It is estimated that only a small fraction of sperm will actually reach the egg (as few as 100), as the sperm need to swim up the vagina, through the cervix and up the fallopian tubes. Normally only one egg is released and this egg will travel down one fallopian tube, so half of the sperm that are left after the long journey could be traveling up a tube with no egg in it.

When they finally meet the egg, a number of sperm will surround it. On the front of the sperm’s head is the acrosomal head cap which contains certain degradative enzymes to help dissolve the cumulous cells surrounding the egg. The combined action of a number of sperm helps with this dissolving process but only one sperm actually gets through the next layer, the zona pellucida. As soon as the egg is penetrated, rapid changes take place in its outer layer and no other sperm can get through.

Intriguing facts about sperm

• A sperm lashes its tail 800 times to travel 1 millimeter.

• Sperm reach the woman’s fallopian tubes 30-60 minutes after ejaculation.

• Sperm are produced at an average of 1,500 per second from each testicle.

• In the right conditions, sperm can live up to five days.

• One sperm can swim 3 millimeters per second.

*2/73/5*

As a result of Freud’s work and later that of Kinsey, the subject of sex gradually came out of the closet and became the subject of both psychological and physiological study. In the mid-1950s Dr. William Masters decided to undertake an extensive study of the physiology of sexual function. He was joined in this work by Mrs. Virginia Johnson. Their monumental research project led to the publication of the book, Human Sexual Response, which still is the basic text of sexual physiology, and to the development of the successful short-term treatment of sexual dysfunction. Their therapeutic program is described in detail in their book, Human Sexual Inadequacy, and the importance of psychological and emotional factors are discussed in their book, The Pleasure Bond. As a result of their work and publications, many sex therapy clinics have been established throughout the country. Some of these clinics are staffed by those who are well trained but unfortunately, many of them are staffed by individuals who have no training at all or very insignificant amounts of training, and these clinics may do harm to their patients.

Sexual dysfunction is much more common than is generally recognized, and Masters suggests that at least fifty percent of marriages have experienced sexual difficulty of some sort. Couples with sexual difficulty are very anxious to have treatment and unfortunately, often go to a cozener clinic from which they receive no benefit or may be made worse. As a result, attempts are being made to develop some kind of control for the establishment of sexual therapy programs.

In 1976 a meeting was held at the Masters and Johnson Institute in St. Louis, on the ethics of sexual therapy and research. The success of this meeting led to the development of a congress on ethics which was held in St. Louis in January, 1978. A book incorporating a report of the first meeting has been published by Little, Brown & Co. and the report of the congress will be published later.

Sex therapists should have a basic knowledge of sexual physiology, as well as an awareness of the psychological factors which may be involved. Unless the sex therapist is well trained in these aspects of the problem, it is likely that he or she will do more harm than good.

*240/187/5*

The bisexual person has traditionally been stigmatized as homosexual, since specialists as well as society at large overlook the heterosexual component in favor penalizing the homosexual component.

As in the case of homosexuality, bisexuality can be defined either mentalistically or behaviorally. The most workable definition is that a bisexual person is one with a history of performing sexually with a person of either genital sex, separately or in a threesome or group. More broadly, the definition may also include those who have not actually performed but have experienced overt imagery of doing so.

The transitoriness or regularity of either the practice or the imagery needs to be ascertained separately. The definition can then be appropriately augmented or qualified. The qualification may include an estimate of whether the degree and frequency of involvement with each sex is approximately the same (50:50) or disproportionate. Usually it is disproportionate. Falling in love, for example, is usually more intense and less perfunctory with one sex than the other.

Ambisexual, a term not widely used, refers to characteristics shared by both sexes—kissing, for example, as a form of erotic expression.

*203/187/5*

Which career to choose or what to do when one “grows up” historically has been a critical question for males within our culture. But the cultural assumption about females is that they will not, if they can possibly help it, work out-1 side the home but rather will care for house and children. If they are to venture out into the work world, there are only certain occupations suitable to their sex. These expectations are operative no matter how educated a woman or how extraordinary her talents.

It has become increasingly evident that not all women share the assumption that a woman’s “place” is in the home. Although most women do marry and have children, many also work.) In fact, the proportion of working women has risen from 20% in 1900 to 45% in 1974 (Troll). By 1980, the number of women in the work force is projected to be greater than the number of men.

A great deal of data has been accumulated, however, demonstrating that women still are largely confined to traditional women’s occupations. In the sixties, for instance, there was a disproportionately small growth in numbers of women in professional and technical fields, in skilled trades, and in managerial capacities, but a disproportionately large increase in the number of women clerical workers (Hedges).

