Open marriages are a form of relationship first truly brought into the public eye by Alfred Kinsey in the 1960s. Since then, the idea of approved extra-martial affairs have continued to be popularized, despite the uneducated critics hollering about it being an insult to the institution of marriage, or a way to justify cheating on one’s significant other. As open marriages start to become a more feasible option for couples looking to explore their sexuality, a common question always seems to come up; this question, in fact, will be the purpose of the following text. Using examples from the 2004 biographical film Kinsey, directed by Bill Condon and produced by Gail Mutrux, while integrating discussion from Tristan Taormino and her book Opening …show more content…
Alfred Kinsey and his wife Clara Macmillan both engage in extramarital affairs, yet remain close physically, emotionally, and sexually. Alternatively, Clyde Martin (whom, it is worth noting, at one time engaged in an affair with both Kinsey and his wife) starts a fight with another man, Paul Gebhard, after finding out Mrs. Martin plans to her husband for Gebhard. How is it that Mr. and Mrs. Kinsey can have a relationship that lasts and both engage in sexual acts with Martin without any complaint from either parties, yet go so wrong for Martin and his wife when involved with Gebhard. Is it Gebhard’s fault? …show more content…
A person’s sociosexuality, or rather, their willingness to take risks and be open in their sexual experiences, is something that, arguably, a person is born with. A concept that was first developed by Alfred Kinsey himself, an individual’s sociosexuality can be determined via a nine-item questionnaire (Penke, 2011, p.2). When looking at the characters of the film through a sociosexual lens, it is revealed that their actions are a result of something much less petty than jealousy. The questionnaire has three main components- Behaviour, Attitude, and Desire (Penke, 2011, p.3). A person who fills out this questionnaire, which seemingly is only looking at sexual practices, actually reveals a person’s level of restriction in terms of sharing partners. Based on what we see in the film, and the jealously expressed by Martin, he would be classified as more “restricted”, meaning despite engaging in open relationships, intrinsically Martin prefers exclusivity in his
Most affluent Americans love feeling philanthropic. Many of us privileged people enjoy the sensation because we feel we are genuinely improving the world by giving to the “less fortunate.” Yet, so many “successful” Americans secretly despise the people who are “less fortunate,” casting them off as “lazy” or “selfish.” After all, why should we share? We have worked hard for whatever status we have achieved. Why should we care about the children of other people? Or, why do we not care about these sad situations? From where do our notions of charity come? One source might be a mere board game—a board game employed interestingly by great novelist Ken Kesey in the hippy Bible he wrote in 1962 to teach readers about the ways he was perceiving American ways of life. Kesey inserts the game of Monopoly as the central symbol in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest because it signifies society and the corrupt desire for absolute power.
Mahin, Michael J. The Awakening and The Yellow Wallpaper: "An Intertextual Comparison of the "Conventional" Connotations of Marriage and Propriety." Domestic Goddesses (1999). Web. 29 June 2015.
Jonathan Katz talks about the initial creation of the term “heterosexuality” and how it was used to classify certain groups of people’s way of practicing sex. Along with the negative ideology the term reflected upon society. The author talks about the early definition of the term “heterosexuality”. Katz closely examines the different cultures and what sex meant to them prior to the term and over all labeling of “heterosexual” and what become of them after the fact. Katz illustrates the many faces of the term “heterosexual” starting with the early definition of the word, which was at the
Sexuality is very diverse, in some instances normality is based on the cultural context of the individual 's society. In "The other side of desire" by Daniel Bergner, the author goes in depth into the lives of four individual 's whose lust and longing have led them far down the realms of desire. The current paper addresses the four individual 's Jacob, the Baroness, Roy, and Ron each exhibits a paraphilia that may or may not meet the full criteria in the DSM-5. Furthermore, each person’s specific paraphilia is conceptualized and explained in depth. Countertransferential issues anticipated before working with these individuals is analyzed and clarified. Also, the apprehension of sexual arousal and sexual behaviors is conceptualized into normality
...am Victorian society, sexual liberalism transformed the ways in which people arranged their private lives. Shifting from a Victorian environment of production, separate sexual spheres, and the relegation of any illicit extramarital sex to an underworld of vice, the modern era found itself in a new landscape of consumerism, modernism and inverted sexual stereotypes. Sexuality was now being discussed, systemized, controlled, and made an object of scientific study and popular discourse. Late nineteenth-century views on "natural" gender and sexuality, with their attendant stereotypes about proper gender roles and proper desires, lingered long into the twentieth century and continue, somewhat fitfully, to inform the world in which we live. It is against this cultural and political horizon that an understanding of sexuality in the modern era needs to be contextualized.
