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Human animal relationships
Homosexuality and its effect on society
Human animal relationships
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Same-sex relationships have been seen throughout the world for many years. It took same-sex human relationships many years to get to the forefront through history, and it seems to be the same case in animals. Through research and studies, same-sex relationships are being recognized more and more in animals as well as in humans. Within human relationships and animal relationships as well, there are many sex and gender implications. Historical perspectives of not presenting sexualities out of the norm due to resistance in spite of solid research based evidence are now being used to support the sensitive nature of the topic. Brett outlines the science of homosexual relationships amongst animals. Science and knowledge are enculturated (Fausto-Sterling) and scientists have seen heterosexuality, where others are now seeing homosexuality. Heterosexuality is seen within society as the ‘normal’ way of life, but it is important to look at all ways of living.
Homophobia seems to be a gendered topic. Men tend to be thought of as being more homophobic than women (Frank, 2008). The behaviours that are exhibited by some men in society support this statement. Negative comments, bullying and physical assaults have been documented as a result of homophobic behaviour. As seen in Hopkins article “Gender Treachery,” the term “girl” signifies “a failure of masculinity”, “a failure of living up to a gendered standard of behaviour”, and “a gendered standard of identity” (p.130). In other words, the term girl is used to bully those male individuals who seem to be more ‘feminine’. Is homophobia simply ‘intrinsic to contemporary heterosexual masculinity?” (Frank 2008). I do not believe that the term homophobia is simply intrinsic to contemporary heterose...
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...244-248). In di Leonardo, M. & Lancaster, R. (Eds.) The gender/ sexuality reader. New York, NY: Routledge.
Frank, K., (2008). “Not gay, but not homophobic”: Male sexuality and homophobia in the ‘lifestyle.’ Sexualities, 11 (4), 435-454. Retrieved March 17, 2010 from Academic Search Premier database.
Gill, R. (2008). Empowerment/Sexism: Figuring female sexual agency in contemporary advertising. Feminism and Psychology, 18 (1), 35-60. Retrieved March 20, 2010 from Academic Search Premier database.
Hopkins, P. (1992). Gender Treachery (pp. 129-151). In Ashton-Jones, E., Olson, G.A. & Perry, M.G. (Eds.) Gender Reader. Toronto: Longman.
Looy, H., Bouma, H., (2005). The nature of gender: Gender identity in persons who are intersexed or transgendered. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 33 (3), 166-178. Retrieved March 24, 2010 from Academic Search Premier database.
In an effort to legitimize all subcategories of sexuality considered deviant of heterosexual normatively, queer theory acknowledges nontraditional sexual identities by rejecting the rigid notion of stabilized sexuality. It shares the ideals of gender theory, applying to sexuality the idea that gender is a performative adherence to capitalist structures that inform society of what it means to be male, female, gay, and straight. An individual’s conformity to sexual or gendered expectations indicates both perpetration and victimization of the systemic oppression laid down by patriarchal foundations in the interest of maintaining power within a small group of people. Seeking to deconstruct the absolute nature of binary opposition, queer theory highlights and celebrates literary examples of gray areas specifically regarding sexual orientation, and questions those which solidify heterosexuality as the “norm”, and anything outside of it as the “other”.
Advertising, whether criticized or celebrated, is undeniably a strong force in American society. Portrayals and Images of women have long been used to sell in published advertisements. However, how they have been used has changed enormously throughout the decades. Women have fought to find a lasting and prominent position in their society. Only in the span of twenty years, between 1900’s and 1920’s, the roles of women changed dramatically here in United States.
In “Dude, You’re a Fag,” multiple boys that were interviewed said they “didn’t like gay people” and were disgusted by gay men but lesbians were “good” (Pascoe). These boys only viewed female homosexuality as “good” because of its place in the heterosexual male fantasy and not because they approved of homosexuality as a legitimate and accepted sexuality (Pascoe). The binary gender system creates a male dominated society that allows for only female homosexuality to exist because even through it goes against the strict normative heterosexuality it can still be a source of pleasure for men. Male homosexuality, however, is not accepted because in a male dominated world it is associated with not being masculine. Through the use of the slur “fag,” people demean and emasculate boys and men (Pascoe). The use of “fag” against someone does not imply that they are homosexual; instead, Pascoe’s study and interview of high school age boys shows that it is used to say that a person is not masculine and therefore not conforming to their gender roles. Even though women can be sexually fluid and have intimate relationships with other women, it is not viewed as legitimate sex because there is no penis involved. Women are allowed by society to have sex with whomever they want, as long as they are still able to perform their gender role as wives and birth givers. In contrast, in
The documentary Killing Us Softly 4 discusses and examines the role of women in advertisements and the effects of the ads throughout history. The film begins by inspecting a variety of old ads. The speaker, Jean Kilbourne, then discusses and dissects each ad describing the messages of the advertisements and the subliminal meanings they evoke. The commercials from the past and now differ in some respects but they still suggest the same messages. These messages include but are not limited to the following: women are sexual objects, physical appearance is everything, and women are naturally inferior then men. Kilbourne discusses that because individuals are surrounded by media and advertisements everywhere they go, that these messages become real attitudes and mindsets in men and women. Women believe they must achieve a level of beauty similar to models they see in magazines and television commercials. On the other hand, men expect real women to have the same characteristics and look as beautiful as the women pictured in ads. However, even though women may diet and exercise, the reality...
