| The purpose of this study was to explore the meaning of human sexuality for women and men in contemporary American society. In the search for theoretical perspectives on human sexuality, conceptual analysis of a wide variety of sources were made. Our Judaic-Christian, Greco-Roman, scholastic and naturalistic traditions, which continue to influence greatly contemporary thought and practice in this area, were explored. Attention was given to the "scientific" efforts of such researchers as Krafft-Ebing, Freud, Kinsey, and Masters and Johnson to answer such questions as: What are the neuro-physiological and psychological forces at work in sexual behavior and how are they interrelated? In which way is the sexuality of the man and the woman similar and in which way different? Just how central is sexuality in human experience? What is the relative weight of heredity and environment in developing sexual life styles? How should men and women relate sexually? What is the connection, if any, between general patterns of sexual behavior and society at large? What is normal sexual behavior? Just how is human sexuality studied scientifically? Since the meanings given to "masculine" and "feminine" influence profoundly the way other aspects of sexuality are viewed, careful study was given to this central issue of gender. The approach used in this analysis was to view the various theories of gender along a continuum with the biological determinists, who maintain that fundamental difference between men and women are biologically determined, on one end and the sociological determinists, who perceive these differences as essentially products of social forces, on the other. Human sexuality viewed as encounter in close relationship was also explored. Here the issues of communication, intimacy, responsibility, intersubjectivity, and reciprocal humanization were examined.; A wide range of historical, sociological, biological, philosophical and psychological sources were researched in this study. |
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