Ecological Assessment and Creative Representation
- 1. Ecological Assessment Before taking this course, I was unaware of how much meaning the word “sexuality” holds. I viewed it as a word to describe nothing other than how someone identifies, whether that be gay, straight, bisexual, asexual, etc. While that is true, I have learned that there is so much more to it. Sexuality can be defined as a state of mind to represent feelings about ourselves, what it’s like to be male or female, how we relate to our own gender and other genders, how we establish relationships, and how we express ourselves (AOTA, 2008). We can analyze the role sexuality plays in our everyday lives by evaluating each system in Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model. Microsystem I believe that our environment and whom that environment consists of is a major factor that determines who we become and how we perceive the world. As our environment changes, the traits and beliefs we have adopted may also change. My parents and siblings had the biggest impact on who I grew up to be. I have 4 older siblings, so growing up I was exposed to my fair share of things too mature for me. I would credit most of my initial knowledge about sexuality to my older sister. She is very straight to the point, so if I was curious about something, she would say it like it was and forget the filter for my innocent ears. Looking back on it, I think it’s better to be informed than be oblivious, especially in regards to a normative part of life. My parents taught me morals and what was expected of me. Most of the decisions I made growing up were impacted by how my parents raised me—what was acceptable and what wasn’t.
- 2. While I think all of the information from this course is important and can be applied to life personally and professionally, some of the topics I place the most importance on are sexual health, child development, and sex-positivity. Sexual health referrers to a state of physical, mental, and social well-being in regards to sexuality. Whether that be the possibility of pleasurable sexual experiences, avoiding sexual violence or knowledge about how to prevent sexually transmitted infections, proper sexual health plays a role in healthy relationships and overall well-being. Child development is especially important for my future career path as I hope to work in pediatrics. This course has helped me better understand what typical sexual development looks like in children and what to teach children about sexual issues based on their developmental age. I referred back to the article we read for class regarding what adults need to know about how children develop sexually. It states ways in which we can promote sexual health in children. One recommendation that I feel is most relevant to my career is to touch and comfort children in a way that helps them understand love and how that can be shared with others (Growth and Development, 2018). By meeting these needs for children, a sense of trust is developed with the parent, caregiver, therapist, etc. Being comfortable with one’s own sexual identity and having positive attitudes about sex is important but not always achieved. “Positive sexuality is concerned with how people are, or can be, happy and fulfilled with their unique sexualities and sexual expression, which contributes to their overall wellbeing and quality of life” (Journal of Positive Sexuality, 2015). Sexuality is a healthy part of life and one that should be embraced. Because of this course, I feel more positively and comfortable talking about sexuality and embrace it as normative.
- 3. Mesosystem My family members and close friends interact and have formed relationships. My whole family lives in Athens so the convenience and presence factor of it plays a big role in their interactions. My friends from different experiences (high school, college, camp, etc.) also interact because I act as a bridge and bring everyone together. The way in which my microsystems interact with one another is complementary, meaning they interact in ways that enhance or positively impact the experience for all involved. I have talked about this course with a few of my friends who are not Human Development majors. Not being exposed to this material in their different areas of study, they find it crazy that we openly discuss everything sex. If I were to share something with those friends, it would be the phrase “know your body, know your normal” (Kozak, 2019). This refers to wellness exams as well as our overall wellbeing in regards to our own body. How we think, feel, act is not going to be the same for everyone. What brings satisfaction to one person may not have any effect on anyone else in the room. By knowing our body and what is normal for you, you can master sexual health and have a positive and accepting outlook on sexuality. Exosystem One of my friend’s mom is a gynecologist. That particular friend was always more knowledgeable than the rest of us about things like puberty and sex. Due to being a professional, her mom felt as though there way no reason to delay those more mature discussions with her daughter. Her mom had an indirect impact on my understanding of sexuality because I picked up information that she taught my friend.
- 4. In my future career as an occupational therapist, I will be working with patients to develop, recover, and improve their skills needed for everyday tasks. Sexuality is an important part of growth and development and is considered an activity of daily living. While we don’t always think of it as part of a daily routine, when exposure to it becomes limited due to a disability it can become very frustrating to the individual. “Following an acute health crisis or as part of a chronic condition, clients may worry about how their health issues will affect their sense of self, their ability to function physically, and their opportunities to engage in sexual activity” (AOTA, 2008). One thing I will do as an occupational therapist is let patients express their fears and concerns about any skill they want to master and offer assistance with problem solving in any way that I can. As health care professionals, when we realize the importance sexuality plays in all of our lives, we can ensure that we strive to address all aspects of a patient’s life to help them achieve the best quality of life. Macrosystem How we perceive certain things is in part shaped by our cultural values, norms, and beliefs. How sexuality was viewed within one’s family can affect how one’s own sexuality develops. While I think that culture can play a big role in the decision we make and our actions and perceptions, I don’t think it is the end-all-be-all factor. “Cultures vary tremendously in how early they start having sex, how open they are about it, and how many sexual partners they have” (Whipps, 2006). Growing up in church, I was always told that I was to not have sex until I was married. While that is totally a respectable and personal decision, shutting it down closes the door to educating young people how to intertwine sexuality and religion. “Equipping students with awareness and intentionality is vitally important for learning about sexuality and
- 5. embodiment in religious and theological contexts, in which silence, discomfort, and misinformation often profoundly constrict critical discourse and moral agency” (Ott & Stephens, 2017). My family wasn’t strictly religious so I still had exposure to all of the popular media (tv, radio, magazines) that was filled with all of the stuff that was frowned upon in church. By sheltering an adolescent from these things, they become more curious and may be misinformed as they are having to make discoveries themselves. Chronosystem The chronosystem refers to changes throughout the lifespan that influence a person or their environment. We learned in class the progression of events in history that changed sexuality for the population. 1965 was when contraception was legalized for married coupes; 1967 was when interracial marriage was legalized; abortion was legalized in 1973; homosexuality was “removed” in 1974. It was not until 2003 that individuals were granted the right to sexual privacy (Kozak, 2019). It is hard to imagine a time when these aspects were not present but it goes to show how the chronosystem is always changing. An event that I would place in my chronosystem, not necessarily negative or positive— just life, would be my very first period. I remember feeling ashamed and embarrassed when I was on my period and would hide pads and tampons way down in my backpack and take that with me into the bathroom stall. Feeling as though my period was something I should hide and be ashamed of did not promote sexual positivity; instead I associated a period with so much negativity. I grew out of that when I embraced it as a natural process.
