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Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality PSY/265
Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality PSY/265
Homosexuality throughout history
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Sexual Enlightenment
Introduction
Throughout human history, there has always been a wide range of conflicts with nature. The earliest humans had to learn survival techniques in the wilderness, we have always felt the threat of the devastating forces of the earth like volcanoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes, and in recent decades have even ventured into the vast wonders of outer space. The issue we are focusing on here deals with various advances in the nature of human sexuality. Sexual enlightenment produced profound changes in human society. The aspects of sexual enlightenment covered in our web site are homosexuality, pre-marital sex, sexual disease, marriage and birth control.
Homosexuality has been around for a long time. We know it has been around in some form or another for most of history. It reared its head in ancient societies like the Roman Empire and has survived to make its way into our present day world. Homosexuality has experienced many changes and different levels of acceptance depending on time and place. In the past few decades, this alternative form of sexuality has seen a huge growth in popularity. Though it is not fully accepted in today's societies, advocates are always fighting for homosexual rights. It remains a topic of varying acceptance.
Our second aspect of sexual enlightenment is pre-marital sex. Of the cultures, past and present, who treasure the bond of marriage (for whatever reasons), pre-marital sex has been generally looked down upon within the society. Nonetheless, we know that it has still been a frequent occurrence in many societies. People just didn't want to wait until marriage, and they sure don't want to now. Pre-marital sex remains a popular occurrence in today's societies.
Thirdly, we have the enlightenment in sexually transmitted diseases. Because of relatively recent advances in science, we have been able to study diseases much more thoroughly. We can understand how they work and even find treatments for them. These diseases have been around since people have been having sexual intercourse with multiple partners (probably all of human history) since that's how they are spread. We have records of prostitution dating back to ancient times, so sexual disease must be very old.
In the article “An Anthropological Look at Human Sexuality” the authors, Patrick Gray and Linda Wolfe speak about how societies look at human sexuality. The core concept of anthology is the idea of culture, the systems of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors people acquire as a member of society. The authors give an in depth analysis on how human sexuality is looked at in all different situations.
For years homosexuality in the United States of America has been looked down upon by citizens, religions, and even politicians. The homosexual culture, or the LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender), has been demoralized and stuck out and lashed against by the Heterosexual community time and time again. To better understand the LGBT community we must first grasp the concept of Sexual Orientation.
The 19th-Century was a period in which the expression of sexuality and sexual compulsion was firmly repressed. Charles E. Rosenberg explores the typical behaviors of the sexes, and how they related to the expression, or repression, of sexuality in “Sexuality, Class and Role in 19th-Century America.” Medical and biological literature tended to adopt very sex-negative attitudes, condemning sexual desires and activity. This literature was often ambivalent and self-contradicting. Initially, people viewed sex as a normal human behavior: they believed sexual excess was bad, but thought it was natural and necessary after puberty because horniness left unsatisfied and untreated could cause disease. However, in the 1830s, the previous sex-neutral attitude was quickly replaced by a harsher, more negative view of sexuality. “Quacks,” or charlatans, tried to instill people with a crippling fear of sex by warning them of
At the turn of the 19th century Americans faced a multitude of cultural changes, involving contraceptive acceptance, sexuality changes, and modernism acceptance. Contraceptives were illegal in the early 1900s and posed many relationship problems between married couples since they wanted to be intimate. New ideas about sexuality and affection changed the views on appropriate erotic practices to indulge in within single people typically around college age. Women and men didn’t wait until marriage before having some type of sexual relation, which caused family problems and government intervention because of the negative views of being promiscuous. Modernism ideals developed with the introduction of new sciences and the argument of evolution
Our ancestors have practiced sex since the beginning of our civilization. Sex is not a bad thing nor is it a good thing when one thinks about sex all the time. It is best to have intercourse with those whom one feels the most affection to. Taboos regarding sexual affection have diminished throughout time. It was unimaginable to see lesbians and homosexuals announce their love to one another in public. There are religions that define masturbation as a dreadful act, but it only shows how disconnected certain religions are from society as well as presidents enjoying oral sex, rather than regular intercourse. Societies now have the liberty to choose their partner even if, they are the same gender as well as express their love to one another publicly. We know have the freedom to explore our carnal desires freely, inclusively in the military. Humans need for sexual affection has gone to such extremes in needing animals to fulfill their erotic desires. In the remote past, there is evidence showing humans engaging in sexual activities with large creatures as well as Greek urns, showing men h...
