Blog #9

Blog #9 – 4/9/2013

Sexuality is part of who we are as individuals.  An important part at that, but certainly not EVERYTHING we are.  Corey’s chapter 9 addresses what I personally believe to be some main portions of sexuality.  There are many misconceptions tied to sex, and I find myself lucky to have been someone with a mother who was relatively open to discussing most things, and certainly not afraid to let her views be known on a variety of subjects.  I remember discovering my own sexuality as a fun, exciting, sometimes awkward, time of my life, but I also find myself on a continuing journey as far as who I am as a person, including my sexuality.  My husband and I have had struggles in the past relating to this somewhat difficult topic, but have seemed to be able to work things out pretty well.  Our main issues earlier in our marriage stemmed not from incompatible values, but more from the fact that we had two young children who took much of our time and energy.  I think we did what many couples do, and put our needs as secondary to others.  We were usually able to discuss the situation and remedy it before it became too frustrating for either one of us.  We needed to learn to pay attention to “us” more often.  Today, we are comfortable with discussing all aspects of our lives together.  I cannot imagine feeling guilt or other negative emotions associated with our sex life.

I found myself reacting to the section “Listening to Our Bodies” (Corey, 266-267) with a nodding head and full agreement.  I believe that it is a great asset for anyone to be able to pay attention to the signals our body sends us, concerning sex or anything else for that matter.  As I have gotten older, I have learned to focus on and read such signals more accurately.  I encourage my students, and would continue, to be aware of reactions within themselves.  The information on HIV/AIDS was helpful in that it reminded me that the pandemic is still prevalent and needs to be addressed.  I remember when the disease first hit national headlines, including some of the misinformation that came along.  It’s a shame that this disease has become somewhat commonplace and does not receive more attention.  I understand that the medical community has made great strides in controlling HIV, but like any human medical crisis (cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc) it should be taken seriously and not forgotten about.  I also wanted to mention that I found the advice quoted from Magic Johnson (1992) to be extremely relevant.  I mentioned it to my husband, and we plan to have our teenagers read the four questions (Corey, 275) he poses and have a discussion about them.  I would possibly also give these questions to students who came to me struggling with sexual activity.  I believe all young people might benefit from some serious consideration of the ideas they entail.  I certainly would have.

I must admit that I was unsure about my feeling concerning the Fleischmann et al article this week.  The phenomenon of jealousy is one that has been around as long as humans have, and is understandably difficult to study.  I believe that there is usually some element of jealousy in most relationships between significant others, be it dealing with time spent, other people, or behavior.  The main information that I learned from it was to be able to identify various behaviors that could possibly signify jealousy, both in others and myself.  I believe anytime you can identify reasons why anyone is behaving in a certain way it can be a positive in helping you understand and therefore deal with the situation.  I would encourage students to try to be aware of feelings within themselves and how they may affect their actions.



Corey,G.,& Corey, M.S. (2010). I never knew I had a choice: Explorations in personal                  growth. (9th ed.). Belmont, California: Brooks/Cole.


Fleischmann, A. A., Spitzberg, B. H., Andersen, P. A., and Roesch, S. C. (2005).  
Tickling the monster:  Jealousy induction in relationships.  Journal of Social Relationships, 22, 49-73.