Sex Within Many Fields of Study

Sex Within Many Fields of Study

Human Sexuality is the common term referring to a range of sexually related aspects of human life, including physical and psychological development, and behaviors, attitudes, and social customs associated with the individual's sense of gender, relationships, sexual activity, mate selection, and reproduction. Sexuality permeates many areas of human life and culture, thereby setting humans apart from other members of the animal kingdom, in which the objective of sexuality is more often confined to reproduction. This article discusses the sexual anatomy, development, physiology, and behavior of human beings. To explain individual differences in human sexual expression, investigators most often stress either physiological or experiential determinants.

Psychologists commonly support some variant of learning theory (classical conditioning, operant conditioning, or social learning theory) as an explanatory framework and a source of hypotheses and methodology. The historical use of social learning theory is described in this article, and we review its central aspects and provide examples of sexuality research in which it plays a major role.

Specifically, we describe both early and current research in four broad topic areas: sexuality development, adolescent sexuality and contraceptive use, health-related sexual behavior, and coercive sexuality. Social learning theory is then evaluated and compared with competing theories regarding its ability to explain empirical data, its predictive utility, and its parsimony.

Sexuality theorists and researchers have made complete and constant use of social learning theory: Research in this review spans almost the full 40-year history of modern social learning. Even though this research spans the extent of human sexuality, a substantial portion falls into one of four broad categories.

These categories are the development of sexuality, adolescent sexuality and contraception, health-related sexual behavior, and models of coercive sexual behavior. Apparently prostitution in various forms has existed from earliest times. It is dependent on the economic, social, and sexual values of a society. It has been secular or under the guise of religion.

In some societies prostitution was believed to ensure the preservation of the family. Women have usually entered prostitution through coercion or under economic stress. In most societies prostitutes have had low social status and a restricted future, because their sexual service was disapproved and considered degrading. (Barrera, Patricia 1997)

Pretty Woman is a motion picture about a business executive who hires a prostitute to be his companion for a week and ends up falling in love. Julia Roberts earned a Golden Globe Award for her act as the prostitute Vivian Ward in this film, which was released in 1990. Edward Lewis (played by Richard Gere) visits Los Angeles on business, and hires Ward to be his companion for one week. At first the display is strictly business, but eventually the two fall in love.

This oddly upbeat portrayal of prostitution was a box-office hit, and catapulted Roberts to stardom. It is a romantic comedy offering a perky retelling of the Cinderella story with bits of Pygmalion mixed in as well. Vivian immediately shares the news with her roommate Kit (Lara San Giacamo) who taught her the tricks of the prostitute trade.

The manager (Hector Elizondo) of the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel takes her under his wing and tutors her in proper table manners. During a Rodeo Drive shopping spree with Edward, the suddenly upwardly mobile streetwalker picks up a wardrobe, which will keep all eyes glued on her at a polo match and later during an evening at the opera in San Francisco. (Allison, Sheila (2004))

While their relationship begins as purely a business deal, Vivian and Edward move on to a level of closeness which is unusual for both of them. She falls in love with him and breaks her ironclad rule of no kissing on the mouth. Inspired to rethink his own operating