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Biological influence on sexual orientation
Is homosexuality genetic
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Human Sexuality- Nature Vs. Nurture?
There is floods evidence to support that there is a genetic and not a psychological link to homosexual behavior, and there is just as much arguments from the other side that states that homosexuality is all based around environment that the person lives in an the people that the person is around.
Nature
Nature is referred to those qualities in a human that are inbuilt, better said it is inherent. Sexuality according to the views of nature, it is simply the result of inherent tendencies, genetics and biology. Scientific investigation has been done, which include twin studies to learn of the genetic contribution of a certain trait in them. This procedure has been applied to the study of sexuality and the contribution nature has on it.
Cherkas in 2004 conducted a research into the heritability of the female sexual behavior. She conducted the research with sets of twins. Each set of twins was watched for lifetime number of sexual partners and attitudes to cheat. Results found that 40 % of the results could be explained by genetic contribution. The research indicated at the end the importance of family heritability in human sexuality.
In the year 2000, Kirk, Martin and Bailey conducted study on very big Australian twin sample. The participants were analyzed for orientation of any sexual feelings, attitude to homosexuality, homosexual experiences they have had and the number of sexual partners they have had. Significant heritability was found with genetic influences counting for 42to60% of the results for these variables.
One famous case study also highlights the impact that nature has on sexual orientation. The John/Joan case in 2000 refers to the life of David Reimer who was in a tragic accident...
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... set sexual behavior. Attempts to combine biological and social influences into a single theory for the sexuality are called an “interactions approach”. In 1998 Delamater & Hyde believe that the theoretical and philosophical divide between nature and nurture makes interactions approaches both difficult to construct and rare to figure out.
Conclusion
There is boat loads of evidence that both nature and or nurture influence human sexuality. Twin concordance research and evolutionary theory indicate that biology may produce innate sexual tendencies. But, as you can clearly see there is evidence that is also present for the effect society and culture has on the human sexual development. The only answer that can really be conducted at the end of the research to full understanding of sexuality is in research of the influence of both nature and nurture on the sexuality
If it were proven that homosexuality is biologically based, discrimination against homosexuals would decrease. If homosexuality was proven to be a genetic characteristic, just like hair color, height, or eye color then people might be less "afraid" and more accepting to homosexuals. Gender-based discrimination is the perception that an individual's gender appearance, identity, or behavior is inappropriate based on their biological sex. Gender-based discrimination operates in the same way as sexual orientation discrimination, it is based on the expectation that people will conform to social norms, commonly associated with their biological sex, and it is often mistaken for sex discrimi...
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 ...
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.
Most scientists and psychologists believe that homosexuality is caused by a gene determined at birth much like your hair, skin, and eye color are determined, meaning homosexuality is not a choice and is no more a choice than choosing your skin color. Studies known as adoption studies show that sexual preference is genetic by adopting a young infant child and placing them in either a homosexual or h...
In conclusion, homosexuality is not caused by a mutation, although it could be an allele that is passed down on the X chromosome. There as many theories as to why there are homosexuals, some say it is nature, others say it is nurture. There are also many limitations which stop us from finding a ‘gay gene’, many of these limitations are due to ethics. [Words: 2888]
The reason I am writing this paper is to share the information I attained about human sexuality by learning about sexuality in a college setting and by exploring my sexuality through personal experiences. I do not consider myself to have experienced much exposure to sexual behavior but I do have a cultural bias to what I consider a heavy amount of exposure because the North American culture is considered more promiscuous and sexually active than other cultures.
