SEXUALITY IN CHILDHOOD: SEXUAL DEVELOPMENTAL IN INFANCY
The earliest encounters of infant and mother can hardly help but contribute to the sensory and affectional awakening of the infant, arousing sensitivity in the body and stimulating the growth of sexual consciousness. Evidence of a child’s capacity for sensory pleasure in the first year of life can be observed. From birth to one year of age the mouth is the chief pleasure zone of the infant, but infants also respond to total body contact (Renshaw). The chief pleasurable activity in the first year is sucking the mother’s breast or the thumb. The progressive development and orderly shift of sexuality from the mouth to other parts of the body (feet, thighs, abdomen) is evidenced in the activities of the infant when naked or when being bathed. Fingers wander searchingly over other parts of the body exploring the ears, the navel, the nipple region, and the genital area. Whether the infant is free to explore and stimulate its own body depends largely upon the parental acceptance of the infant’s nakedness and freedom of bodily activities.
Both before and after birth the human begins to develop a system of tensional outlets. These include changing positions in the womb, rocking to sleep in the crib, bed shaking, head banging, as well as handling the genitals and possibly some masturbating. Removal of clothes and attempts to run around naked occur between one and two years (Ilg and Ames). By two years the infant has already incorporated some of these impulses into forms of expression permitted by society, and although rocking, head banging, and some masturbating occur, much of the two-year-old’s release of tension is manifested by displays of strong affection toward parents, kissing, for example. Dolls and teddy bears also receive much attention. Being fed, taken to the toilet, dressed, and taken for rides are characteristic of things that occupy the two-year-old’s attention. The evidence of underlying sexual development is exhibited in the infant’s other achievements. Naming of the genitals with the use of a word for urination, distinguishing boys from girls even before the age of two, and differentiating adults by such words as “lady” or “man” are among these achievements.
At two and one-half years of age, the infant has still more understanding of the sociosexual scene. Differentiation of male and female roles has increased markedly. The child is aware of his or her gender and the fact that it is like the parent of the same gender and different from the other parent and his or her opposite-gender peers. The child can now differentiate the gender of children by the terms boy and girl. The two-and-a-half-year-old may well have incorporated a nonverbal generalization that boys and fathers have distinct genitalia and stand when they urinate, but girls and mothers do not. This age marks the beginning of interest in the physiological differences between sexes. The infant is very conscious of its own sex organs and may handle them when undressed. Inquiries concerning mothers’ breasts are common. All in all, the child has reached a point at which, because gender distinctions are possible, socialization into a male or female identity can and does occur.
In early childhood, erotic feelings become centered on the genitalia, and definite periods of sex play can be observed. Sex interest increases with age and varies in that some infants and children are much more interested than others in the subject of sex.
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