Humanities Homework Help

Based on the week’s readings (see attached) and the video below, comment on an aspect of the topic that was interesting or important to you. Be as reflective as possible in your remark, from both a scholarly and personal perspective. Include your own personal reactions in addition to an academically based (bio-, psycho- and/or social) perspective.

In addition to your comment on the reading, provide a reference and brief discussion of either:

1. A current news story related to sexuality (reproduction, gender, sexual orientation, sexual politics etc.)—because this topic is based on the week’s news, it does not have to be directly relevant to the class topic for the week …or…
2. A resource (website, article, book, film, video, etc.) that IS related to something in this week’s topic/readings, with brief discussion that is clinically useful/relevant.

Please respond to two peers:

1. In this week’s Buehler chapters, I appreciated the insight into assessing and understanding sexual problems. Particularly interesting was the conceptualization of sexual relations (and consequent issues) in terms of “ecosystems”, outlining the various layers of ideas, beliefs, opinions, experiences, etc. that shape one’s relationship with sex. I also enjoyed the deep-dive exploration of sexual issues pertaining to men and women, individually, and where these problems could be stemming from (biological, psychological, cultural/social), as well as the step-by-step interventions for each. The chapters suggested the exploration of one’s own body and sexuality, which I feel like is a given to many of us; however, through numerous conversations with friends (even ones of different cultural backgrounds), I was surprised how often it is that people delve into sex with others before exploring their own bodies – no shaming here, I just always assumed that was the “first step” to sexual pleasure!

I feel like this tied well with the chapters in Passionate Marriage, where Schnarch speaks to the emotional bond of sex and suggests stepping away from the physical mechanics of the act to achieve sexual intimacy and passion. He also discusses how other-validated intimacy can have some drawbacks in the long run because it relies on partners making us feel better about ourselves (again, similar to the point of sex with others vs exploring one’s self). Schnarch also touches on the fact that sex may be shaped by society and culture, and that sexual desire is shaped by the numerous abovementioned factors, thus making it very complex.

2. One thing that stood out to me during this week’s reading was Buehler’s emphasis on the importance of conducting sexological ecosystemic assessments with clients. This is an important part of therapy as each client holds different beliefs in religion, might have received misinformation about sex from peers, or had a lack of information from school or their family of origin. Each of these factors can influence the way the client views sex or could be the reason behind their underlying sexual issues. Another thing that stood out to me about the reading this week was how influential the attitude our family has towards sex or how they addressed the subject can be on our personal sex lives. Because of this, it will be important that we help our clients experiencing sexual issues in identifying the experiences in their life that might have led to these issue developing as well as provide them with psychoeducation on the importance of sexual exploration to begin treating their sexual dysfunction.