Adolescent Sexuality Paper

Many issues surround human sexuality in today’s society. The range of sexual situations and orientations varies greatly. Issues arise throughout our lives that can have both positive and negative effects on our sexual behaviors. In this paper, I will discuss adolescent sexuality, mature adult sexuality, and the sexuality of physically disabled individuals.
Adolescent Sexuality
Anna is in her adolescent stage. It is normal for her to experience anxiety about sexual issues. She will develop and grow as an individual during this stage and she will have to face sexual situations. Her current circumstances may cause her to feel an increase in her anxiety levels since she is placed between her parents and her boyfriend in this situation. This is
an opportunity for her to learn more about herself and to deal with the sexual decision making process in a direct way before she decides whether she will have sex with her boyfriend.
The first step in this decision process involves her looking at her own personal values to determine her value system.
She can use her critical thinking skills in this situation to reach a clearer analysis of all the facts she has in hand. She can evaluate both her mother’s and her boyfriend’s motives in this light. She can also evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of engaging in sex with her boyfriend. To truly exercise critical thinking, Anna must put her own feelings out in the forefront to use them as a basis for her evaluation. Her boyfriend should support her no matter what choice she makes in this situation. She also has to take her mother’s perspective into account. Her mother is most likely to be concerned with sexually transmitted diseases and the possibility of unwanted pregnancy. She is also aware of the age and maturity difference between Anna and her boyfriend. The dilemmas that Anna faces in this situation are common for young adolescents. They face many decisions about sexuality. There are concerns about sexually transmitted diseases and the possibility of unwanted pregnancy that are important to take into account. These are the factors that parents most often stress when encouraging their children to abstain from early sexual activity. Two individuals who actually share respect for one another and care for each other will be willing to accept the other person’s decision to abstain from sexual activity if that is their preference. It would be clear that
if Anna’s boyfriend pressures her to have sex when she says that she does not wish to that he does not have her best interest at heart.
Mature Adult Sexuality
Mature adults face the psychological and physical challenges that come with age that may impair their ability to perform sexually.
Tom may have doubts about his performance. Susan may feel confident about her own. It is common in late adulthood for men to become insecure about their ability to perform sexually. This is precipitated by the physical changes they undergo at this time. These changes influence their perceptions of themselves. Some of these changes include weight shifts or gain, a loosening of the skin and wrinkles. These cause some anxiety for people when they are in sexual situations since we may feel less attractive than we were when we were younger (Nevid, Rathus, and Fichner-Rathus, 2005). Both men and women experience these changes, but in this relationship Tom is the one who has his doubts. Susan is more secure with herself and less affected by the changes she is experiencing. These are external changes. There are internal changes as well. As men age, they find it more difficult to achieve and maintain an erection. This is the result of lowered testosterone production in their bodies. It may also affect their sex drive negatively. In women, estrogen production drops. Their sexual arousal may be lowered and/or vaginal elasticity and lubrication can be lessened. These changes do not mean that older couples cannot enjoy sex fully. In Tom’s case, his issues seem to be purely
psychological.
Susan can help Tom to see that these changes are natural and do not have to impair their sexual intimacy. It would help if Tom were intimate enough emotionally with her to be open about his feelings. The role of communication in this situation is paramount. They have to be able to communicate their own needs, desires and fears to one another in a mature and loving way so that they can move past them and enjoy their lives together more fully.
Sexuality and Physical Disability
Bill is paralyzed. This means that he is relatively insecure about his ability to perform in sexual situations, but it does not make him any less desirous of the human sexual contact. There are many paralyzed people who are impaired by their paralysis from the waist down who are still able to perform sexually. The stereotype of disabled individuals as asexual is both socially imposed and parentally reinforced. Bill can learn to be more open about his sexuality so that he can explore this part of his life. Having a supportive partner will help him with this. By initiating communication on the subject with his partner, he can begin to work through his issues and insecurities and express his desire to be intimate with his partner. This will give him the freedom to relax and see what they are able to enjoy together.
Sex crosses all cultural and social barriers and classes. Sexuality presents us with many challenges and issues as we go through our lives. We can better use the sexual decision making process to our best advantage by being thoughtful and communicative with the people that we care about in our lives.