is 35% in men and 19% in women. This means genes do not have a direct impact.

Human Sexual Response Pattern

• Excitement phase involves increased blood flow and can last minutes to hours.
• Plateau phase continues and heightens arousal from the excitement phase.
• Orgasm stage involves the peak of sexual response and release of bodily fluids and oxytocin.
• Resolution sees blood vessels return to normal; males have a refractory period while females might not.

Fetishes, Paraphilias, and Pedophilias

• A fetish is an object or activity that causes sexual interest and desire (e.g., wearing women's clothing).
• Transvestic fetish is arousal from wearing clothing of the opposite sex.
• In sadomasochism, one person gains pleasure from dominating, the other from being dominated.
• Paraphilic disorder involves sexual interests causing distress, harm, or involving non-consenting individuals.
• Paraphilic disorders- include exhibitionism and voyeurism.
• Paraphilias are sometimes caused as a result of classical conditioning and are more common among men.
• Pedophilic disorder is sexual fantasies or behavior with prepubescent individuals.
• The vast majority of people who were sexually molested do not go on to molest others.
• Pedophilic disorder connects to low self-esteem, poor social skills, low IQ, and head injuries in childhood.
• Pedophilic disorder relates to cognitive distortions and brain dysfunction, particularly in brain region connections.

Disorders of Sexual Desire and Sexual Response

• Paraphilic disorders are uncommon.
• More people report issues with sexual desire and sexual response.
• Low sexual interest stems from low androgen, stress, anxiety, depression, illness, or medications.
• Treatment for issues in sex drive include medications, psychotherapy, and relationship counseling.
• Erectile dysfunction is the failure of the penis to become erect, because of psychological and physical factors.
• Premature ejaculation is orgasm before the person wishes, due to psychological, physical, and relationship factors.
• Female disorders include problems in sexual arousal and orgasm.
• These problems relate to childhood sexual abuse, religious beliefs, and negative sexual attitudes.
• Dysfunction in arousal links to problems in the automatic nervous system.
• Treatment for disorders in sexual response involve androgens, psychotherapy, addressing underlying physical causes, and working together with a partner.
• These disorders should only be regarded as such if they cause distress or create difficulties in important relationships.