Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Gender and sexual orientation
Gender and sexual orientation
Gender and sexual orientation
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Gender and sexual orientation
Sexual Orientation Sexual orientation refers to one's degree of emotional and erotic attraction to members of the same sex, opposite sex or both sexes. Heterosexual persons are romantically and erotically attracted to members of the opposite sex, whereas homosexual persons are attracted to those whose sex match their own. A person who is bisexual is attracted to both men and women. According to a recent national survey, about 7 percent of all adults regard themselves as homosexual or bisexual. That means that roughly 7 people out of every hundred are bisexual or homosexual; 50 million people in the U.S. alone are gay, lesbian, or have a family member who is homosexual. The question is, however, do they choose to be gay or is it genetically predetermined. I once asked a homosexual friend why he chose to be gay if it was indeed such a headache. "Choose to be gay?" he asked. "It is NOT a choice. If I could choose to fall in love with a woman, marry her and live a so-called normal life, I would do so in a minute." I was surprised, because being as naïve as I was, that possibility had never occurred to me. Then, I asked him if it was possible to pretend, for the sake of an easier life. He replied, "Pick a woman, any woman. Now imagine having to have sex with her and spending the rest of your life with only her and never touching a man again." I shuddered at the thought! He smiled and said, "That is exactly how I feel. I have no desire to touch a woman in any other way than a friend would touch a friend. All I am attracted to is men." Recent scientific discoveries are fast supporting this claim. Whereas history has always assumed that homosexuals chose to "sin" and be "different," studies are claiming the exa... ... middle of paper ... ...ve, not Adam and Steve." However, when they are pressed to explain why, exactly, it is wrong, they cannot come up with good reasons. With the evidence of the predetermined genetic disposition of homosexuals and interpretations of the Bible bringing to light the acceptance of all men, society no longer has any excuse in discriminating. Instead of being discouraged by the hate crimes and lack of support from the masses, homosexuals are becoming more determined then ever to earn equal rights and an equal place in society. Thanks to a constitution that allows for equal rights under God, new evidence will eventually win the equality in all areas of life that all people deserve, whether heterosexual or not. With any luck, children of today will grow up with a better understanding and an acceptance so that the oppression of homosexuals will be nonexistent tomorrow.
To look at what causes homosexuality, one must look back through history at different points in time, for example Homosexual acts occur naturally in nature and appear all over history. No one knows for sure what causes homosexuality or if there is a choice in sexual orientation at all. Scientific studies have furthered no evidence in supporting the idea of altering Sexual Orientation or choosing in what sexual acts you enjoy ruling out any possibility of Homosexuality being a choice. No link to psychopathy or family distress to homosexuality has been found, and all studies point to birth regarding sexual orientation at birth rather than during adolescence (APA).
I chose this topic because there is an issue of homophobia around the world. I find it interesting as to why people are homosexual, and if there is a gene responsible for this or if it can be developed later in life. This area of research directly relates to the age old question of “nature Vs. nurture”.
In Brandon Ambrosino’s “I am Gay – but I Wasn't Born This Way”, the author states his reasoning as to why he believes he chose to be gay. Being one of the few who questions the born this way ideology, Ambrosino, along with other LGBTQ activists, are “cast as homophobic, and their thinking is considered backward”(par 10). However, just because an argument like this is popular, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true. Even scientific organizations like the American Psychological Association (APA) believes that people have no control over their sexual orientations, however, no findings have been found that determine if sexual orientation is determined from hormones, genetics, or cultural influences(par 21), therefore contradicting the previous claim.
The term sexual orientation is known as the preference of one’s sexual partners, whether the same sex, opposite sex, or both sexes. Sexual orientation occurs when a child reaches the adolescent stages in life (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015). Adolescents activate their sexual orientation within four steps that create their identity. Adolescents are unaware of their identity at the beginning stages of sexual orientation. They work their way into the exploration stage by learning their preference of sexual partners. Once they are aware of their sexual identity, they will start the process of acceptance. Once acceptance is achieved, they will begin to integrate their sexual orientation into their lives (Gallor & Fassinger, 2010).
The first possible cause of homosexuality is genetic factors. Homosexuality is a trait from birth (Buchanan, 2000). Studies found that identical twins share many common traits. A study found that identical twins normally share homosexual behavior if one of them is homosexual. This proved that genes are likely to cause homosexuality. In addition, according to (Santinover, 2002), homosexuality is a heritable behavior. Based on heritability studies, almost any human trait is heritable including the homosexual behavior. He stated that behavioral genes are found in specific chromosome. Thus, the behavior is obviously heritable. Moreover, Italian University of Padova (2004) believes that homosexual trait is passed from mother to male offspring by natural ...
