Psychosexual Development and Human Sexuality

Throughout the history of the human race, and even more so today, our own sexuality has become topic for hot debate. Questions of why people prefer on gender over the other, or why some people take pleasure in activities others consider strange. To understand how and why people display certain sexual tendencies it is important to look at how they developed and the type of history a person has. Despite popular belief, not all gay men have been sexually abused as children. Two key players in understanding psychosexual development and human sexuality are Freud and Alfred Kinsey.

To begin understanding what shapes us as people we must look at Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychosexual development. Although the name would imply that this development would center around the development of our sexual selves, it is quite the opposite. The fixations occur around erogenous zones of the body. the first of these zones is the mouth. This stage of development is referred to as the oral stage. It begins at birth and usually lasts about 18 months. During this time there is an oral fixation with activities such as teething and or sucking on objects. too little of too much of this activity can result in what is referred to as an Oral Personality. These types of people preoccupy their time with oral fixations such as smoking and so on.

The second stage of psychosexual development is called the Anal Stage. As you can imagine this stage focus’ on the anus as a erogenous zone of fixation. The child will typically take pleasure in holding in the feces and releasing it. Potty training brings about the development of self control. Through learning how to hold it in until it is possible to reach a toilet teaches the child this sense of self control. The two types of characters that develop out of this stage are Anal Retentive characters and Anal Expulsive characters. During the anal stage Anal Retentive children will hold in their feces and typically develop into very neat, sometimes compulsively organized individuals. Anal Expulsive characters are children who enjoy the release of fecal matter. They will more often than not become very messy, unorganized sometime unpredictable characters in their adult lives.

The Phallic Stage, as the name implies, places focus on the genitals as the erogenous focal zone. In this stage focus shifts, although not entirely, to the opposite sex. Boys begin to wonder why girls do not have a penis and girls begin to wonder why they do not have a penis like boys do. Boys begin to view their mothers as a source of affection. They begin to compete with their fathers. This is referred to as the Oedipus Conflict. The boy then begins to suspect that his father is on to his affection for his mother and begins to fear that he will be punished. This punishment is feared to be castration. This is called Castration Anxiety. The latter theory is sometimes disregarded because of its lack of scientific evidence. In girls they begin to “compete” with their mothers for the erotic of their fathers. This would be called the Electra Complex. It is the female counterpart to the Oedipus Conflict. In both cases the boy or girl will eventually realize that they cannot compete with the parent of the same sex for the affection of the parent of the opposite gender. They then will strive to become like the parent of the same gender. This in turn is the resolution to the conflict. It is implied that when a person grows into an adult they seek out an individual who is like their father, in the case of women, or like their mother, as in the case of men.

The Latency stage will succeed the Phallic stage. This stage will last from about the age of six until the onset of puberty. During the Latency stage no new developments will occur. Instead energy will be focused on developing interpersonal relationships such as making friends and developing their communication skills.

The Genital stage begins when puberty starts. This stage is vital and an ongoing process. During the Genital stage a persons focus will once again shift to genital area as the focal erogenous zone. This stage lasts and develops over the course of the major part of our lifetime.

The latter theory was of course developed by Sigmund Freud. He spent many years studying psychosexual and social behaviors and is considered one of the leading researchers in the area. While Freud is important in understanding behaviors he did not fully search out the scope of human sexuality in the way which Alfred Kinsey did. Kinsey began his career as an entomologist, biologist, and zoologist. After examining the sexual behaviors of wasps he began to wonder how broad the scope of human sexuality really was.

For as long as there have been established societies there has been some form of sexual expression. From paintings to simple drawings on cave walls people have always visually represented