bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Exhibitionism
Authors: Ranger Rebekah , Fedoroff Paul
Published: April 2015

Exhibitionism is a paraphilia in which sexual arousal is derived from exposing one's genitals to an unsuspecting stranger. Those with exhibitionism have one of the highest recidivism rates amongst all sex offenders with paraphilias due to the ease with which exhibitionistic acts can be committed. Little is known about the etiology of the disorder; however, exhibitionism is often associated with other paraphilias.
Fantasy, sexual
Authors: Hartman Stephen
Published: April 2015

Abstract
Sexual fantasy connotes a relation between how and whom the subject desires. Since Freud's initial exploration of the libidinal aim and object, psychoanalysis has used sexual fantasy to interpret divergent qualities of psychic structure and object relations.
Female genital cosmetic surgery
Authors: Braun Virginia
Published: April 2015

Female genital cosmetic surgery refers to a range of procedures performed in the absence of a medical indication, to alter aspects of female genital appearance (and sometimes function). A twenty‐first‐century phenomenon, they are claimed to be a low‐risk way to increase self‐esteem, confidence, and sexual pleasure. The current evidence base for these claims is limited and of questioned quality. Often heavily marketed, FGCS has been located as part of the medicalization of sex, and critiqued for pathologizing genital diversity and promoting another unnatural body norm for women to conform to.
Female genital cutting debates
Authors: Gruenbaum Ellen , Wirtz Elizabeth
Published: April 2015

Female genital cutting (FGC) has been widely debated within and among cultures for many years. In the past few decades, FGC has gained international attention through Euro‐American feminist campaigns that seek to eradicate the practice. In recent years, activists and scholars from the communities that practice FGC have responded to opposition campaigns, also arguing for a reduction in the harmful aspects of the practice but through more sensitive and respectful avenues.
Female genital cutting: controversies and responses
Authors: Johansen R. Elise B.
Published: April 2015

An estimated 125 million women have been subjected to female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) worldwide, and in most practicing communities FGM/C has existed for many generations. In the last few years, there have been promising signs that in spite of challenges, setbacks, and changes in approach, the practice is declining in most countries. From the first campaigns run mostly by churches and colonial powers early in the twentieth century, through increasing international engagement from pioneer African and European women, WHO and other international organizations, and international and local NGOs and CBOs, the approaches has changed and varied. Learning from the initial campaigns that were more successful in spurring anti‐colonial reactions than anti‐FGM/C conviction, through focus on health risks and human rights, most current activists develop programs in which the communities themselves take the lead in identifying the problem and seeking solutions. This has shown promising results.
Fetish
Authors: M. Block Susan
Published: April 2015

A fetish is a profound feeling that a human being has for an inanimate object, activity, or situation. It may be a deep erotic desire for some
thing
, often clothing, such as high heels, a belt, bra, or burqa; or a body part, such as a woman's breast, foot, or hair. One may also have a fetish for an activity, like spanking or being watched; or a situation, such as a mistress–slave or doctor–patient relationship. Whatever the fetish object, activity, or situation, the fetishist invests great power in it—sometimes great sexual power, sometimes great religious power, and sometimes a mixture of both. The etymological root and nature of erotic fetish, its childhood and adolescence origins, the interplay of fetish and fashion, the history of fetish therapy, psychological theories, and normalization of consensual fetishes, as well as keys to healthy fetish play, are examined.
Figurines: Mesoamerica
Authors: Taube Rhonda
Published: April 2015

Ceramic figurines form a central corpus of ancient Mesoamerican art, appearing with virtually every culture and time period of Mesoamerican history. Because they were ever‐present and found primarily in domestic contexts, they inform us about a wide array of daily human activities and everyday beliefs, in contrast to most scenes in elite murals and monumental sculpture. In particular, they inform us about ancient notions of sexuality, not only because of their widespread distribution but also due to the variety of human images they represent. From the first appearance of figurines in the Early Formative period to the time of Spanish contact in the sixteenth century, many figurines emphasize female secondary sexual characteristics and local ideas regarding gender‐based roles and responsibilities, including a plethora of nubile and comely females with enlarged breasts, voluptuous hips, and appealing or suggestive poses.
First intercourse
Authors: Gordon Daanika , DeLamater John
Published: April 2015

First intercourse, often used in reference to vaginal penetration by penis, is an important event carrying physical, emotional, and social significance. Studies often examine first intercourse in terms of timing, circumstances, risk reduction behavior, and consequences. Variations in these features are associated with physiological, psychological, and social factors. Individual and family characteristics, in addition to social and cultural influences such as peer culture and the media, contribute to differences in patterns of first intercourse by gender, race and ethnicity, and socioeconomic class. Although the consequences of first intercourse are often discussed in terms of negative health outcomes such as pregnancy and STI rates, as well as feelings of regret, recent work has emphasized subjective experience and the possibility of enjoyment. First intercourse is socially important, as the status change from virgin to non‐virgin can represent the psychological and social transition from youth to adulthood, which individuals often have the ability to control. Broadening discussion of the consequences of first intercourse to include the positive effects on physical, emotional, and social wellbeing recognizes the event as potentially contributing to future safe and pleasurable sexual experiences.
Free love
Authors: Passet Joanne E.
Published: April 2015

