Biology of Human Sexuality- Chapter 1

Amanda feels isolated. She has always felt like a misfit and has never had an intimate relationship. Unlike individuals who are cybersex fans or blog users, Amanda is most likely to find her Internet communication to be a:

lifeline.

Most contemporary sex researchers would consider a particular sexual behavior harmful and undesirable if it:

involves coercion, personal distress, or harm to self or others.

Same-sex marriages are least likely to be sanctioned in:

the United States

During the time American youth are awake, the activity that consumes more of their time than any other is:

media involvement.

Perhaps the most powerful factor that shapes how people feel and behave sexually is:

culture.

The role of sex researchers is to:

describe sexual behavior.

The cross-cultural research exploring sexual orientation would suggest that:

early sexual activity with same-sex and/or opposite-sex partners is not related to sexual orientation later in life.

As the major source of information for adolescents about sex, television is a powerful medium for:

socializing teens into roles and modeling conformity.

The irony of "normal sexual activity" is that, while we feel pressure to "behave normally" :

most of us don’t know what "normal" is.

When we label a particular sexual behavior as "natural" or "unnatural," we are:

indicating whether the behavior conforms to our culture’s sexual norms.

Research by Jane D. Brown (2002) reports that the media:

reinforce a consistent set of sexual and relationship norms.

What change has taken place in recent years with regard to the portrayal of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered individuals in film and television?

Their characters have become more integrated into the plot lines.

Which television genre is most likely to deal with sexuality in the form of taboos?

comedy series

Steven is a master creator of mass media depictions of sexuality. If his productions are typical, they are most likely intended to:

entertain and exploit public perceptions of sexuality.

Although Lyn has a penis, he identifies as a woman. Lyn would most likely be classified as:

transsexual.

Television has been an excellent medium for creating a standard of equality between men and women.

False

Mass-media depictions of sexuality are meant to entertain and exploit.

True

The term "cybersex" refers to a real-time event involving two persons engaging in sexual talk for the purposes of sexual pleasure.

True

Television is a major source of information about sex for teenagers.

True

Many activities that are considered to be "deviant" or "dysfunctional" are engaged in by most people.

True

The label of sexual behavior as "natural" or "unnatural" is based on whether the behavior conforms to a culture’s sexual norms.

True

Over the past decade, researchers have learned a great deal about the contexts in which people accept, adopt, and apply television to their lives.

False

Over the past decade, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered roles have become increasingly stereotyped.

False

Research around the world suggests that cultures are quite similar in terms of how strong they believe sexual interests are.

False

All cultures divide human beings into only two genders: male and female.

False

According to the text, when we label a sexual behavior natural or unnatural, we are

expressing whether the behavior conforms to our culture’s social norms.

References to masturbation on television are usually

negative and consigned to an adolescent context as immature.

The Zuni of Mexico believe that gender is socially acquired.

TRUE

Relationships on soap operas are portrayed as

stormy.

_______ of programs most watched by teens include some aspect of sexual content.

Seventy percent

Video games portraying sexual images typically show

unrealistically shaped and submissive women.

According to the criteria suggested by the authors of the text, which of the following behaviors would be evaluated as NOT acceptable or healthy?

masturbatory asphyxia

A new media for sex is

cell phones.

Which of the following statements concerning sex in magazines is TRUE?

The annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition sells twice as many copies as its other issues.

In motion pictures, gays and lesbians are usually portrayed in terms of their sexual orientation.

TRUE

Most users of cybersex become "hooked".

FALSE

An important goal for a sex researcher is to _______ sexual behavior.

accurately describe

Situation comedies deal with what aspect of sexual behavior?

violation of mild taboos

For the Sambians, sexual orientation

varies as a function of age.

Which of the following statements about the Sambians of New Guinea is NOT TRUE?

A sizable minority of adult Sambian men prefer to maintain sexual relationships with men and women.

All of the following are contemporary remnants of the Victorian perspective on sexuality EXCEPT the

value placed on women being sexually experienced.

A positive aspect of the sitcom representations of sexuality is that they

usually provide a context of intimacy for sexuality.

Most sex researchers view sexual behaviors

on a continuum of typical to atypical of a specific group.

Most current movies show a comparable amount of male and female nudity.

FALSE

Culture is the most powerful factor that shapes how we feel and behave sexually.

TRUE

Mainstream media depictions of sexuality

present the social context of sexuality.

Among the Sambians, adolescent males typically have sexual contact with

both males and females.

According to the text, Victorian Americans believed that

male sexuality was dangerous, uncontrolled, and animal-like.

The most common sexual references on soap operas are to

sexual intercourse between unmarried people.

Which of the following statements most accurately describes the relationship between the popular media and sexuality?

Media images of sexuality are a form of persuasive communication.

Television helps form our sexual perceptions through

its reinforcement of social norms and depiction of stereotypes.