Genes are thought to play a critical role in sexual orientation, however which genes are actually contributing this effect is unknown. There are some genes being explored carefully, but there is no strong evidence existing. An example that demonstrates the correlation between genes and sexual orientation is twin studies. Evidence shows when one twin is homosexual the other twin will have a 50% chance of being homosexual as well. There seems to be a high concordance rate of sexual orientation between family members (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015). It is evident, biology play a significant role in the development of sexual orientation, however much research is still being conducted to prove its
Sexuality is a fundamental part of our self-discovery, involving much more than just being genetically or anatomically male and female and it is not defined solely by one 's sexual acts (Ministry of Education 1989, p.79 cited in Gourlay, P 1995). The notion that sexuality is fixed and innate disregards the social aspects that impact ones’ sexualities. Gagnon and Simon (1973) further commented that sexuality is a feature of social
What controls a human's sexual orientation? The long-standing debate of nature versus nurture can be extended to explaining human sexual orientation. Is it biological or environmental? The biological explanation has been gaining popularity amongst the scientific community although it is only based on speculations. It is argued that sexual orientation is linked to factors that occur during sexual differentiation. The prenatal exposure to androgens and their affect on the development of the human brain play a pivotal role in sexual orientation (2). Heredity is also part of the debate. Does biology merely provide the slate of neural circuitry upon which sexual orientation is inscribed? Do biological factors directly wire the brain so that it will support a particular orientation? Or do biological factors influence sexual orientation only indirectly?
Despite the large collection of literature of sexuality that has been accumulating, human asexuality has been largely ignored. Asexuality is controversially considered to be a sexual orientation and people who identify as asexual are people who typically do not experience sexual attraction (Asexuality Visibility and Education Network, 2013). Though research on sex and sexual orientations has been done for centuries, the first real suggestion that there might be people who fall outside of the heterosexual – homosexual orientation spectrum came from Kinsey and colleagues in 1948. These individuals were put into a separate category and were identified as having no erotic response to hetero- or homosexual stimuli, but otherwise they were largely ignored by the researchers (Kinsey, 1953). Later, researchers linked asexuality with negative traits and pathologies, including depression and lower self-esteem (Masters, Johnson, & Kolodny, 1986; Nuius, 1983). An issue with these studies, however, is that the researchers defined asexuality in a way that most current asexuals do not agree with. For example, in a study done by Bell and Weinberg (1978), there were references made to asexual homosexuals who simply hid their homosexuality. Many asexuals, otherwise known as Aces, would struggle with this definition because homosexuality implies a type of sexual attraction: attraction to your same sex. Because Aces typically do not feel sexual attraction to anyone or anything, they should not be classified under the same label as a closeted homosexual. Another issue is that none of these studies actually focused on asexuality. Instead, they were added on the side and generally ignored.
From birth, one's sexuality is shaped by society. Cultures institute behaviors that are to be seen as the societal norms, which work to constantly reinforce societal expectations of how genders should act in relation to one another. Although some may argue that one's sexuality is an innate characteristic resulting from genetic makeup, there is a large amount of evidence pointing to its social construction instead. Through the power differences between males and females, established gender roles, and drastic economic shifts, society establishes sexuality and reinforces the behaviors that are expected of its citizens.
Genetics, biology, and upbringing are all key aspects in determining one’s sexual orientation. Many of the factors are combined to make up how a person feels or who he or she is attracted to. There is no definite answer to why someone has a particular orientation, but there are studies that sugge...
The sexual orientation of a person has been a critical debate over the past several centuries. For several...
Even though it is against nature, some individuals are born with complete desire to same sex. Abraham Verghese in his article A fresh look at homosexuality said, “While welcoming and agreeing with a positive perception of homosexuality, it is difficult to accept the position that homosexuality is a normal psychosexual development. A normal variant cannot be considered completely normal. It is, in fact, an aberration in the psychosexual development, caused by genetic and psychosocial factors for which the person is not responsible. There are research findings, which suggest that there are structural differences in the brains of people with homosexual orientation.”(qdt pg 1) This quote proves the claim of having a different biological format for homosexuals from any normal heterosexual. These cases are completely helpless and have nothing to do with being homosexuals; it is a natural stimulus that they were born with. Therefore in such cases, it is critical to understand that they have no control over their unnatural
Vrangalova, Z., & Savin-Williams, R. C. (2012). Mostly heterosexual and mostly gay/lesbian: Evidence for new sexual orientation identities. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 85-101. doi: 10.1007/s10505- 012-9921-y.