Free love emerged as a social movement in the nineteenth century. Advocates supported women's right to choose when and if she became pregnant, and by whom. They also fought for the right to discuss sexual topics in print. The movement was associated with antebellum utopian societies, sex radical journalism in the late nineteenth century, the fight for women's rights, and the counterculture movement of the 1960s. By the early twenty‐first century the free love movement lost momentum as advocates of same‐sex marriage fought for state recognition of their unions.
Freud, Sigmund (1856–1939)
Authors: Pfäfflin Friedemann
Published: April 2015

Sigmund Freud (1856‒1939) was the founder of psychoanalysis. First engaged in neuropathology and neurophysiology, he spent some time in Paris with Jean‐Martin Charcot who treated hysterical patients with hypnosis and suggestion. Back in Vienna, Freud and his mentor, Josef Breuer, concentrated on studying and treating hysterical patients and developed a new method of psychotherapy, the cathartic method. Freud identified sexual trauma as the most important causal factor for neuroses and developed a theory to explain the neurotic symptoms resulting from these traumas. Later, he abandoned the traumatic etiology and favored the view that the (sexual) drive or instinct was the central force in human development, including normal as well as “deviant” behaviors, dominated by unconscious processes. Sexuality plays the major role in his concepts of psychic development as well as his writings on cultural, political, and other topics.
Freund, Kurt (1914–1996)
Authors: Wilson Robin J.
Published: April 2015

Kurt W. Freund was a behavioral sexologist who pioneered psychophysiological measurement of male sexual arousal using “phallometry” (also known as penile plethysmography). He worked in Czechoslovakia and Canada, using the phallometric method to investigate male sexual interests and preferences; specifically in regard to the paraphilias. The phallometric method and Freund's perspectives on the etiology and manifestations of sexual deviance continue to influence clinical and sexological research and practice.
Gagnon, John (1931–)
Authors: Kimmel Michael
Published: April 2015

John Gagnon is one of the most influential thinkers and writers on sexuality of the late twentieth century. His research and writing firmly established a social‐constructionist approach to sexuality and he has conducted groundbreaking research on U.S. sexuality and HIV.
Gay and lesbian language: historical perspectives
Authors: Baker Paul
Published: April 2015

Studies of language and homosexuality initially focused on collecting decontextualized vocabulary items from gay men in Euro‐American societies. Research moved to focus on the different contexts in which such language items could be used, as well as trying to identify whether gay men or lesbians spoke in a way that was recognizably gay, although such research was problematic in that it was unable to reveal anything that was uniquely and universally “gay” about language. By viewing sexuality from a social constructionist perspective, focus shifted to ideas of numerous interacting communities and the notion that sexuality differs over time and between societies. More recent research has focused on how different identities and communities intersect to produce particular speech styles, how language is used to construct sexual identities across a range of different cultures, as well as exploring how heterosexual identities are expressed.
Gay men
Authors: Whittier David
Published: April 2015

The term “gay men” has political, social and sexual connotations. As an emic term in contrast to the bio‐medical etic “homosexual,” the term “gay men” has also come under controversy for being Anglo‐centric and elitist. Nevertheless, it has cultural capital within Euro‐North American circles.
Gebhard, Paul H. (1917–)
Authors: Mooney Elizabeth
Published: April 2015

Paul H. Gebhard is the anthropologist who brought the study of the sexual behavior of primates to the work begun by Alfred Kinsey in the middle of the twentieth century. He was a primary investigator and interviewer for Kinsey, and after Kinsey's death became the director of the Institute for Sex Research (the Kinsey Institute) at Indiana University in Bloomington. During his tenure as director there was major emphasis placed on the collection of erotica, an effort that continues to serve scholars seeking attitudes and artifacts about sex and sexuality within human cultures.
Gender
Authors: LaFont Suzanne
Published: April 2015

Gender generally refers to the cultural, social, and psychological meanings of femaleness and maleness. In the 1960s second‐wave feminists popularized the use of the word gender to discuss the difference between the biological characteristics of being female and male and the learned behavior relating feminine and masculine roles and identity. Cross‐cultural and historical research has proven that roles relating to gender identity are not fixed and inherent but are constructed and fluid. Today the relationship between the physical differences between women and men and the behavioral expression of femininity and masculinity are debated, yet gender inequality remains an important issue.
Gender role nonconformity
Authors: Ehrbar Randall D.
Published: April 2015

Gender role nonconformity involves social aspects, as gender roles can vary across societies and over time in a given society. There is also evidence of biological aspects which influence gender role nonconformity. Additionally, gender role nonconformity is associated with non‐heterosexual sexual orientation.
Genital cutting, male
Authors: Darby Robert
Published: April 2015

