Human Sexuality Sparknotes

Human Sexuality provides readers with a comprehensive knowledge on varying areas encompassing human sexuality through use of an inclusive sex positivist approach. The content of each chapter in this book is presented in a nonjudgmental manner and represents modern sexuality issues encountered by individuals of different sexual orientation. Additionally, each chapter is supplemented with a practically speaking, think about it, discussion questions, summary, suggested websites and suggested reading section. Chapter contents includes: perspectives on human sexuality; female and male sexual anatomy, physiology and response; gender and gender roles; conception; sexually transmitted infections; HIV and AIDS; and, sexually explicit materials.
Yarber,

Sexuality “reflects excitement and boredom, intimacy and distance, emotional wellbeing and distress, health and illness” (p. 441). Consequently, one’s sexual desires and activities work concurrently and inevitably influence each other. As such, individuals who are involved sexually may at some point or another experience difficulties and dissatisfaction with themselves or sexual partners with sexual functioning. Sexual dysfunction is used to denote “a common outcome of a difficulty in sexual functioning” where different perspectives have been purported to explain the concept including that of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), Working Group for a New View of Women’s Sexual Problems and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). The DSM-IV-TR categorizes sexual dysfunctions into one of four categories namely; sexual desire disorders, sexual arousal disorders, orgasmic disorders and sexual pain disorders. Sexual dysfunction according to the National Health and Social life survey (NHLS) is associated with poor quality of life and is more likely to affect African Americans as opposed to Latinos. Furthermore, sexual function problems are more common among women than

Hypoactive sexual disorder is sometimes referred to as “inhibited sexual desire” or “low sexual desire” and is defined as “the persistent or recurrent deficiency or lack of sexual fantasies and desire for sexual activity that causes marked distress or interpersonal difficulty” (p. 451). It is considered the leading sexual function problem among American couples and is responsible for a considerable amount of stress in marriages. Sexual aversion disorder on the other hand is looked at by the DSM-IV-TR as “persistent and recurrent aversion to and avoidance of genital contact with a partner that causes marked distress” (p.452). With sexual aversion, the rate with which contact occurs with a partner is seldom and can result in noticeable relational stress. Sexual aversion usually stems from “severely negative parental attitudes during childhood; sexual trauma, rape or sexual abuse, especially in women; a history of erectile difficulties in men; and or gender identity confusion” (p.