c h a p t er
10
Age and
Sexuality
Sociology Now
1st Edition (Brief)
Kimmel/Aronson
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Age and Identity
“The Graying of America”
– age as social construction
– age  identity and inequality
• chronological age
• functional age
• age cohort
• gerontology
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Age and Identity
• The Stages of Life
– life span
– age norms
– life expectancy
• how long one can expect to live
– new stages of life were coined to
accommodate the changes in life expectancy
• adolescence today
• teenager 1940s
• teen-age 1920s
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Age and Identity
• Stages of Life (Adulthood)
–
–
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–
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25-35: young adulthood
35-45: “young” middle age
45-55: middle age
55-65: “old” middle age
65-75: “young” old age
75-85: “old” old age
85 and over “old” old age
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Age and Identity
•
Adolescence
•
Young Adulthood
–
–
transitional stage
milestones that define adulthood
1) living away from parents
2) full-time job
3) married
4) completion of education
5) having children
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Age and Identity
•
Middle Age
–
–
–
•
starting in 50s instead of 40s
developmental task: acceptance
sandwich generation
Old Age
–
–
–
age 65 and over  12% of U.S.
population (2006)
“age quake”
“graying of America”
• birth rate has been declining
• life expectancy going up
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Age and Identity
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Age and Identity
• Aging and Dying
– fears of growing old
• Living in a nursing home
• Losing mental abilities
• Being alone
• Having nothing to do
– “dying” as number one fear
– leading causes of death in U.S.
• heart disease
• cancer
• stroke
• emphysema
“Most scholars
believe that the
upper limit of life
expectancy
is 100, though a
small
percentage . . .
could live to see
120.”
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Age and Identity
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Age and Inequality
–
–
–
–
•
“old”  term of respect
“old”  feeble, fragile, worn out, outdated
ageism
• differential treatment
• most adversely affects elderly
declining status of the aged is not universal
Age and Poverty
–
–
–
aged are more affluent than ever before
many elderly people are still poor
Social Security (1940)
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Age and Inequality
“ . . . few stay in one place [career] long enough to acquire a pension,
and even when they do, the United States has one of the
lowest pension benefits of all wealthy countries.”
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Age and Inequality
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Age and Inequality
•
Retirement
– devastating impact
– mark of social status
•
Elder Care
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Youth and Inequality
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Youth and Inequality
– the elderly are more organized
– aging population has political power
• Youth and Poverty
• Health Care
• Child Labor
– The Worst Forms of Child Labor
• Getting Older and Getting Better?
Youth and Age
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Studying Sexuality: Bodies,
Behaviors, and Identities
–
–
–
–
sexuality
sexual script
sexual socialization
sexuality as social construction
• varies from culture to culture
• varies within culture over time
• varies among different groups
• changes over the life course
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Studying Sexuality: Bodies,
Behaviors, and Identities
• The Attractive Body
– “desire” as instinctual
– standards of physical attractiveness
– sexual behavior
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Studying Sexuality: Bodies,
Behaviors, and Identities
–
–
–
–
ever-shifting cultural standards
varies from culture to culture
varies between race, ethnicity, class, etc.
“beauty myth”
– Weight and Height
• advantages to being tall
• weight & socio-economic factors
• poor more likely to be obese
• starvation and obesity
• global obesity health problem
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Studying Sexuality: Bodies,
Behaviors, and Identities
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Studying Sexuality: Bodies,
Behaviors, and Identities
– Feeding and Starving the
Female Body
• Anorexia nervosa
– chronic starvation
• bulimia
– “binging and purging”
– Pumping up the Male Body
• muscle dysmorphia
• Adonis complex
• GI Joe and Barbie
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Studying Sexuality: Bodies,
Behaviors, and Identities
• Embodying Identity
– body piercing (beyond the ears)
• tongue, eyebrows, navel, nose, lips,
nipples, and genitals
– Tattoos: Inking Identity
• 24% of Americans between 18 and 50
have at least one tattoo
• tattoos sexually charged
– design
– size
– placement
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Studying Sexuality: Bodies,
Behaviors, and Identities
– Cosmetic Surgery
– breast augmentation/reduction
– rhinoplasty
– liposuction
– eyelid surgery
– Botox injections
– facelifts
• globalization of Western aesthetic
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Studying Sexuality: Bodies,
Behaviors, and Identities
– Changing Identity by Changing the
Gendered Body: Transgenderism
• continuum of femininity and
masculinity
• biological sense doesn’t match
internal gender identity
• implications of sex reassignment
surgery are enormous
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Studying Sexuality: Bodies,
Behaviors, and Identities
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–
–
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physical or mental impairment
limits one or more major life activities
20 % of Americans
numbers of disabled has increased
• advances in medicine: birth
• advances in medicine: survival
• life expectancy has increased
“Disabilities do not reside in the bodies of the person
but rather emerge through a relationship with the society.”
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Studying Sexuality: Bodies,
Behaviors, and Identities
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Studying Sexuality: Bodies,
Behaviors, and Identities
• Sexual Identities
– Heterosexuality and Homosexuality
• nonmarital versus marital
• can sexual orientation change?
– Bisexuality
• is not indiscriminate
• few understand
• sense of pride  character over gender
– Identities as Behaviors
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Studying Sexuality: Bodies,
Behaviors, and Identities
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Studying Sexuality: Bodies,
Behaviors, and Identities
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Studying Sexuality: Bodies,
Behaviors, and Identities
– Identities as Behaviors
• partialism
• fetishism
• sadomasochism
• exhibitionism
• voyeurism
– Asexuality
• The Interplay of Biology and
Society
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
American Sexual Behavior
and Identities
– Is attitude a predictor of behavior?
• The “Gender” of Sexuality
– single most organizing principle of
sexuality is gender
– “his” and “her” sexuality
– doctors assumed women lacked
sexual desire
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
American Sexual Behavior and
Identities
“Men are socialized to express a ‘masculine’ sexuality,
and women are socialized to express a ‘feminine’ sexuality,
regardless of their sexual orientation.”
– sexual double standard
– Gay men and lesbians carry over
gendered sexual predispositions
– masculinization of sex
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
American Sexual Behavior and
Identities
• Convergence on Campus:
Hooking Up
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–
–
–
hooking up
sex buddies
“friends with benefits”
DTR – “define the relationship”
• Convergence in Campus: Just
Saying No
– “abstinence pledgers”
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
American Sexual Behavior and
Identities
• Rape and Sexual Assault
– nonconsensual sexual activity
– intoxication of victim
• What Else Affects Sexuality?
– race, age, and politics/societal
equality
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Sexual Inequality
– homophobia
• gay and lesbian “invisibility”
• discrimination
• hate crimes
• devaluing of same-sex desires/behavior
• Sexual Minority Communities
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Sexual Inequality
• Sexuality as Politics
– political, scientific, and religious issues
• Sex Tourism: The Globalization
of Sex
– “consumer” (wealthy men);
– “commodity” (poor men and women)
“Sex tourism thus expresses the unequal relationship
between countries who “sell” sex and countries who “buy” it,
as well as the inequalities between men and women,
both globally and locally.”
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009
Sexual Inequality
• Sex Education and Birth Control
• Age and sexuality in the 21st Century
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2009