This entry covers culturally‐motivated alterations of the male genitals, particularly ritual operations on the foreskin, including excision (circumcision), slitting, and enhancement. The entry considers the main reasons some traditional and tribal societies perform bodily alterations on both males and females (usually as children, or at puberty as part of a rite marking the transition to adult status), and then gives more detailed consideration to circumcision of young males in tribal societies, in Judaism and in Islam. It also discusses other alterations to the penis, including dorsal or ventral slitting, as practiced in the Philippines and some Pacific cultures, and finally mentions some other cultures that enhance the foreskin by elongation or other means. Circumcision and other genital alterations are shown to have obscure origins and a variety of meanings, which change over time, and are spread by both generational succession and geographic diffusion.
Genital power, mystical
Authors: Stevens Phillips
Published: April 2015

Beliefs are widespread in traditional society, best documented in Africa, that the genitals of people emanate a mystical power that can pollute, or cleanse, and can be intentionally directed by its bearer at others, as a weapon. Polluting effects of the genitals are ancient and are explicit in the Bible; the power in young girls is in some areas believed to cure sexually‐transmitted diseases, like HIV/AIDS; and fear of the aggressive use of such power, as a weapon, is very persuasive, and exacerbated because it resembles the behavior of witches. Awareness of such beliefs is important to the fullest understanding of cultural ideas about sexuality.
Gerontophilia
Authors: Ball Hadrian
Published: April 2015

Gerontophilia is a poorly described, defined and understood preference that may also be a paraphilia and compulsion characterized by a sexual preference for older partners. There is no agreed definition; prevalence and etiology are unknown as systematic studies have not been undertaken. Patients with the condition rarely present to mental health professionals seeking treatment. Historically, an association with sexual offending against older/elderly victims has been described in the form of published case studies and case series. However, a recent systematic study in the United Kingdom found no evidence of any such link.
Globalization
Authors: Schaeffer Felicity Amaya
Published: April 2015

The global movement of people around the world for new economic opportunities, business, trade, and travel has been fueled by, and creates, new sexual intimacies and economies. These contact zones rely heavily on sexualized imaginaries that reproduce colonial fantasies. These fantasies are produced by states to attract commerce, capital, and labor, while many in the global South rely on the sexualized fantasies produced in Euro‐America to eek out a living, or to imagine more rewarding futures.
Gorillas
Authors: Robbins Martha M.
Published: April 2015

Gorillas typically live in one‐male harem‐type social groups, but multimale groups are not uncommon in mountain gorillas. Competition among males for access to females is intense, but female choice may also occur through the process of dispersal to several social groups. Females may prefer large, protective males, which has led to large sexual dimorphism. Some male‐female associations last for more than a decade, with females benefiting from the protection against infanticide by extragroup males and males benefiting by permanent association with females as a long‐term mating strategy. Overall, reproductive strategies play an integral role in the social structure and behavior of gorillas.
Grandmothering
Authors: Hawkes Kristen , Coxworth James E.
Published: April 2015

The Grandmother Hypothesis aims to explain the evolution of human life history. While fertility ends at similar ages in women and other great ape females, humans have longer adult lifespans, reach adulthood later, are dependent longer, but wean babies earlier. All of these features might be the evolutionary consequences of ancestral grandmothering.
Greek love: classical
Authors: Ormand Kirk
Published: April 2015

The ancient Greeks viewed same‐sex eroticism between adult men and teenaged young men as normal and, within certain limitations, admirable. This fact does not indicate a broad acceptance of “homosexuality” in ancient Greece, but rather an entirely different discursive organization of erotic desire from that of the modern West. The Greek valorization of same‐sex sexual activity was idealized by later European cultures, and used by those cultures to explain and justify same‐sex eroticism in the face of legal and social suppression of the same.
Gynecologic surgery
Authors: Mastoroudes H. , Cardozo L.
Published: April 2015

The first description of gynecological surgery dates back to seventh century B.C.E. in Rome. Over time the type of surgery has become more conservative and less invasive. There are a range of procedures performed routinely in the specialty for numerous indications. It is vaginal surgery, however, which has the most effect on sexual function and a woman's sexuality.
Hair
Authors: Fahs Breanne
Published: April 2015

Hair has been associated with health, youth, power, and privilege throughout history, often symbolizing one's geographical, political, racial, and religious statuses. Hair can signal one's social group affiliation and often connotes ideas about gender, power, and culture both in industrialized and developing parts of the world. The growth of body and facial hair has represented political rebellions of the late 1960s, as well as bohemian and countercultural choices. The removal of head and body hair has at times symbolized powerlessness, deference to authority, and religious submission. While many techniques exist to manage hair growth and grooming, and much cultural variation exists for normative hair practices, men and women mostly conform to norms that encourage men's hairiness and women's hairlessness.
Haire, Norman (1892–1952)
Authors: Wyndham Diana
Published: April 2015

