The Social Construction Of Intimacy - American Family Change and Diversity - Lecture Handout | Exercises Public Sociology

The Social Construction of Intimacy

Heterosexual Courtship & Mate Selection

• Social & cultural changes have increased the importance of intimate relationships

• Decline of community, kin, & parental influence in “mate selection”, “dating”, “hanging out”,

“hooking up”, “online dating”

– Increased individuality

Variations in Dating Practices

• Gender – traditional gender role expectations still structure interactions

– “modified” sexual double standard

• Class – dating and courtship patterns vary by social class

– The higher the family’s social class, the more control parents have over children’s dating

activities

• Race – interracial relationships are likely to form in integrated settings (military, universities,

metropolitan areas)

– Interracial dating more acceptable to younger individuals

– No significant differences in relationship quality (as compared to intraracial relationships)

Factors in Mate Selection

• Legal restrictions and social expectations of peers, family, neighbors, others in community narrow

the choices of potential spouses

• Homogamy – people tend to date & mate within their class, race, ethnicity, religion, & educational

level (regardless of sexual orientation, most want a mate with traits similar to their own)

Structural Influences on Mate Selection

• Availability of marriageable partners

• Imbalances in the numbers of women & men (sex ratio)

• Individual’s’ varied affiliations with different groups

• People who marry outside their group have multiple & interwoven group affiliations

• Schools & colleges narrow the choice of eligible partners in terms of social class

• Within a given college, fraternities & sororities contribute to intraclass patterns of courtship &

marriage

• When intraclass pattern is broken, it is generally by women who marry men of higher status

Changing Sexual Behavior

Society and Sexuality

• Sexuality exhibits great variability across time, space, and the life course.

• Sexuality is socially controlled and closely bound up with race, class, and gender.

• Sexuality has several dimensions

• Physical (behavior)

• Psychological (knowledge and attitudes)

• Social (norms and values)

• Religion

• Main source of sexual information for most of human history

• Provide norms & values which influence individual attitudes & behaviors

• Correlation between religiosity& sexual variance, permissiveness

• Media

• Most influential source of sexual information for contemporary Americans

• Most frequent portrayal is heterosexual intercourse between unmarried partners - safe sex

is rare

• 3 types of influence: mainstreaming, agenda-setting, social learning

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The Social Construction of Intimacy

Heterosexual Courtship & Mate Selection

Social & cultural changes have increased the importance of intimate relationships
Decline of community, kin, & parental influence in “mate selection”, “dating”, “hanging out”, “hooking up”, “online dating” - Increased individuality Variations in Dating Practices
Gender – traditional gender role expectations still structure interactions
- “modified” sexual double standard
Class – dating and courtship patterns vary by social class
- The higher the family’s social class, the more control parents have over children’s dating activities
Race – interracial relationships are likely to form in integrated settings (military, universities, metropolitan areas) - Interracial dating more acceptable to younger individuals - No significant differences in relationship quality (as compared to intraracial relationships) Factors in Mate Selection
Legal restrictions and social expectations of peers, family, neighbors, others in community narrow the choices of potential spouses
Homogamy – people tend to date & mate within their class, race, ethnicity, religion, & educational level (regardless of sexual orientation, most want a mate with traits similar to their own) Structural Influences on Mate Selection
Availability of marriageable partners
- Imbalances in the numbers of women & men (sex ratio)
Individual’s’ varied affiliations with different groups
- People who marry outside their group have multiple & interwoven group affiliations
Schools & colleges narrow the choice of eligible partners in terms of social class
- Within a given college, fraternities & sororities contribute to intraclass patterns of courtship & marriage
- When intraclass pattern is broken, it is generally by women who marry men of higher status