Thus, while the numbers of women in the labor force have increased, the scope and range of their activities has not. Even the small numbers who do enter professions seems to wind up in the specialties considered lowest in status (Gross). In law, women are found far more frequently in practices involving juvenile, divorce, or welfare cases than in practices involving tax law and corporate litigation. Similar patterns have been found in medicine in which women typically are pediatricians, dermatologists, or psychiatrists, rather than surgeons, internists, or neurologists. In academia this tendency also has been found to predominate with women comprising a far larger proportion of the state teachers college faculties than of the faculties of wealthier and more revered schools.

Although these statistics may well reflect the hesitancy of women to break new ground, they also suggest the existence of recriminatory forces within our educational and work institutions that discourage women from entering non-traditional fields. Two such forces are the vocational counseling process and the paucity of visible role models.

*166/187/5*

Morgan proposed a fifteen-stage evolutionary “in part hypothetical” sequence from a prefamilial stage of “promiscuous intercourse” to the “Monogamian Family,” the ultimate culmination of mankind. The hypothetical “Promiscuous intercourse” stage is low on the evolutionary scale, and it is not clear from Morgan’s account if he is talking about humankind, or a lower animal form:

Promiscuous Intercourse—This expresses the lowest conceivable stage of savagery—it represents the bottom of the scale. Man in this condition could scarcely be distinguished from mute animals by whom he was surrounded. Ignorant of marriage, and living probably in a horde, he was not only a savage, but possessed a feeble intellect and a feebler moral sense. . . . Were it possible to reach this earliest representative of the species, we must descend very far below the lowest savage now living upon the earth.

In contrast to “Promiscuous Intercourse,” a stage which “lies concealed in the misty antiquity of mankind”, is Morgan’s modern “Monogamian Family,” the final accomplishment in his history of human progress from savagery to civilization. At this stage, the paternity of children was assured, the joint ownership of real and personal property was introduced, and the inheritance by children was guaranteed. All known advances and institutions are related to this ultimate advance, for in Morgan’s own words, “Modern society reposes upon the monogamian family”.

Morgan’s theoretical goals included the refutation of the “degradation hypothesis” explanation of barbarian and savage populations found to be both physically and mentally below the standard of the supposed original man. Although Morgan treated sexuality as part of his larger argument, he did not set out to explore human sexuality as an important topic among contemporary peoples.

According to Morgan, the lowest conceivable stage of savagery was a stage of promiscuous, uncontrolled, unchecked sexuality. Such a stage of sexuality provided a theoretical counterpoint to the modern family, not to modern sexuality. Unrestrained sexuality among persons with a “feeble moral sense”, interacting in a prefamilial mode, is ultimately replaced by the institution of the modern, monogamian family. Morgan’s unmistakable point of departure is an attempt to document the transformation of raw animal sexuality into a multifaceted modern human social form. Progress is at the expense of sexuality; it does not incorporate it. For Morgan, the “facts of the human experience” are facts which show the institutions of family and government to have evolved from an earlier stage of unbridled sexual license.

One consequence of this reasoning is that anthropologists should study the family instead of sexuality, or ideas about sexuality. To the extent that modern theorists assume that sexuality is “under control” in every known society, the family and/or the mechanisms of control demand study, not sexuality itself. This seems to be a serious error in logic and a potentially serious deterrent to competent ethnography.

This epistemology which opposes or transforms sexuality into social organization is not easily relegated to the writings of one outmoded theorist; Morgan’s legacy is still with us. It is evident in the beginning sentence of Fox’s chapter on “The Incest Problem” in Kinship and Marriage: “If primary kin were allowed to mate, then many of the elaborate arrangements we are going to explore in this book would be unnecessary”. The implication is that kinship as we know it and study it would not exist, were sexual relations allowed in the family unit (outside of husband-wife). Stated in another way, the management of sexuality generates the primary structures of kinship and social organization which anthropologists have made as the core of their discipline. With or without tacit acknowledgment of the preempted role of a suppressed sexuality, anthropologists usually tend to address themselves to what sexuality hath wrought (kinship and social organization), rather than to how sexuality operates in a symbolic world, and how it perseveres as an important element of interpersonal relationship and ideology. This oversight finally was noticed in the important work of Schneider and Kemnitzer.

*129/187/5*

Although data are scant, the women of Mangaia, Bala, and East Bay appear to have more positive attitudes toward the sexual parts of their marriages, if frequency is any indication. Even so, a high normative interest and positive regard for sex by married women is not frequently encountered in the cross-cultural literature. Reasons for this are not hard to find: emphasis on virginity for girls, with lack of premarital experience; the cultural/experiential factor in women’s orgasmic response, typically observed to be more important to women than to men; the characteristic male domination of marital sex, in that males initiate sexual activity and direct it to their satisfaction (with some exceptions as previously noted); the consequences for women of pregnancy and child care; the fairly widespread regard for women as sexual property, to be used, bartered, an exchanged; and rules of modesty, religious sanctions, and taboos which are directed more against women’s participation in sex than against men’s.