Norman Haire graduated in medicine from the University of Sydney in 1915 and after moving to London, was at the forefront of campaigns for birth control and sexual law reforms in the 1920s and 1930s. He was a prolific author and researcher and an eloquent lecturer. Haire bequeathed his papers and books to the University of Sydney Rare Books and Special Collections Library. The collection includes Haire's correspondence with Magnus Hirschfeld, Havelock Ellis, and other prominent sexologists.
Hay, Henry “Harry,” Jr. (1912–2002)
Authors: Zientara Gerald Roy
Published: April 2015

Harry Hay was a visionary and social activist. Marxist student of folklore and music, teacher and seeker, he helped create two of the most important institutions of modern American gay life, the Mattachine Society and the Radical Faeries. Considered an essentialist, he believed gay people have a spiritual purpose in helping heal the planet.
Head hair
Authors: Synnott Anthony
Published: April 2015

Hair is a powerful symbol of the self and, especially for women, of sexuality. Hair is personal, since it grows from the body; yet it is public, and highly malleable in terms of color, style, and length, or absence. Hair may signal age, gender, occupational type, status, faith and religiosity, and sexuality. As it is malleable it is particularly easy to signify changes in personal or group identity by it, as well as being a component part of erotic capital.
Hebephilia
Authors: Stephens Skye , Seto Michael C.
Published: April 2015

This entry briefly describes the scientific literature on hebephilia, a sexual preference for pubescent children that can be distinguished from the better known paraphilia of pedophilia, which refers to a sexual preference for prepubescent children. The existing research suggests hebephilia is a valid sexual preference, with implications for the assessment and management of individuals who engage in sexual behavior involving children.
Hegemonic masculinity
Authors: Kiesling Scott F.
Published: April 2015

This entry briefly defines the term hegemonic masculinity and delineates its use. It explains why the term
hegemonic
is used, and it provides an outline of its usefulness for the study of sexuality and gender.
Herdt, Gilbert (1949–)
Authors: Hostetler Andrew J.
Published: April 2015

Gilbert Herdt is a cultural and clinical anthropologist best known for his scholarship on masculine identity development among the
Sambia
of Papua‐New Guinea and lesbian and gay identity development among teens in Chicago. He is currently the Director of the Graduate Program in Human Sexuality at the California Institute for Integral Studies in San Francisco.
Heteronormative
Authors: Klesse Christian
Published: April 2015

Dominant understandings of sexuality naturalize and privilege heterosexuality. The critical analysis of heteronormativity aims to explain by what means heterosexuality achieves an allegedly superior status with regard to non‐heterosexual sexualities. Heterosexuality refers to sexual attraction and sexual behaviors between men and women. Historically, the term emerged in the nineteenth century to designate an erotic orientation towards “the other” sex which was supposed to be different from other “sexual orientations,” such as homosexuality (orientation toward the same sex) or bisexuality (orientation toward two sexes). Heteronormativity works through binary codes (male/female; heterosexual/homosexual) and reinforces practices of oppression across multiple social terrains.
Heteronormativity
Authors: Joyce Rosemary A.
Published: April 2015

Heteronormativity is an ideology that assumes that it is universally natural for human beings to engage in unique sexual pairings between members of two sexes, male and female. Heteronormativity emerged as a topic of research when queer theory questioned the assumption that biological sex was naturally the dichotomous basis for gender and sexuality. Critiques of heteronormativity seek to promote investigation of sex as fluid and performative. Researchers question the role of heteronormativity in perpetuating the idea that heterosexuality, marriage, and the nuclear family are human universals that can be safely assumed in studies of the past.
Heterosexuality, invention of
Authors: Oosterhuis Harry
Published: April 2015

Like homosexuality and other “perversions,” the notion of heterosexuality is a modern invention, in which medical sexology and psychoanalysis played a major role. When psychiatrists in the final decade of the nineteenth century described homosexuals and explained their makeup, some of them also referred to heterosexuals, initially as another group of “perverts,” but soon in terms of normalcy. The highlighting of hetero and homosexuality in the work of Krafft‐Ebing, Moll, and Freud underlined the shift from a conception of the sexual impulse as a reproductive instinct toward a view of sexuality that emphasized erotic desire and pleasure in the context of affection and personal fulfilment, irrespective of the reproductive potential.
HIV/AIDS
Authors: Churi Chaitanya , Ross Michael W.
Published: April 2015

