ALL ABOUT SEX: HOW SEX LAWS DEVELOP
Understanding Our Values about Sex
Each of us develops ideas about what is right, responsible, worthwhile, and moral. These ideas are called values. Families and communities share many values in common. Values held by most of the people in a society are called social values. Many social values are also sexual values. These reflect what behaviors and traits are considered feminine and what behaviors and traits are considered masculine. They also determine what behaviors are considered right and what behaviors are wrong.
Sexual values differ dramatically from one society to another. Among the Inuit people in the Arctic, it is acceptable for men to share their wives with other men who visit their homes. In Afghanistan, on the other hand, women and men are stoned to death for extramarital sex. In some societies, adolescent boys and girls are kept strictly separated until marriage. In others, such as the Trobriand Islands, children are encouraged to practice sexual intercourse before puberty.
Economics, politics, and religion shape the sexual values of a society as they become part of a society’s customs and traditions. As economic, political, and religious needs change, so do sexual values. Some societies develop a high tolerance for the development of personal and private sexual values. Others are more restrictive and insist on conformity to the dominant social and sexual values. As a pluralistic society, the United States welcomes people from cultures all over the world. They bring a wide range of differing sexual values. Our sexual values are influenced by theirs, and theirs are influenced by ours.
Formal and Informal Values
All societies have two sets of values to guide private and public behavior. There are formal values based on ideals that are defined by religions, governments, and other official groups. They shape a society’s laws, rules, and expectations. We also have informal values that reflect our everyday behavior. Our informal values may not match our formal values. For example, although oral sex is against the law in many states, most sexually active people ignore those laws.
Social values have a great impact on autonomy—how free each of us is to exercise our own will. As we balance our public and private lives, we often question our formal and informal values: How much freedom can an individual be allowed? When should society set limits? How do we balance autonomy with social responsibility? These questions are particularly important when we talk about sex.
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