Information Technology and Human Sexuality
Introduction
Human sexuality is based on biological functioning, emerges in the course of personal development and is expressed in different cultures through rules governing sexual contacts, attitudes regarding moral and immoral sexuality, habits of sexual behavior, patterns of associations between sexes and many more. The meaning of sexuality and how it is affected by changing technologies will be examined in this paper.
Discussion
Background Information
The unique aspect in the animal kingdom is the sexual nature of human beings. Despite the fact that majority of creatures display complex sexual habits, only the human race has gone beyond instinctual mating rituals to implement laws, ideas, fantasies, customs and art revolving around the sexual act. The implication of this is that though sexual intercourse is popular within the animal kingdom, sexuality is a distinct human characteristic. Sexuality is a subject studied by sexologist, with the specialty of understanding the human sexuality. However, the subject is also studies by physicians, biologists, historians, anthropologists, those concerned with public health, political scientists and many other people in scholarly fields. For example, a political scientist may study the way in which sexuality reflects social power (Bancroft, 2).
In this new age, life-long education is becoming fundamental to everyone in response to advancing technological change and knowledge. Sexuality information is part of the life-long education in question. Accessing sexuality information is a fundamental right pertaining to everyone. Traditionally, such information could only be accessed by older people from sources like magazines, books, television and peers. Another source is now evident in the current technological era. The Internet has a vast number of sites meant for sexuality information (Carroll, 60).
Issues
There is no doubt that Internet evolution has entailed tremendous changes in how people interact. The question that emerges is the greatness of the said change. In discussions pertaining to modern technology, it at times seems as though the conditions for development of a self have totally transformed. Enthusiasts can go overboard and come up with too broad conclusions that are based on the fact that, currently, majority of people spend a significant period of time at their computer connected to the web. A classic pattern is that novel technology results to novel forms of moral indignation or panic (Gruber and Grube, 210).
By considering today’s young people, the Internet has ultimately become part of mundane life and sexuality. Through the Internet, such young people can meet novel people, chat, contact different social communities, view pornography and many other activities. In several cases, the Internet has led to greater autonomy in terms of associating with and meeting lovers and friends. However, there are also great risks involved. There are accidents in situations where adults attempt to take advantage of young people using the Internet as a means of finding sexual partners. Among other things, there are organized pedophile leagues as well as other deceitful communities in the cyberspace (Gruber, 212).
Evaluation
Though sexuality is an essential component of human beings, it is among the most difficult aspects to explore and express. Embarrassment, social norms and fear are among the factors that hold people from expressing majority of their sexual desires and needs. However, the Information Technology is transforming patterns of social interactions and associations. Social networking sites like FaceBook, MySpace coupled with cell phones, e-mail, instant messaging and text, have altered the way people interact with one another. It is possible to purchase pornographic pictures and videos, vibrators and other sex toys as well as various personal webcam sites online. The Internet not only allows for anonymity, but it also provides the freedom to inquire, look for answers and join discussions on sexual matters (Bancroft, 2).
Today’s teenagers have not lost all the mentioned information. Today’s teens rate the media among the leading sources of sex information. It is unfortunate that much of the information claimed in non-educational. An average American adolescent is exposed to approximately fourteen thousand sexual references in the media annually. Only a few of these references have anything to do with STIs, contraception or pregnancy risks. Despite the fact sexual information in the media is most of the times unrealistic, inaccurate and misleading; several young people are lured to accept it as fact (Elizabeth, 489).
There seems to be adverse effects on both interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships linked to the relative ease of developing and maintaining sexual associations on the Internet. Some men may invest significant amount of their money, time and energy in Cyber sex to an extent that they become addicted to the act. Consequently, they become emotionally and socially unavailable to their partners, hence neglecting their live interpersonal relationships and skills development. In fact, the media computer addition has been identified as an increasingly vital problem (Johansson, 116).
In various ways, the advancement of Information Technology, especially the Internet, has also ignited an exploration renaissance, a discussion as well as a form of self-discovery across the world. This is especially prominent is marginalized subcultures such as gay and lesbian communities. It is evident that the cultural branch of technological effects on human sex lives is greatly underrepresented but extensively powerful. The effects entail the ways through which technology has altered the society, the fundamental of human life and work (Carroll, 60).
There is a close link between the fundamental beliefs regarding inherited sexuality and emergence of novel technologies. For example, the essence of female orgasm has changed along with the traditional interpretation of female sexuality. During the 19thcentury, the rising production of physical vibrators emerged alongside crystallized definition of pathology and gender that was described as hysteria. The complex interplay between, the female body, technology and the public as well as private realms is a demonstration of the full juncture between techno-science and cultural organizations. The existing surveillance technologies within the biomedical field translate into systems of control that are even more concentrated (Johansson, 116).
Conclusion
In recent history, technological advancement has remarkably affected the outcomes and enjoyment of sex. In the late 1880s, sex toys like vibrators emerged in the market. In the past few years, infrastructure for internet commerce was developed by sites that deal with sexual images. Despite providing meaningful sexual information, the Internet as a form of Information Technology has diverse effect on bother intra-personal and inter-personal relationships. One such effect is addiction to Cyber sex. It is thus logical to presume that the negative effects of Information technology on sexuality outweigh the positive effects.
Works Cited
Bancroft, John. Human sexuality and its problems. Elsevier Health Sciences, 2009
Carroll, Janell, L. Sexuality Now: Embracing Diversity. Canada: Cengage Learning, 2009
Elizabeth, Goren. America’s love affair with technology: The transformation of sexuality and the self over the 20th century. Psychoanalytic Psychology, sum 2003: 20(2), 487-508
Gruber, Enid and Grube, Joel, W. Adolescent Sexuality and the media; a review of current knowledge and implications. Western Journal of Medicine, March 2000: 172(3), 210-214
Johansson, Thomas. The transformation of sexuality: gender and identity in contemporary youth culture. Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2007
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