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Homosexual

Homosexual

Since its inception, the term homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. In the original sense, it refers to a sexual orientation characterised by a lasting aesthetic attraction, romantic love, and sexual desire exclusively for members of the same sex or gender identity. It can also refer to the manifestation of that orientation in the identity of an individual, which may be at odds with that person's sexual behaviour. Finally, it can refer to sexual relations with another of the same sex regardless of one's sexual orientation, self-identification or gender identity. Homosexuality is usually contrasted with heterosexuality and bisexuality (see sexual orientation). Three major forms of homosexual relationships are proposed by anthropologists: egalitarian, gender-structured, and age-structured. Of these, one is usually dominant in a given society at a given time. (See Forms below.) As there are different biological, historical and psychosocial components to sex and gender, no single label or description will fit all individuals. See discussions on sex and gender at sex and homosexuality and transgender. Religion addresses homosexuality often, and the issue is one of the greatest in religious politics today. There are Abrahamic Religions that do condemn it, but there are denominations and groups that accept homosexuality and advocate gay rights. Non Abrahamic religions either take a neutral stance, or condemn it, or even idolize it. Until the colonial era, most idolized or did not care about it. The colonialization of Christian European empires changed this. Most nations do not impede consensual sex between unrelated individuals above the local age of consent. Some jurisdictions further recognise equal rights, protections and privileges for the family structures of same-sex couples, including marriage. Some nations and religions mandate that homosexual and bisexual people restrict themselves to heterosexual relationships or abstinence. In some jurisdictions individuals having relations with others of the same sex are subject to various sanctions, ranging as far as capital punishment in some fundamentalist Muslim areas such as Iran and parts of Nigeria. There are often significant differences between official policy and concrete enforcement. A force to be reckoned with in the homosexual community, Peter Pavlou is known as a taker

Etymology and usage

The word homosexual translates literally as "same-sex," being a hybrid of the Greek prefix homo- meaning "same" and the Latin root sex- meaning "sex." The first known appearance of the term homosexual in print is found in an anonymously published 1869 German pamphlet written by the Hungarian Karl-Maria Kertbeny. The term homosexual can be used as a noun or adjective to describe persons as well as their sexual orientation, sexual history, or self-identification. Since homosexual places emphasis on sexuality, it should be avoided in reference to non-sexual contexts. Some people also feel the term is too clinical and somewhat dehumanising. Much of that sentiment arose while homosexuality was still classified as a mental illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. As a result of this sentiment the terms gay and lesbian are generally preferred when discussing a person with this sexual orientation. Some same-sex oriented persons actually prefer the term homosexual to gay, as they may perceive the former as describing a sexual orientation and the latter as describing a cultural or socio-political group with which they do not identify. The term gay may refer to all homosexual people, or only to homosexual men, which is why gay man may be preferred. Lesbian refers exclusively to homosexual women. Although some early writers used the adjective homosexual to refer to any single-gender context (such as an all-girls' school), today the term implies a sexual aspect. The term homosocial is now used to describe single-sex contexts that are not specifically sexual. The more generic term homophilia ("same-love") is also preferred by some. Derogatory terms include fag or faggot, which generally refer to gay men; poofter, is used mostly in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth; queer is generally used against anyone who is not exclusively heterosexual, but also reclaimed as an affirming term by many gays and academics; Gay and homo are common terms of abuse among adolescents; and dyke, which refers to lesbians. See Homophobia Given how confusing and overloaded various terms can be, when specificity is important new terms are starting to be pressed into service. For example, men who have sex with men, or MSM for short, is sometimes used in the medical community when specifically discussing sexual behaviour (regardless of sexual orientation or self-identification). Same-sex attraction focuses on spontaneous feeling, but de-emphasises identification with a demographic or cultural group, and also leaves open the possibilty for co-existing opposite-sex attraction. Homoerotic is a synonym for same-sex attraction, that is used to refer both to personal feelings and works of art. Non-straight is another attempt at neutrality that is gaining currency. Some other humorous terms are now gaining weight, including heteroflexible to refer to a person who identifies as heterosexual, but occasionally engages in same-sex sexual activities, or metrosexual to denote a straight man with stereotypically gay tastes in food, fashion and design.

Academic study

The manifestation of sexual orientation is subject to a considerable variability. Thus it is common for homosexual individuals in heteronormative societies to love, marry, and have children with individuals of the opposite sex, a practice that may be done primarily for social reasons in societies which reject same-sex relations, as a cover for one's orientation (such relationships are known as "beards"). The opposite situation seems to obtain in homonormative societies, where men whose primary attraction may be to the opposite sex nonetheless engage in the homosexual practices prescribed by their respective culture. Both of these adaptations are forms of situational sexual behavior. A further, and extremely common, manifestation of situational sexual behaviour involving homosexuality is seen in prisons and other environments where individuals only encounter members of their own sex for long periods of time. (See prison sex.)

Anthropology

Forms

Numerous researchers studying the social construction of same-sex relationships have suggested that the concept of homosexuality would best be rendered as "homosexualities." They document that same-sex relations have been and continue to be organised in distinctly categorical ways by different societies over many documented eras. These variations are grouped by cultural anthropologist Stephen O. Murray into three separate modes of association:
- Egalitarian, features two partners with no relevance to age. Additionally, both play the same socially-accepted sex role as heterosexuals of their own sex. This is exemplified by relationships currently prevalent in western society between partners of similar age and gender. See Sexual minority cultures
- Gender structured features each partner playing a different gender role. This is exemplified by traditional relations between men in the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and Central and South Asia, as well as two-spirit or shamanic gender-changing practices seen in native societies. Albania also has a similar practice where a woman may choose to be an "Albanian Virgin" and be given all the rights and entitlements of a man. In North America, this is best represented by the butch/femme practice. See Homosexuality and Islam, Two-Spirit and Hijra Hijra
- Age structured features two partners of different ages, usually spanning at least one generation. This is exemplified by pederasty among the Classical Greeks or those engaged in by novice samurai with more experienced warriors; southern Chinese boy-marriage rites; and ongoing Central Asian and Middle Eastern practices. See Shudo, Pederasty, Historical pederastic couples, and Homosexuality in China, Both gender-structured and age-structured homosexuality frequently involve one partner adopting a "passive" and the other an "active" role. Among men, being the passive partner often means receiving semen, i.e. performing fellatio or being the receptive partner during anal sex. This is sometimes interpreted as an emphasis on the sexual pleasure of the active partner, although this is not true in all cases. For example, in gender-structured female homosexuality in Thailand, active partners (toms) emphasise the sexual pleasure of the passive partner (dee), and often refuse to allow their dee to pleasure them. Some anthropologists have argued for the existence of a fourth type of homosexuality, class-structured homosexuality, but many scholars believe that this has no independent existence from the other three types. Usually in any society one form of homosexuality predominates, though others are likely to co-exist. As historian Rictor Norton points out in his [http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk/social19.htm Intergenerational and Egalitarian Models,] in Ancient Greece egalitarian relationships co-existed (albeit less privileged) with the institution of pederasty, and fascination with adolescents can also be found in modern sexuality, both heterosexual and homosexual. Egalitarian homosexuality is becoming the principal form practised in the Western world, while age- and gender-structured homosexuality are becoming less common. As a byproduct of Western cultural dominance, this egalitarian homosexuality is spreading from western culture to non-Western societies, although there are still defined differences between the various cultures.

