LH

psychology 172 final

Emily Nagoski Consent Arousal Nonconcordance

  • Squint: surprise, embarrassment, disgust

  • Brain - reward center

    • Liking: opioid hotspot in emotional brain

    • Wanting: motivates to go toward/ away from stimulus

    • Learning: Pavlov’s dog

      • Wanting and liking are related but not identical

  • Arousal Non Concordance:

    • Non Concordance: lack of physiological response (salivating) & subjective experience (pleasure)

    • Ex: genital blood flow increases in response to sexual stimuli even if stimuli not related to liking

      • 10% -50% predictive relationship

    • Listen-to-her-words

      • Recognized and articulate what they like 

    • Important in judicial cases

      • Orgasm doesn’t mean there was pleasure/ consent

    • Ex: moldy fruit → mouth water - words tell what is/ isn’t liked

      • 1 in 3 women, 1 in 6 men ½ transfolks are survivors

  • Prevalence & consequences of adult assault of men

    • 87 empirical articles 

  • Definition of sexual assault

    • Narrow vs broad intoxication, manipulation, unwanted

  • Acts: intercourse, unwanted contact

    • Variability affect prevalence rate & severity

  • Methodologies: impact findings

    • Specific to open interpretation

    • Convenience vs representative

  • Gender: gender of perpetrator can affect psychological impact on male victims (

    • Male - more confusing

    • Female - less negative

  • Timeframe: of reporting (lifetime vs specific period)

  • Vulnerable pop: gay & bisexual men 

    • Veterans & inmates 

  • Impact: psychological, sexual, physical consequences

    • Potential reporting bias, complex relationships, mental health issues

    • High level: distress, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts

    • Impacts sexual functioning, emotional/social interactions, physical health, injuries STIs

    • Men are often overlooked

Non-Consent

  • Rape

    • Physically forced penetration

    • Physical assault unconscious, incapacitated

    • Coercions

    • Definition continued: At least one party doesn’t consent any experience, event, interaction that one or more parties did not consent

  • Legal Definition

    • History: a man having carnal knowledge of a woman not his wife through force & against her will 

    • Still about women

    • Only covers penetration 

  • 2012

    • Still just about penetration - just sex organ 

    • What type of activities associated

  • Rape is an act of sexual intercourse 

    • Accomplished under any disorder/ disability to give consent AND not spouse

    • Ex: Alzhemiers

  • Active Impact 

  • Negative psychological reactions

    • 90% PTSD symptoms within first 2 weeks

    • Most show recovery within a year 

    • 7% will experience PTSD

    • Cis men & transgender usually don’t ask for help 

      • Happens to sexual activity affects sexuality

      • No treatment to address sexuality

        • Improves sexual functioning 

        • Doesn’t alleviate sexual problems

    • Most agree that nonconsent experience isn’t ideal 

      • 1 in 5 fairly more prevalent

      • Not everyone who is a victim speak up about 

      • Only considering certain definitions 

        • No operational definition

        • Operalization is not clear

        • Way it is defined it will affect people’s answer

  • Health Disparities

    • Column: category 

    • Findings:

      • Prevalence

        • Adult non consent assult range

        • 30% anything by women in most broad context

          • Men less likely to interpret force - not necessarily as rape

        • Negative psychological impact 

        • Not upsetting when perpetrator is woman 

        • Greater risk taking can result 

        • sexual identity questioning

          • Women don’t seem to do that

        • Men are less likely to get help

          • Clinicians don’t know how to help them when they do get help

        • Laws aimed to help women

          • Unless penetrative or other 

        • Women don’t rape unless statutory - by definition

      • Most perpetrators are men

        • 40% of men report having a woman perpetrator

      • Victims-precipitated rape: rape is a result of “asking for it” clothes, flirting, etc

      • Increased knowledge of risky situations

        • Less likely to get raped 

    • Psychopathology of rapist: rape is committed by a psychologically disturbed man

    • Dark Triad linked higher likelihood of perpetration 

    • Feminist Theory:

      • Product of gender- role socialization

      • Eroticization of violence - emphasis on power

    • Malamuth’s Model

      • It's about both power & sex 

      • Interviewed convicted people 

        • All blamed the victim

        • Social cognition that women are objects and asking for it 

        • Control & superiority men viewed

        • Men needed to control women

        • Lacking in empathy

        • Part of yours that support having sex

          • Detached feelings of sex

          • Uncontrollable high levels of sex drive

          • Hegemonic masculinity - negative aspects 

          • Sexist beliefs + high sex drives 

    • More likely to press on when aroused than when not

    • Non consent more likely when in aroused state

    • Not simply additive

      • You have to be high in both (multiplicative effect)

