What is sexuality?

We explain what sexuality is and what aspects it implies. Sexuality in adolescence and sexually transmitted diseases.

1. What is sexuality?

Commonly sexuality is understood as the forms of emotional, cultural and behavioral relationship between men and women , or between male and female animals, associated with the search for sexual pleasure in its various possible manifestations.

To speak of sexuality, however, is not only to speak of reproduction and sexual organs, but of the cultural implications that sexual behavior generates and has generated in human civilization, for example.

Traditionally, the sexual aspect of human beings was considered to be part of their most instinctive life, on their animal side, which allowed sexuality to be linked to a certain “order of nature” and, among other things, to outlaw any behavior or choice sexual that did not pursue the reproduction of the species, such as masturbation or homosexuality. These ideas are, today, subject to review and debate.

It can be said that human sexuality implies four equally important aspects:

• Biological aspect : Represented by the drives of the body and the mandate to reproduce that the species contains;
• Psychological aspect : It represents the conscious or unconscious way of assuming the world of sexual referents;
• Social aspect : It has to do with social pressures and social discourses around sex, what the historical moment says about it;
• Ethical aspect : Linked to the responsibility and individual and collective ways of handling sex as a relationship with others.

According to the World Health Organization , in fact, sexuality encompasses “sex, gender identities and roles, eroticism, pleasure, intimacy, reproduction and sexual orientation.” In addition, “You live and express yourself through thoughts, fantasies, desires, beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviors, practices, roles and interpersonal relationships.”

2. Sexuality in adolescence

Since adolescence is the stage of human development in which the awakening of sexual desire occurs and the body reproductively matures , it is the first contact of the individual with their sexuality, which represents a set of doubts, explorations and discoveries not always easy of coping

Teenagers are forging during this stage their identity and their relationship with themselves and with others, a key process in their adult life, and this also applies to the sexual. Teens often explore their sexuality in diverse ways, often through experiences that allow them to define what they like and what they don’t, that is, who they are, sexually speaking.

This means that during their stages of change and exploration they are particularly vulnerable to risk, which requires an open sexual education , which instructs them to live their desires taking the necessary provisions regarding early pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or the emotional and psychological impact of the first sexual experiences.

In that sense, the idea of ​​sex should be emphasized in the adolescent as a way to achieve intimacy with someone, so it involves only those who expressly wish to have such a relationship, and should never occur under duress, blackmail or violence.

3. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)

Sexually transmitted diseases are a part to consider of human sexual life, and can vary between a temporary and curable discomfort, a chronic or lethal disease. Some of the best known of STDs are:

• Syphilis . Caused by the Treponema pallidum bacteria , it causes small and often painless ulcers in the mucous membranes, genitals and hands or feet. Over time, since it is a chronic disease, red spots and lesions in the nervous system and circulatory system also appear.
• Gonorrhea . Also known as blenorrhea or gonococcia, it is caused by a bacterium commonly called gonococcus , which usually affects the genital mucous membranes, the urinary tract, the eyes, the pharynx or the rectum. It causes purulent odor lesions and can cause infertility in women.
• AIDS . Acronym for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, is the product of incurable infection with HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), which is transmitted by the exchange of not only sexual fluids, but of blood and other internal substances. This disease destroys the body’s ability to defend itself and leaves it at the mercy of other secondary diseases.
• HPV . Acronym for Human Papillomavirus, is one of the most common infections in the world, which includes a wide family of skin viruses, some of which cause warts and other types of flat lesions, some of which are linked to cancer of cervix and penis
• Ladillas . It is an ectoparasite linked to the louse, which lives in the genital areas and feeds on blood, causing itching in the area. They are transmitted during intercourse or when wearing someone’s infected clothing.