Your Personal Sexual Philosophy

Adapted from R. Hock

Some questions that you might want to start asking yourself are:

1. Do you know what you want or don’t want in terms of sexual intimacy with another person now or in the future?
2. Under what conditions and with whom will you feel comfortable allowing that intimacy to grow? 
3. What is your idea of a healthy and fulfilling romantic relationship?
4. Can you be sure that you will make choices and decisions that are right for you when sexual situations arise?
5. How will you keep yourself safe from unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and sexual violence?
6. How will you interact with others who are sexually different from you?
7. If you choose to have children, what kind of information (puberty, adolescence, emotional development, sex, etc.) will you be comfortable sharing with them?  At what age(s) will you discuss these issues?

In 3 to 4 pages please provide a well-written and organized paper that outlines your personal sexual philosophy.  Please start this assignment midway through the semester.  You should support your philosophy with data from the book or other equally scholarly source.  Inbedded in the questions above are issues involving love, intimacy, courtship/marriage, communication, self confidence, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, childbirth, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, parenting, and child development.  I do not expect you to cover all of these issues in detail, for example, if you do not plan to have children you do not need to discuss sex education with your children.  However, if you do not want children but intend to be sexually active, how will you avoid unplanned pregnancies? 

An “A” paper will have covered many of the questions listed above, a “B” paper will have covered some of the questions listed above, a “C” paper will have covered half of the topics listed above, and a “D” paper will have only addressed 1or 2 questions.  Please note:  If you only answer the questions and do not integrate your answers into a coherent essay, you will not receive credit for the assignment.  In addition, your paper will be evaluated on how well you can support your ideas/philosophy with information from the text (or other equally scholarly source), how well written it is (no typos/grammar/correct sentence structure, etc.) and the organization (includes introduction, body, summary/conclusion; well connected ideas within paragraphs and throughout the paper; main ideas are clear and concise).