Final Exam (Worth 150 points)

• Your final exam is 10 short-answer questions, and your exam is worth 150 points total.
• Use your textbook to answer the questions, which are taken from Chapters 10-14 and 16-17 . You should paraphrase the textbook. Anything you take word for words should be put into “quotes.”

• Provide a short answer to the question you choose to answer per the directions (50 to 75 words). Please copy and paste the prompt you choose above your answer.
• Your TOTAL exam short-answer responses should be between 500 and 750 words for all 10 questions. 

Answer ONE prompt from EACH Chapter (10-13, respectively)

Chapter 10 (Answer ONE prompt from the list below)

• Who is responsible for preventing a pregnancy? Who should initiate a discussion of birth control methods? Who should pay for the device used or the medical appointment needed? How do you resolve conflicts about which method to use?
• Why might a female choose to use an intrauterine device (IUD)?
• What is “outercourse,” and how can it play a role in contraception? Why do not more people use this method, and what cultural beliefs tend to inhibit its use?
• How do myths about contraception get started? What are some of the myths? (Some examples: sneezing or jumping up and down after sex will keep the sperm from reaching the uterus; sex during menstruation prevents conception.)
• Discuss the pros and cons of abstinence-only sexuality education versus comprehensive sexuality education (abstinence is discussed along with information about birth control methods.)
• What new contraceptive methods are being developed for men and women?

Chapter 11 (Answer ONE prompt from the list below)

• How do you feel about different birthing experiences, including home births, the presence of a midwife or doula, natural prepared childbirth, and the use of medications to ease the pain of delivery? What would be your ideal birthing experience—either for yourself or your partner?
• What are some explanations for why men have become more involved in pregnancy and childbirth? What are the benefits and disadvantages of increased involvement?
• Discuss the option of “fetal reduction” procedures for women who are carrying multiple fetuses. What are the advantages and disadvantages of such procedures?
• If a baby is conceived by donor sperm and/or donor egg insemination, should the child be told about this? At what age?
• Should there be any age restrictions on assisted reproductive technologies? Is there an age that is “too old” for a female to become a parent? What about a male? What factors should be considered to make this determination?
• Should the government or state be able to regulate the age parameters for when a woman can be pregnant? The number of children she can have? How many children she can carry at once? What would be the benefits and pitfalls of such regulations?
• Many couples still have a baby when their relationship is not working well. How might the birth of a baby magnify existing problems or create new ones in a relationship?
• Why do some men find the pregnant body so sexy and appealing? Why do some men find it disgusting or unattractive? What should a man do if he feels the latter during his partner’s pregnancy?

Chapter 12 (Answer ONE Prompt from the List Below)

• How would you explain aspects of sexual behavior that have nothing to do with reproduction to children? How would you explain the same behaviors to adolescents?
• At what age should an adolescent be considered responsible to make decisions about sexual behavior, including contraception and protection from STIs? What are the advantages and disadvantages of less or more conservative approaches?
• How or why is the term premarital sexproblematic, as it pertains to measuring adolescent sexual behavior? Consider the following: it excludes a great deal of sexual behavior, and it presumes that all or most people will marry.
• Who do you think taught your parents about sexuality? Are your parents well-informed, misinformed, or underinformed? How comfortable are you in talking with your parents about sexuality? How comfortable do you think your parents are in talking with you about this topic?
• What information do you wish you had about sex as an adolescent? What would be different if you knew back then what you know now?
• What is the influence of the peer group on adolescent sexual behavior? Would your behavior have been different if your peer group were different?
• How would you respond as a parent if your adolescent “came out” to you as being gay or lesbian?
• What are the risks or special considerations that should be addressed for contraceptive use in adolescence? Some examples may include the long-term effects of birth-control pills and the misuse of contraceptives.
• Adolescents are physically capable of sex but often cognitively immature. Discuss some of the limits on adolescent thinking (for instance, poor future planning skills, casual sex), and how these limits can be overcome.
• Imagine you are the parent of a teenage who asks, “How do I know when I should have sex?” How would you answer? Why?
• Several “reality” television programs have focused on teen pregnancy. How accurate are these shows? Do you think they encourage or discourage teen pregnancy?

