Editing Sexual norm (section)

{{More citations needed|date=January 2008}}{{Use mdy dates|date = February 2019}}
{{Short description|Concept of normal sexuality, whether social or personal}}
{{Use American English|date = February 2019}}

A '''sexual norm''' can refer to a [[person]]al or a [[Norm (sociology)|social]] norm. Most cultures have social norms regarding [[Human sexuality|sexuality]], and define ''[[normal (behavior)|normal]] sexuality'' to consist only of certain [[sex acts]] between individuals who meet specific [[age of consent|age criteria]], [[consanguinity|nonconsanguinity]] (vs. [[incest]]), [[Race (human categorization)|race]]/[[ethnicity]] (vs. [[miscegenation|interracial relationships]]), and/or social role and [[socioeconomic status]].

In most societies, the term ''normal'' identifies a range or [[spectrum]] of behaviors. Rather than each act being simply classified as "acceptable" or "not acceptable", many acts are viewed as "more or less accepted" by different people, and the opinion on how normal or acceptable they are greatly depends on the individual making the opinion as well as the culture itself. Based on information gained from [[sexology|sexological]] studies, a great many ordinary people's sex lives are very often quite different from popular beliefs about ''normal'', in private.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bozon|first1=Michel|last2=Rennes|first2=Juliette|author-link2=Juliette Rennes|title=The history of sexual norms: the hold of age and gender|date=February 2015|publisher=Belin|isbn=9782701194325|page=304|edition=42|url=https://www.cairn-int.info/article-E_CLIO1_042_0007--the-history-of-sexual-norms-the-hold.htm|access-date=2019-09-26}}</ref>

If non-restrictive sexual norms are regarded positively, they may be called "'''sexual freedom'''", "[[Sexual revolution|sexual liberation]]" or "[[free love]]". If they are regarded negatively, they may be called "sexual licence" or "[[licentiousness]]". Restrictive social norms, if judged negatively, are called ''sexual oppression''.  If the restrictive norms are judged positively, they may be regarded as encouraging [[chastity]], "sexual self-restraint" or "sexual decency", and negative terms are used for the targeted sexuality, e.g. ''[[sexual abuse]]'' and ''[[perversion]]''.