Unlike sex, the history of sexuality is dependant upon society and limited by its language in order to be defined and understood.
Milstein, Susan A. Taking Sides Clashing Views in Human Sexuality. Ed. William J. Taverner and Ryan W. McKee. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.
Looking at our past, there have been dramatic changes in the way humans view sex. Long before the 1900s individuals framed their views based on the religious institution. Due to the fact that they strongly centered their idea of sexual thought on religion, they believed that the only purpose of having sex was to procreate. As the 1920’s approached, there were various factors that changed the way individuals viewed sex. The “new women” known, as flappers were women who were confident in who they were. They changed their attire as well as their social attitude. In the 1920s, the flappers redefined sex; customs and traditions were broken and new norms were created by society.
... decades ago. This book is one that will allow the reader to view many aspects of sexuality from a social standpoint, and apply it to certain social attitudes in our society today, these attitudes can range from the acceptance of lesbian and gays, and the common sight of sex before marriage and women equality. The new era of sexuality has taken a definite "transformation" as Giddens puts it, and as a society we are living in the world of change in which we must adapt, by accepting our society as a changing society, and not be naive and think all the rules of sexuality from our parents time our still in existence now.
Since the responsibility and emotional burden of reproducing and breeding are completely removed, every single person living in the World State can devote himself to the gratification of sexual desires without any hesitation. When such believers are strong enough, the power of dissent will be increasingly weak and uncomprehending. Eliminating dissidents from society at this time would have no serious consequences. This is also the malevolent aspect of this approach because citizens will not be sympathetic to those who try to pull themselves out from the endless pleasure. Therefore, the society forms.
An issue that has, in recent years, begun to increase in arguments, is the acceptability of homosexuality in society. Until recently, homosexuality was considered strictly taboo. If an individual was homosexual, it was considered a secret to be kept from all family, friends, and society. However, it seems that society has begun to accept this lifestyle by allowing same sex couples. The idea of coming out of the closet has moved to the head of homosexual individuals when it used to be the exception.
The sexual revolution of the 1960’s made a big impact on society as a whole, changing and shaping it to much of what it has become today. Although this change has provided progress for the society it has also created new challenges that civilization must now face. Due to the new issues brought on by the previous sexual revolution it can be said that the sexual revolution is not yet over, as it is still revolutionizing society today. We are currently part of our own sexual revolution, one that deals with issues brought on by the previous one as well as issues that have never been tackled before, such as situations brought on by the relatively new media. This revolution seeks to change the opinions on women’s rights, sexuality and gender, and the social media. The sexual revolution is now, and it is affecting the North American society as a whole. It is widely known that society is ever-changing, so it is inevitable that new challenges will cause change; in a society that can never stay the same there can never be only one revolution. The sexual revolution of the 1960’s only served as a starting point for a plethora of sexual revolutions that are to come.
... that it is turning onto a social norm in Western cultures. Most religions in Western Culture have been basing their stances on how society changes and evolves. Christian churches are becoming more and more flexible with members who may identify as homosexual.
Sex before marriage is very often a touchy subject. However, I feel that sex before marriage is a very important subject that is not brought up and talked about enough. There are many different viewpoints brought to the table when talking about this particular subject. The standards of society are constantly changing. One sign of this change is that nowadays many young adults seem to be open to premarital sex. Although I have heard many good arguments from people both pro- and anti- sex before marriage, I have yet to change my stance on this matter. In my opinion, having sexual intercourse before getting married is absolutely a bad tendency in our society.
The sexual revolution occurred in the second half of the twentieth century. It was caused by a variety of reasons such as the weakening of control of adolescent behavior, separation of sexuality from reproduction, and open appearance of different orientation. Furthermore, people ceased to perceive sex as something shameful and immoral. In this regard, there were many problems associated with the ignorance of the majority of people in matters of sexuality; consequently, government decided to impose a duty to explain to pupils basic reproductive processes and precautions on schools. Teaching a class of sex education would have sufficient benefits such as "lower teenage pregnancies, a decline in sexually transmitted diseases, more responsible thinking" (Blanton).