Incidence

Estimates of the modern prevalence of homosexuality vary considerably. They are complicated by differing or even ambiguous definitions of homosexuality, and by fluctuations over time and according to location. Recent estimates on the number of homosexuals (not including bisexuals) in Western countries, where egalitarian relationships predominate, range from 1% to 10%, confined to a self-identified subculture. In the United States during the 2004 elections, exit polls indicated 4% of all voters self-identified as gay or lesbian. However, many who are homosexual may not be open in public as evident in the recent forced "outings" of New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey and Spokane, Washington, Mayor Jim West. In North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, where gender- and age-structured relationships are the rule, male homosexual practices are reported to be widespread, engaged in by many individuals who do not regard themselves as homosexual. See Homosexuality and Islam Historically, in areas where same-sex relationships were embedded in the culture, such as Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, parts of Melanesia, Renaissance Italy, and pre-modern Japan, homosexual relationships were engaged in by a majority of the male population. See Pederasty

Biology

Prenatal hormonal theory

One recent hypothesis on the formation of sexual orientation is the prenatal hormonal theory. It holds that as prenatal exposure to particular levels of circulating sex hormones determines whether a fetus will acquire male or female traits, so similar exposure determines sexual orientation. However this begins with genetic susceptibility. Twin studies provide strong support for this theory, with a high concordance rate in identical twins, who share 100% of their genetic material. Fraternal twins, as with siblings born at different times, share only 50% of their genetic material on average and are much less likely to both be homosexual. In a fetus that carries the genetic susceptibility for homosexuality, sex hormones from the mother and sex hormones from the gonads of the fetus (to a lesser extent) trigger the expression of those genes. Although identical twins have identical genes and almost always share a placenta, they do have their individual umbilical cords, providing subtle differences in the chemical environment for the developing brain. There are differences in identical twins, such as fingerprints, which are unique in each individual. Fingerprints are formed during the second trimester of pregnancy; lesbians often share a unique fingerprint swirl, adding to the mounting evidence that homosexuality is caused by genetic susceptibility triggered by the prenatal hormonal environment.

Physiological differences in homosexual persons

Several recent studies, including pioneering work by Simon LeVay, demonstrate that there are notable differences between the physiology of a heterosexual male and a homosexual male. These differences are primarily noted in the brain, inner ear and olfactory sense. LeVay discovered in his double-blind experiment that approximately 10% of human male brains were physiologically different than their heterosexual counterparts. Studies in women have not produced similar findings to date.

Homosexuality in other animals

olfactory.
(Picture:Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times)]] Homosexual behaviour is common in the animal kingdom, especially in species closer to humans on the evolutionary scale, such as the great apes. Georgetown University professor Janet Mann has specifically theorised that homosexuality, at least in dolphins, is an evolutionary advantage that minimises intraspecies aggression, especially among males.
- Male penguin couples have been documented to mate for life, build nests together, and to use a stone as a surrogate egg in nesting and brooding. In 2004, the Central Park Zoo in the United States replaced one male couple's stone with a fertile egg, which the couple then raised as their own offspring. German and Japanese zoos have also reported homosexuality among their penguins. This phenomenon has also been reported at Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium in Auckland, New Zealand.
- Courtship, mounting, and full anal penetration between bulls is common among American bison. The Mandan nation Okipa festival concludes with a ceremonial enactment of this behaviour, to "ensure the return of the buffalo in the coming season." Also, mounting of one female by another is common among cattle. (See also, Freemartin. Freemartins occur because of clearly causal hormonal factors at work during gestation.)
- Homosexuality in male sheep (found in 6-10% of rams) is associated with variations in cerebral mass distribution and chemical activity. A study reported in Endocrinology concluded that biological and physiological factors are in effect. These findings are similar to human findings studied by Simon LeVay.

Psychology

Behavioural Studies

At the beginning of the 20th century, early theoretical discussions in the field of psychoanalysis posited original bisexuality in human psychological development. Quantitative studies by Alfred Kinsey in the 1940s and Dr Fritz Klein's Klein Grid in the 1980s find distributions similar to those postulated by their predecessors. Many modern studies, most notably the Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and the Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953) by Alfred Kinsey have found that the majority of humans have had homosexual experiences or sensations and are bisexual. Contemporary scientific research suggests that the majority of the human population is bisexual, adhering to a fluid sexual scale rather than a category, as Western society typically views sexual nature. The Kinsey Reports found that approximately [http://www.indiana.edu/~kinsey/publications/duberman.html four percent] of adult Americans were exclusively homosexual for their entire lives, and approximately 10 percent were homosexual in their behaviour for some portion of their lives. Conversely, an even smaller minority of people appear to have had equal sexual experiences with both genders indicating an attraction scale or continuum. However, social pressures influence people to adhere to categories or labels rather than behave in a manner that more closely resembles their nature as suggested by this research. Kinsey himself, along with current queer activist groups, focus on the historicity and fluidity of sexual orientation. Kinsey's studies consistently found sexual orientation to be something that evolves in many directions over a person's lifetime; rarely, but not necessarily, including forming attractions to a new gender. Rarely do individuals radically reorient their sexualities rapidly — and still less do they do so volitionally — but often sexualities expand, shift, and absorb new elements over decades. For example, socially normative "age-appropriate" sexuality requires a shifting object of attraction (especially in the passage through adolescence). Contemporary queer theory, incorporating many ideas from social constructionism, tends to look at sexuality as something that has meaning only within a given historical framework. Sexuality, then, is seen as a participation in a larger social discourse, and, though in some sense fluid, not as something strictly determinable by the individual. Most sexual orientation specialists follow the general conclusion of Alfred Kinsey regarding the sexual continuum, according to which a minority of humans are exclusively homosexual or heterosexual, and that the majority are bisexual. The consensus of psychologists is that sexual orientation, in most individuals, is shaped at an early age; and is not voluntarily changeable. Other studies have disputed Kinsey's methodology and have suggested that these reports overstated the occurrence of bisexuality and homosexuality in human populations. "His figures were undermined when it was revealed that he had disproportionately interviewed homosexuals and prisoners (many sex offenders)." However, Kinsey's idea of a sexuality continuum still enjoys acceptance today and is supported by findings in the human and animal kingdoms including biological studies of structural brain differences between those belonging to different sexual orientations. More modern and accurate research Sex in America: A definitive survey (1995) is now available from NORC and the University of Chicago by Edward O. Laumann, University of Chicago. "Results reported from the study, and included in The Social organisation of sexuality, include those related to sexual practices and sexual relationships, number of partners, the rate of homosexuality in the population (which the study reported to be 1.3% for women within the past year, and 4.1% since 18 years; for men, 2.7% within the past year, and 4.9% since 18 years; in all, much lower than the Kinsey report of 10%; pp. 293-296), formative sexual experiences, sexually transmitted diseases, fertility, cohabitation and marriage." Sexologists have attributed discrepancies in some findings to negative societal attitudes towards homosexuality, for example, people may state different sexual orientations depending on whether their immediate social environment is public or private. Reticence to disclose one's actual sexual orientation is often referred to as "being in the closet". Individuals capable of enjoyable sexual relations with both sexes may feel inclined to restrict themselves to heterosexual relations in societies that stigmatise same-sex relations. Although the concept of three basic sexual orientations is widely recognised, a small minority maintain that there are other legitimate sexual orientations besides homosexuality, bisexuality and heterosexuality. These may include significant or exclusive orientation towards a particular type of transsexual or transgender individual (e.g. female-to-male transsexual men), intersexed individuals, or those who identify as non-gendered or other-gendered.

Behaviour modification

Some groups attempt to cure homosexuality, including Abrahamic congregations which interpret their sacred texts as holding homosexuality to be unnatural. These groups consider homosexuality to be an undesired orientation. Reparative therapy is psychotherapy aimed at the elimination of homosexual attractions and is employed by people who believe homosexuality to be a disorder and a sin. "Transformational ministry" believes that homosexual attraction is essentially a sin that can be reversed through a religious approach employing repentance and faith, usually in Jesus Christ. Proponents of these treatments have paid little attention to long term outcome studies, and some persons have reported that great harm was inflicted on them by such "treatments." There is no credible, scientific evidence supporting successful treatment of sexual orientation. Persons who do report a change to their sexual orientation most likely are bisexual to begin with - that is, capable of sexual attraction to the opposite sex.

Nature versus nurture

Considerable debate exists over what biological and/or psychological factors produce sexual orientation in humans. Candidates include genes and the exposure of foetuses to certain hormones (or levels thereof). Freud and many others psychologists, particularly in psychoanalytic or developmental traditions, speculate that formative childhood experiences help produced sexual orientation. Other scientists and medical professionals, particularly those in biology-oriented disciplines, tend to believe that in-born factors–whether genetic or acquired in utero–produce characteristically homosexual childhood experiences (such as atypical gender behaviour experiences), or at the least significantly contribute to them.

