Human Sexuality Chapter 10

Sexual Orientation

Concerns the direction of one's romantic interest and erotic attractions - toward members of the same sex, the other sex, or both. Sexual orientation is not necessarily expressed in sexual behavior. Many people see themselves as gay or heterosexual long before they ever have sex with members of their own sex.

Genetics, The Brain and Sexual Orientation

Considerable evidence exists that gay male and lesbian sexual orientation run in families. Researchers have found evidence linking a region on the X sex chromosome to a gay male sexual orientation. The tip of the X chromosome is a region that may hold a gene that predisposes men to a gay male sexual orientation. They haven't found a specific gene but a possible general location where the gene may be found. Savic & Lindstom did MRIs on the brains of 90 subjects 25-heterosexual men and women, 20 gay men and lesbians. They found that the brains of the heterosexual men and the lesbians were slightly asymmetrical; the right hemisphere was slightly larger than the left hemisphere. This difference was not found among the brains of gay men and heterosexual women.

Heteroeroticism

Dimensions of responsiveness to male-female sexual stimulation

Ethnicity & Sexual Orientation

Member of ethnic minorities in the Us tend to be less tolerant of homosexuals than European Americans are. Lesbian or gay male sexual orientation is rejected by ethnic minority groups in the US. Lesbians and gay males are pressured to keep their sexual orientations a secret or move to communities where they can live openly without sanction. Lesbians and gay men find more of a sense of belonging in the gay community than in their ethnic communities.

Coming Out - Others

Many gay men and lesbians remain reluctant to declare their sexual orientation, even to friends and family. Gay men and lesbians often anticipate negative reactions from informing family members, including denial, anger,and rejection. Family members may be unwilling to hear or accept the news.

Coming Out - Oneself

Many gay people have a difficult time coming to recognize, let alone accept, their sexual orientation. Sexual identity in gay males and lesbians involve four steps or features: 1) Attraction to members of the same sex 2) Self-labeling as gay or lesbian 3) Sexual contact with members of the same sex 4) Disclosure of one's sexual orientation to others Males come out about 2 years earlier than females.

Gender Nonconformity - Butch-Femme

Masculine-typed behavior among lesbians as children. Lesbians were more than likely to perceive themselves as "tomboys". They would play rough and tumble instead of dolls and they enjoyed wearing boys clothing rather than dresses.

Gender Nonconformity

Means not behaving in a way that is consistent with the gender-role stereotype with one's anatomic sex in a given culture. On average, gay males tend to be somewhat feminine and lesbians to be somewhat masculine. Gender nonconformity begins in childhood. Many gay males and lesbians recall acting and felling "different" than their childhood peers. These feeling can be present as early as ages 3 or 4. Gay males are also more likely to recall feeling more sensitive than their heterosexual peers during childhood. They cried more easily. Their feelings were more readily hurt. They had more artistic interests.

"Cruising"

Means searching for a sex partner, principally for casual sex. One can "cruise" or "be cruised". Lesbians were more likely to find partners among friends, at work, and at informal gatherings.

Homos

From Greek meaning same

Gay Males

Males who are erotically attracted to and desire to form romantic relationships with other males.

Lesbians

Females who are erotically attracted to and desire to form romantic relationships with other females. Named after Lesbos, the Greek island on which, legend has it, female-female sexual activity was idealized. As time goes on many lesbians become heterosexual.

Biological Perspective

Focuses on the possible role of evolution, genetics and hormonal influences in shaping sexual orientation.

Social Organization of Sexuality Study (1990)

Found that 3.9% of American men who had ever been married had sex with men in the previous five years. 2-4% of ever-married American women had knowingly or unknowingly been in what are now called mixed-orientation marriages.

Survey Result Factors

- The way in which the questions are phrased - The social desirability of the professed behavior. - The sex of the interviewer - The manner in which the questions were administered, such as face -to -face interviews, by phone calls, or in written form. - Possible biases of respondents, such as volunteer bias

Homophobia / Forms Of

- Use of deragatory names (queer, faggot, and dyke) - Telling disparaging "queer jokes" - Barring gay people from housing, employment or social opportunities. - Taunting (verbal abuse) - Gay bashing (physical, sometimes lethal abuse)

Ethnicity & Sexual Orientation / Asian

-Asian American culture emphasize respect for elders, obedience to parents, and sharp distinctions in gender roles. The subject of sex is considered taboo. They assume that sex is unimportant to women. Open admission of a lesbian or gay male sexual orientation is seen as rejection of traditional cultural roles and a threat to continuity of the family line. Asian college students report being more homophobic than European Americans.

