On death and dying

Responding to controversies about the balance between nature and culture in determining human sexuality, the author proposes that the female sex drive is more malleable than the male in response to sociocultural and situational factors. A large assortment of evidence supports 3 predictions based on the hypothesis of female erotic plasticity: (a) Individual women will exhibit more variation across time than men in sexual behavior, (b) female sexuality will exhibit larger effects than male in response to most specific sociocultural variables, and (c) sexual attitude-behavior consistency will be lower for women than men. Several possible explanations for female erotic plasticity are reviewed, including adaptation to superior male political and physical power, the centrality of female change (from no to yes) as a prerequisite for intercourse, and the idea that women have a milder sex drive than men.

Gender differences in erotic plasticity: the female sex drive as socially flexible and responsive

The Social Context of Premarital Sexual Permissiveness

This article investigates the social significance of robotics for the years to come in Europe and the US by studying robotics developments in five different areas: the home, health care, traffic, the police force, and the army. Our society accepts the use of robots to perform dull, dangerous, and dirty industrial jobs. But now that robotics is moving out of the factory, the relevant question is how far do we want to go with the automation of care for children and the elderly, of killing terrorists, or of making love? This literature review attempts to provide an engaged but sober (non-speculative) insight into the societal issues raised by the new robotics: which robot technologies are coming; what are they capable of; and which ethical and regulatory questions will they consequently raise?

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs12369-015-0295-x.pdf

A Literature Review on New Robotics: Automation from Love to War

OBJECTIVE The purposes of this study were to demonstrate, using longitudinal data, that the pubertal rise in testosterone (T) is associated with subsequent increases in female sexual interest and activity, and to examine these relationships within the context of a social control variable. METHODS Using data from a 2-year panel study of approximately 200 black and white postmenarcheal adolescent females, the relationships among semiannual measures of T, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), pubertal development, and self-reports of coital and noncoital sexual activity were assessed. RESULTS Testosterone and changes in T were significantly related to the timing of subsequent transition to first coitus for blacks and whites. Frequency of attendance at religious services operated as a social control variable among white females, and was found to moderate T effects on sexual transition for this group. CONCLUSIONS These results are consistent with a biosocial model proposing T as a causal factor in female sexual activity, and suggest that biological effects are moderated by relevant social variables.

Testosterone predicts initiation of coitus in adolescent females

Prime Time Dixie: Television's View of a “simple” South

This study examines the premarital sexual attitudes and behavior of black high school girls An attempt is made to relate family structure, social class, and religious participation to these attitudes and behavior Analysis of the data supported an hypothesis specifying a relationship between family structure and sexual attitudes and behavior Social class appears to slightly influence attitudes, but behavior of girls from different social classes is very similar No relationship was found between religious participation and premarital sexual attitudes and behavior Of interest are incongruities in expressed attitudes and behavior and a tendency for high religious participants to be as permissive or more so than the girls who are less active in the church

Attitudes toward premarital sex and sexual behavior among black high school girls

A sample of American sympathy cards is content analyzed, and symbols, colors, and message wording and form are reviewed. In addition, responses of college students to sympathy cards are evaluated. ...

Faith, Fantasy, and Flowers: A Content Analysis of the American Sympathy Card

/pdf/social-factors-obesity-among-black-women-1rsrshyzfu.pdf

Social factors & obesity among black women

In recent years, much attention has been directed toward death-related topics, including the role of the physician in caring for terminally ill patients and communicating with patients and families about death and dying. During the past decade, researchers and critics have often described death in America as being problematic because of tension between heroic and humanistic medical care. This article presents an overview of the attitudes of physicians and medical students regarding end-of-life issues. Included are a discussion of the history of death in Western medicine, information about specific attitudes medical professionals hold regarding terminally ill patients and their families, and research findings about specific factors such as gender, specialty, and years of training and practice that contribute to these attitudes. A need for improved medical education about death and dying is emphasized, with recommendations about how to increase the knowledge of medical professionals and offer patients death...

Marsha G. McGee

Papers

Prime Time Dixie: Television's View of a “simple” South

Attitudes toward premarital sex and sexual behavior among black high school girls

Faith, Fantasy, and Flowers: A Content Analysis of the American Sympathy Card

Social factors & obesity among black women

An Overview of Physician Attitudes toward Death and Dying: History, Factors, and Implications for Medical Education