University Assignment: Reflection on Sexual Self-Esteem and Identity

This report presents a student's critical reflection on sexual self-esteem, drawing from a personal biographical incident involving a classmate with a different sexual identity. The reflection explores the impact of societal norms, cultural pressures, and personal biases on the student's understanding of sexual orientation and identity. The student examines the evolution of their views, acknowledging past behaviors and the influence of societal attitudes towards the LGBT community. The report delves into the complexities of sexual self-esteem, the challenges faced by individuals with diverse sexual orientations, and the importance of acceptance and tolerance. It also explores the limitations of societal knowledge and the need for education to combat discrimination. The student reflects on the role of culture, the impact of limited knowledge, and the importance of recognizing diverse sexual identities. The report concludes with a call for societal change and greater understanding of sexual self-esteem, supported by a bibliography of relevant research.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Master of Research
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

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Table of Contents
Biography...................................................................................................................................3
Critical Reflection......................................................................................................................3
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................6

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Biography
I remember a specific incident where I had undergone such a similar case of sexual
self-esteem. There was a boy named Daniel who used to be one of my classmates in the high
school years. Daniel was totally different from the others present as he used to behave like a
girl and thus was teased by one and all including me. I always teased him and used to taunt
him as a girl. As we had little idea about his sexual self-esteem and his identity we had
continued to taunt and tease him for quite a long time.
Critical Reflection
Sexual self-esteem is something that is quite important in one’s life. When someone
talks about sexual self-esteem it refers to the feelings that one has about his/her body and the
confidence level that someone shows in his/her closeness to the other person. This closeness
refers to both emotional as well as physical closeness and thus has a very important sense in
someone’s life. Therefore it can be said that sexual self-esteem refers to the sexual choice that
someone makes in life. This can be either straight, bisexual or heterosexual in nature. At a
time when lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals are increasingly coming out at
the front and revealing their identity and sexual orientation, there is a particular community
of individuals who have been seen to create a strong pressure to make these people an outcast
and treat them like criminals. The pressure is so much that it becomes difficult for people to
get a proper idea of the health and other details of these particular community. The biography
which I have presented above clearly reflects a shameful part of my school memory which
have led to major issues in the future. My thinking about Daniel and my behaviour towards
him has always been a shame which still bleeds my heart. I had really been cruel towards
Daniel as I had failed to respect his sexual identity and have always made fun of him. This
was mainly because of the fact that I along with the others around me had the idea that

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homosexuality or bisexuality was something that was totally against the society and was a
disease. I had the feeling that heterosexuality was the only normal sexual orientation and the
rest of the sexual identities were fake and build on slippery grounds.
There were a number of reasons that have led to these odd feelings. The very first one
being the so called cultural aspects that I inherited from the people around me. In other words
the culture of the society has been a major reason that led me develop such an idea on sexual
orientation and sexual self-esteem. As new to the society it was my duty to fit in into the
culture of the society which was an important part of the societal norms during those times.
Thus being a person belonging to a different sexual orientation and displaying a different
sexual self-esteem was supposed to be a wrongdoing. Thus Daniel who was totally rejected
by the society also got rejected by classmates like us. I did not wanted to support Daniel and
risk being an outcast of the society in any manner. Lesbians, Gay and the LGBT community
have been framed and conceptualized in a typical sexual orientation that turns them into
criminals. There has been a pressure from our society to develop a new group for these kind
of people and exclude them from all the other dimensions of society. These makes them the
odd one out in the society and thus turns them into easy targets for the entire heterosexual
community of the globe.
The above mentioned example can be said to be the best one which clearly proves the
limitations and wrongdoings of our culture and society which often leads us to a wrong path.
It is the duty of the society to feed us with limited ideas about sexual self-worth that includes
the sexual identity of bisexuals or same sex identities and the concept of beauty and
attractiveness. This limited ideas often tends to form strong barriers that hampers the cause of
our process. Thus we have a very limited idea and knowledge on the total process of sexual
identity and proper sexual orientation of a person. This kind of limited knowledge always
leads us to issues like that I faced with Daniel in the high school. My limited idea directly led

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me to believe that what Daniel was displaying was totally wrong and cannot be the behaviour
of a normal person. This wrong belief led me to disturb him and tease him without any reason
just to ensure that everything returns to normalcy. It is now that I feel the grave mistake I
committed by questioning the basis of his sexual identity. I believe that there should be
absolutely no space for accepting and tolerating any forms of discrimination regarding
matters like this.
It was and is the failure of our society to not accept people who are not heterosexuals
or are somewhat different. The society has made them outcasts just because they do not
match the sexual orientation which most of the people in the society has. The absence of this
particular sexual orientation has made them equal to the likes of terrorists or criminals. A part
of the society has even termed them as the major problems of the society that exists in the
modern life. Sexual orientation nowadays has been enduring different kinds of romantic,
emotional, sexual and other forms of changes that have a long lasting impact on the society as
well as the individuals. Though there have been more cases of acceptability of these people
from different parts of the world, the inner story is somewhat different. Though a number of
laws have been passed that recognizes these group of people, the absence of proper
implementation and the absence of proper education on these particular subject makes us
unaware of the total thing which is the reason behind the formation of sick mentality. The
absence of a proper mentality and the absence of people who can make things normal turns
the whole process quite complex. Thus people like Daniel had been and will be teased on and
on in the past as well as the coming future.

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Bibliography
Abbott, D. M., Harris, J. E., & Mollen, D. (2016). The impact of religious commitment on
women’s sexual self-esteem. Sexuality & Culture, 20(4), 1063-1082.
Barnum, E. L., & Perrone-McGovern, K. M. (2017). Attachment, self-esteem and subjective
well-being among survivors of childhood sexual trauma. Journal of mental health
counseling, 39(1), 39-55.
Bornefeld-Ettmann, P., Steil, R., Höfling, V., Weßlau, C., Lieberz, K. A., Rausch, S., ... &
Müller-Engelmann, M. (2018). Validation of the German version of the sexual self-
esteem inventory for women and its application in a sample of sexually and physically
abused women. Sex Roles, 79(1-2), 109-122.
Firoozi, M., Azmoude, E., & Asgharipoor, N. (2016). The relationship between personality
traits and sexual self-esteem and its components. Iranian journal of nursing and
midwifery research, 21(3), 225.
Hannier, S., Baltus, A., & De Sutter, P. (2018). The role of physical satisfaction in women's
sexual self-esteem. Sexologies, 27(4), e85-e95.
Krahé, B., & Berger, A. (2017). Gendered pathways from child sexual abuse to sexual
aggression victimization and perpetration in adolescence and young adulthood. Child
Abuse & Neglect, 63, 261-272.
Krahé, B., & Berger, A. (2017). Longitudinal pathways of sexual victimization, sexual self-
esteem, and depression in women and men. Psychological trauma: theory, research,
practice, and policy, 9(2), 147.
Rohleder, P., McDermott, D. T., & Cook, R. (2017). Experience of sexual self-esteem among
men living with HIV. Journal of health psychology, 22(2), 176-185.