      • High sex drive & high sexual attitudes 

    • Leading:

      • People who have experienced - one perpetrators

      • Sexual trauma at youth - high risk of lots of things

    • Miscommunication theory (doesn’t apply to most)

      • Consent cues: vague

      • Sexual script: men push, women are gatekeepers, if you push a woman enough they’ll agree

    • Alcohol helps reduce anxiety → more likely to interpret them

      • Perpetrators aren’t aware 

      • People who endorse it know they are perpetrators

    • College men interacted with avatar 

      • Avatar was to kiss person but no other sexual behavior

      • 1 finding more aroused more likely to continue after soft refusals, louder men got continue on

    • Sociocultural Influence

      • Rape Culture: rape myths

        • Victims wanted to be rape

        • Men can’t control themselves

        • Perpetrators don’t believe they rape 

        • More endorse rape supportive myths → more in grey rape behaviors

      • Hard because of social desirability

        • Field is hard

        • More funding into understanding victims not perpetrators 

Sexual Orientation, Controversy & Science 

  • Controversy… biological, environmental & psychological functioning

  • Abstract

    • Implication of research, policy, society, individual rights

  • Method

    • Biological factors (genetics, prenatal hormone & brain structure)

    • Deeply rooted political/ ideological stances

    • No single “gay gene” complex play of nature vs nurture 

    • Early life experiences → shaping sexual attraction

    • Complex measuring - variability in sexual behaviors & identity across individuals 

    • Hard to distinguish correlation vs causation

    • Shift away from polarized debates

  • Beyond Binary Video

    • Fem vs masc isn’t universal - specific to the west

    • Femininity → male bodies

    • Euro American culture: male is feminine 

      • Transexual: change sex transverse binary

    • A third gender: self identity

      • Samoa/ Oaxaca not considered women even with surgery

    • Fa'AFafine: recognized as member of third gender

      • Nothing to do with sexuality 

      • Everything to do with presentation - behavior 

      • Western culture would suggest they are bisexual

        • A Fa'AFafine can be with a straight man

      • Male bisexuality is very rare in the west

      • Samoa looks like majority of men are bisexual

        • High degree of acceptance in the community

      • Androphilia: male sexuality   male same-sex attraction

        • Fa'AFafine don’t like being called gay

    • Separation anxiety - preference for female occupations, exhibit same sexual expectations look at guys

      • Lack of interest in modifying bodies - gays have bigger desire to change sex

TedTalk 

  • Orientation - innate trait - most supportive of LGBTQ+

  1. Not scientifically accurate   distrust for late in life gays

  2. Not legally necessary

  3. Unjust

  • 100 women with different sexualities

    • Gender & sexual development → changes over time

    • Fluidity

    • Genes don’t provide last word 

  • Conversion therapy doesn’t work

    • No results & big psychological problems

  • Legal necessary

    • Prohibition of having certain traits - immutability 

    • Converts have put more emphasis if it is just hard discrimination

    • Born this way → don’t care

  • Don’t want just

    • They want equality -  exclusive gays don’t get to have more rights

    • More bisexuals than same sex choice of sexuality

      • How why when shouldn’t rule acceptance/ equality 

Sexual Orientation 

  • Environmental influences don’t mean choice

  • Identities: labels that people use to express internal characteristics

  • Homosexual: same sex sexual behaviors - same gender behavior

    • Not the same as homoerotic

  • Same gender

    • How does that relate to transgender

    • Self reference for masc/ fem

  • Males - smaller gamete       females - larger gamete

  • Sexual orientation: complicated

    • Unclear about attraction - body parts or body as a whole

      • Facial features (jawline/ soft skin)

      • Personality traits

      • Dynamic between individuals

  • Components of sexual orientation 

    • Describes general pattern

      • Constellation attractions, desire, behaviors, arousal

      • Theory of preference 1) monogamy 2) gender 3) value sex as part of relationship