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a clinical condition that occurs due to an infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). This condition is characterized by a gradual disintegration of the immune system, leaving the sufferer susceptible to opportunistic infections from other organisms. Although first identified in humans in the United States in 1981, HIV is believed to have originated in Africa. It is considered to be related to the Simian Immunodeficiency virus (SIV), which is known to cause similar immunocompromised states in other primates. HIV is now a worldwide pandemic, with the most serious prevalence seen in sub‐Saharan Africa and parts of South‐East Asia. Transmission of HIV is known to occur through four primary methods: sexual transmission, transfusion of infected blood products, mother‐to‐child transmission during childbirth and breastfeeding, and sharing of needles and syringes for injection drug use. Treatment of HIV is currently based on the concept of Highly Active Anti‐Retroviral Therapy (HAART), which relies on concurrent treatment with more than one class of anti‐retroviral medications. While effective at controlling the infection, these medications are unable to cure HIV. Consequently, the most effective strategies for HIV control focus on prevention. These involve social and educational interventions, along with strategies focused on reducing sexual transmission through condom promotion. Further, needle exchange programs to prevent transmission through injected drug use, and maternal anti‐retroviral therapy to prevent neonatal and breastfeeding transmission are also effective. Finally, successfully controlling the HIV pandemic would require policy interventions at national levels in order to provide greater access to treatment and prevention services and address the stigma surrounding the disease.
Hollander, Xaviera (1943–)
Authors: Dunlap Robert Ellis
Published: April 2015

Xaviera Hollander became one of the best selling authors of the early 1970s with the writing of
The Happy Hooker: My Own Story
. She has since written twenty‐one books on sexuality and was the Penthouse columnist of “Call Me Madam” for over thirty‐five years. Hollander became an icon with her openness about sex and erotic writings.
Homophile movement
Authors: White C. Todd
Published: April 2015

The homophile era in the United States began in 1950 with the organizing of a secret society of homosexuals in Los Angeles. Calling themselves “Mattachine,” a small group of men and women organized the core homophile institutions: ONE, Inc.; the Mattachine Society; and The Daughters of Bilitis and their respective magazines
ONE
,
Mattachine Review
, and
The Ladder
. Through publishing magazines and newsletters, fighting sodomy and other discriminatory laws, and unifying homosexual individuals living in America's urban centers, the homophile activists set the stage for the movement's second wave, of more identity‐based and militant Lesbian and Gay activism that emerged in the late 1960s.
Homosexual panic
Authors: Herdt Gilbert
Published: April 2015

This entry defines “homosexual panic” in relation to cultural and historical understanding of homosexuality as it was treated primarily as a disease. “Homosexual panic” describes how certain individuals, usually males, when brought into social situations with known or suspected homosexuals, are then forced to confront homoerotic feelings, fantasies, or behaviors, which sometimes provoked extreme reactions, including violence and murder directed toward the assumed homosexual objects. For a time, psychiatrists and the courts treated this as a form of temporary insanity, while today, many legal authorities and courts reject this kind of legal defense as an historic artifact of an unenlightened era and increasingly it is not allowed in court.
Homosexuality and Islam
Authors: Zeb Farah
Published: April 2015

Mainstream conservative Islamic teachings take the position that homosexuality is regarded as a sin. Progressive contemporary Islamic dialogue calls on Muslims to critically interrogate the way Muslims perceive and receive the Qur'an in response to challenging issues of sexual diversity. Considerable academic sources from various disciplinary perspectives, along with research data from activists and organizations working on or interested in sexuality, are gradually and increasingly becoming available. These discourses, pertinent to Muslim communities and Islamic contexts, are historically and geographically situated, ranging from the classical period to the contemporary era. They provide rich insights about prevalent attitudes towards Islam and homosexuality in the past, and the status quo of current attitudes.
Homosexuality and sexology
Authors: Crozier Ivan
Published: April 2015

This entry surveys the historical development and scope of sexology and allied disciplines including venereology, psychoanalysis, and psychiatry. It does so by considering how some objects, such as homosexuality, are produced by discourses such as sexology, and focuses on the dialectical relationship that is found in practices of resistance to these discourses by homosexuals. Sexologists and homosexuals themselves have, since the 1870s, co‐constructed (and continually reconstructed) what it means to be homosexual. Reflections are made on the role of such resistance in the production of scientific knowledge about sexuality, with some attention being paid to the effects of these scientific discourses on other sexual minorities.
Homosexuality cross‐culturally
Authors: Rupp Leila J.
Published: April 2015

This entry presents a historical and cross‐cultural survey of same‐sex sexual desires, acts, and relationships between both men and women. It considers the variety of ways that cultures organize same‐sex sexuality, including on the basis of age, gender, and class/racial/ethnic difference, and the impact of the development of the concept of homosexuality as a defining characteristic and identity.
Hormone Replacement Therapy
Authors: Crocetti Daniela
Published: April 2015

