Infant and Child Sexuality: A Sociological Perspective - Ipce

The mother of a five year old told Kinsey that her son had become
quite discriminating in his kissing. He was aroused frequently in heterosexual
play, and she had seen him in fondling and caressing activity
with a girl friend. (Kinsey, unpublished).
Besides displays of affectional and sexual behavior, children ask
questions and verbalize or act out aspects of sexual generalizations
that they have acquired. The child of age three expresses interest in
the different postures for urinating. Girls attempt to urinate standing
up.
The child proposes marriage to his parent. Domestic play (both boys
and girls) with dolls, teddy bears, and household equipment that began
in infancy continues in childhood. (Gesell and Ilg, 1946, p. 319).
At four years of age, the child shows interest in sex questions
pertaining to where babies come from and how babies get out of their
mothers. The attitudes he finds associated with elimination and the
genital area as a portion of the excretory rather than reproductive
system are greatly influential in the period following toilet training.
The game of “show” is common and often contains verbal play about
elimination. Interest in other people’s bathrooms is high, and while he
may demand privacy for himself, the four year old child is extremely
interested in the bathroom activities of others. Under social stress he
often reacts by grasping the genitals and experiencing a need to urinate.
The four year old is interested in growing older. Play group activities
show a tendency for division along sex lines. And although the
four year old prefers to play with other children, he often participates
in play alone with only imaginary companions for playmates. (Gesell
and Ilg, 1946, p. 319, 323).
Five year olds behave in a way quite contrary to that which they
demonstrated only one year earlier. They appear to be more self-contained,
serious about themselves, and impressed with their ability to
imitate grown-up behavior. Their interest lies in immediate experiences
and they are more realistic than younger children, undertaking
those things they know they can do. An interest in babies in general,
as well as an interest in having a baby of one’s own, is present and
this may be dramatized. Both boys and girls relate back to when they
were in mother’s stomach or to the future when they will have a baby of
their own. But despite this interest in pregnancy, they have yet to
make the connection between the appearance of a pregnant woman and the
presence of a baby. Sex play and games of “show” decrease in frequency
at this age as children become more modest and less apt to expose themselves.
Less bathroom play and interest in strange bathrooms than earlier
is characteristic of five year olds. They are familiar with, but not as
much interested in, the physical differences between the sexes although
they may wonder as to why the father doesn’t have breasts or a
sister doesn’t have a penis. In play boy-girl pairs occur frequently.
Domestic play continues with imitative attempts at playing house,
store, and hospital. Boys may reject girls’ roles but still take part
in house play, imitating adult male activities. Dolls are given roles
as babies and cared for appropriately, especially by girls. (Gesell and
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