    • Guides sexual behavior

      • Orients sexuality - what is it as we know it from gender

      • Binary gender system is problematic

      • Sexual behaviors - who are you having sexual interaction

        • Love of male-ness/ female-ness

    • Behavior is same/ different gender as individual

    • PDA have different meanings than same gender 

      • Way seen by others is different based on company and difference of who they’re interacting with

      • Sexual orientation labels can be messy

      • How to disclose who you ae to another person

  • Compass Model

    • Tends to gravitate towards a certain sex same/ different

    • Sexual orientation guides attraction/ decisions 

    • Implies stability 

  • Alignment of Attraction Behavior usually don’t align

    • Most have same gender attraction

    • Bisexuality is pathway to becoming gay/ lesbian

      • More common than exclusive homosexuality

      • Endorsement of same gender attraction

        • Doesn’t rise to the level of more 

        • Why eliminate a potential sex partner

    • Behavior → erotic            sex with just same gender

      • How likely it is added to identity

  • Measuring Sexual Orientation

    • Domains: attraction, arousal, desire

    • Identity is one sense of sexual orientation

    • No cause yet of sexuality 

      • Happen since birth doesn’t mean a cause

      • Want factor to proceed it

    • Correlate vs cause

      • Higher gay than not ( higher in identical twins vs fraternal)

      • Multiple genes likely involved

    • Genome studies are correlational 

      • Bivariate outcomes

  • Organizational Hypothesis

    • Differences caused by circulating hormones

    • early effects are irreversible (organizational)

    • Later effects are reversible (activational)

      • Hormones stress → gay

        • Gay men have more older brothers

      • Epigenetic factors make fetus more/ less sensitive to androgens

      • Gender Atypicality

        • Identifying as gay/ lesbian

    • meaningful/ precise     geng/environment

    • Asking questions about choice make sense to gay choice is about desire 

    • Why ask about choice to begin with

    • Doesn’t make sense to say how the way argument 

Sexual Fluidity 

  • Not tied to one orientation - change overtime

    • Sexual orientation: pattern of attraction, desires, fantasies, & behaviors toward specific ()

  • Context specific change might counter previous experience

  • Historical change

    • Political lesbians vs born lesbians

    • Other classic examples

    • Heterosexual women fall in love with female best friend

  • Emotional relationship

    • Most common context

    • Overlap between desire & love manifests

  • Variability in Attractions, Desires, Behaviors

    • Birth control → more sexual partners 

      • Sexual revolution

    • Women’s desire change over time

      • Function of relationship

    • Women partnered → more sexual behavior

      • longer/ older → more willing

      • More focused around women

    • Men sexual fluidity - made more common than hypothesized 

  • What did people do?

    • Longitudinal study % of transition in 10 years 

    • # not generalizable ( New York sample)

    • Women adopting lots of different titles

    • Patterns from results change is happening

      • Changing to unlabeled → fluidity

      • Bisexual is a label

      • Unlabeled category people gravitate towards

        • Want to adopt more inclusive labels

  • Wide variability in the sample

    • Discrepancies across domains of sexual orientation

    • Category crisis: what category to be in

      • Might be put into unlabeled

      • Switch labels to try/ explore - change behavior

      • Ignore crisis

    • Pattern of desire → relatively stable over time

      • Behaviors can change

      • Romantic partners can change

      • Labels can change

  • Change over time & across situations

    • Heightened sensitivity to context 

    • Operates alongside sexual orientation

    • Variability in attractions, behavior, identity over time 

  • Variables

    • Overall sexual orientation

    • Fluidity as a heightened eroic

    • Want to know what way its more accurate to measure

    • Polarized directed to one gender

      • Heightened erotic response to one of less gender

      • How evenly is attraction spread out 

        • Proof of concept 

        • Those attracted to both → greater responsiveness to less preferred gender 

      • How nonexclusive are a person’s attractions

    • Average day-day attraction

      • Subjective arousal in laboratory

      • Daily diary: degree subjective arousal → average day to day period

    • Greater variability 

      • Higher value less correlated daily life - lab 

  • Instability 

    • Watch for shifts over time

    • 2 week pattern

    • Stable 

    • Insatiable 

    • Erotic responsiveness less P Gender → more dynamic fluctuations

  • Temporal instability → fluidity 

    • Lack of associations 

    • Proximal “drivers” of both temporal changes 

    • How we define and measure concepts depends on a lot of things 

Week 9 Class 1

  • What role might oxytocin, vasopressin, and dopamine play in pair bonding?