Homophobia

A cluster of negative attitudes and feelings toward gay people, including intolerance, hatred and fear. Men seem to be more homophobic than women. Homophobia is connected with traditional "tough" masculine attitudes. Heterosexual men have a hard understanding how any man could be attracted to a person of the same sex.

Factor Analysis

A statistical grouping technique.

Coming Out

Accepting of one's sexual orientation. Coming out is a two pronged process. Coming out to ones self and coming out to others. Coming out can create a sense of pride in one's sexual orientation and foster the ability to form emotionally and sexually satisfying relationships with gay male or lesbian partners.

Heterosexuality and Homosexuality as Separate Dimensions

According to this model, homosexuality and heterosexuality are independent dimensions. One can thus be high or low on both dimensions at the same time. Most people are high on one dimension. Bisexuals are high on both dimensions. People who are low on both are considered asexual. pg 285

Concordance

Agreement

"Office of the Night" / 1432

Enabled the populace to anonymously accuse individuals of sodomy, During the 70 years that the office was in operation, 17,000 men were investigated as possible sodomites, nearly half of the males population of Florence throughout that period. Fewer than 3,000 were actually convicted, if they were convicted they had to pay a fine rather than going to prison. -Christians considered any non-procreative sexual act was considered sinful, even within marriage. By late Middle Ages, most civil statutes throughout Western Europe contained penalties for non-procreative sexual acts involving the discharge of semen: oral or anal sex, masturbation, male-male sexual behavior, and bestiality. Our legal system, grounded in this religious tradition, maintains criminal penalties for sexual practices commonly associated with male-male and female-female sex, such as anal and oral sex. But much of the criminalization of male-male and female-female sex has been directed against men.

Bisexuality

Erotic attraction to, and interest in developing romantic relationships with, males and females. Sometimes said to "to swing both ways" or to be A/C D/C (meaning alternating current and direct current) Many people have a stronger attraction ti one sex than the other. They are considered "bi-gay" this means having a stronger leaning to their own sex, "bi-straight"toward the opposite sex or "bi-bi" appearing to be equally attracted to people of their own sex and the opposite sex. 1%-4% is considered bi-sexual. 0.8% were men .09% were women. Some gay people feel that saying that you are bisexual is a "cop-out" that people use to deny that they are gay. Possibly because of fear of leaving their spouse or "coming out". Others view it as sexual experimentation with people of one's own sex by people who are mostly heterosexual.

Heterosexual Orientation

Erotic attraction to, and preference for, developing romantic relationships with, members of the other sex. In absence of heterosexual outlets, adolescents and isolated populations such as prison inmates may have sexual experiences with people of their own sex while they maintain their heterosexual identities.

Homosexual Orientation

Erotic attraction to, and preference for, developing romantic relationships with, members or the same sex. Like heterosexual people, they struggle to incorporate their sexuality within their personal identity, to find lovers, and to establish satisfying lifestyles. It is not all about sex for these people it is about forming romantic relationships with the same sex. These attachments provide the framework for love and intimacy. Gay males and lesbians may engage in male-female sexual activity while maintaining a gay sexual orientation. Some gay and lesbians will marry members of the other sex but harbor unfulfilled desires for members of their own sex. Some people are bisexual but may not act on their attraction to members of their same sex.

Structure of the Brain

Evidence suggest that there may be structural differences between the brain of heterosexual and gay men. Simon LeVay did autopsy's on 35 AIDS victims (19 gay men & 16 heterosexual men) He found that a section of the hypothalamus (specifically, the third interstitial nucleus of the anterior hypothalamus) in the brains of the gay men was less than half the size of the same segment in the heterosexual men. The same brain segment was larger in the brain tissue of heterosexual men than in the brain tissues obtained from a comparison group of 6 heterosexual females. No significant differences in size were found between the brain tissues of the gay men and women.

Gay Activism

Gay activism has also focused on ending discrimination against gays on all fronts. -Notable among these are obtaining partner job benefits (health plan, retirement and so on) -Serving openly in the military -Having governments permit gays to get married Largest Issue Today: -Gay marriage -Replacement of the Don't Ask-Don't Tell order in the military-instituted by Bill Clinton in 1993 -Repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) also passed while Clinton was in office, which defines marriage as taking place between a man and woman.

Gay Lifestyle

Gay men and lesbians in larger US urban centers can usually look to gay communal structures to provide services and support. These include: -Gay right organizations -Gay-oriented newspapers, magazines -Gay bookstores - Housing cooperatives - Medical services and other support services. Gay communities provides a sense of acceptance and belonging that gay people do not find in society at large. Gay rights organizations fight for rights for gay people to participate fully in society, to teach in public schools, adopt children, to live together in sanctioned relationships and to serve openly and proudly in the military.