- 6. Exploring the ways in which all of the systems in our life interact gives us a better understanding of how much sexuality influences us. This course vastly expanded my knowledge and I know it will be used both professionally and personally in years to come.
- 7. In adolescence, most of what we learn about what’s going on in the world comes from the media and our peers. This is a playlist of songs that introduced me to different aspects of sexuality. Some left me curious at a young age while others expanded my knowledge vividly. Sexuality Songs 1. S&M—Rhianna a. As a middle schooler, the line “sticks and stones may break my bones but chains and whips excite me” meant nothing to me. I just thought it was catchy. A friend’s mom heard us singing it one day and described it in a way we would understand. I stopped singing it in public. 2. All About That Bass—MeghanTrainor a. “Cause I got that boom boom that all the boys chase, and all the right junk in all the right places.” This song emphasizes a woman’s figure, having a big butt, and males lusting over a woman’s body type. 3. Cake by the Ocean—DNCE a. I was made aware that this song was not clean by a classmate. “Cake By the Ocean” is about sexual intercourse or sex on the beach. 4. If U Seek Amy—Britney Spears a. This song has a hidden meaning that I was not aware of without someone informing me. It is a pun for “f-*-c-k me, which promotes vulgar language for other words to use instead of sex. 5. Bedrock—Young Money a. As a younger child, you hear “call me Mr. Flinstone” and you think it’s innocent. It seems like an innocent song until you analyze the lyrics. “My room is the g spot” leads an adolescent to the curiosity and cognitive discovery of what a g spot is. 6. Right Round—Flo Rida a. I remember being in a hip-hop dance class as a middle-schooler and learning a dance to this song. While I do think it was a wildly inappropriate song choice for youth, I don’t think that is taken into much consideration in the dance world. 7. I Wanna Love You—Akon a. The explicits in this song are changed on the radio, which is where I would hear it. Although, when Akon sings about a woman moving up and down a pole, it was a no-brainer that he was referring to pole dancing/stripping. 8. I Kissed a Girl—Katy Perry a. When I first heard this song, I was aware of what homosexuality was but my knowledge was vague. I became aware that Katy Perry was revealing herself as bisexual and that she was proud of it.
- 8. 9. Girls/Girls/Boys—Panic! At The Disco a. “girls love girls and boys, and love is not a choice” is another line discussing homosexuality/bisexuality. The song emphasizes that we have no control over whom we love. 10. Animals—Maroon 5 a. The music video of this song portrays a male being oddly obsessed with a woman and doing whatever it takes to get to her. Although I was in late adolescence when it came out, I think the content of the video was still “new” to me and was a little disturbing in my opinion. A lot of people were outraged when this song came out because they thought the video was portraying violence and unwanted relations such as rape. While most of the versions of these songs that I heard in adolescence were the clean versions, I eventually learned that there was not much clean about them. I do think that media plays an important role in informing youth about a variety of topics. Sexuality is a topic that will be addressed to an individual at one point or another, it is just a matter of when and how an individual acquires that knowledge.
- 9. References American Occupational Therapy Association. (2008). Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process (2nded.). American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 62, 625–683. doi:10.5014/ajot.62.6.625 Kozak, Melissa. Human Sexuality Across the Lifespan. Health and Wellbeing. Class lecture, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, February 8, 2019. N.A. (n.d.). Growth and development, ages zero to three-what parents need to know. Advocates for Youth. Retrieved from https://advocatesforyouth.org/resources/health- information/parents-12/ Ott, K., & Stephens, D. W. (2017). Embodied learning: Teaching sexuality and religion to a changing student body. Teaching Theology & Religion, 20(2), 106- 116. https://goo.gl/U1iC1C Whipps, H. (2006, July 27). A Brief History of Human Sex. Retrieved from https://www.livescience.com/7088-history-human-sex.html Williams, D. J., Thomas, J. N., Prior, E. E., & Walters, W. (2015). Introducing a multidisciplinary framework of positive sexuality. Journal of Positive Sexuality, 1(6), 11. Retrieved from http://journalofpositivesexuality.org/wp- content/uploads/2015/02/Introducing-Multidisciplinary-Framework-of-Positive- Sexuality-Williams-Thomas-Prior-Walters.pdf