In the Hindu tradition, sexuality is viewed as

a path to spiritual enlightenment.

Deviant sexual behaviors exist in most of us to some degree or another.

TRUE

What is the problem with depending on media as a source for sexual attitudes and information?

Because of its entertainment orientation, there are few realistic depictions of sexuality.

Movies portray the consequences of sex _______television does.

about the same as

Most sex researchers view a person who engages in atypical sexual behavior as

a sexual nonconformist.

Which of the following is NOT TRUE of "cybersex"?

There is no legal prohibition of any sexual material.

Some products associated with sexiness, such as alcohol, may actually be detrimental to one’s sexual functioning.

TRUE

It is 1870, and Hephzibah Jones loves her husband dearly. Sometimes when she looks at him, or he touches her, she feels strong sexual desires. As a healthy Victorian woman, she should

feel only reproductive desire.

How are television portrayals of sexuality different from those seen in the movie theater?

Movies depict more frequent and a wider range of sexual behaviors.

Which item best describes the attitude toward sexuality currently found in our culture?

open

Modern Hollywood films usually display

female frontal nudity above the waist.

When people discuss their sexual activities, they generally reveal their most

conformist sexual behaviors.

Karen’s first strong sexual attraction was to another woman. All through her adult years her significant sexual involvements have been with women. Here, we are describing Karen’s

sexual orientation.

Drama series portray sex

head on and graphically.

In the nineteenth century, it was part of a woman’s duty to tame the male’s sexual impulses.

TRUE

Most sex researchers believe that the most objective way to view particular sexual behaviors is as

typical or atypical.

According to Leonore Tieffer (1995), which of the following is NOT used as criteria for evaluating whether sexual behaviors are "normal" or "abnormal"?

objective criteria

Gay men are generally portrayed in Hollywood films

in stereotypical roles, such as closeted, effeminate, or flamboyant.

When a person has genitals of one sex but identifies as a member of the other sex, the condition is known as

transsexuality.

When sitcoms deal with sexuality, they usually involve a violation of a major sexual taboo.

FALSE

Television has a rating system with one ratings board regulating all content.

FALSE

Because human sexual activity is manifest with such diversity, most sex researchers have advocated that in place of such terms as normal/abnormal or natural/unnatural we use the term

sexual variation.

The relationships presented in crime/action-adventure programs are based on

sex.

The objective of mass-media depictions of sexuality is to

entertain and exploit.

When we reject the classification of behavior into such categories as normal/abnormal, natural/unnatural, or moral/immoral, we

may still have standards for evaluating sexual behavior.

Which of the following is NOT a trend found recently in music videos?

Explicit depictions of sexual intercourse are now allowed as long as an erect penis is not shown.

Approximately _______ of programs watched by teens mention the risks and responsibilities associated with sexual behaviors.

14%

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of "two-spirits"?

They have been driven out of existence in Native American cultures.

The premise underlying the use of sexual images in advertising is that

the consumer will perceive that buying the product will result in attractiveness, sexual success, and fun.

Recently, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender portrayals in film and television have

integrated the characters’ orientation into the plot.

A study of 2000 Swedish online users found that _______ of men and women who use the Internet have engaged in cybersex.

1/3

The telenovela differs from soaps produced in the United States because it

presents fewer scenes suggestive of sexual activities.

Masturbation, condom use, gay and lesbian sexuality, and erotic marital interactions are topics that are

rarely portrayed in the media.

For many social scientists, a sexual behavior is defined as normal if it

reflects the average or median behavior of a group.

Don has unique sexual fantasies. Ruth has developed an unusual technique for masturbation. Silas and Patrick are most aroused if they make love during rainstorms. These examples demonstrate that human sexuality is characterized by

variety and diversity.

What does information about the Ancient Athenians and the Sambians suggest about sexual orientation?

Culture can give same-sex sexual behavior very different social and personal significance.

Gender refers to the characteristics associated with being male or female.

TRUE

In ancient Athens, the male-male relationship was based on

love and reciprocity.

In ancient Greece, husband-wife relationships were considered the highest form of love.

FALSE

Information about patterns of sexual behavior among the Mangaians and Dani helps us see that

culture is a primary determinant in how sexual interests and attractions are expressed.

For sexual pleasure, the men of ancient Greece

turned to hetaerae.

The most sexually explicit commercials generally advertise cars.

FALSE

Transsexuals are people who are born with ambiguous genitalia.

FALSE

Which of the following statements about same-sex relationships in ancient Greece is accurate?

Same-sex relationships between an older man and a young adolescent male were considered the highest form of love.

Which of the following is the most accurate definition for the term "gender"?

the characteristics culturally assumed to go with being male or female

Research regarding online sexual behavior has shown than only a relatively small percentage of people suffer from excessive use.

TRUE

For social scientists, "normal sexual behavior" is a statistical term.

TRUE