“…sex attains meaning in social relations, which implies that we can only make appropriate choices around sexuality by understanding its social, cultueral and political context.” (Quote: 9293 jeffrey weeks)
In today’s heterosexual and patriarchal society sex and sexual desires revolve around men, and Hoagland sets out seven patterns showing how this is the case. Sex is thought of as a “powerful and uncontrollable urge” and male sexuality therefore is a basic component to male health, sexual acts show male conquest and domination, sexual freedom gives men total access to and over women, rape is, by this logic, natural and women who resist a man’s advances are “‘frigid’”, sex involves losing control and sexual desire, when described as erotic, “involves a death wish (eros)”. The bottom line is that in today’s heterosexual and patriarchal society sex is all about men having a natural power over women; sex involves a total loss of control which creates a split between reason and emotion since being in control is a matter of reason controlling emotions, “we tend to believe that to be safe we must be rational and in control but to...
Through examining the myriad of ways that gender roles interfere with intimacy, Pepper Schwartz has identified the costs of traditional marriage and the rewards of peer marriage. She has demonstrated that the provider and nurturer roles assumed by man and woman ultimately negate intimacy and antagonize deep friendship. She shows that deep friendship found through equality is essential for intimacy and that peer marriage promotes commitment, shared worlds, co-parenting and the celebration of similarity. It is these qualities that peer marriage promote that make a marriage lasting and fulfilling for man and woman.
Milstein, Susan A. Taking Sides Clashing Views in Human Sexuality. Ed. William J. Taverner and Ryan W. McKee. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.
...at to the stability of family life in our society. Sexual intercourse, explained by Haines (2011), is a special bond that is created for the aim of reproducing children despite not being able to, at times. It unites two dissimilar body parts in a way that can produce a reproductive effect. Thus, same sex relationships are opposed because male-female relationships are the only sort that can fully embrace the sexual complimentary (Haines, 2011). If we de-emphasize the procreative function of marriage, then it is only focused on the intensity of feeling between married couples (Pinkerton, 2014). Pinkerton (2014) said that no matter how deep and intimate one’s feelings may be, it can decrease after many years of raising children. This would ultimately lead to divorce and broken families which threatens the stability of family life in our society as stated earlier.
While viewing this film, most of the audience may not be as fortunate and sophisticated as Phillip and Brandon were, but we all have the same rights as they did within the freedom of our own happiness. Between the two main characters, one is egotistical and the other a self-assured psycho. It’s clear that the two men shared a close homosexual relationship. Although, nothing is said straightforwardly, the snippy attitude and at times, loving wordplay between Brandon and Phillip imply the intimate communication of lovers.
Wilton, Tamsin. "Which One's the Man? The Heterosexualisation of Lesbain Sex." Gender, Sex, and Sexuality. New York: Oxford University, 2009. 157-70. Print.
There was a time when more smart-conscious decisions were made relating to sexual relationships. In particular, sexual relationships within a marriage. However, times have changed. The pillars that hold up our individual sexual values have started to crumble. It is estimated that two out of three marriages fail due to infidelity. This is a scary statistic considering that people believe a marriage can survive infidelity. This brings us to our first myth: Everyone has affairs.
Throughout the years, societies view on marriage and cohabitation has been changing, especially from the 1950s up until now. Marriage and cohabitation are in relation to social location, education, immigration and social class. In addition, these changes are influenced through socialization and their surrounding environments as people’s beliefs and expectations vary from what a defined family really is. Same-sex couples are now getting married and the divorce rate is on the rise, including non-married couples raising children. Most importantly, each individual determines who they marry or whom they share their love with through conditioning or in the course of shared similarities. People have dissimilar values, beliefs and attitudes and throughout the life course may change again, including the future generations. This paper reviews why marriage is on the decline and cohabitation is now the accepted social norm, including other aspects such as specific rights that couples have over others in the past. Religion is a powerful tool that alters minds of those who are affiliated with it. As a result, their beliefs are conditioned and marriage is valued differently than those who are not married. All in all this paper will further explain the change, continuity and
Stein, Edward. The Mismeasure of Desire: The Science, Theory, and Ethics of Sexual Orientation. New York, NY: Oxford UP, 1999. Print. 20 Oct. 2011