Human sexuality has a profound impact on our society; more importantly, everyone regardless of gender, ethnicity, or age has a role in human sexuality. It can be as simple as when a woman flaunts her chest and smiles seductively at a police officer to get out of a speeding ticket. Men can even manipulate their sexuality by pretending to share the same interests as a female to benefit his efforts of being with her. Human sexuality even defines what attributes are desired and considered attractive. For example, when Jennifer Lopez, a famous actress, debuted her voluptuous curves every man and woman considered her amble bottom to be the epiphany of today’s sexual desires. Human sexuality can benefit the person using their sexuality to gain control or it can lead to dangerous situations; Joyce Carol Oates illustrates the dangers of sexuality in her short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Her story demonstrates how sexuality is used for manipulation and how sexuality is used for attention.
To further, understand Oates’ illustration of sexuality, it is important to share a synopsis of her short story. In, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates shares a story about a fifteen-year-old girl named Connie who encounters Arnold Friend, a predator whose first words to Connie are, “Gonna get you, baby” (Oates). One day, while Connie is home alone, she receives an unexpected visitor from the mysterious boy she saw the other night while hanging out with friends. The mysterious boy introduces himself as Arnold Friend and tries to persuade Connie to take a ride with him by bragging about his car’s new paint job and enticing Connie to view more paintings found conveniently on the opposite door. As Arnold continues his coversation with Connie she “could see that he wasn’t a kid, he was much older-thirty, maybe more” (Oates) and Arnold begins to aggresively persuade Connie to take a ride with him in his car. After Arnold threatens Connie...