SEXUALITY:
What’s it all about?
A Presentation to 9th Graders
by Kathleen Baker
Saint Agnes Academy
Who I am
and
Why I’m here…
•
Catholic school, Catholic mission
• Dean of Students
• B.A. in Theology; Master of Divinity;
M.Ed. in Administration
MOVIES & TELEVISION
How are sexual relationships and attitudes portrayed?
How much is consistent with Catholic values?
Catholic teaching is often
C O U N T E R C U L T U R A L:
Goes against society or culture’s values
CATHOLIC
FOUNDATIONAL
BELIEF
HUMAN DIGNITY
• All people are made in God’s image.
• All people are by nature GOOD, by God’s
design, no matter who they are or what they
do.
• This goodness cannot be earned or lost.
Human dignity…the freedom to choose….
Our choice:
Be who we are…GOOD.
Or
Act against our good nature,
choose against who we are,
do evil.
To learn what it means to be good,
Catholics turn to…
Sacred Scripture
•
Church Tradition
•
What’s it all about???
SEX…
…something you do;
an activity you choose
SEXUALITY…
…part of your identity;
who you are
The Goal:
…for your actions to match
or be appropriate to
who you are
SEXUALITY
• GENDER
• GENDER ROLE
• ORIENTATION
GENDER
• Male or female
• NOT chosen
GENDER ROLE IDENTITY
• Learned
• Refers to how you are supposed to live out
your gender: what actions and attitudes are
appropriate
• Taught by family, the society, ethnic group,
religion
• Can vary from time period to time period
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
• Not chosen…discovered.
• Refers to one’s predominant emotional
and sexual attraction
• 3 kinds:
– Heterosexual…to opposite gender
– Homosexual…to same gender
– Bisexual…to both
Heterosexual
Homosexual
SEXUAL ORIENTATION . . .
• Not fundamentally or primarily a
tendency toward acts
• Psychosexual attraction toward
particular persons
• A dimension of one’s personality
HETEROSEXUAL
• A person who sustains a
PREDOMINANT,
PERSISTENT, psychosexual,
physical, and emotional attraction
to the opposite sex.
HOMOSEXUAL
• A person who sustains a
PREDOMINANT,
PERSISTENT, psychosexual,
physical, and emotional attraction
to the same sex.
ALWAYS OUR CHILDREN
by the U.S. bishops
• Every person has an inherent dignity
because he or she is created in God’s image.
One’s total personhood is not reducible to
sexual orientation or behavior.
• To gay and lesbian children: You are a child
of God, gifted and called for a purpose in
God’s design.
STEREOTYPES
• Homosexual persons are attracted to
ALL same-sex persons…not true!
• Homosexual persons are sexually
promiscuous or pedophiles…not true!
Sexuality…
is about who you are.
Sexual Activity…
is about what you
CHOOSE to do.
SEXUAL INTEGRATION
= Integrating sexuality into
the total of who we are
Sexuality + Choices
+ GOD
Possibility of
chastity
CATHOLIC
FOUNDATIONAL
BELIEF
CHASTITY
• = the virtue of living out one’s
sexuality according to God’s will
• is lived out differently according to
vocational lifestyle and sexual
orientation
• all are called to be chaste
Sex symbolizes:
* God’s covenant love
* God’s creative nature
CATHOLIC
FOUNDATIONAL
BELIEF
Sex in Marriage
has 2 inseparable
purposes:
• UNITIVE
• PROCREATIVE
UNITIVE PURPOSE
• expresses their mutual love
• expresses their permanent
commitment
• expresses their faithfulness
• mirrors God’s faithful love
PROCREATIVE PURPOSE
• The sex act is open to co-creating new life
with God, the Creator of all life
• The couple is open to the gift of children.
• The couple will try to be responsible
parents if blessed with children.
What kinds of behaviors
would violate the unitive
purpose of marriage?
What kinds of behaviors
would violate the procreative
purpose of marriage?
Fertility Cycle:
designed by God
with periods of fertility
and periods of infertility
Church teaching:
You can take advantage of the
fertility cycle
to try to delay having a child
for responsible reasons
Natural family
planning
NFP is about choices…
when to abstain from sex,
when to engage in sex:
periodic abstinence.