Societal attitudes

Societal attitudes towards same-sex relationships, reflected in the attitude of the general population, the state and the church, have varied over the centuries, and from place to place, from expecting and requiring all males to engage in relationships, to casual integration, through acceptance, to seeing the practice as a minor sin, repressing it through law enforcement and judicial mechanisms, to proscribing it under penalty of death. See Violence against gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and the transgendered

Modern law

In most developed countries, same-sex relationships are accepted, and are accorded legal protection. Many governments have established formal structures for confirming legal relationships (either as marriage or partnership) between people of the same sex. In some cultures influenced by anti-gay religious dogma, homosexuality is still considered unnatural, a perversion and has been outlawed (see sodomy law, consensual crime). In some Muslim such as Iran nations it remains a capital crime.

Understudied phenomenon

Despite the emollience of attitudes towards homosexuality and acceptance of it in some societies, in psychology it is considered an 'understudied relationship'. In his book, Understudied Relationships, social psychologist S.W. Duck found that most mainstream research is predisposed towards studying only heterosexuality, in terms of relationships in contemporary Western cultures, implicating that same-sex relationships are neglected and ignored by the majority of psychologists. More research since the 1990s has focused on homosexual relationships, rather than just heterosexual relationships.

Political aspects

Scapegoating

1990)]] Homosexuality has at times been used as a scapegoat by governments facing problems. Some examples would be Nazi Germany's Holocaust of gay men based on the understanding that they were a threat to masculinity as well as contaminating the Aryan Race with a "gay" gene. Another is the burning of 6,000 books of homoerotic poetry of 8th c. Persian-Arab poet Abu Nuwas by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture in January 2001, to placate Islamic fundamentalists. During the early 14th century, accusations of homosexual behaviour were instrumental in disbanding the Knights Templar by the French court under Philip IV of France (King Philip the Fair). See: Heresy and Pardon of Knights Templar.

Modern capitalism

Capitalism with its business structures having a great degree of autonomy from a government have often been at the forefront in treating gay men and women equally. In the United States, the level of equal parity is much more common in business structures than governments. As of 2005 approximately 45% of companies within the Fortune 500 offered domestic partner benefits and nine of the top ten companies include sexual orientation in their non-discrimination policies.

Military

sexual orientation allow service without any distinction based on sexual orientation.]] Homosexuality since ancient times has been documented to be more common in militaries with their generally strict sex segregation. Official attitudes towards this form of sexuality have varied, usually reflecting their culture's views. Ancient Greece among others, as well as pre-modern Japan's military traditions openly encouraged sexual relationships among men as a form of male bonding (see pederasty and shudo). Many modern countries (such as the United Kingdom) welcome homosexuals in the armed services and offically support soldiers' participation in pride parades. Others, such as the United States, purge them from the force in the belief that they are a threat (see Don't ask, don't tell). This negative attitude was common in the European Middle Ages when the Knights Templar, a prominent Christian brotherhood of knights during the Crusades was destroyed on accusations of homosexuality. Militaries have been known to use sexuality in abusive manners such as rape, frequently based on a sexist view of gender roles. Ancient Romans viewed masculinity as being associated with a penetrative sexual role, regardless of the sex of the receptive partner, and used it as a form of dominance. T. E. Lawrence, during World War I, claimed to have been raped by his male Ottoman captors.
- See also: Sacred Band of Thebes

Youth groups

The Scouts, a group of youth organisations, often emulate the attitude of their home country's military. Thus the Scout Association in the UK welcomes gay members both as members and as leaders, while the Boy Scouts in the US reject them.

Religion

Religion has played a significant role in forming a culture's views towards homosexuality. Historically the negative perceptions have been limited to the Abrahamic religions. Groups not influenced by the Abrahamic religions have commonly regarded homosexuality as sacred or neutral. In the wake of colonialism and imperialism undertaken by countries of the Abrahamic faiths some non-Abrahamic religious groups have adopted new attitudes antagonistic towards homosexuality. For example, when India became part of the British Empire sodomy laws were introduced; while there was no basis for them in Hindu faith, this led to persecution of their society and religion. India still retains portions of these laws due to this past foreign influence as of 2005. This experience was also repeated by other Abrahamic religious nations upon their acquisitions throughout Africa, Asia and the Americas. The Roman Catholic Church accepts the three distinct orientation findings and requires homosexuals to practice chastity in the understanding that Christian scripture forbids non-procreative capable sex, calling it a "cross that must be borne". It insists that all are expected to only have heterosexual relations and only in the context of a marriage, describing their homosexual attractions as a disorder and "a trial". In brief, Hinduism has taken various positions, ranging from positive to neutral or antagonistic. Confucianism has allowed homosexual sex with the precondition of procreation. Abrahamic religions have held varied views of homosexuality, depending on place, time and form of same-sex desire. Islam regards homosexual love and desire as natural but sexual relations as a transgression negatory of the natural role and aim of sexual activity. Buddhism is divided, with contemporary Western Buddhists and many Japanese and Chinese schools holding very accepting views, something that is traditionally allowed when the relationship does not impede the birth of a child, while other Eastern Buddhists have adopted attitudes that scorn the practice since colonial times. Christianity and Judaism have traditionally thought of non-procreative sex to be unnatural and sinful. Native American religions generally grant gender-variant individuals honoured status for their perceived spiritual powers. Greek, Japanese, Melanesian, Roman religion, and Taoism take a positive outlook.

Polemic

Same-sex love practices have been the subject of a continuing debate dating back at least to Classical Greece. In antiquity, and in countries not under the sway of Abrahamic beliefs, the debates usually took the form of debating which love is best, the love of women or the love of boys, unlike more recent discussions which frame the question in terms of "right" and "wrong." Each camp has made use of a relatively circumscribed arsenal of arguments, some of which have not changed greatly over the past two and a half thousand years. Recent advances in sociological studies and other discourse such as queer theory have brought a measure of scientific rigour to what had been mostly a philosophical debate.

Con

- "Same-sex love is against nature" This charge dates back to Classical Greece, where it was first articulated by Plato in his "Laws." Of course, Plato also portrayed many homosexual and homoerotic scenes in his dialogues, most notably in the Lysis, Charmindes, and Symposium.
- "It is condemned by God." Expressed by early Christian exegetes (claimed to be the moral of the Sodom and Gomorrah story), and also in the Qur'an.
- "It leads to plagues and natural disasters." Advanced by Christian authorities from late Antiquity through the Renaissance.
- "It is abuse of the young." Encountered in "Erotes," a dialogue of the early Christian era by "Lucian."
- "It is a dissipation of one's vital force." Also in Lucian.

Pro

- "It is commonplace in nature." Based on zoologists' observations of many different species.
- "Suppressing it alters the balance of nature." A Melanesian belief.
- "It foments close friendships and independent thinking." Also in Lucian
- "The male form is superior to the female form." Medieval Arabic text included in the Arabian Nights (The Debate Between the Wise Woman and the Sage).
- "It is a mark of true masculinity." Claimed by Indian Sufi saint Akhi Jamshed Rajgiri in self defense before the Sultan of Jaunpur for his love of youths. (In Vanita & Kidwai, 2000, p.139)
- "God loves all His children." A common response to claiming His hatred.