Hormone Replacement Therapy indicates a hormonal therapy in which the hormones are assumed to supplement a lack of hormone production, through either synthetic or naturally occurring hormones (plant or animal sources). HRT is generally understood to refer to treatment with synthetic steroid “sex” hormones, that is, estrogens, progesterones, and androgens (generically referred to as testosterone). The most common understanding of HRT includes: HRT for menopause; HRT for andropause; HRT for transgender individuals; HRT for individuals diagnosed with an Intersex/DSD (Disorder/Divergence of Sex Development) syndrome; and HRT for non‐DSD, non‐transgender gendered somatic (physical and/or aesthetic) aspects.
Hormones and human sexuality
Authors: Escasa‐Dorne Michelle , Gray Peter B.
Published: April 2015

The current entry discusses the relationship between hormones, molecular signals released by various glands throughout the body, and sexuality among humans. Hormones have an important impact on numerous areas of sexuality including sexual differentiation, anatomy, physiology, and behavior. The hormones discussed in this entry are androgens, estrogens, progesterone, gonadotropins, oxytocin, and prolactin. Examples of the relationship between hormones and areas of human sexuality are discussed.
Hormones, puberty‐delaying
Authors: Cohen‐Kettenis Peggy T. , de Vries Annelou L. C.
Published: April 2015

From about a decade ago, Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone analogues (GnRHa) have been used to delay puberty in adolescents with gender dysphoria. The suppression of puberty is considered to be a diagnostic aid. It allows adolescents to explore their gender identity and delay decisions about the actual gender reassignment (consisting of cross‐sex hormone treatment and various types of surgery) without having to fear the physical pubertal development. The effects of puberty suppression in early adolescence are reversible; once the use is interrupted puberty continues to develop. Follow‐up studies are still scarce, but results so far look promising with respect to psychological functioning, health, and physical appearance. They do not support the view that waiting with physical interventions until adulthood is a better treatment option than intervening in adolescence.
Households
Authors: Hendon Julia A.
Published: April 2015

The household is a group of people living together who cooperate economically and share responsibility for the tasks of daily life. As such they play a vital role in the processes of reproduction, socialization, and the development of identity that contribute to social continuity and change. The variability of household composition cross‐culturally, within society, and over time has been stressed. This entry addresses the variety of households and the evidence for them.
Human sexual response: biological perspectives
Authors: Ng Emil Man‐Lun
Published: April 2015

The human sexual instinct, backed by the upsurge of sex hormones after puberty, and triggered by appropriate sexual stimulations, activates a standard pattern of psycho‐physiological response consisting of five phases: desire, excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution. In the male, the first part of the resolution phase, there is a refractory period when the body is unable to respond to further sexual excitement.
Human sexual response: cultural perspectives
Authors: Gray Peter B.
Published: April 2015

Human sexual response entails initiating and engaging in sexual behavior. This encyclopedia entry focuses on cultural aspects of the sexual response, which helps illuminate variation in sexual behavior and its meaning. The entry touches on historic background in the study of cultural perspectives on the sexual response, highlighting systematic cross‐cultural and international reviews along with exemplary case studies. The initiation of sexual behavior takes various forms cross‐culturally, with attention given to the variable roles of women and men initiating sexual behavior, of the partners involved, of the locations and times of day at which sexual behavior is initiated, and of the nature of foreplay, among other features. The most common and alternative positions for intercourse are considered, along with other aspects such as the use of sexual paraphernalia and duration and satisfaction associated with sexual behavior.
Foraging
Authors: Roth Barbara J.
Published: April 2015

This entry discusses the gendered division of labor in prehistoric foraging (hunter‐gatherer) groups. It examines how archaeologists use archaeological and ethnographic data to reconstruct the division of labor and place daily activities in their gendered roles. The impact of the gendered division of labor on gender relations is also addressed.
Incest
Authors: Harkins Gillian
Published: April 2015

Incest refers to a marital, sexual, or erotic relationship between members of a kinship group. Common organizations of kinship groups are by affinity—marriage ties—and consanguinity—blood ties. Incest may be prohibited between specific members of a kinship group. This is often called the “incest taboo,” suggesting incest is prohibited in such a fundamental way that adherence to the taboo is largely unconscious. Societies may also institute specific rules or laws prohibiting incest. The types of relationship prohibited by incest taboo or incest law vary across cultures and societies. Some prohibitions ban relationships between members of a biological line of descent, a household group, or a network of intimate care, while others may permit marriage between cousins or sexual relations within households or across generations. Even where incest is prohibited, incestuous relationships may persist or even flourish because it is politically, economically, or socially advantageous and/or remains erotically charged because of its intimate or taboo nature. Estimates about the prevalence of incestuous practice vary and often involve debates about the role of gender and power in various kinship arrangements.
Infanticide
Authors: Palombit Ryne A.
Published: April 2015

