Healthy sexuality involves enjoying and feeling empowered by sexual feelings and interactions, which should be built on trust, respect, and affection. Communication and mutual consent are essential for maintaining a healthy sexual relationship, while unhealthy sexual behavior involves fear, coercion, or abuse.
Healthy sexuality is often defined as the ability to enjoy and feel empowered by one’s sexual feelings and interactions. Many healthy sexuality experts believe that sexual activity isn’t limited to activities that can occur before, during, or after intercourse. Instead, they believe that sexual activity can encompass all activities that help build an intimate relationship, where trust, respect, and affection are shared. Healthy sex allows both partners to feel that they are freely consenting to any sexual interaction that may take place and that each partner enjoys an equal measure of personal power in the situation. Both partners should ideally enjoy mutual trust and respect, and both partners should feel safe emotionally and physically during sexual interaction.
Many experts believe that expressing healthy sexuality requires a deep level of trust, commitment and communication between sexual partners. They often emphasize building a mutually respectful and comfortable relationship before sexual contact can be considered healthy. Even after the boundaries of physical intimacy have been crossed in a relationship, most experts recommend ongoing, honest communication to help both partners maintain a sense of security and comfort with sexual contact.
Some types of sexual expression are considered unhealthy. Any sexual contact in which one partner fears dangerous or unpleasant consequences could be considered unhealthy. These consequences could be physical, like an unplanned pregnancy or STDs, or they could be emotional, like fear of cheating. People who are coerced into sexual activity often suffer severe emotional damage afterwards. Healthy sexual expression generally requires both sexual partners to feel safe.
Other unhealthy ideas about sex might include ideas that sex is shameful, wrong, or dirty. Experts generally believe that healthy sexuality largely depends on a belief that sexual feelings and needs are normal, natural, healthy, and even empowering. Healthy sexuality is generally considered a means of expressing love and affection. Experts believe that healthy sexual expression can help support self-esteem, individual boundaries and ethical values.
Abusive sexual behavior is another type of unhealthy sexuality. It is often classified as sexual behavior intended to control or harm another. Healthy sexuality, in contrast, typically allows both partners to give or withdraw consent to any sexual activity, either before or after sexual interaction has begun.
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