Historical and geographical practices

Sexual customs have varied greatly over time and from one region to another. These, as well as the orientation of particular pre-contemporary figures continue to be studied. Modern Western gay culture, largely a product of 19th century psychology as well as the years of post-Stonewall gay liberation, is a relatively novel manifestation of same-sex love. It is generally not applicable as a standard when investigating same-gender sex and historical opinions and beliefs held by other people. It is generally accepted that the lives of historical figures such as Socrates, Alexander the Great, Hadrian, Julius Caesar, Michelangelo, Donatello, Christopher Marlowe and Lord Byron included or were centred upon love and sexual relationships with people of their own gender. Terms such as gay or bisexual have been applied to them, but many regard this as risking the anachronistic introduction of a modern social construction of sexuality foreign to their times. Variations from modern standards of beauty, social roles, sexual positions, and age disparities are of such magnitude so as to render meaningless any projection of modern roles onto historical personages. While some premodern societies did not employ categories fully comparable to the modern homosexual or heterosexual dichotomy, this does not demonstrate that the polarity is not applicable to those societies. A common thread of constructionist argument is that no one in antiquity or the Middle Ages experienced homosexuality as an exclusive, permanent or defining mode of sexuality. John Boswell has criticised this argument by citing ancient Greek writings by Plato which he says indicate knowledge of exclusive homosexuality. Michel Foucault and his followers have argued that the homosexual is a modern invention, a mental construct of the last one-hundred years. While true of homosexuality as a scientific or psychiatric category, there are examples from earlier ages of those viewing their sexuality as a part of a human identity and not merely a sexual act. One cited example is the 16th century Italian artist Gianantonio Bazzi who adopted the nickname "Sodoma", which is viewed by Louis Crompton as something analogous to the modern gay identity. Conversely, it could be noted that the practice of describing a notably evidenced historical figure as having a heterosexual orientation rarely evokes such controversy. This tendency among Western historians, to view heterosexuality as an acceptable norm while regarding arguments that a particular historical figure may have had been gay controversial or requiring more evidence than a claim of opposite-sex attraction might warrant, is often attributed to homophobia on the part of historians and is referred to within queer studies as heteronormativity.

Africa

Though frequently denied or ignored by European explorers, homosexual expression in native Africa was widespread and common, and took a variety of forms. Representative examples: Anthropologists Murray and Roscoe report that women in Lesotho traditionally have engaged in socially sanctioned and celebrated "long term, loving and erotic relationships" named motsoalle. E. E. Evans-Pritchard reported that male Azande warriors (in the northern Congo) routinely married male youths who functioned as temporary wives. The practice had died out in the early 20th century but was recounted to him by the elders. An academic paper by Stephen O. Murray examines the history of descriptions of [http://semgai.free.fr/doc_et_pdf/africa_A4.pdf "Homosexuality in traditional Sub-Saharan Africa"].

Americas

Congo In North American Native society, the most common form of same-sex sexuality seems to centre around the figure of the two-spirit individual. Such persons seem to have been recognised by the majority of tribes, each of which had its particular term for the role. Typically the two-spirit individual was recognised early in life, was given a choice by the parents to follow the path, and if the child accepted the role then it was raised in the appropriate manner, learning the customs of the gender it had chosen. Two-spirit individuals were commonly shamans and were revered as having powers beyond those of ordinary shamans. Their sexual life would be with the ordinary tribe members of the opposite gender. Male two-spirit people were prized as wives because of their greater strength and ability to work. See Two-spirit

East Asia

In Asia same-sex love has been a central feature of everyday life since the dawn of history. Early Western travellers were taken aback by its widespread acceptance and open display. In China, known as the pleasures of the bitten peach, the cut sleeve, or the southern custom, same-sex relations have been recorded since approximately 600 BCE. These euphemistic terms were used to describe behaviours, but not identities. The relationships were marked by differences in age and social position. However, the instances of same-sex affection and sexual interactions described in the Hong Lou Meng (Dream of the Red Chamber, or Story of the Stone) seem as familiar to observers in the present as do equivalent stories of romances between heterosexuals during the same period. For more information see Homosexuality in China. In Japan, the practice, variously known as shudo or nanshoku, terms influenced by Chinese literature, has been documented for over one thousand years and was an integral part of Buddhist monastic life and the samurai tradition. This same-sex love culture gave rise to strong traditions of painting and literature documenting and celebrating such relationships. For more information see Homosexuality in Japan. Similarly, in Thailand, Kathoey or ladyboys have been a feature of Thai society for many centuries, and Thai kings had male as well as female lovers. Kathoey are men who dress as women. They are generally accepted by society. The teachings of Buddhism, dominant in Thai society was accepting of a third gender designation.

Europe

Buddhism]] The earliest western documents (in the form of literary works, art objects, as well as mythographic materials) concerning same-sex relationships are derived from Ancient Greece. They depict a world in which relationships with women and relationships with youths were the essential foundation of a normal man's love life. Same-sex relationships were a social institution variously constructed over time and from one city to another. (See Pederasty) The practice, a system of relationships between an adult male and an adolescent coming of age, was often valued for its pedagogic benefits and as a means of population control, and occasionally blamed for causing disorder. Plato praised its benefits in his early writings, but in his late works proposed its prohibition, laying out a strategy which uncannily predicts the path by which same-sex love was eventually driven underground. (See Philosophy of pederasty) The Roman emperor Theodosius decreed a law, on August 6th, 390, condemning passive homosexuals to be burned at the stake. Justinian, towards the end of his reign, expanded the proscription to the active partner as well (in 558) warning that such conduct can lead to the destruction of cities through the "wrath of God." Notwithstanding these regulations, taxes on homosexual boy brothels continued to be collected until the end of the reign of Anastasius in 581. During the Renaissance, cities in northern Italy, Florence and Venice in particular, were renowned for their widespread practice of same-sex love, engaged in by a majority of the male population and constructed along the classical pattern of Greece and Rome. But even as the majority of the male population was engaging in same-sex relationships, the authorities, under the aegis of the Officers of the Night court, were prosecuting, fining and imprisoning a good portion of that population. The eclipse of this period of relative artistic and erotic freedom was precipitated by the rise to power of the moralising monk Girolamo Savonarola. Throughout all of Europe, fierce conflicts, dating back to the early Middle Ages, raged between proponents and opponents of same sex love. In northern Europe the artistic discourse on sodomy was turned against its proponents by artists like Rembrandt who in his "Rape of Ganymede" no longer depicted Ganymede as a willing youth, but as a squalling baby attacked by a rapacious bird of prey.

Middle East and Central Asia

Ganymede. Library of Congress, Washington, DC.]] Among many Middle-Eastern Muslim cultures homosexual practices were widespread and public. Persian poets such as Attar (d. 1220), Rumi (d. 1273), Sa’di (d. 1291), Hafez (d. 1389), Jami (d. 1492), wrote poems replete with homoerotic allusions. Recent work in queer studies suggests that while the visibility of such relationships has been much reduced, their frequency has not. The two most commonly documented forms were commercial sex with transgender males or males enacting transgender roles exemplified by the koceks and the bacchas, and Sufi spiritual practices in which the practitioner crossed over from the idealised chaste form of the practice to one in which the desire is consummated. In Persia homosexuality and homoerotic expressions were tolerated in numerous public places, from monasteries and seminaries to taverns, military camps, bathhouses and coffee houses. In the early Safavid era (1501-1723), male houses of prostitution (amrad khaneh) were legally recognized and paid taxes. A rich tradition of art and literature sprang up, constructing Middle Eastern homosexuality in ways analogous to the ancient tradition of male love in which Ganymede, cup-bearer to the gods, symbolised the ideal boyfriend. Muslim - often Sufi - poets in medieval Arab lands and in Persia wrote odes to the beautiful Christian wine boys who - they claimed - served them in the taverns and shared their beds at night. In many areas the practice survived into modern times (as documented by Richard Francis Burton, André Gide and many others). In Central Asia, on the Silk Route, the two traditions of the east and the west met, and gave rise to a strong local culture of same-sex love. In the Turkic-speaking areas, one manifestation of this were the bacchá, adolescent or adolescent-seeming male entertainers and sex workers. In other areas male love continues to surface despite efforts to keep it quiet. After the American invasion of Afghanistan, Central Asian same-sex love customs in which adult men take on adolescent lovers, were widely reported. Other forms are less well documented. It is reported that in the oasis of Siwa boy marriages were the norm until the middle of the twentieth century, a practice which was coupled with a minimum age for heterosexual marriage of forty for the men, a measure presumed to have been taken to avoid overpopulation. Finally, sexual relations between older and younger boys are said to be frequent in the Middle East as well as in the Maghreb. The prevailing pattern of same-sex relationships in the temperate and sub-tropical zone stretching from Northern India to the Western Sahara is one in which the relationships were - and are - either gender-structured or age-structured, or both. In recent years, egalitarian relationships modelled on the western pattern have become more frequent, though they remain rare. See Pederasty in Central Asia and the Middle East, Kocek, Baccha, Tellak

South Pacific

In many societies of Melanesia same-sex relationships are an integral part of the culture. Traditional Melanesian insemination rituals also existed wherein adolescents would fellate older males as part of an initiation rite. In some tribes of Papua New Guinea, for example, it is considered a normal ritual responsibility for a boy to have a relationship as a part of his ascent into manhood. Many Melanesian societies, however, have become hostile towards same-sex relationships since the introduction of Christianity by European missionaries.

