Critical review of a textbook Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Critical review of a textbook - Essay Example Human beings are singular and unique hence their choices also boil down to personal preferences. Essentially, the authors make an assumption that every person is a sexual being and it forms an integral part of every person either consciously or unconsciously. According to (Myerson 2007), the basis of human sexuality is the gender of person. The way a person chooses to experience and express their sexuality is also dependent on social factors on top of their biological nature. Thus, the authors agree that sexuality is an individual decision and it can not be forced on a person. It is also evident that human sexuality is self discovery process which and people define their sexuality at different times in their lives. (Rathus et al 2005) note that gender roles in some cultures dictate the ways in which males and females are expected to behave. However, the authors agree that these roles are not necessary right and individuals have the freedom to decide their sexuality even if it may con flict with the expectations of the society. Rathus et al (2005) stated that the society prescribes gender roles and gender identities based purely on the sex of the person. This implies that one is assigned social roles and stereotypes based purely on their biological sex. In this regard boys and girls are treated in a different ways. For instance, the authors point out that gender typing begins from the naming of children. Girls are inclined to engage in motherhood roles only while boys play masculine roles. The effect of this is a person grows in a predefined gender identity based on their biological make up. However, it should be noted that gender identity and roles transcend the confines of biological make up in terms of X and Y chromosomes. (McDonald p.45) argues that although sex is predefined by the biological composition of chromosomes in a person, gender is not necessarily imposed on a person. Gender typing can be biased if it is only based on the biological aspects of a pe rson. Gender identity can either be due to a person’s perceived or actual sex. Therefore, it is possible for sexism to arise if the issue of gender is imposed on people based only on their sex disregarding other factors that can shape the sexuality of a person. In fact, the authors point out that the traditional gender stereotyping based only on the sex of an individual may leave out the transsexualism, intersexualism, and hermophroditism. This implies that gender typing leaves out the people who transgress from the traditional gender brackets that are narrowly defined by the biologically. Rathus et al point that there is cross-cultural evidence on gender typing based on long held gender stereotypes. Children are socialized to behave in gender defined roles and they differentially prepared for adulthood. As noted by (Simoni 2000), some parents impose gender roles by rewarding gender –typical roles in children and punishing behavior that is inconsistent with the predefi ned gender roles. Further examination of Human Sexuality in a World of Diversity indicates that the authors are inclined towards a liberal position in relation to gender identity and gender roles. This calls into question the traditional views of masculinity and femininity which need to be reconstructed in order to be reflective of individual perspectives (Phillips 457). According to the book, sexual orientation is the direction of one’s sexual interests. This can be towards members of the same sex, members of the other sex or both.