The Hypothalamus, Hormones and Homosexuality

Human sexuality is an aspect in everyone’s life whether they realize it or not.

Let’s take Batman and Robin, for instance. They were the first cartoon characters accused of “sexual practices.” Fred Wertherm, a psychologist, studied sexuality in comic books and recorded the sexual behaviors between Batman and Robin. He noted these two characters as two men who wore capes and loved wearing tights- not the most masculine qualities. Batman and Robin also lived together. When they were at home, they would lounge around in gowns. Dr. Wetherm described these heroes as “sexually suspicious.” Most people that heard about the sexual connotations in Batman and Robin, thought viewers were being too analytic. Then, other cartoons came about with the same type of subtle sexual implications. In 1994, a Southern preacher tried to ban The Children’s Television Workshop because he said they were “promoting same-sex unions.” Who caused this preacher’s frustration? Ernie and Bert from Sesame Street. These two compassionate characters were mistaken as lovers when they made their big on-screen debut. Just like Batman and Robin, they lived in the same house. But, they watched each other take bathes and even slept in the same room. Wertherm questioned their sexuality when he watched the way Ernie and Bert interacted with each other. All of these cartoon characters are representative of people. The way their gestures were not noticed by some only proves that sexuality is so prevalent in daily life; it can be conscious or unconscious. The study of homosexuality seems to be biological and deal more with “nature” instead of “nurture.”

Sexuality is a major part of society. It is interesting to see how sexuality is observed and noted, even in ...

... middle of paper ...

...obia: A History. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2000

Henry, C.J.,ed. Long Term Consequences of Early Environment Growth, Development

and the lifespan developmental perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 1996.

Johnson, Ryan. “Homosexuality: Nature or Nurture.” AllPsych, April 30, 2003. http://allpsych.com/journal/homosexuality.html (accessed April 20, 2011)

Menton, Henry. Gay and Lesbian Studies. New York: Haworth Press,1992.

Parker, Alice. “The Gay Brain,” Times Magazine, January 2011

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1815538,00.html (accessed April

19, 2011)

Risman, Barbara. “ Sociological Research on Male and Female Homosexuality.”JSTOR,

1988. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3422972 (accessed April 19, 2011)

Weisber, Jacob. “ The Cartoon Closet.” Slate, February 21, 1999.

http://www.slate.com/id/20251 (accessed May 1, 2011)