Human Sexuality

Instructor: Debby Golden, MA

Grossmont & Southwestern Colleges

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The State of Sex in the US Today!

(This paper should be FOUR FULL pages.  All other formatting rules still apply.)

This semester you've (hopefully) learned a lot about Human Sexuality, including what is going on today compared with the last 50 years.  You watched the video "20th Century Sex" at the beginning of the semester that discussed the 70's sexual revolution.  We discussed Kinsey and his work in the 50's (some of you even saw the movie and wrote a paper for extra credit).  And I've tried to get you abreast (no pun intended) of current issues in the U.S. regarding Human Sexuality.  Now it's your turn to explore this issue more in depth.  Here are some perspectives to take in your final paper for the semester:

Are things getting better? in all areas? in some areas, but not others?  If you think things are getting better (or worse), tell me in what area, give specific examples with references to support your claims.  If you think there are still areas that need some behavioral and/or attitudinal changes, tell me specifically what those are and give examples with references to support your claims.

Compare and contrast Kinsey’s times (50's and 60's), and the 70's sexual revolution with today.  Answer the question "What is going on with......?" in AT LEAST 4 of the following topics:

Equal rights for people of sexual orientations other than heterosexual?

STIs - safer sex (education, condom use, mixed messages from medical community, uninformed doctors, etc.)

Abortion rights - are the constitutional rights of women under attack?

Birth control - availability & options?

Teen pregnancy - rates going up or down?

Laws that regulate our sexuality - what is the current status of some of these laws?

Pornography - state of the industry, its effect on consumers, government's stand and actions?

Sex education - widely available, threatened, supported by the government?

Funding for AIDS research - is anyone really interested in AIDs anymore?

Funding for ANY research on human sexuality - always an issue but have there been times in our history when there was more support, what kind of support is available today?

You should use the links and articles found under "Sex in the News" on our main website!

Any questions - email me!

last updated 8/20/07