Although sexuality and human anatomy is an aspect that has been studied for many decades now, various other aspects are still intriguing to learn about in human bodies. Most of these aspects greatly inspire people to understand more about their sexuality and pinpoint some of the choices they make in life. Although Prescott & Bullough (1996) assumes that all people develop sexual desires or desire to be involved sexually, some people hate or choose to abstain from the same sexual acts. For instance, as mentioned in the article, St. Augustine, who lived a celibate life, observed that not all people could conform to the same lifestyle. Therefore, to be celibate was a sexual choice and not nature. Although some of the assertions made by St. Augustine were true, for instance, “the only purpose of sex within marriage was for procreation, and sexual intercourse should only be undertaken with that purpose in mind,” there are more to sex than just procreation.
Additionally, feminism is another aspect that significantly correlates with sexual behaviors. Feminism was born to counter the assertions that women were inferior to men in most aspects of human life. Sexuality takes most of the part as sexual behaviors and desires revolve around men and women. According to Prescott & Bullough (1996), “…they assert that; the first wave of feminism also affected the development of sex research,” which is factually considered the rate of homosexuality that rose from feminist ideas. Contrary to sex, marriage and procreation, sexual desires developed irrespective of gender. Whether male to male, female to female or self-stimulation that more often led to masturbation, affirming that; ‘there is more to sex than the already known facts.’
Apart from sex, understanding the reproductive process between males and females is similarly intriguing. The masculinity of the male reproductive process compared to the feminine female reproductive process points out the difference between the two processes. For instance, many people assert that the female reproductive process depends on the male sperm to fertilize the eggs for reproduction to take place. Here, they forget that without female eggs, reproduction cannot take place. Therefore, the two concepts always remain interconnected. Martin (1991) discusses these differences in broader angles and points out the uniqueness of each concept. In one of the research findings, Martin asserts that; “once released from the supportive environment of the ovary, an egg will die within hours unless rescued by a sperm.” This affirms the fragility of the female eggs and points out the reproductive process’s dependency. However, during the early centuries, most communities did not understand the dependency of the processes; hence most of them blamed ladies for lack of children or reproduction.
Intriguingly, the relationship between the sperm and the female egg is another aspect that captures the attention of many researchers. Although they are produced in different bodies, the two cells appear as active partners that determine the flow of sexuality. Martin (1991) assert that the sperm cell is more active than the female egg hence the activeness in male reproductively. According to him, “…the sperm as the active party-the one that penetrates and fertilizes the egg and produces the embryo-is not cited as an example of an earlier, now outmoded view.” Although society viewed women as the cause of delayed procreation, they now understand the necessity of both the sperm and the egg cells to be active for fertilization. In simple terms, there is much more to study in human sexuality than what we know.
References
Martin, E. (1991). The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 16(3), 485–501. https://doi.org/10.1086/494680
Prescott, H. M., & Bullough, V. L. (1996). Science in the Bedroom: A History of Sex Research. Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 27(1), 97. https://doi.org/10.2307/206478
write