Changing Sexual Behavior Society and Sexuality

Sexuality exhibits great variability across time, space, and the life course.
Sexuality is socially controlled and closely bound up with race, class, and gender.
Sexuality has several dimensions
- Physical (behavior)
- Psychological (knowledge and attitudes)
- Social (norms and values)
Religion
- Main source of sexual information for most of human history
  - Provide norms & values which influence individual attitudes & behaviors
- Correlation between religiosity& sexual variance, permissiveness
Media
- Most influential source of sexual information for contemporary Americans
  - Most frequent portrayal is heterosexual intercourse between unmarried partners - safe sex is rare
- 3 types of influence: mainstreaming, agenda-setting, social learning

Enlarging the Sexuality Frame

Sexual orientation is defined by whom we are attracted to and have the potential for loving.
- erotic and emotional orientation toward one’s own gender, the opposite gender
Sexual identity refers to one’s self-label or self-identification as heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual.
Mutually exclusive categories (gay or straight) are meaningless
Current research about the causes of homosexuality (biological or social) is inconclusive, although research on genetic & prenatal factors is promising - We do not know what causes sexual orientation. - Unlike gender identity which is determined in childhood, sexual identity (and orientation) continues to evolve into adulthood for some people. - There is probably not a single cause of homosexuality, but rather many causes. - It would be more productive to look for the causes of exclusive homosexuality and exclusive heterosexuality. (Why isn’t everyone bisexual?) Sexual Revolution
From a family-centered reproductive system in colonial days, to romantic sexuality in the 19th century, to modern sexuality with sexual relations as a source of happiness and personal identity by the 1920s
Shift in attitudes & behaviors over time (sexual “revolution” or “evolution” ?)
- masturbation, premarital sex, alternative behaviors & orientation, nudity, double standard, sex & romance, sexuality education
Reasons for change
- changing gender roles, later marriage, increased leisure time & affluence, sexual research, access to contraception, AIDS
Contemporary sexual standards
- prevailing cultural values are expressed in norms which tell us how we are “supposed” to feel & act sexually - heterosexual - coital (coitus means sexual intercourse) - orgasmic - two-person - romantic - safe sex Scientific Research on Sexuality
Kinsey Reports (1948 & 1953)
- Large scale survey, but weak sampling method
- Excellent interviewing techniques, high test-retest reliability
National Health and Social Life Survey (NHSLS)
- Best sex survey of general population in the U.S. (good sampling and interview methods, met all ethical standards, most comprehensive & representative)
- Political interference with funding
- Focus on sexuality in social context: people’s sexual choices are shaped by social networks in which they interact
- Major findings
  - Adultery is relatively uncommon (25% of men, 15% of women)
  - Incidence of homosexuality is lower than the 10% reported by Kinsey
  - Married couples have the most sex, enjoy it the most, & are most likely to experience orgasms
Global Study of Sexual Attitudes & Behaviors
- Sexual satisfaction highest in societies with greater gender equality

Same-Sex Orientation and Intimacy

U.S. Supreme Court struck down state laws making homosexual behavior a crime in 2003.
Broad social support networks are missing for gay and lesbian couples.
Generally, homosexuals do the same things sexually that heterosexuals do.
Lesbian and gay relationships are very similar to straight relationships
- Most in steady relationships, dealing with same adjustment issues, no difference in frequency of sex
Lesbians and gays seem to be as well adjusted psychologically as straights
- Remarkable considering antigay prejudice in society
Gender plays an important part in intimate relationships, whether heterosexual or gay.
- Attitudes about love & sex similar for most women and for most men Social Class & Intimacy
Correlation between social class & sexual variance, permissiveness
Correlation between educational level & sexual variance, permissiveness Love & social class
While most people uphold the ideology of love, there are class differences in resources to sustain that ideal. Race & Intimacy
Racial stereotypes often used to define sexuality of racial minorities as different from Whites
Correlation between race/ethnicity & sexual variance, permissiveness Claiming Control of Intimacy
Human agency is important in creating new patterns of intimacy

The Social Construction Of Intimacy - American Family Change and Diversity - Lecture Handout, Exercises of Public Sociology

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