Common sense seems to dictate that commercials just advertise products. But in reality, advertising is a multi-headed beast that targets specific genders, races, ages, etc. In “Men’s Men & Women’s Women”, author Steve Craig focuses on one head of the beast: gender. Craig suggests that, “Advertisers . . . portray different images to men and women in order to exploit the different deep seated motivations and anxieties connected to gender identity.” In other words, advertisers manipulate consumers’ fantasies to sell their product. In this essay, I will be analyzing four different commercials that focuses on appealing to specific genders.
The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. 1,500 Animal Species Practice Homosexuality. News - Medical - Medical. N.p., n.d. Web. The Web.
Milstein, Susan A. Taking Sides Clashing Views in Human Sexuality. Ed. William J. Taverner and Ryan W. McKee. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.
Advertising in American culture has taken on the very interesting character of representing our culture as a whole. Take this Calvin Klein ad for example. It shows the sexualization of not only the Calvin Klein clothing, but the female gender overall. It displays the socially constructed body, or the ideal body for women and girls in America. Using celebrities in the upper class to sell clothing, this advertisement makes owning a product an indication of your class in the American class system. In addition to this, feminism, and how that impacts potential consumer’s perception of the product, is also implicated. Advertisements are powerful things that can convey specific messages without using words or printed text, and can be conveyed in the split-second that it takes to see the image. In this way, the public underestimates how much they are influenced by what they see on television, in magazines, or online.
Integrating scripting theory with the compulsory heterosexuality theory, a heteronormative, dominant sexual script was explicated, the Heterosexual Script (Sorsoli; Collins; Zylbergold; Schooler & Tolman 2007 p. 145-157). Traditionally, societies have encouraged both men and women to obey different sexual scripts (Laws and Schwartz 1977). This heterosexual scripts has been commented to be extremely gendered as well as breeding gender inequality (Pascoe 2007) and this essay aims to depict the means in which it is gendered along with its influences towards men and women in Western’s
The origin of sexual identity is something that has been questioned since before the discovery of DNA and modern scientific techniques. There are many findings and theories as to whether physiology plays a role in the development of gender identity and arguments regarding the effects of both “nature” and “nurture” on one’s gender role and sexual preference, as well as sexual identity. What can be seen after examining the subject is that sexuality can be determined by both environmental and physiological factors. To understand these, one must first understand the differences between gender identity, gender role, and sexual preference.
Wilton, Tamsin. "Which One's the Man? The Heterosexualisation of Lesbain Sex." Gender, Sex, and Sexuality. New York: Oxford University, 2009. 157-70. Print.
With the constant representation and naturalization of the discourse, heterosexuality is an identity assumed unconsciously. Heterosexuality is experienced so frequently is it no longer witnessed. It has become normalized. A simple way of explaining this process is the naturalization of sexuality. There is the continual framing of what sexual practices are natural based upon people’s biological and instinctual need to reproduce. In other words, sexuality isn’t deemed to be an exercise of agency, rather it is implemented as person’s identity from birth similarly to gender. The notion heterosexuality stems primarily from a biological sense of reproducing gives way to the mentality of it being the norm because that’s how the body was designed to work. However, this theory is socially constructed. The discourses of science explaining sexuality are produced by institutions to reinforce and maintain their power. This power conservation is demonstrated by heterosexuality’s dominance in the media, privileges deriving from heterosexuality and the correspondence between heterosexuality and gender. Heterosexuality is the identity that can’t be
Listed as nothing more than a footnote in Kinsey's 1948 path breaking volume Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, category X represents the sexual minority known as asexuals, who, according to Kinsey's original description, are people who experience "no socio-sexual response” (Kinsey 658). In the time since Kinsey published this work, however, the asexual community has come to describe themselves as pe...
Throughout Western civilization, culturally hegemonic views on gender and sexuality have upheld a rigid and monolithic societal structure, resulting in the marginalization and dehumanization of millions of individuals who differ from the expected norm. Whether they are ridiculed as freaks, persecuted as blasphemers, or discriminated as sub-human, these individuals have been historically treated as invisible and pushed into vulnerable positions, resulting in cycles of poverty and oppression that remain prevalent even in modern times. Today, while many of these individuals are not publicly displayed as freaks or persecuted under Western law, women, queer, and intersexed persons within our society still nonetheless find themselves under constant
Gender and sexuality can be comprehended through social science. Social science is “the study of human society and of individual relationships in and to society” (free dictionary, 2009). The study of social science deals with different aspects of society such as politics, economics, and the social aspects of society. Gender identity is closely interlinked with social science as it is based on an identity of an individual in the society. Sexuality is “the condition of being characterized and distinguished by sex” (free dictionary, 2009). There are different gender identities such as male, female, gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual that exists all around the world. There is inequality in gender identities and dominance of a male regardless of which sexuality they fall under. The males are superior over the females and gays superior over the lesbians, however it different depending on the place and circumstances. This paper will look at the gender roles and stereotypes, social policy, and homosexuality from a modern and a traditional society perspective. The three different areas will be compared by the two different societies to understand how much changes has occurred and whether or not anything has really changed. In general a traditional society is more conservative where as a modern society is fundamentally liberal. This is to say that a traditional society lists certain roles depending on the gender and there are stereotypes that are connected with the genders. One must obey the one that is dominant and make decisions. On the other hand, a modern society is lenient, It accepts the individual’s identity and sexuality. There is no inequality and everyone in the society is to be seen as individuals not a part of a family unit...