1-3 Short Paper: Explaining "Human Sexuality"

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Ryan E. Hunt

Southern New Hampshire University

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1-3 Short Paper: Explaining "Human Sexuality"

If I were to begin to explain the word ‘sex’ to alien travelers, it would be important to

first note that the word ‘sex’ is multifaceted, and it can be defined in many ways. While one

definition of sex is the behavior that produces arousal and increases the chance of orgasm (Hyde

& DeLamater, 2024), sex is not only this act. The term sex also holds meaning socially and

biologically. My assumption of aliens coming to planet earth would be that they most likely have

no prior knowledge of the act of sex, the meanings behind gender or any of the biologics that

relate, so it would be important to give them as much information as possible.

I’d assume aliens are more than likely genderless, so beginning there would be a good

start. Sex can also pertain to gender, which means being female, male or another gender such as

transgender (Hyde & DeLamater, 2024). When it comes to gender and sex many cultures also

have what is known as gender roles which are the ways socially each gender is expected to

behave sexually. In more cultures than not it is expected that a male would be dominant in sex

acts whereas a female should be more obedient.

While discussing gender it is also important to note that the gender binary tells us there

are only two genders, female, and male. Females are born with a vagina, and they produce eggs,

males are born with a penis and produce sperm. However, in recent years transgender and

nonbinary are becoming more prevalent in our society. Transgender refers to an individual that

does not identify as the gender they were given at birth, whereas nonbinary refers to an

individual that does not identify as either gender, where the gender binary does not apply to them

because they have characteristics of each gender role that pertain to them.

Biologics focus on the reproductive function as pertaining to sex. The reproductive

function is behavior (sex) that increases the likelihood of the union of sperm and egg. This tends

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to be a questionable definition of sex because not every sexual encounter leads to reproduction,

especially in the current state of the world where many women are taking different methods of

contraception. This biological view of sex tends to place all the focus onto reproduction when

thanks to the wonderful world of contraceptives, humans have been able to find pleasure in the

act of sex rather than just reproduction. On the other end of the spectrum, we have Alfred Kinsey,

a famous sex researcher, who defines sex as the behavior leading to an orgasm (Hyde &

DeLamater, 2024). This takes the reproduction out of the mix and defines sex solely as an

activity between participants that lead to pleasure, not just necessity of reproduction.

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References

Hyde, J. S., & DeLamater, J. D. (2024). Understanding human sexuality. Dubuque: McGraw-

Hill.