  • What are the costs and benefits of responding to a partner’s sexual needs? What is the role of emotional reciprocity, attention, and sexual communal strength in sexual and relationship satisfaction?

  •  

  • Relationship Structures

    •  Monogamous & non-monogamous 

      • Normativity / discrimination

  • Bonding

    • Voles (Prairie Vole & Montane Vole)

    • When able to be in a chamber with a partner/ neutral/ stranger

      • Prairie prefer Partner - less in Stranger, even less in Neutral

        • Preference to be next to vole they just copulated with

      • Montane prefer Neutral, - equal time in Partner & Stranger chamber

        • No partner preference

      • Thus Montane voles are solitary, prairie voles show partner preference

    • OT - Oxytocin - neurohormones: in brain, can cross blood brain barrier

      • 1 receptor type

        • Ventromedial Hypothalamus- regulating circadian rhythm

        • Nucleus accumbens- reward part of the brain

        • Other places

        • Well know for pregnant people giving birth

      • Sociosexual behaviors

        • Intercourse

        • Childbirth

        • Lactation

        • Maternal pair bonding

        • Labor contractions 

        • Released in dose dependent fashion in women, released in men but not in dose dependent fashion

      • Implication

    • AVP/ Arg-VP - Arginine Vasopressin

      • 3 receptor types - where a neurotransmitter attaches to something

        • Ventral forebrain (Ventral pallidum), etc

        • Fluid retention, help body get rid of excess fluid

      • Sociosexual Behaviors

        • Erection

        • Ejaculation

        • Aggression

        • Territoriality

        • Pair bonding 

        • More male oriented/ associated

      • Voles

        • Stronger ventral forebrain vasopressin receptor in Prairie Voles, but not meadow coles

      • Implication

  • OT vs VP after copulation

    • Oxytocin blocked - female not interested 

    • Vasopressin blocked - male not interested 

    • Injection of hormones before mating increased pair bonding


  • Monogamy

    • Prairie voles is oxytocin & vasopressin necessary for behavior

      • If you block then what happens?

    • Control - blank injection

      • Same as if you had done nothing → partner preference 

    • Blocker 

      • Oxytocin - Lower rates of partner preference in females

      • Vasopressin - lower rates of partner preference in males

  • Dopamine

    • partner preference must be getting pleasure from partner

    • Learning about reward process 

    • Sufficient - blocking dopamine - prevents partner preference from being induced with vasopressin injection

    • Need both dopamine and vasopressin to get pair bonding in males

  • Unique about vasopressin in ventral pallidum? 

    • Montane Voles - No indication of partner preference

    • Partner preference when you inject into the ventral pallidum

  • In prairie voles

    • Wildtype prairie voles & inject OT or Arg-VP before mating and you see pair bonding

    • You can prevent pair bonding with injection of OT or Arg-VP antagonists just after mating 

  • In montane voles

    • If you inject vasopressin into the ventral palidum, you get pair bonding, like you see in prairie voles

  • Non-monogamy

  • Unmitigated communion

    • Prioritizing the needs excessively of others above themselves (in terms of own psychological & physical well-being) neglect their own

    • Devoid of agency for one’s own needs - more negative & less positive affect in situations of interpersonal conflict

    • Higher reports of distress, depression, anxiety, disappointment 

  • Sexual communal strength

    • A person’s motivation to meet their partner’s sexual needs

      • Motivation to meet partner’s sexual needs without expecting direct reciprocation

    • Having high communal strength: More likely to engage in sexual activity when not in the mood

    • Having high communal strength: More responsive to partner during sexual activity

    • Relationship Functioning

      • Higher response to needs → higher satisfaction & commitment

      • Higher satisfaction - sexual, relationship, commitment

      • Higher well-being in partners & romantic relationships (personal & interpersonal well- being)

      • Sustained desire & connection - even during low sexual desire

        • Does Not dissipate over time

  • Costs & benefits of responding to partner’s sexual needs - Study

    • Higher sexual communal → greater feeling of connection & responsiveness → higher satisfaction in experience & relationship

    • Higher unmitigated sexual communion → negative aspects of sex → less enjoyment of daily sexual experiences 

