For my Sexuality and Social Media class, I assigned a Sexual Genogram.

"What's a Sexual Genogram?" you might be wondering.

Sex Therapy in Philadelphia writes, "[t]he experiences we have had in our lives inevitably shape us into the person that we become. We all go through experiences that help to develop our personality, temperament, and other important characteristics that make us unique. Additionally, our experiences can create our patterns of behavior—both good and bad."

Those defining experiences impact our sexual development and behavior. I first heard about the Sexual Genogram assignment from Dr. Janell Carroll, a professor and author of the college textbook, Sexuality Now. Janell is a wonderful friend, educator and mentor and allowed me to modify her assignment.

The assignment for my class is as follows:

Think about your sexual history. Connect your early life experiences with your current understanding of yourself and sexuality in general. How does it, or does it not, impact you today?

Throughout the paper, ask yourself, “How did my cultural, religious, socioeconomic, ethnic, and family affect my own development? How do these experiences impact my current attitudes about my sexuality? What role, if any, did social media play in influencing my development and sexuality?”

Assigning this short paper has me thinking about what influenced my sexual development. When did I learn about sex? What was I attracted to? When were my first experiences with exploring, masturbation, orgasms and sex? What roles did my background and my family play in my development? How would my sexuality be different if I had grown up in the social media age?

I think this is a valuable assignment and not just for my students. I’m going to write my Sexual Genogram in the next few weeks, and I’m encouraging interested readers to do the same. If you’d like to post yours, but don’t feel comfortable doing so on your blog or don’t have your own site, I’m happy to post your Genogram here. No names or links required. xoxo