Chapter 13 (Answer One Prompt from the List Below)

• How has Internet dating changed the way people connect and meet? What are the pros and cons to forging new relationships in this manner? Conclude with online dating safety tips.
• Would you consider it “cheating” if your mate spent a great deal of time in an online chat room?
• Discuss the benefits of waiting until a later age to get married. Include updated statistics about the increase in age of first marriage in the United States.
• Discuss the cause(s) and consequence(s) of a greater population of boys than girls in China and India today.
• What characteristics come to mind when you hear that a man has decided not to have children? A woman has decided not to have children? Why are there differences? What are the similarities?
• What do you think of a couple who is living together? What would your parents think? What would your grandparents think? Why have attitudes changed? Are they changing still?
• Are there benefits to marriage? Discuss the benefits that marriage brings as well as the drawbacks in terms of finance, socialization, stability, and commitment. Is it better just to cohabit?
• With all the information you are learning about human sexuality and making relationships work, what information has been most useful? Why do you think that many people who know there is information that can help them make better relationships do not bother to look for it or use it? Is it possible you could be one of these people?
• If you are currently married or would like to be married in the future, what kind of expectations would you have for your partner and your relationship? What needs would you expect a marriage to fulfill?
• If your marriage got stale (sexually, intimately, and practically), what steps could you take to bring back the spark? Who is responsible for the deterioration of a marriage?
• Discuss the notion of “staying together for the kids.” Is this really preferable to divorce? When is divorce warranted?
• Would you enter into a prenuptial agreement? If so, what should be included or excluded from such an agreement? If not, why not?
• Is it more difficult for men or women to become widowed? What factors might make it easier for women? For men? If you had a friend whose spouse had died, how could you help?
• Would you consider making love with someone who is old and wrinkled? With someone who is obese? Why do age and weight matter to so many people in our culture?
• How important is intercourse to a marriage or ongoing relationship? If one partner can no longer have intercourse for medical reasons or does not want to anymore, how much will the relationship be affected?

Choose TWO prompts from EACH Chapter (14 and 16-17, respectively)

Chapter 14 (Answer TWO prompts from the list below)

• How does equality in gender roles relate to sexual satisfaction?
• How would you respond if your long-term partner developed a health condition that interfered with his/her sexual desire and/or performance? What if you developed a health condition that interfered with desire and/or performance?
• How important is sex to you now? How important do you believe it will be to you in early adulthood, middle adulthood, and later adulthood? Would you be sexually satisfied without intercourse?
• Men generally report wanting to have sex more than women. How might the discord between wanted frequencies of sex lead to problems in the relationship? Is it ever good to have discord over frequency?
• Are physiological factors more important than psychological factors in determining sexual problems? How might the two interact in producing sexual difficulties?
• Why do people fake orgasm? Is it ever good for a relationship? Should someone who has been faking confess this to their partner? Why or why not? What would you say if your partner told you that he or she had been consistently faking orgasms since you first started having sexual relations?
• What kind of relationship problems can lead to sexual difficulties? Explain how these might occur, and offer some solutions.
• What is the best way to negotiate sexual difficulties? How would communication techniques learned in the previous chapters be helpful in dealing with sexual problems?
• How do you assess whether a health-care professional has the necessary expertise, training, and/or certification to help a patient with sexual problems?
• How would you know if you are experiencing a sexual problem that requires professional help? What could you do before seeking such help?
• How might a sex therapist put a person or couple more at ease during the first visit? What could the person or couple do to become more comfortable during this visit?

Chapter 16 (Answer TWO prompts from the list below)

• How has the Internet challenged our current classification system for paraphilias? Is it appropriate to classify someone using an Internet camera to spy on others as a voyeur? How about someone who strips over the Internet?
• What is the difference between sexual variation and sexual deviation? Who determines when the line has been crossed?
• How might some paraphilias be best handled in a relationship (e.g., fetishes)?
• Why is the term “sex addiction” controversial amongst sexologists? How has the internet enabled people to engage in excessive sexual activity, which could mask other issues or have a deleterious effect on the ability to have healthy relationships?

Chapter 17 (Answer TWO prompts from the list below)

• As a college student, how can you help change rape culture on campus or in your community? How can you encourage others to move away from “blaming the victim.” List some safety and prevention tips.
• Why are men much less likely to report being raped? How can we help to combat this in our society?
• Discuss gender differences in the perception of flirting behavior as “joking” or “having fun” versus “harassing.” Discuss reasons why gender differences may exist, including biological, cognitive, and social.
• Discuss some recommendations for improving communication in dating relationships to reduce the possibility of mixed messages.
• Is someone under the influence of alcohol or drugs capable of giving consent? What if both parties are intoxicated? How would you know if someone was under the influence of alcohol or drugs? Of legal age for consent? Mentally and intellectually capable of giving consent? What do these answers suggest for individuals who want to avoid being accused of rape?
• Do people take sexual harassment too seriously? Do you believe that we have gone too far in protecting individuals who make charges of sexual harassment? What difficulties do you think that people who file sexual harassment charges face?