We explain what sexuality is and what aspects it implies. Sexuality in adolescence and sexually transmitted diseases.
What is sexuality?
Sexuality is commonly understood as the forms of emotional, cultural and behavioral relationship between men and women, or between animals males and females, associated with the search for sexual pleasure in its various possible manifestations.
Talking about sexuality, however, is not just talking about reproduction and sexual organs, but of the cultural implications that the conduct Sexuality generates and has generated in human civilization, for example.
Traditionally it was considered that the sexual aspect of Humans it was part of his most instinctive life, of his animal side, which made it possible to link sexuality to a certain "order of nature" and, among other things, to ban any behavior or sexual choice that did not pursue the reproduction of nature. speciessuch as masturbation or homosexuality. These ideas are, today, subject to review and debate.
It can be said that human sexuality involves four equally important aspects:
- Biological aspect. Represented by the impulses 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 with the responsibility and the individual and collective ways of handling sex as a relationship with others.
According to the World Health OrganizationIn 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”.
sexuality in adolescence
Since adolescence is the stage of human development in which the awakening of sexual desire occurs and the body matures reproductively, it is the individual's first contact with her sexuality, which represents a set of doubts, explorations and discoveries that are not always easy to bear.
Teenagers are forging during this stage their identity and their relationship with themselves and with others, process key in their adult life, and this also applies to the sexual. Adolescents often explore their sexuality in a variety of ways, often through experiences that allow them to define what they like and what they don't like, 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 precautions regarding early pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases (STD) or the emotional and psychological impact of the first sexual experiences.
In this sense, the idea of sex as a way to achieve intimacy with someone should be emphasized in adolescents, so it only involves those who expressly wish to have this type of relationship, and it should never occur under duress, blackmail or violence.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)
Sexually transmitted diseases are a serious part of human sexual life, and can range from a transient and curable malaise, to a chronic or fatal disease. Some of the best known STDs are:
- Syphilis. Caused by bacteria Treponema pallidum, causes small and often painless ulcers on the mucous membranes, genitals, and hands or feet. Over time, since it is a chronic disease, red spots and lesions also appear on the nervous system Y circulatory system.
- Gonorrhea. Also known as blenorrhea or gonococcus, it is caused by a bacterium commonly called gonococcus, and that usually affects the genital mucous membranes, the urinary system, the eyes, the pharynx or the rectum. It causes purulent lesions with a bad smell and can cause infertility in women.
- AIDS. Acronym for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, it is the product of incurable infection with HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), which is transmitted by the exchange of not only sexual fluids, but also 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 Papilloma Virus, it 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 skin cancer. cervix and penis.
- crab lice 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 spread during intercourse or by wearing the clothing of someone who is infected.