Human Sexuality Paper: Sex, Gender, and Society

This activity is an individual task designed to help you explore your sexual identity.

It requires you to reflect on your thoughts, your discoveries, your questions that come to mind as a result of doing this course.

It also requires you to evaluate your experiences using relevant theory and evidence introduced during the course.

It is designed to help you understand how the personal is experienced as both personal and political.

Write a love letter to your younger self, age 17 years.  Write to yourself to explain your experience of desire. Consider your younger self as someone who trusts your opinion and judgement and is seeking information and advice. You will interpret how normative or how resistant your experiences appear to be (in relation to social/cultural standards), using knowledge covered in the course and other related readings as the basis of your interpretations.

To write your letter you must reflect on your own answers to the following questions.

Consider how do your thoughts in response to these questions allow you to advise your younger self.

a. How did you discover/become aware of your sexual desires? What did they mean to you at the time?

b. How were you introduced to the idea of sexual desire? How were you told to deal with/handle desire?

c. How have you expressed your desires? Have your expressions always been viewed as acceptable?

d. What would you like to learn about your sexual self? What part of your sexuality seems the most mysterious to you?

e. What, if anything, about sex distresses you?

f. What are your thoughts and feelings about consent?

g. What are your thoughts and feelings about sexual roles in relationships?

h. What changes would you like to make in your sexual behaviour, sexual attitudes/thoughts, sexual emotions/feelings?