  • Impett

    • Want to know 

    • Find

    • Do

  • Attention/ Sexual Responsiveness

    • Sexual desire

    • Arousal

    • Pleasure

    • Sexual & relationship satisfaction

  • Results

    • Relationship satisfaction

      • When person motivated to meet partner’s sexual needs, report higher sexual and relationship satisfaction

    • When you’re higher in sexual communal strength you attend more to your partner

    • Higher in sexual unmitigated communion → not as focused on positive cues

    • Higher sexual communal strength → more sexually satisfied→ more focused on partners cues

  • Responsiveness & reciprocity 

    • ATTENTION matters

    • Paying attention to itch → it gets strong

    • Subtle sensations → more attention → more impact → more intense → accessing as arousal → more genital experience (positive loop unfolds)

  • Experiencer rather than observer




Week 10 Day 1

  • Non-monogamy

    • Not solely with one person (sexually or romantically)

    • Nonconsensual: cheating 1.2-85% of a sample secretive affairs 

      • In college student 1 in 2 or 3

      • Married couples 1 in 4 or 5

      • Varied and complex reasons

        • Impact on marriage varies widely by couple

        • Suggests: monogamy doesn’t provide universal benefits 

          • Not engaging in monogamous relationships even though they are saying it 

          • Arousal needs challenge → challenge attainable is arousing

    • Consensual: 

      • Swinging

      • Open relationships 

      • Polyamory = many loves

        • Relationships, not just sex

        • Some have primary lovers and others do not

      • Monogamish

        • May be consensual or not 

        • Have an unspoken thing were you can have other people on the side but don’t tell partner bc they don’t want to know

  • No such thing as the right frequency 

    • Sex 1-3 times per week

    • Varies based on age, relationship duration, kids, stressful life events, desire frequency, etc

    • Finding the “right” frequency for your relationship

    • Want to increase novelty

      • Ability to explore self sexually 

      • At least short term benefit on sexual relationship 

    • Who is happy?

      • people/ relationship who

        • Want to grow/ improve in sexual communication/ skills

        • Accepts sexuality of themselves/ partner

        • High sexual communal strength

        • Listens to their partner and aware of quirks moods, like and dislikes

        • Talks both in and out of bedroom 

  • Sexual Communication

    • Talking about what happened in sexual community and what happened

    • Communication during sex 

    • Beforehand talking about likes/dislikes or exploration

    • Frequency of sexual communication

    • Quality was larger than frequency of sexual communication 

    • Talking about sex a lot is good

    • Quality of sexual communication is more important than frequency of sexual communication 

    • Sexual self disclosure 

      • Identifying i like this and don’t like 

  • Sexual communication content and process

    • Want to know whether or not just talking about sex was about satisfaction 

    • Sexual and relationship satisfaction 

    • Sexual communication predicts sexual satisfaction 

      • Path analysis

        • Communication process: how well you think that when you have a sexual problem how does your partner respond to your complaints 

        • Communication content: if you are actually talking about sex 

      • General communication is not associated with female general communication

        • Is with overall relationship

        • Not sexual satisfaction 

        • Communicator in general has no impact on sex life in general 

      • Female general communication process is relate to male relationship satisfaction 

        • Disclosing how you feel about sex life makes more sexual satisfaction but doesn’t help partner 

        •  How talking about sex → higher sexual relationship satisfaction no impact on relationship satisfaction 

          • General communication → more satisfaction general 

          • Talk about sex → better sexual satisfaction 

  • Non-monogamous relationships

    • NEO-FFI-SF

      • Stable over time

    • Neuroticism: 

    • Extraversion : every from others

    • Agreeableness: people pleasing abilities 

    • Conscientiousness: wiping up messes?

    • Openness to experience: being able to be open to new experiences (artsy)

    • New Sexual satisfaction scale

    • Dominance and jealousy 

      • People talk more about jealousy 

      • Jealousy becomes excitement for the partner 

  • Sexual need fulfillment (sexual communal strength)

    • Satisfied with way partner takes care of needs 

  • Spillover effect between relationship with primary  partner and those needs impacts feelings about primary partner and secondary partner - not true in verse 

  • Verbal communication is super important 

    • “I” language 

    • Not engage in mind-reading

      • Don’t want to assume that you know what is in there person’s head

      • Don’t say I know what you feel 

      • Listen actively

    • Stating thoughts clearly, simply, and honestly 

    • Listening 

    • Validating

    • Drawing your partner out - “tell me more about that”