Paul Mountjoy wrote the article “Modern science says homosexuality is not a choice” and states: “The question of whether homosexuality is a choice remains on the front lines of criticisms, as many in common society believe one chooses to be lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB). However, 40 years of study indicates homosexuality is not a personal choice. The APA has declared LBG as not a mental illness or disorder with no identifiable dissimilar psychopathology, as both heterosexual and homosexual behaviors are normal aspects of human sexuality” (Mountjoy, Paul, Washington Times). This article fully states that not only is being homosexual isn’t a disease, but also that there is no choice in being straight, gay, or even bisexual. That they are normal aspects of human nature. They said there is “no identifiable dissimilar psychopathology”, meaning that it is normal to be gay or
As the years have passed, homosexuality has become a very controversial topic. The fact that day by day they fight for equality just to be happy, I think it is an injustice that many people refuse to give them the rights they deserve.
10.7 million Americans consider themselves Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender, which is about 3.4% of our population. How does homosexuality occur? Is a man gay because of a missing father and an overbearing mother? Is a woman gay because of her desire to please her father by showing that she is worthy of the love she cannot seem to receive from him? Recently, most studies on the genetic liabilities of homosexuality have focused on men, but it is believed that the observations from these experiments also apply to women. Homosexuality is not strictly genetic, but epigenetic, and has characteristics of a hereditary trait.
From the moment people born, there are certain basic functions that will be with them throughout their lives. The abilities to eat, breathe, sleep, or to have the capacity to learn are a natural occurrence for most people. There are, however, traits that are specific to each individual. They are traits that set them apart from everyone else. The traits such as eye color, ones dominate hand, or susceptibility to a specific disease are a few traits that aren’t easily changed. However, there are some that are controversially questioned as to whether or not one is born with the trait or if it is a learned behavior. One of the biggest of these controversies is the question of whether sexual orientation is a choice or something that is beyond the individual’s influence. Although the evidence is commonly disregarded because of personal beliefs or opinions, sexual orientation is not a choice.
Gender has been around throughout history; however, within recent years, gender has separated itself from the traditional view of sex, e.i., male or female, and has become centered on ones masculinity or femininity. Of course gender is more than just ones masculinity or femininity, gender has become a way for one to describe, he or she, in a way in which they are different from everyone else. Gender has turned into a sense of identity, a way for one to feel different and fulfilled among all of those around them. Of course gender’s sense of freedom would seem outside of structure and only affected by one’s own agency, however, structure is a key component in establishing gender. We can look into both ethnic Mexican’s culture practices regarding sexuality, children songs and games, and see that cultural traditions still heavily influence gender, creating what is masculine and what is feminine and what is the role of each gender, as well as challenging the notions that gender is solely based on agency.
My arguments will be ignoring a major element in factoring the morality of homosexuality, the law. Yes, many people know that stealing and murder are both wrong, but this is based on socialization and learning passed down from previous generations. The aim isn’t to ignore the rules, but examples from history relating to homosexuality will not aid in proving ground for its ethics. A rational, autonomous decision making process must be used in order to decipher right from wrong, which can lead to solid, concrete answers.
There are many people who are firm believers that if you are gay, you were born that way and it has nothing to do with your surrounding environment. There have been lots of scientific research and studies done to help prove this side. For example, many scientists have done in depth studies on th...
It’s been a long debated subject of whether LGBT+ rights were civil rights or not. From being able to be gay and serve in the military, and to simply get the right to get married, it’s still a long road ahead, but the LGBT+ community has fought long and hard for simply rights that straight people already have. Torture, electroshock therapy, basic human rights being ripped away, and the feeling of being safe walking out of the house every day are all things LGBT+ community members have to worry about and have lost.
In order to discuss the biology of gender identity and sexual orientation, it is necessary to first examine the differences between multiple definitions that are often mistakenly interchanged: sex, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Sexual orientation is defined by LeVay (2011) as “the trait that predisposes us to experience sexual attraction to people of the same sex as ourselves, to persons of the other sex, or to both sexes” (p. 1). The typical categories of sexual orientation are homosexual, heterosexual and bisexual. Vrangalova and Savin-Williams (2012) found that most people identify as heterosexual, but there are also groups of people that identify as mostly heterosexual and mostly gay within the three traditional categories (p. 89). This is to say that there are not three concrete groups, but sexual orientation is a continuum and one can even fluctuate on it over time. LeVay (2011) also defines gender as “the ...
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...