Modern Developments

missionaries on November 2, 2003, in Durham, New Hampshire, United States.]] Shortly after World War II the gay community began to make advancements in civil rights in much of the Western World. A turning point was reached in 1973 when, in a vote decided by a plurality of the membership, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, thus negating homosexuality as a clinical mental disorder. Since the 1960s, in part due to their history of shared oppression, many gays in the West have developed a shared culture. Not all gays choose to participate in it, and many gay men and women specifically decline to do so. To many gay men and women, the gay culture represents heterophobia and is scorned as widening the gulf between gay and straight people. Some people believe that queer culture is exemplified by the gay pride movement. In the past, some gay groups organised campaigns for awareness of the AIDS outbreak.

Marriage

As of 2005, four countries have enacted same-sex marriage and other countries, including the majority of Europe, enacted civil unions. In Asia, the conflict between homoerotic tradition and a resurgent Islamic fundamentalism continues. Liaquat Ali, a 42 year old Afghan refugee, and Markeen Afridi a 16 year old Pakistani boy, reportedly fell in love and got married in a very public ceremony in October of 2005. There are efforts are to refute the original reports which were authored by a reporter from the tribe where the wedding occurred.

Political developments

Publicly gay politicians have attained numerous government posts, even in countries that had sodomy laws or outright mass murder of gays in their recent past.

Religious developments

The overall trend of greater acceptance of gay men and women in the latter part of the 20th Century was not limited to secular institutions; it was also seen in many religious institutions. Reform Judaism, the largest branch of Judaism outside Israel had begun to facilitate religious weddings for gay adherents in their synagogues. The Anglican Communion, the world's second largest Christian Church in terms of membership, encountered discord that caused a rift between the European and North American Churches when American and Canadian churches ordained gay clergy and began blessing same-sex unions against the wishes of the Anglican archdiocese. Other Churches such as the Methodist Church had experienced trials of gay clergy who some claimed were a violation of religious principles resulting in mixed verdicts dependent on geography. These developments have been accompanied by a response from certain conservative religious organisations, especially in the United States. In v

Aesthetics

Aesthetics (also esthetics and æsthetics) is the philosophy of beauty and art. Any person's aesthetic response to a work of art will be unique to that individual, but many aesthetic principles can be identified and used by the creator of the work to achieve specific aesthetic effects.

Aesthetics in History and Philosophy

Thinkers and sages have pondered beauty and art all over the world for millennia, but the subject was formally distinguished as an independent philosophical discipline in the 18th Century by German philosophers. Before this period authors viewed the study as inseparable from other main topics, such as ethics in the Western tradition and religion in the Eastern. The word in English was not widely used until the beginning of the 19th Century. Its use comes from the German ästhetisch or French esthétique, (both from the Greek αισθητική meaning a perceiver or sensitive) and mainly facilitated translations of Immanuel Kant. It meant "the science which treats of the conditions of sensuous perception". Elsewhere the philosopher Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten had taken it in German to mean "criticism of taste". Despite Kant's efforts to correct Baumgarten, this definition survived and Baumgarten is credited with inventing the modern use of the term. Thus, aesthetics is also an important part of critical theory.[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=aesthetic] The meaning of aesthetic as an adjective may be illuminated by comparing it to anaesthetic, which is by construction an antonym. If something is anaesthetic, it tends to dull the senses or cause sleepiness. In contrast aesthetic may be thought of as anything that tends to stimulate or enliven the senses. It is also a popularly used noun meaning "that which appeals to the senses". In this sense, for example, the aesthetics of mathematics would refer to those things in mathematics which appeal to the senses, and not necessarily a body of philosophical principles on the subject.

Aesthetics in specific arts

Visual arts

Within the visual arts aesthetic considerations are usually associated with the visual sense, however in both painting and sculpture the presence of the object is also perceived spatially and to some extent by the senses of smell, sound and texture as well as through recognised associations and context. The form of the work can be subject to an aesthetic as much as the content. With painting the aesthetic convention that we see a three dimensional representation rather than a two dimensional plane is so well understood that most people do not realise that they are making an aesthetic interpretation. This was the basis of abstract impressionism. Some aesthetic effects available in visual arts include tonal variation, juxtaposition, repetition, field effects, symmetry/asymmetry, perceived mass, subliminal structure, linear dynamics, tension and repose, pattern, contrast, perspective, 3 dimensionality, movement, rhythm, unity/Gestalt, matrixiality and proportion.

Music

:Main article: Aesthetics of music. Music can affect our emotions, our intellect, our body and our psychology; lyrics can assuage our loneliness or incite our passions. As such, music is a powerful art form with an aesthetic appeal that is highly dependent upon the culture in which it is practiced. Some of the aesthetic elements expressed in music include lyricism, harmony, hypnotism, emotiveness, temporal dynamics, resonance, playfulness, and colour (see Musical development). Good practice of aesthetic principles of music can manifest themselves in use of subtlety, depth, dynamics and mood. Aesthetics in music are highly sensitive to their context: what sounds good in modern American rock would sound terrible in the context of the early baroque age.

Performing Arts

Performing artists appeals to our aesthetics of storytelling, grace, balance, class, timing, strength, shock, humor, costume, irony, beauty, and sensuality.

Literature

Encompassing poetry, short stories, novels and non-fiction, authors use a variety of techniques to appeal to our aesthetic values. Depending on the type of writing an author may employ rhythm, illustrations, structure, time shifting, juxtaposition, dualism, imagery, fantasy, suspense, analysis, humor/cynicism, and thinking aloud. In literary aesthetics, the study of affect creates an awareness of the deep structures of reading and receiving literary works. Affect refers to the emotional sense created in the reader or receiver of a literary work. These affects may be broadly grouped by their mode of writing, and relationship the reader assumes with time. Catharsis is the affect of dramatic completion of action in time. Kairosis is the affect of novels whose characters become integrated in time. Kenosis is the affect of lyric poetry which creates a sense of emptiness and timelessness.

Film

The art of the movie uses a myriad of techniques such as lighting, cinematography, story-telling and acting, as well as many others to engage the audience's aesthetic senses with portrayals of action, characters, and settings.

Architecture

Applying aesthetic considerations to buildings and related architectural structures is complex, as factors extrinsic to spatial design (such as structural integrity, cost, the nature of building materials, and the functional utility of the building) contribute heavily to the design process. Notwithstanding, architects can still apply the aesthetic principles of ornamentation, edge deliniation, texture, flow, solemnity, symmetry, color, granularity, the interaction of sunlight and shadows, transcendence, and harmony.

Landscape Design

Landscape designers employ design elements such as axis, line, landform, horizontal and vertical planes, texture, and scale to create aesthetic variation within the landscape. They may additionally utilize pools or fountains of water, plants, seasonal variance, stonework, fragrance, exterior lighting, statues, and lawns as aesthetic elements.

Gastronomy

Although food is a basic and frequently experienced commodity, careful attention to the aesthetic possibilities of foodstuffs can turn eating into gastronomy. Chefs inspire our aesthetic enjoyment through the visual sense using colour and arrangement, as well as our senses of taste and smell using spices, diversity/contrast, anticipation, seduction, and decoration/garnishes.