    • Accentuate the positive - feedback

  • Attention is everything

    • What you attend to during ssez matters

    • Relishing in partner’s pleasure 

  • Nonverbal communication and signaling

    • Reciprocity & responsiveness

    • Partner responding to moves you make 

    • Sex is like a dance 

Understanding Adolescent Sexuality 

  • Adolescents are relatively conservative 

  • Sexuality is a place where larger insistence that the issues of the experience of sex is important regardless of who they experience it with and how 

  • Sex is as it has always been 

  • A part of young people’s lives - generation after generation 

  • Different kinds of roles sex might play in their lives

    • Pleasure might be 

      • Masterbation 

      • Healthy and important way to experience sexuality 

      • Pleasure or adverse experiences (pain)

      • sharing/ communication - or lack of 

    • Sexually healthy nation

      • Allows people to experience sexuality

    • Each have sexual rights

      •  Intertwined with human rights to pursue 

      • Legislative and human health approaches

      • Services educational and health wise 


Sexual Wellbeing 

  • Memorable

    • External sensory experiences - sight, smell, taste, touch

  • Paper:

    • We learn from both kisses that are amazing and memorable because they weren’t good

    • Pleasantly memorable experiences from the kiss

      • Thinking the kiss was ok but you still like the person so you're not going to quit

      • You don’t like the person & you don’t like the kiss so you’re out

  • Four pillars of sexuality

    • People are inherently sexual and pursue experiences for enjoyment, freedom, and self expression

    • Sexual health

      • Based on things that are pretty standard - comprehensive sex ed

      • STIs & preventing getting pregnant

      • Maybes: non-consent, family planning, birth control methods

      • Fertility management 

      • Sexual violence prevention

      • Sexual functioning concerns

        • Might have disorder of arousal or desire etc

    • Sexual justice

      • Sexual rights

        • Ultimately socially situated

      • Sexual citizenship

        • Children don’t have rights in our culture

        • Decider about own sexuality, have agency about sexual rights to be upheld 

      • Sex positive practice 

      • Children don’t have the right to bodily autonomy 

      • Can be limited by position in society 

        • If you need to be in violent situations to keep roof over head

        • Own sexuality can still be positive and good 

        • Sexual citizenship can influence sexual wellbeing 

    • Sexual pleasure

      • Person-related

        • Type of person achieves more pleasure in sexual life or wants to achieve more pleasure 

      • Event-related

        • This moment sex is good, pleasurable sex

    • Sexual well-being

      • Impaired overall sexual pleasure

        • If you constantly get STI’s and things like that 

      • Feeling safe, secure, respected

      • Sense of self esteem and resilience, forgive others for transgressions

      • Learn to forgive others for transgressions tend to have better sexual well-being overall

        • Ability to be able to freely make choices about sexuality and sexual experiences

      • All things contribute to overall sense & evaluation of sexual life

        • Is sexual life where you want it to be

        • Well being with regard to sexuality

      • Can have sexual well-being without pleasure or having rights be upheld

        • More likely to have higher levels of sexual well being if you feel like you have higher levels of autonomy and respect 

      • Esteem & self - efficacy 

        • Sexual literary perceptive start shifting fundamental questions we are asking 

        • Is this relationship good for me and what I want?

        • How satisfied are you with this interaction

        • Optimizes both safety and pleasure 

          • They don’t have to be opposite constructs 

    • Big question to improve sexual wellbeing and health 

  • Interventions are only as effective as they speak to people

    • Fear based message isn't as helpful as pleasure message

    • Condom use

      • Talking about pleasurable experiences → increase sexual pleasure

      • More likely to use condoms more consistently 

  • Fact sheets

    • Environmental doesn’t mean you can chose it change it or it is your responsibility

    • Quality communication affect sexual satisfaction

    • Positive thing that beliefs change to be to real facts

    • Orientation may not stay the same throughout life 

    • Attention to present moment to pay attention to sensations 

    • Sexual experiences shape future 

    • Explicit communication vs implicit communication (non verbal cues) difference but important in both of them (dance metaphor)

  • Mentality shift → talking about sex is ok 

    • More information about sexuality than most americans

    • Much of what we implicitly learned about sex is inaccurate or more nuanced at best

    • There is a more systematic way of understanding sex 

      • Allows us to evaluate if cultural beliefs are valid

      • Disseminate sexual knowledge, take what you have learned and spread it