Contraceptives
• Not accepted by the Church
• used to block or alter the
fertility cycle’s natural rhythms
• can also have dangerous side
effects
CATHOLIC
FOUNDATIONAL
BELIEF
Human life
begins
at conception.
4 week
fetus
8 week
fetus
6 month
fetus
Abortion
• Direct abortion is an action
taken to intentionally destroy an
embryo/fetus.
• It is always immoral.
Rape, Sexual Assault,
Manipulation
• Forced sexual activity is
always wrong.
• It is rape if someone takes
advantage of someone who is
drunk: the intoxicated person is
not free to consent.
• Drinking lessens one’s ability
to think and to choose: don’t do
it.
• Women tend to be more
susceptible to alcohol.
• Be alert for “date rape drugs.”
Rape After-Care
• Do not take a shower.
• Go to the hospital and have a
rape kit done.
• We can try to prevent
pregnancy in this circumstance.
• Certain drugs can be given to
prevent pregnancy.
• A Catholic Hospital will try to
determine ovulation, will give
drugs to prevent pregnancy and
infection; but will not give
“morning after pill.”
• It’s not okay to cause abortion.
Chastity
for
Heterosexual Persons
Heterosexual Orientation
• Only one dimension of one’s
sexuality and personhood
• Not chosen
• Inclines one toward acts that
can be unitive and procreative
if choices for chastity are
made.
Heterosexual Activity
• Must respect both purposes of
sex in order to be chaste
• To intentionally sexually arouse
someone, if unmarried, is
contrary to the purpose of
sexual activity and is therefore
“disordered.”
Premarital Sex??????
NO ! ! !
(So how far can we go?)
Not that far ! ! !
Would you be okay with parents
seeing what you’re doing?
Sr. Jane?
Are you expressing affection
or lust?
Do your actions make chastity
harder for either of you?
Don’t lead him on !
Women are cyclical…
Men are not.
What are some behaviors
that might make chastity
harder for people your age?
Chastity
for
Homosexual Persons
Homosexual Orientation
• Only one dimension of one’s
sexuality and total personhood
•Not chosen
• Inclines one toward activity that
cannot be procreative & is in that sense
against God’s order or “disordered”
Homosexual orientation
cannot be sinful.
Sin must be chosen:
• freely
• with knowledge
• deliberately.
Orientation is not chosen.
Homosexual Activity
• Cannot be chaste because it
cannot be open to procreation
• Homosexual persons can still
have close friendships.
•Homosexuals deserve compassion
because chastity is so difficult.
The Catholic Church reminds
us that
ANY MALICIOUS ACTS
toward homosexuals or
anyone else
are always immoral.
What might be some
difficulties that homosexual
teens might encounter?
Difficulties homosexual teens
might encounter...
• Fear that others might find out
• meanness or ugliness by others:
homophobia
• silence about the subject:
homosexuality as “taboo”
• no one to talk to: isolation
• hard to connect with others like
oneself
• the silence makes good role
models hard to find
• hard to develop good selfconcept
Homosexual teens
show an
increased rate of
depression,
suicide,
alcohol abuse,
and drugs.
Gays and lesbians
are more likely to be
verbally or physically attacked,
or even killed.
MATTHEW SHEPARD
What is it in our society that
perpetuates the attitudes that makes
this violence okay?
Do you believe that the young men
who committed this crime could have
viewed Matthew Shepard as a fellow
human being?
Two women, girlfriends of the
perpetrators, stood and watched.
Have you ever stood by and watched
someone be harassed or insulted or hurt?
Why didn’t they get involved?
SAA Policies/Catholic Teaching
• Respect all people. Help your
friends do the same.
• It’s okay to disclose homosexual
orientation in an appropriate
manner. Seek guidance first.
• It’s okay to claim symbols
related to homosexual
orientation because the
orientation is not sinful.
• It’s not okay to use symbols or
slogans to promote immoral
behavior or to act contrary to
Church teaching.
Final Thoughts for Students
• It’s hard to figure out sexual
identity…a homosexual
encounter may not mean the
person is gay or lesbian.
• Seek support from a “safe”
adult if you have questions.
• Keep your own house clean:
don’t judge others.
• Be supportive and help each other
LIVE CHASTITY &
RESPECT FOR ALL.