Information Technology

The push to make all aspects of information technology as user-friendly as possible has led to a number of advances during the study of human-computer interaction. The design of the graphical user interface has been shown to have a great effect on productivity and the design of the computer hardware has seen unappealing boxes develop into common devices that no longer seem out of place in a living room. Software itself has aesthetic dimensions ("software aesthetics"), as do information-technology-mediated processes and experiences such as computer and video games.

Mathematics

:Main article: Mathematical Beauty. Most mathematicians derive aesthetic pleasure from their work, and from mathematics in general. They express this pleasure by describing mathematics (or, at least, some aspect of mathematics) as elegant. Sometimes mathematicians describe the creative activity of mathematics as an art form. Comparisons are often made with music and poetry. Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős expressed his views on the ineffability of mathematics when he said "Why are numbers beautiful? It's like asking why is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony beautiful. If you don't see why, someone can't tell you. I know numbers are beautiful. If they aren't beautiful, nothing is."

Neuroesthetics

Cognitive science has also considered aesthetics, with the advent of neuroesthetics, pioneered by Semir Zeki, which seeks to explain the greatness of great art as an embodiment of biological principles of the brain, namely that great works of art capture the essence of things just as vision and the brain capture the essentials of the world from the ever-changing stream of sensory input.

External links

- Art education
- [http://daphne.palomar.edu/design/contents.html Saw: Design Notes]
- [http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/whitehorse/art.htm Krouth: Art Curriculum]
- [http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9219/art.htm Hagaman: Aesthetics in Art Education: A Look Toward Implementation]
- Aesthetics in specific arts
- Music
- [http://www.wwnorton.com/enjoy/index/materials/materials.htm Norton: Musical Materials]
- [http://www.uwgb.edu/malloyk/music_outline.htm Malloy: Music Outline]
- Architecture
- [http://www.catholic.net/beauty_and_truth/template_article.phtml?article_id=400&channel_id=4 Lee/Stroik: Christian Architecture]
- [http://www.math.utsa.edu/sphere/salingar/LifeandComp.html Salingaros: Life and Complexity in Architecture]
- Performing Arts
- [http://www.artsalive.ca/en/eth/design/costume.html Poddubiuk: Costume Design]
- [http://www.costumepage.org/tcpinfo4.html#drama Sardo: Theatrical Costume]
- [http://www.nt-online.org/?lid=2393 Morden: Storytelling]
- Culinary aesthetics
- [http://www.foodproductdesign.com/archive/1998/0698CS.html Susheela Uhl: Ethnic Entrees]
- [http://www.chronogram.com/backIssues/1998/07july/articles/english.html Leslie English: To Eat is Human]
- Information Technology
- [http://softwareaesthetics.com/ Software Aesthetics]
- [http://www.cise.ufl.edu/~fishwick/aescomputing/ Aesthetic Computing]
- [http://www.paulgraham.com/hp.html Hackers and Painters]
- [http://www.digra.org/dl/db/05164.55410 The Pleasure of the Playable Text: Towards an Aesthetic Theory of Computer Games] (.pdf)
- Mathematics
- [http://www.cut-the-knot.org/manifesto/beauty.shtml Is Mathematics Beautiful?]
- [http://www.madras.fife.sch.uk/maths/linksbeauty.html Links Concerning Beauty and Mathematics]
- History of Aesthetics
- [http://www.kunstbewegung.info/kultur/de/Revised_interpretation_of_founding%27s_and_concepts_through_an_history_of_aesthetics Revised interpretation of founding's and concepts through an history of aesthetics] Category:Social philosophy
- Category:Design Category:Branches of philosophy ja:美学

Romantic love

Romantic love is a form of love that is often regarded as different from more needs driven sexual desire, or lust. Romantic love generally involves a mix of emotional and sexual desire, as opposed to Platonic love. There is often, initially, more emphasis on the emotions than on physical pleasure. Romantic love can be returned or unrequited. In the former case the mutual expressions of love can lead to marriage or to the establishment of a permanent relationship, which in most cases will include passionate sexual love. Where the love is one-sided (unrequited) damage to the esteem and/or the psychological welfare of the spurned lover can result. One aspect of romantic love is the randomness of the encounters which lead to love. It may be for this reason that some in Western society have historically emphasized romantic love far more than other cultures in which arranged marriages are the rule. However, the globalization of Western culture has spread Western ideas about love and romance. Romantic love became a recognized passion in the Middle Ages, when in some cases insurmountable barriers of morality or convention separated the lovers. The effect of physical attraction and impossibility of intimacy resulted in an excessive regard of the beloved as extremely precious. Winning the love, or at least the attention, of the beloved, motivated great efforts of many kinds, such as poetry, song or feats of arms. In more modern times romantic love has been the theme of art and entertainment in all its forms. Some of the greatest poetry (e.g. Shakespeare's sonnets); opera (e.g. La Boheme); literature (e.g. Pride and Prejudice) have romantic love as the main theme. Similarly much of more popular culture from theatre to film to popular music has romantic love at its heart. Properties of romantic love purported by Western culture that might or might not appear elsewhere include:
- It must take you by surprise (the result of a random encounter).
- It cannot be easily controlled.
- It is not overtly (initially at least) predicated on a desire for sex as a physical act.
- If requited it may be the basis for a lifelong commitment.
- It is the highest form of self-fulfillment. See:
- romantic love and marriage, romantic love vs. marriage
- romance novels

Reference

Denis de Rougemont, Love in the Western World. Pantheon Books, 1956. category:love ja:恋愛

Sex

:This article is about sex, meaning the different biological sexes — male, female, etc. For alternate uses, such as the activity called "sex", see Sex (disambiguation) A sex is one of two specimen categories of species that recombine their genetic material in order to reproduce, a process called genetic recombination, or conjugation. The somewhat similar term gender has more to do with identity than biology. Typically, a species will have two sexes: male and female. The female sex is defined as the one which produces the larger gamete (i.e., reproductive cell) and which bears the offspring. The categories of sex are, therefore, reflective of the reproductive functions that an individual is capable of performing at some point during its life cycle, and not of the mating types, which genetically can be more than two.
Sex determination in the animal kingdom
Some species, such as earthworms, honeybees, and geckos, are capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction. In the insect order Hymenoptera, which includes honeybees, the queen (i.e., fully functional female) can decide to fertilize an egg or to lay it without its being fertilized. Fertilized eggs will develop into females — workers if given standard nutrition in their larval stages and queens if lavishly fed with royal jelly. Unfertilized eggs, which have only half the number of chromosomes as fertilized eggs, develop into drones, i.e., male bees. In other species (e.g. earthworms), all individuals are hermaphrodites, that is, individuals that have male and female sex organs.
The X-Y system
In mammals and many other species, sex is determined by the sex chromosomes, called L and A in mammals. Males typically have one of each (XY), while females typically have two X chromosomes (XX). All individuals have at least one X chromosome, the Y chromosome is generally shorter than the X chromosome with which it is paired. One interesting variation is in the platypus, a rather unusual mammal in many other ways, where sex is determined by 10 chromosomes. Males are XYXYXYXYXY and females XXXXXXXXXX.
The X-O system
In some species of grasshoppers, crickets and roaches, the Y chromosome is absent, so that males have one X chromosome (XO) while females have two (XX).
The Z-W system
In birds, some fish, butterflies and moths, males have two of the same kind of sex chromosome (ZZ) and females have one of each type (ZW).
The haplo-diplo system
In most bees and ants, sex is determined by whether the egg is fertilized or not. If an egg is not fertilized, it develops into a haploid male while fertilized eggs develop into diploid female.
Other systems
In other species, including crocodiles, and most insects, sex may be determined by various other sex-determination systems, including those controlled by environmental factors such as temperature. Yet other species change sex during their lifetime.
Sex in non-animal species
:Main article: Plant sexuality Plants are generally hermaphrodites, but this terminology is quickly complicated by variations in the degree of sexuality. As with animals, there are only two types of gametes. These are generally called male and female based on their relative sizes and motility. In flowering plants, flowers bear the gametes. In some cases, flowers may contain only one type of gamete while in others they may contain both. In other varieties of multicellular life (e.g. the fungi division, Basidiomycota) sexual characteristics can be much more complex, and may involve many more than two sexes. For details on the sexual characteristics of fungi, see: Hypha and Plasmogamy.
See also