Infanticide is the killing of dependent infants by conspecifics. It may be committed by either sex, but infanticide by males is relatively more common and widespread in mammals, particularly primates. At least a dozen adaptive and two nonadaptive explanations have been proposed. The “sexual selection hypothesis”—that infanticide is part of an adaptive male reproductive strategy—has received the most empirical support. Hypotheses that infanticide is a social pathology or an accidental byproduct of male aggression have too little support to be considered general explanations. Because of the high cost of infant death on the reproductive success of mothers, risk of infanticide is a likely selective force behind myriad “counterstrategies” of females, which utilize diverse biological systems, such as social behavior and reproductive physiology. Infanticide by females is variable in mammals, but it may be a strategy to monopolize allomaternal care in cooperative breeding systems. In humans, infanticide is manifested in many ways but is more commonly perpetrated by a biological parent.
Internet, sex and the
Authors: Waskul Dennis D.
Published: April 2015

Internet sex, or what is sometimes called “cybersex” can be experienced in a variety of forms, largely dependent on the medium through which sex and desire is expressed in communicative computer‐mediated environments. Although they can be combined, the basic forms are detailed: text, image, voice, webcam, and avatar Internet sex. Some empirical studies of Internet sex have focused on dynamics of the body and self, others have focused on gender. Most of the published scholarship, however, has focused on Internet sex as a social problem. While problems are certainly evident, these expressed concerns might be considered moral panic, and are historically traced with many communication technologies over the past century. In either case, understanding Internet sex as a problem inhibits understandings of how people use technologies for erotic purposes.
Intersex
Authors: Knüsel Christopher
Published: April 2015

Intersex is a congenital condition that affects the development of the gonads, the appearance of the secondary sexual characteristics, and physical appearance in general. The broad spectrum of these physical changes indicates that sex is not dichotomous but a continuum. Historical and archaeological evidence attests to the presence of intersex individuals in the past and provides a means by which to study their place in past societies.
Intersex (Disorders of Sex Development)
Authors: Meyer‐Bahlburg Heino F. L.
Published: April 2015

“Disorders of Sex Development” (DSD) refers to medical conditions in which the development of chromosomal, gonadal, or anatomical sex is atypical. They include, but are not limited to, conditions formerly labeled “intersexuality” or “hermaphroditism.” Many different DSD conditions can be distinguished. The diverse causes of DSDs are distributed throughout the long and multifactorial process of somatic sexual differentiation and involve genes, endogenous hormone production and utilization, exogenous hormones and other chemicals, and other disturbances of pregnancy. Depending on the specific condition, DSDs may be variably associated with other somatic or physiological problems as well as with effects on brain development and subsequent cognitive functioning and gender‐atypical behavior. Experience and anticipation of stigma are quite common. In addition to the condition‐specific medical treatments, psychosocially relevant interventions focus on gender assignment, gender reassignment, genital surgery, sex‐hormone replacement therapy, disclosure of the medical history to the patient, coping with stigma, and romantic/sexual relationships.
Intersex: socio‐cultural perspectives
Authors: Karkazis Katrina
Published: April 2015

Intersex has long been framed as a medical issue and socio‐cultural perspectives on intersex have been viewed as inferior to biomedical ones. Consequently, recommendations for treating intersexuality include medical responses that commonly aim to give the child a body that conforms to sex and gender norms. Socio‐cultural scholars and intersex activists have critiqued interventions that rely upon normative ideas about sex, gender, and sexuality and their relationships. A broader view of possible approaches to intersex would allow greater societal acceptance and enable a more holistic approach to medical care.
Intersexual competition
Authors: Starratt Valerie G.
Published: April 2015

Intersexual competition, also known as epigamic selection, occurs when members of one sex are selective when choosing a mate, requiring members of the other sex to present themselves as attractive to potential mates. This occurs when there is a sex difference in the investment provided to ensure the survival of offspring, which results in the differential selection of epigamic features in the less investing sex by the more investing sex. In humans, this intersexual competition results in men flaunting epigamic features to gain sexual access to women. Women, on the other hand, flaunt their own epigamic features to gain access to physical and social resources providing by men. Both circumstances evidence the competition that occurs between the sexes for access to limited resources.
Intimacy
Authors: Jankowiak William
Published: April 2015

Intimacy is characterized by feelings of closeness, familiarity, affection, and loyalty. In Euro‐American societies it is commonly associated as something shared between lovers. However, in other cultures, including nineteenth‐century Europe and United States, intimacy was a feeling associated with same‐sex friendships. In state‐level societies the parent–child relationship has shifted away from one organized around hierarchy and formally to include love, affection, and intense emotional closeness. The entry explores the cultural and economic factors for the shift from more formal reserve interactions to an expanded interest in creating and maintaining close emotional salient dyadic bonds.
Intrasexual competition
Authors: Byrd‐Craven Jennifer , Auer, Brandon J. , Massey Amber R.
Published: April 2015

Intrasexual competition is seen in many species and involves competition for access to members of the opposite sex. The article examines different elements of intrasexual competition. It begins by examining the evolutionary dynamics of intrasexual competition. It goes onto discuss how and why it is expressed differently for males and females. Behavioral displays, sperm competition and copulatory plugs are also examined as anatomical, physiological, and psychological examples of intrasexual competition.
Inversion
Authors: Breger Claudia
Published: April 2015

