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''This article is about the activity. For other uses, see [[Sex (disambiguation)]].''
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'''Sex''' is an activity involving prolonged [[genitals|genital]] contact, such as when the [[penis]] enters part of another person's body, most commonly the [[vagina]], for the purposes of pleasure and sometimes [[sexual reproduction|reproduction]]. Sex can be part of [[homosexuality|homosexual]] ([[gay]]) as well as heterosexual (straight) relationships, and is sometimes discussed as an 'act of [[love]]'. Often, however, sex occurs just so the participants can experience the sensation of pleasure that accompanies the activity, including orgasm, and they may well take steps to avoid a later [[pregnancy]] by using [[contraceptive]]s. Some of these methods, such as [[condom]] use, also reduce the risk of transmitting [[virus]]es that rely on sex to spread. Contraceptives, family planning and responsible attitudes to sex are three reasons that help explain why, while it is the main way of introducing [[sperm]] into a [[woman]]'s body so that a [[man]]'s [[gene]]tic material has the opportunity to fuse with an [[egg (human)|egg]] to form an [[embryology|embryo]], very often acts of sex do not eventually lead to the [[childbirth|birth]] of a [[child]].
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Sex is a consensual activity: though adults and [[adolescent]]s have little or no control over their sense of sexual attraction, they must freely choose to have sex. When a person is forced into sex, this is [[rape]], and for the victim it is never a sexual act but a horrific assault. Scholars have often identified the reasons for rape as social rather than biological: in this view, rape is about power over others,<ref>This is the definition given in the [[United Nations]] document '[http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ijrl/5.2.319 Situation of Human Rights in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia]' (UN document e/CN.4/1993/50). Published in ''International Journal of Refugee Law'' 5: 319-333. 10th February 1993. The definition appears on p.330 of the report, which also includes descriptions of the ordeals suffered by women raped in wartime.</ref> as a rapist - in most definitions, always a man - for deviant reasons<ref>Groth & Burgess (1977).</ref> seeks to [[violence|violently]] dominate or punish another person and keep them in a state of [[fear]].<ref>Brownmiller (1975: 14).</ref> More recently, controversy has erupted over [[evolution]]ary explanations that root rape not just in social conditions and the extension of violent activity, but the innate male sex drive<ref>Brownmiller & Merhof (1992). cf. Thornhill &　Palmer (2000/2001); Jones (1999); Pinker (2002: 161-162, 359-371).</ref> and its conflict with women's ability to choose who fathers their children.<ref>'[http://www.psych.ucsb.edu/research/cep/tnr.html Reply to Jerry Coyne]'. John Tooby and Leda Cosmides, Center for Evolutionary Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara. 2000.</ref> This debate has also involved discussion on the irresponsibility of ignoring sex itself as a motivator for rape,<ref>Paglia (1990: 51, 57).</ref> the rejection of the idea that all men whether rapists or not are ultimately beneficiaries of rape,<ref>McElroy (1996).</ref> and the assumption that if rape is in any way a consequence of innate, evolved traits, then this sends the message that it is in some way more acceptable.<ref>Pinker (2002: 363).</ref> Of course, researchers seeking an explanation for the presence of rape in all societies have taken great care to make the obvious point that the intent behind such work is to find a way to reduce rape in society.<ref>Pinker (2002: 364-365, 367).</ref>
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While rape is a crime or at least proscribed in every society on earth,<ref>Brown (1991).</ref> attitudes towards consensual sex and the freedom to practice it vary more widely. Clearly, there is a great interest in sex: there are hundreds of millions of [[pornography|pornographic]] [[website]]s,<ref>Evidence suggests, however, that the overall proportion of sexually explicit websites on the internet is small compared to other sites: about 1.1%. See [http://www.stat.berkeley.edu/~stark/Preprints/filter07.pdf Stark (2008)].</ref> the [[sex industry]] in the [[United Kingdom]] alone is estimated to be worth at least £1 billion a year,<ref>''[[BBC]] News'': '[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/4293669.stm Inside Britain's sex industry]'. 27th February 2005.</ref> and in many countries mildly sexual images are used to advertise virtually any product, while books and magazines offering advice on improving one's 'sex life' fill the shelves. The interest in sex and the urge to depict it are not recent trends: for example, the destruction of the city of [[Pompeii]] in 79 AD preserved sexually explicit artworks decorating the walls of [[Ancient Romans|Roman]] houses. Most [[culture]]s have usually spent a good deal of largely unsuccessful effort attempting to control the sexual activity of their people, and therefore worldwide sex is a [[taboo]] subject to a greater or lesser degree.
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==Footnotes==
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*Brown DE (1991) ''Human Universals''. New York: McGraw-Hill.
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*Brownmiller S (1975) ''Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape''. New York: Fawcett Columbine.
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*Brownmiller S & Merhof B (1992) 'A feminist response to rape as an adaptation in men'. ''Behaviorial and Brain Sciences'' 15: 381-382.
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*Groth AN & Burgess AW (1977) 'Rape: a sexual deviation'. ''American Journal of Orthopsychiatry'' 47: 400-406.
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*Jones OD (1999) 'Sex, culture and the biology of rape: toward explanation and prevention'. ''California Law Review'' 87: 827-942.
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*McElroy W (1996) ''Sexual Correctness:: the Gender-Feminist Attack on Women''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
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*Paglia C (1990) ''Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
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*[[Steven Pinker|Pinker S]] (2002) ''The Blank Slate: the Modern Denial of Human Nature''. London: Penguin.
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*Stark PB (2008) '[http://www.stat.berkeley.edu/~stark/Preprints/filter07.pdf The effectiveness of internet content filters]'. ''I/S: a Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society''. To appear.
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*Thornhill R & Palmer CT (2000/2001) ''A Natural History of Rape: Biological Bases of Sexual Coercion''. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 2001 paperback edition includes a reply to critics.
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*[[United Nations]] document '[http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ijrl/5.2.319 Situation of Human Rights in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia]' e/CN.4/1993/50. 10th February 1993. Published in ''International Journal of Refugee Law'' 5: 319-333. 10th February 1993.
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Latest revision as of 17:39, 4 March 2021


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