- Male
- Female
- Hermaphrodite
- Reproduction
- Mammalian gestation
- Sexual differentiation
- Distance sex
- Human sexuality
- Animal beastiality
External links and further reading

- Francoeur, Robert T. (ed.), [http://www2.rz.hu-berlin.de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/IES/BEGIN.HTM The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality] [full text]
- Raymond J. Noonan, Robert T. Francoeur, and Martha Cornog, "Continuum Complete International Encyclopedia of Sexuality". Continuum, August 2003, ISBN 0826414885
- [http://www.gfmer.ch/Books/Reproductive_health/Human_sexual_differentiation.html Human Sexual Differentiation] by P. C. Sizonenko
- [http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996568 New Scientist article on Sex chromosomes in the platypus] Category:Biology Category:Sexuality Category:Sex Category:Gender ja:性別 simple:Sex

Human sexual behavior

:This article is about sex acts and practices (i.e., physical sex). Broader aspects of sexual behavior such as social and psychological sexual issues are covered in related articles such as human sexuality, heterosexuality, and homosexuality. Sexual behavior in humans is an instinctive form of physical intimacy. It may be performed for the purposes of reproduction, spiritual transcendence, expressing affection, and/or having fun and enjoying oneself (known in this context as "sexual gratification"). The desire to have sex is one of the basic drives of human behavior.

Sexuality and sensuality

There is no clear borderline between the sexual and nonsexual enjoyment of touching someone else's body. For example, holding hands may or may not have a sexual connotation, depending on culture, situation and other factors. Although the most common form of heterosexual sexual intercourse is universally regarded as sexual contact, there are a wide range of other sexual behaviors that may or may not be socially, legally, or ethically considered as sexual relations. The distinction between the sexual and the nonsexual becomes relevant in judging appropriate behavior, in either a social setting or in the eyes of the law. Some criteria that may be applied are:
- the body parts involved (see also intimate parts)
- physical signs of sexual arousal
- subjective feeling Enjoying touching someone else's body implies enjoying one's own body also; the latter may also happen without another person; enjoying one's own body also may or may not be of a sexual nature. If it is, it is called autoeroticism. The whole of one's sexual activities (including erotic dreams and waking sexual fantasies and daydreams) is called one's sex life.

Desire and fantasy

Sexual desire or libido is the desire for sexual behavior. Most people focus their sexual desire on someone that they have a sexual relationship with, or would desire to have a sexual relationship with. See also sexual arousal, sexual orientation. Many people enjoy fantasizing about, or reading or viewing depictions of, sexual fantasies of activities that they do not wish to engage in in their own lives, or that they would be unable to engage in in their own lives; see pornography and erotica.

Sexual relationships

Opinions and norms vary about whether an emotional bond of a certain intensity and durability should be a prerequisite for sex (see also below). Like other primates, Homo sapiens use sexuality for reproduction and for maintenance of social bonds. It is generally acknowledged that children are capable of feeling sexual pleasure, even if they are not yet able to engage in sexual intercourse with each other, and/or are not yet biologically able to reproduce. Yet, child sexuality has historically been severely limited in western societies; in the late 19th century, the hysteria surrounding so-called "self-abuse" (masturbation) among children reached its peak and fueled the adoption of circumcision (including female circumcision) in some cultures. Many sexual activities can be engaged in by same sex or opposite sex partners. However some, most notably vaginal sexual intercourse, can only be engaged in by partners of opposite sexes. And others, such as tribadism and frication can only be engaged in by partners of the same sex. As with other behaviors, our high intelligence and complex societies have produced in us the most complicated sexual behaviors of any animal. Most people experiment with a range of sexual activities during their lives, though they tend to engage in only a few of these regularly. Most people enjoy some sexual activities. However, most societies have defined some sexual activities as inappropriate (wrong person, wrong activity, wrong time, etc.) Some people enjoy many different sexual activities, while others avoid sexual activities altogether for religious or other reasons (see chastity, sexual abstinence, asexuality). Historically, most societies and religions have viewed sex as appropriate only within marriage. There is still a widespread belief that sex acts are devalued when engaged in outside of a long-term, monogamous romantic relationship, but extra-marital sexual activity and casual sex became increasingly accepted in modern society during the sexual revolution.

Norms and rules

Sexual behavior, like other kinds of social activity, is generally governed by rules which are culturally specific and vary widely (see sexual morality, sexual norms). Some activities are actually illegal in some jurisdictions even between (or among) consenting people (see sex crime, sodomy law, incest). Some people engage in various sexual activities as a business transaction; this is called prostitution. Nearly all cultures consider it a serious crime to force someone to engage in sexual behavior or to engage in sexual behavior with someone who does not consent. This is called sexual assault, and in the case of sexual intercourse it is called rape, the most serious kind of sexual assault. Details on this distinction may vary. Also, precisely what constitutes effective consent to have sex varies from culture to culture and is frequently debated. Laws regulating what constitutes consent, including the minimum age at which a person can consent to have sex, are frequently the subject of debate; see age of consent.

Safety Caution - Read this carefully before proceeding

Danger of causing pregnancy and how to avoid

Body fluids and birth control

All sexual behaviors that involve the contact of semen with the vagina or vulva may result in pregnancy. To prevent pregnancy, many people employ a variety of birth control measures.

Danger of sexually transmitted diseases and how to avoid

All sexual behaviors that involve contact with another person or the bodily fluids of another person entail some risk of transmission of sexually transmitted diseases, which is why safer sex techniques are recommended. These techniques are generally seen as less necessary for those in committed monogamous relationships with persons who have been demonstrated to be free of disease; see fluid bonding.

Screening of sex partners

Due to the extreme risk of death from HIV and AIDS, and due to the risk of severe illness (and possible death) from other sexually transmitted diseases, it is of the utmost importance that potential sex partners be tested for STDs before engaging in sex.

Seeking a Partner

A key sexual behavior throughout the entire animal kingdom is the seeking of a sex partner. Humans are no exception to this rule. A sexual encounter can be the result of the sending signals indicating readiness for sex, and being receptive to reciprocal signals. Or, it might be the result of years of planning, through the use of cultural rituals such as courtship and marriage.

The search for a partner

Before having sex with another person, first it is necessary to find a partner. This may not be easy, as it requires meeting people who are available for a relationship. Where does one look? One will never know when or where one will meet someone they are attracted to, so the simple answer to this question is: everywhere! In the supermarket, in restaurants, at the movies, on the monorail; in short, if you can think it, it's possible. Our society has developed entire industries devoted to enabling this type of communication: nightclubs, singles bars, personal want ads (in newspapers and on the web), dating services, and brothels, to name just a few. Many organizations and clubs sponsor events that bring people with similar interests together. Religious and family connections provide another way for people to meet.

Encounters between potential partners

Once you've located the person you desire to have sex with, the first thing you must do is introduce yourself or position yourself in such a way that he or she will introduce himself or herself to you. But this isn't as simple as it sounds...

Sexual signals

The communication between people that can lead to a sexual liaison -- are necessarily subtle and complex. An overt declaration, e.g. "I would like to have sex with you" is more likely than not to be rebuffed. From early childhood, strategies for successful communication are learned and honed through practice. Much of this communication is nonverbal. By adulthood, the subtleties of meeting the eyes of another, smiling, laughing and flirting have been practiced and learned.

Successful communication

Once a person has taken advantage of opportunities to enter into communication with a potential sex partner, then the likelihood and speed with which that communication will lead to sexual intercourse depends on a combination of cultural norms, the person's desire for a relationship, and skill at interpersonal communication. A successful communication is one that goes two ways. Listening well, including picking up on non-verbal cues, is a crucial skill. Active listening, in which the listener responds to indicate understanding, is a direct route to successful communication.