*93/187/5*

Alcoholics, on the other hand, may find that impotence is a chronic problem. (We discuss this in detail in chapter 3.) The bottom line: Men who drink a lot are playing Russian roulette with their ability to enjoy intercourse.

Myth: The smaller your penis, the more likely you are to experience erection problems.

Fact There’s no evidence that this is true. The size of the penis bears no relation to predicting erection problems. Arteries, veins and nerves are the crucial elements for erection, and these can function properly, or cause problems, regardless of the size of the penis. In fact, the size difference between erect penises is usually quite insignificant. And many women, while recognizing that men care about size, think the quality of love-making, not the length of the penis, is the issue. Myth: Masturbation causes impotence. Fact: This comes from the erroneous belief that we’re given a limited amount of sexual energy, and once we use it up, if s gone. This is not true. Masturbation is normal and pleasurable, and does not lead to erection problems. For people without a partner, masturbation may be the only sexual outlet available.

*15\184\8*

Myth: Impotence is the normal result of aging.

Fact: Impotence is not normal. Men do experience changes in their erections as they age, but a healthy man can still enjoy a fulfilling sex life well into old age.

Many men associate their 40’s with the beginning of an “inevitable decline” in potency. Because their erections are different than when they were younger, they may see themselves as on the decline sexually. This is wrong. (Certainly, they wouldn’t expect to run a mile with the same speed as they did in high school—but they could still expect to cover the distance. And they might enjoy the scenery more.)

It is true that you’re more likely to develop diseases as you age. Therefore, the chances of developing erection problems do increase with age. But these erection difficulties are the result of disease, not aging itself. Many of the health problems which can cause impotence can be prevented.

*11\184\8*

Unfortunately the effects of the sun, although very appealing, have a long-term impact on the skin that can be very dangerous, besides accelerating the skin’s aging process. Some researchers have suggested that much of the wrinkling seen in older skin is caused by sun damage—not by aging. In addition, many of the skin problems that older people experience may be influenced by the effect of the sun’s radiation.

It is important that you protect yourself from excessive rays of the sun by the use of sun hats and appropriately protective clothing as well as by sunscreen lotions. The higher the number (sun protective factor, SPF) of the lotion, the greater the protection. There are various kinds of sunscreens. Some individuals may be sensitive to the PABA (para-amino-benzoic-acid) contained in some sunscreens and therefore require one that is non-PABA-containing.

For those with very light skin, numbers 10-15 might be necessary, whereas for people with darker skin, numbers 5-10 may be adequate. Remember, suntan lotions without sunscreens are not protective and should not be used instead of sunscreens. Depending on the product, it may be necessary to reapply the lotion after swimming or if you have been perspiring. If you’ve experienced skin damage or illnesses caused by the sun in the past, it is essential that you take precautions and use a sunscreen.

*256\166\2*

Sometimes the pituitary gland enlarges because of a tumor. The result may be an excess of one hormone, pressure on the brain, or pressure on the optic nerves. A loss of vision may result if the tumor is not discovered and treated in time. Occasionally, the gland may not produce enough of a certain hormone, and a hormone deficiency disease results. If, for instance, the thyroid stimulating hormone is not produced, you may develop hypothyroidism. Although this illness mimics the other, more common, type of hypothyroidism due to disease of the thyroid gland itself, diagnosis is facilitated because other pituitary hormones may also be deficient. The function of the pituitary gland is determined by special blood tests that measure the production of the stimulating hormones.

The four small glands just behind the thyroid gland, known as the parathyroid glands, regulate the amount of calcium and phosphorus in the blood. The balance of these substances depends on the amount received in the diet, lost by the kidneys, and stored in the bones. Parathyroid hormone (parathormone) governs the interaction of the food absorption, bone formation, and loss of calcium and phosphorus through the urine, to control the amount of calcium and phosphorus in the blood. If the parathyroid glands become overactive you may develop excess amounts of calcium in your blood and urine. The symptoms include mental confusion, the need to pass large amounts of urine, the formation of kidney stones, and pain in the bones. Ulcer disease of the stomach can also occur with this disease.

The diagnosis is often difficult because these endocrine disorders are unusual in older people. A raised calcium level may be found by chance during routine blood tests. If no other symptoms are present, blood tests every few months will show whether the calcium level is becoming unduly high. If, however, you have symptoms of parathyroid hormone excess, the parathyroid glands must be removed surgically. In general, the outlook for this surgery is very good.

*245\166\2*