Som Oeurn MAO Sharing knowledge to peers, friends and others is one of my habits and passion, and I hope that this little preparation will help others to gain more knowledge for their own benefits, family and society as a whole.

1. សាកលវិទ្យាល័យបញ្ញា សាស្រ្តកម្ពុជា
Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia (PUC)
Gender Studies
ジェンダー学
Homework 4: Sex and Sexualities
Prof. Kasumi Nakagawa
Som Oeurn Mao
ID: 135908 /GROUP 9
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Gender and Power by Kasumi May 18, 2018
1. What does SEXUALITY mean? Use the definition from the authorized
source, such as WHO, UNFPA, UNESCO or UNDP. Quote your definition /
answer appropriately.
“Sexuality is a fundamental aspect of human life: it has physical,
psychological, spiritual, social, economic, political and cultural dimensions.
Sexuality cannot be understood without reference to gender, and diversity is
a fundamental characteristic of sexuality."1
2. The text says, “Homosexuality is also subjected to sanctions and censure.”.
What does it mean and why is it like that?
According to a statement saying that “Homosexuality is also subjected to
sanctions and censure.”, it means that homosexuality is one of the issues
which is prejudiced, discriminated, disagreed and considered as one of the
disapprovals or punishments because it is abnormal, unnatural and
contrasts from the “religion” and “culture”; moreover, it is against the
“public morals”, and “traditional values” (ARTICLE19, 2013). All cultures
have their own values regarding appropriate and inappropriate sexuality in
society. For example, a number of cities and provinces in the Russian
Federation and Moldova detain and fine persons who want to have rights to
freedom of homosexuality. In Uganda, legislative proposals include criminal
sanctions of up to seven years imprisonment for just only “promoting
homosexuality” (ARTICLE19, 2013). However, those countries consider
homosexuality is a sanction and censure, but Cambodia is more likely
allowed to have homosexuality by the current government (Hays, 2014). And
according to the report conducted by social research agency TNS, it said that
homosexuality is more likely supported rather than discriminated, but an
LGBT person is tried to be persuaded to be the normal one before they are
accepted or supported (O'Connell, 2015).
1 http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001832/183281e.pdf
Instruction
• Read the textbook Chapter 15: Sex and Sexualities and type your answer to
the questions below and submit your homework on 25 May.
• Avoid plagiarism.

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3. According to the text, what made us to learn how to be sexual beings?
What made us to learn how to be sexual beings are our sexual feelings,
activities and the ways in which we think about sexuality, and our sexual
identities are all the product of social and historical forces. Sexuality is what
it is shaped by the culture in which we live and religious teachings, laws,
psychological theory, medical definitions and social policies, and in addition,
the media all inform us of its meanings (Marchbank & Letherby, 2014).
4. According to the text, what is a clear manifestation of the objectification
of woman?
One aspect of the sexual exploitation of woman is the objectification of
women’s bodies. As John Berger suggested in the 1970s:
“Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women
watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only
most relations between men and women but also the relation of
women to themselves. The survey of woman herself is male: The
surveyed female. Thus, she turns herself into an object ̶ and most
particularly an object of vision: a sight.”
Although 40 years have passed since Berger’s observation, objectification of
women appears to remain an integral aspect of heteronormativity for men
(and boys).
5. What are your opinions about sex work in Cambodia? Examine different
opinions/views described in this chapter and explain your ideas.
According to a website called facts and details, there were approximately
55,000 prostitutes in Cambodia. Prostitutes can be found all over: on the
streets, brothels, in bars, restaurants, cafes, karaokes, hotels, pool halls and
even barber shops and beauty salons, and some of them are brought in from
Vietnam or Laos, but most of those women are Cambodians. However, there
are lot of foreign men who are running around, but most of the customers
having sex with those misfortune women are Cambodians (Hays, 2014). All
of them are not educated well in term of preventing social illness while having
sex with clients, and most of the times, they have been forced by gruel clients.
Because of poverty and too low education, they are easily persuaded and
cheated by giving high price, so they sometimes have sex with their clients
without using condoms or other prevention. Moreover, we don’t have proper
policy which is required them to have regular check up. In case they unluckily
get sick, they will spread this illness to others.

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In this chapter, there are also different ideas described about sex work, for
instance, women who work in sex field are only fantasized as nothing more
than objectified sexuality, but in reality, of course, they are human beings.
This idea wants to imply that they are however prostitutes, but they are still
human being like us; they have heart, feeling and their own values, so all men
who are their clients kindly treat them in the appropriate ways, and should
not regard them as sex slaves.
6. How does Internet influence Cambodian youth in changing their attitudes
towards sexualities? (both/either positive and/or negative)
More or less, internet related to pornography or others absolutely influences
Cambodian youth in changing their attitudes towards sexualities. Bellows are
the positive and negative effects of using internet related pornography. Let
me share about negative effects first; after they watched that pornography,
they may create negative attitudes toward women, and they probably act
cruelly as what they have watched. Sometimes, if they are obsessed with it,
they might have too much sex; as the result, it will affect their health. In
contrast, they also gain more benefits from watching it. According to a
research, Positive and Negative Effects of Pornography as Attributed by
Consumers, published on September 12, 2016, it showed that those who
watched pornography, they more likely…
o become less repressed about sex,
o become more open-minded and mature about sex,
o become more tolerant of other people’s sexualities,
o give them pleasure,
o provide sexual education,
o maintain sexual interest in long term relationships,
o be more attentive to a partner’s sexual pleasure,
o find an identity or community, and
o make it possible to open discussions with their partners about sex
(Mckee, 2016).

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References
ARTICLE19. (2013). article19. Retrieved from www.article19.org:
https://www.article19.org/data/files/medialibrary/3637/LGBT-
propaganda-report-ENGLISH.pdf
Hays, J. (2014, May). factsanddetails. Retrieved from
http://factsanddetails.com: http://factsanddetails.com/southeast-
asia/Cambodia/sub5_2c/entry-2893.html
Marchbank & Letherby. (2014). introduction to gender social science
perspectives. New York, NY 10017: Routledge.
Mckee, A. (2016, Sept 12). researchgate. Retrieved from www.researchgate.net:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/27473829_Positive_and_Ne
gative_Effects_of_Pornography_as_Attributed_by_Consumers
O'Connell, T. (2015, Dec 15). The CAMBODIA DAILY. Retrieved from
www.cambodiadaily.com:
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cambodians-attitudes-toward-
lgbt-surveyed-103027/