Castration Anxiety

In psychoanalytic theory, a man's fear that his genitals will be removed. Castration anxiety is an element of the Oedipus complex and is implicated in the directionality of erotic interest.

Historical Perspective / Gay & Lesbians

In western culture, few sexual practices have met with such widespread censure as sexual activities with members of one's own sex. -Ancient Greece, establish men frequently formed sexual relationships with adolescent males at about the age of first growing a beard. The older man putting his penis between the younger mans thighs until he ejaculated. -Roman described highly feminine gay men who dressed flamboyantly, had showy hair styles and mannerisms, and cruised certain neighborhoods, searching for partners. The Apostle Paul said that this behavior was a sign of the decadence of Rome, and the Christian Church assumed a strongly negative attitude toward homosexuality.

Marriages - Brokeback

It is estimated that 1.7 million to 3.4 American women once were or are now married to men who have sex with men.

Sodomy

Jews and Christian have traditionally referred to male-male sexual activity as the sin of Sodom - hence the orgin of the term sodomy, which generally alludes to anal intercourse and sometimes to- oral genital contact. According to the book of Genesis, the city of Sodom was destroyed by God.

Kinsey Continuum

Kinsey and his colleagues conceived of a 7-point heterosexual-homosexual continuum that classifies people according to their homosexual behavior and the magnitude of their attraction to members of their own gender. People in category 0, who accounted for most of Kinsey's study participants, were considered exclusively heterosexual. People in category 6 were considered exclusively homosexual. ** Finding suggest that 10% of the US population was gay or predominantly gay, a number that dramatically exceed current estimates.** Some were considered equally gay and heterosexual in orientation and could be labeled bisexual (3). Most people were classified as exclusively heterosexual. (0) Half of the men who reported male-male sexual activity in Kinsey's sample limited it to the ages of 12-14. Another 3rd had male-male sexual experiences by the age of 18, but not again. Kinseys research showed that sexual behavior patterns can change, sometimes dramatically so. Sexual experiences or feelings involving people of one's sex are common, especially in adolescence, an do not necessarily mean that one will engage in sexual activity exclusively with people of one's own sex in adulthood. It is estimated that 2%-10% of the population is gay male or lesbian.

Evolutionary Perspective

Kirpatrick suggest that male-male and female-female sexual behavior derive from individual selection for reciprocal altruism. That is, strong male-male and female-female alliances have advantages for group survival in that they bind group members together emotionally.

Ethnicity & Sexual Orientation / Latino Americans

Latino and Latina American culture believes that a woman should be a virgin when she gets married. Men will sometime engage in male-male sexual behavior, but not consider themselves gay. This culture denies the sexuality of women. Women that label themselves as lesbians are condemned, because they are lesbians and because they are confronting others with sexuality. They are considered a threat to the traditions of male dominance.

Mexican American Attitude toward G&L

Men's attitudes toward homosexual men were significantly more negative than women's. Women were more negative to Lesbians. Negative reactions came from people: -endorsed more traditional gender attitudes -tended to be older and less educated -had more children -were more likely to belong to a fundamentalist religious denomination and to attend religious services religiously -were more conservative politically -were less likely to have personal contact with gay people.

Pheromones and Sexual Orientation

Most odors activate neurons in specific regions of the brain, increasing blood flow to these regions and causing them to "light up" when imaged by the PET scan. The estrogenlike compound activated the usual smell-related areas in women, but it lit up the hypothalamus-a structure involved in sexual behavior- in heterosexual men. The chemical extracted from male sweat, in contrast, did the opposite;it activated the hypothalamus in women and the usual smell-related area in men. However gay men in the study responded to the chemicals as women did. Their Hypothalamus was lit up by the chemical drawn from male sweat.

Biphobia

Negative attitudes and feelings toward bisexual people, including intolerance, hatred and fear. This can be found in heterosexual and homosexual populations.

Homoerotic

Of an erotic nature and involving members of one's own sex.

Heteroerotic

Of an erotic nature and involving members of the other sex.

International Straight Spouse Network

Online support group. 2/3rds of the women who contact this group eventually divorce.

Sodomy Laws

Prohibit "unnatural" sexual acts, even between consenting adults.

Psychoanalytic Perspectives

Psychoanalytic theory and learning theory provide two of the major psychoanalytic approaches to understanding the origins of sexual orientation.