Inversion was a central category in Euro‐American sexology. Introduced as a model for conceptualizing homosexuality through ideas of gender identity, it was the scientific equivalent of a “third sex/gender” notion equally prominent at the time. The concept also belongs in the prehistory of transgender identifications; and it played a significant role in turn‐of‐the‐twentieth‐century discourses on gender inequality. These layered uses attest to the close interplay of sexuality and gender—along with categories of social and racial descent—in the scientific, philosophical and literary imagination of the age.
Jorgensen, Christine (1926–1989)
Authors: Denny Dallas
Published: April 2015

Christine Jorgensen (May 30, 1926–May 3, 1989) was a New York‐born U.S. ex‐serviceman who became a celebrity when news of her sex reassignment in Denmark was leaked to the press in late 1952. Her return to the United States was met with mixture of admiration and derision; throughout her life, the press hounded her. She worked for some years as an entertainer. She died at age 62 of bladder and lung cancer.
Kellogg, John Harvey (1852–1943)
Authors: Numbers Ronald L.
Published: April 2015

John Harvey Kellogg, the inventor of flaked cereals, was for 67 years physician‐in‐chief at the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan. He was a disciple of Ellen White, a founder of the Seventh‐day Adventist Church. Both of them were crusaders against masturbation. Kellogg condemned sexual activity except for the purpose of procreation. These views were expressed in his influential book,
Plain Facts about Sexual Life
(1877).
Kinsey Institute
Authors: Heiman Julia R. , Bass Jennifer L.
Published: April 2015

The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction is a center for interdisciplinary sex research. The library, archives, art and photography collections provide rich resources for scholars and media to document and interpret sexual behavior, gender, and sex in society, across cultures and time. Since the publication of the original “Kinsey Reports” in the mid‐twentieth century, The Kinsey Institute has conducted sex research and studies on sexual behavior including sexual orientation, variations in sexual behavior, gender identity, problems of sex and sexual health, and the role of sex in relationships. The Kinsey Institute provides research‐based information for the public through the institute's website,
http://kinseyinstitute.org
, and the sexual health information site,
http://kinseyconfidential.org
.
Kinsey, Alfred Charles (1894–1956)
Authors: Drucker Donna J.
Published: April 2015

Alfred Charles Kinsey (1894–1956) was the lead author of two key twentieth‐century sex research texts:
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male
(1948) and
Sexual Behavior in the Human Female
(1953). His research, interview, and data‐gathering techniques, findings on homosexual behavior (particularly the figure “10 percent” as an estimate of the total homosexual population of the United States), and 0–6 (heterosexuality–homosexuality) scale have been influential and lasting features of sexology and popular conceptions of human sexuality.
Kissing
Authors: Castleman Michael
Published: April 2015

Kissing is a frequently overlooked element of sexuality rarely mentioned in sexology resources. Kissing is a mystery. Only two other species kiss like humans, chimpanzees and bonobos, and only humans and bonobos kiss deeply during sex. Kissing releases neurotransmitters that elevate mood and increase sexual desire. Many people use kissing to test compatibility. In one survey, 59 percent of men and 66 percent of women said they had ended budding relationships because the other person kissed badly. Studies show that kissing is erotically more important to women than to men. Women are more likely to insist on kissing before, during, and after sex.
Krafft‐Ebing, Richard Freiherr von (1840–1902)
Authors: Oosterhuis Harry
Published: April 2015

The German‐Austrian psychiatrist Richard von Krafft‐Ebing (1840–1902) was one of the founding fathers of medical sexology and he initiated a new understanding of sexual “deviance” and human sexuality in general. Collecting and publishing more and more case studies in his main work
Psychopathia sexualis
and in other publications, he classified and explained a wide range of deviant sexual behaviors. His explanation of sexual “perversion,” in which autobiographical case histories played a crucial role, shifted the focus from immoral acts, a temporary deviation of the norm, to an innate condition and personal identity.
Landscape archaeology
Authors: Yentsch Anne
Published: April 2015

The commonality in landscape archaeology is its diversity—of method, theory, era, and interdisciplinary influence. It is a complex, macro‐scale endeavor. One maps features, connects them with elements in the natural or built environments, and identifies patterns of land use. Archaeologists study how homes, yards, work areas, market places, and sacred places are pieced together. They focus on the what, when, how, and why people deliberately and/or unwittingly shaped the environment. Landscape archaeologists rarely consider gender dynamics. The examples here were drawn from ancient Rome, Greece, Eurasia, and San Francisco. They pertain primarily to masculinity, homosexuality, genital power, and spiritual life. The sparse coverage on expressions of female sexuality reflects a bias within archaeological research. In most cases, wall paintings, mosaics, and architecture reveal the presence of gendered space. No archaeological imprint occurs when places acquire an evanescent sexuality based on sight, sound, smell, touch, deep familiarity, or personal intimacy.