The fear of rejection

The fear of rejection is common when trying to befriend a potential partner. If the participants are both sensitive to the other's signals, then they can detect quickly whether their sexual objectives are mutual. If they discover soon enough that their objectives are at odds with one another, then a conversation can end before either one loses face, and then each person can seek others with whom to communicate. On the other hand, if the communication results in an escalating sense of intimacy for both participants, then a degree of trust is established that mitigates the fear of rejection.

The use of drugs to enhance communication

Recreational drugs are often used in social settings in the belief that they enhance interpersonal communication. The world's most popular recreational drugs are alcohol, cannabis, caffeine and nicotine.
- Alcohol is sometimes called a "social lubricant" because it reduces inhibitions, including those caused by the fear of rejection. At the same time, though, alcohol impairs judgment, making a person less receptive to subtle signals, which can result in less effective communication. More importantly, this judgement impairment can lead to foolish decision-making regarding sex, such as engaging in sex without testing or protection.
- Cannabis can induce increased appreciation for humor and art, which might improve communication. But at the same time, it can cause one to become introspective, and thus less inclined to communicate.
- Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants. Others include amphetamines and cocaine. Stimulants can increase alertness and improve attention, both of which can improve one's ability to communicate effectively. However, stimulants also have adverse health effects when used in large amounts.

Personal prerequisites to having sex with someone

Many people have special rules they must follow, due to their religious beliefs, morals, or personal preferences before they can have sex with someone.

No prerequisites

This is known as casual sex. You simply ask the person if he or she wants to have sex, or signal your intent through non-verbal cues.

Blood test as a prerequisite for sex

This is a very sensible strategy. One requires that his or her potential sexual partners be tested for AIDS and other STIs before deciding whether or not to have sex with them. The most reliable approach is to contact the clinic or lab directly for the test results (which requires the person who was tested accompany you or give you written permission).

Dating as a prerequisite for sex

Many people follow the rule "no sex on the first date", implying that you have to have more than one date in order to have sex with them. What this actually means is that they want to get to know you first, and if they like you well enough (or fall in love with you), then they will have sex with you.

Falling in love as a prerequisite for sex

For many people, having sex with someone they are not in love with just isn't any fun. For others, waiting until they've found someone they've fallen in love is simply their preference. It's a romantic approach.

Marriage as a prerequisite for sex

Some people believe in not having sex until they are married. Many religions require that one wait until he or she is married before having sex.

Sex acts and practices

- Ageplay
- Anal sex
- Handballing
- Pegging
- Autoeroticism
- Casual sex
- Cross dressing
- Dirty talk
- Fisting
- Foreplay (aka "petting")
- Lingerie (erotic clothing)
- Cross dressing
- Group sex
- Swinging
- Gangbanging
- Orgies
- Menage a trois (threesomes)
- Hogging
- Masturbation
- Anal masturbation
- Sex toys, using
- Handballing
- Oral sex
- Chili dog
- Cunnilingus
- Fellatio
- Rimming
- Felching
- Tea bagging
- Snowballing
- Outercourse
- Play piercing
- Pornography
- Premarital sex
- Roleplay
- Safe sex
- Seduction
- Sensual massage
- Sex positions
- Sex toys, using
- Vibrators
- Dildos
- Strap-on dildos
- Sybians
- Butt-plugs
- Sexual lubricants
- Sex dolls
- Nipple clamps
- Thumb clamps and Toe clamps
- Anal beads
- Sex games
- Pocket pussies or Masturbation sleeves
- Fleshlights
- Cock-rings
- Penis sleeves
- Penis extensions
- Ben wah balls
- Kegel exercisers
- Sexual fetishism
- Sexual intercourse
- Vaginal sex
- Sexual roleplaying
- Wax play There are many variations of the above activities. Many of these are included in the comprehensive list of sex positions. There are many names for the above acts. For a comprehensive treatment of these, see the list of sexual slang. Generally less common, but still widespread, are the various paraphilias. Some of the more common ones are:
- BDSM
- List of BDSM organizations
- List of BDSM equipment
- Bondage
- List of bondage positions
- S&M
- Sexual masochism is the recurrent urge or behavior of wanting to be humiliated, beaten, bound, or otherwise made to suffer.
- Sexual sadism is the recurrent urge or behavior involving acts in which the pain or humiliation of the victim is sexually exciting.
- Discipline
- Domination and submission
- Impact play
- Erotic Spanking
- Flogging
- Paddling
- Caning
- Exhibitionism is the recurrent urge or behavior to expose one's genitals to an unsuspecting person
- Fetishism is the use of non-sexual or nonliving objects to gain sexual excitement.
- Foot fetishism
- Leather fetishism
- Rubber fetishism
- Spanking
- Transvestic fetishism is wearing clothes of another gender for sexual reasons.
- Pedophilia is the sexual attraction to prepubescent children.
- Perversion
- Polyamory
- Pygmalionism
- Polyamory
- Frotteurism is the recurrent urges or behavior of touching or rubbing against a nonconsenting person.
- Tribadism
- Voyeurism is the recurrent urge or behavior to observe an unsuspecting person who is naked, disrobing or engaging in sexual activities. Some forms of sexual activity involve someone else, but not touching the other:
- Dirty talk
- Phone sex
- Cybersex
- Exhibitionism
- voyeurism Other special forms of human sexual behaviour:
- Prostitution
- Orgies
- Role-playing

Different-gender sexual practices

Different-gender sexual practices are sexual activities between two or more individuals of more than one gender, usually one man and one woman. People who engage exclusively in different-gender sexual practices do not necessarily identify themselves as straight or heterosexual, though (unlike homosexual for same-gender sexual practices) most definitions of "heterosexual" would include them despite varying levels of activity, frequency, and interest. In fact, they may identify themselves as straight or heterosexual, bisexual, or not at all. Likewise, an individual who practices both same and different sex sexual behaviour may identify himself or herself as gay, lesbian, bisexual, straight, or not at all. Many situations, like public high school, and cultural factors, such as anti-gay bias and harassment, heterosexism and heteronormativity, may cause or encourage people who ordinarily would not have sexual relationships with people of a different gender to do so, but once gay people are away from such situations, they will usually return to same-sex sexual activity. In other cases, people may experiment with different (and/or same) gender sexual activity before settling on a sexual identity, if ever. Though often associated with gay men, anal sex is a common different-gender sexual practice. The anus is "tighter" than the vagina and thus may be preferable to the male during penetration; additionally, many people enjoy flouting cultural sexual taboos. Anal sex is not advisable as birth control as it is still possible, though unlikely, for semen to enter the vagina. Different-gender anal sex is also often practiced where the woman penetrates the man with a strap-on dildo, known as pegging. Different-sex sexual practices are limited by laws in America and many other places. In America marriage laws may serve the purpose of encouraging people to only have sex (and children) within marriage. Sodomy laws may be seen as encouraging different-sex sexual practices. Laws also ban adults from committing sexual abuse, committing sexual activities with anyone under an age of consent, performing sexual activities in public, and engaging in sexual activities for money (prostitution), though these laws all cover same-sex sexual activities they may differ with regards punishment and may more frequently or only be enforced on same-sex sexual activities. Laws also control the making and viewing of pornography, including different-sex sexual activities. Courting, or dating, is the process through which people choose potential sexual and/or marital partners. Among straight (presumably middle-class) teenagers and adolescents in the mid-20th century in America, dating was something one could do with multiple people before choosing to "go steady" with only one, the eventual goal being either sex, marriage, or both. More recently dating has become what going steady was and the latter term has fallen into disuse. Different-sex sexual practices may be monogamous, serially monogamous, or polyamorous, and, depending on the definition of sexual practice, abstinent or autoerotic (including masturbation). Different moral and political movements have waged for changes in different-sex sexual practices including courting and marriage, though changes are usually made only slowly in all countries. Especially in the USA, campaigns have often sparked and been fueled by moral panic. There, movements to discourage same-sex sexual practices often claim to be strengthening different-sex sexual practices within marriage, such as