Gay Lifestyles - Differences between G&L

Researchers found that gay males are more likely than lesbians to engage in casual sex with many partners. Lesbians more often confine their sexual activity to a committed, affectionate relationship. Bell & Weinberg reported that 84% of gay males,compared to about 7% lesbian women, report having more than 50 partners in their lifetimes. 79% of males compared to 6% of lesbians, reported that more than half of their partners were strangers.

Sexual Orientation / Treatment for G&L

Several G&L wish to change their sexual orientation. Some people feel this is because of the social pressure and prejudice. Master and Johnson treated sexual dysfunctions to "reverse" clients gay male and lesbians orientations. They involved gay males in a graded series of pleasurable activities with women, such as massage and genital stimulation. They reported a 20% failure rate for men and 23% for lesbians.

Hormonal Influences & Sexual Orientation

Sex hormones strongly influence the mating behavior of other species. Testosterone is essential to male sexual differentiation. Research has failed to connect sexual orientation in either sex with differences in levels of either male or female sex hormones in adulthood.

Ethnicity & Sexual Orientation / Native Americans

Sex was seen as a natural part of life. Individuals who incorporated both traditional feminine and masculine styles we generally accepted and even admired. The influence of the religions of colonist let to greater rejection of lesbians and gay men, and pressured to move off the reservation to the big city. They would feel removed from their families.

Cross-Cultural Perspectives

Sexual activities between males are sometimes limited to rites that mark the young male's initiation into manhood. In some preliterate societies, semen is believed to boost strength and virility. Older males thus transmit semen to younger males through oral or anal sexual activities. The pre-pubertal Sambian males do not seek sexual liaisons with other males. He is removed from his home and thrust into male-male sexual encounters by older males.

Cross-Species Perspectives

Sexual motivation appears to play a role in some, but not all, male-male and female-female sexual iterations among animals. Fellatio and anal intercourse to ejaculation among juvenile male orangutans may be a case point, as may be thrusting by one adult female gorilla against another.

Homoeroticism

Sexual stimulation that involves someone of the same sex.

Psychoanalytic Views

Sigmund Freud, the originator of psychoanalytic theory, believed that children are naturally open to all forms of sexual stimulation.

Sexual Orientation And The Law

Sodomy Laws prohibit "unnatural" sexual acts, even between consenting adults. Certain sexual acts that many gay people (and heterosexual people) practice, such as anal intercourse and oral-genital contact, fall under the legal definition of sodomy in many states.

Bisexuality - Lifestyle

Some gay people also mask their sexyal orientation by adopting a bisexual lifestyle. That is they get married by also enter into clandestine sexual liaisons with members of their own sex. Many bisexual men remain reasonably comfortable in committed heterosexual relationships, such as marriages. They encounter: - anxiety -some feelings of guilt -some sense of loss, but not to the point where they experienced high levels of stress. The authors conclude that long-term committed relationships with women are a "viable option" for bisexual men.

Ethnicity & Sexual Orientation / African American

The African American community appears to strongly reject gay men and lesbians, pressuring them to remain secretive about their sexual orientations. Hostility factors: Allegiance to Christianity and Biblical scripture. Internalization of the dominant culture's stereotyping of African Americans as highly sexual beings . That is, many African American may wish to assert their sexual "normalcy".

"Bipolar" Sexual Orientation (Lippa & Arad)

The more a man is aroused by women, the less they were aroused by men, and vice versa, Women showed factors of both for homosexuality and heterosexuality. That is, whether or not they were aroused by men could be independent of whether or not they were aroused by other women, and vice versa. Sexual behaviors and attitudes had little to do with the other personality measures.

Kinsey Continuum - Challenges

The more a man is aroused by women, the less they were aroused by men, and vice versa, Women showed factors of both for homosexuality and heterosexuality. That is, whether or not they were aroused by men could be independent of whether or not they were aroused by other women, and vice versa. Sexual behaviors and attitudes had little to do with the other personality measures.

Lippa and Arad's and Chivers and Baileys Findings

Their findings are consistent with the research showing that women's sexual orientations are more flexible than men's and apparently more intertwined with their social experience.

Hormonal Influences & Sexual Orientation - Activating Effects

Those effects of sex hormones that influence the levels of the sex drive but not the sexual orientation. In adulthood testosterone affects the intensity of sexual desire, but not the preference for partners of the same or the other sex.

Dizygotic Twins (DZ)

Twins who develop from different fertilized ova; Fraternal twins. They only share 50% of their heredity.

Monozygotic Twins (MZ)

Twins who develop from the same fertilized ovum; Identical twins. They share 100% of their heredity.

Oedipus Complex

When a young boy falls in love with their mother, girls with their father.

Sexual Orientation - Women

Women's sexual orientations are more flexible or plastic than men's, with women being somewhat more dependent on social experience.