Is Homosexuality an option? Are we born to be automatically attracted to the opposite sex, or does society force it? How could one government declare itself democratic if they don’t allow homosexual couples? In the middle of all the attention, it is critical to understand how these individuals feel. Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among young people ages 10 to 24 and 25% of them were reported to be homosexuals. The reason these numbers are so high could be because of how ignorant and uneducated people are about the subject. It could be easily inferred that homos chose their sexual orientation, however, that isn’t always the case. Even though one could choose to be homo, due to relationship failure or other reasons, others could be …show more content…
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 …show more content…
There are multiple reasons as of why they do so. For example, failure in multiple heterosexual relationships that led to change in sexual orientation. This is something that happens to all of us; we try something, we don’t like it and we stay away from it or look for an alternative. After going through so many tough relationships, they decide to look for their luck with another gender. It is often reported by women that men aren’t treating them right, but other women do because they have very similar emotions. Another reason could be the desire for more attention. Some people need excessive attention and get it by behaving inappropriately or differently from everybody else. Homosexuals do receive a great deal of attention from social media, televisions, and surrounding individuals. It’s really hard to miss out on an opportunity for so much attention even if it means changing your whole life style. Gregory M. Herek, Ph.D describes this by saying “Although dispassionate scientific research on whether homosexuality should be viewed as an illness was largely absent from the fields of psychiatry, psychology, and medicine during the first half of the twentieth century, some researchers remained unconvinced that all homosexual individuals were mentally ill or socially misfit. Berube (1990) reported the results of previously unpublished studies conducted by military physicians and researchers
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 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 ...
Society is created with both homosexual and heterosexual individuals. Previously when certain laws discriminated against others, such as law for women's rights to vote, these laws were changed. Changing the traditions of the country does not mean that it will lead to the legalization of other extreme issues. Each ...
Homosexual relationships can be traced back throughout history and in every civilization. The ancient Greeks in particular were well noted for homosexuality being an integral part of everyday life. “The secret of Greek homosexuality has only ever been a secret to those who neglected to inquire. The Greeks themselves were hardly coy about it”(Davidson, J. 2007). Famous authors such as Plato, Xenophon, Herodotus and Athenaeums all explored this subject in their writing. A modern day writer Thomas K Hubbard, has translated the most important primary texts on homosexuality in ancient Greece and Rome into modern, English and collected together a comprehensive sourcebook. Here we get a true glimpse into the past of the daily lives of the ancient Greeks and homosexuality was not only perfectly normal, it was a huge part of society.
Is being attracted to the same sex by choice, or by force? Stephanie Fairyington the author of the article “gay option”, wrote about an event in her life, that she endured, due to her same sex attraction. Coming out to the world, that you are homosexual can be in famously hard. Stephanie Fairyington shared her story and discussed a bit about this topic, she even shared her ups and down, and what she believed is the nature of being gay. Formally some of the stuff she said can be arguable, but it’s her point of view on the situation. The gay option she felt it was forced upon her, and she can’t rid of it. This essay was created around 2010. This is important, because legalization of same sex marriages had become in full effect in other countries
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).
Nevertheless, Functionalists theory only focused on men and women as genders and their roles in the society to function which disintegrate other genders. The focal point of conventional community, particularly in Russia, is to encourage social stability in the society, based on tradition, patriarchy and religion. These affect homosexuality because, it became illegal and deviant as they cannot conform to the needs and rules of the society. (Schaaf, 2013), Homosexuality is an alien or mental illness and Russian identity was renewed by religious fervour because Russian Orthodox believed in Russian norms of machismo or patriarchy. Additionally, due to labelling and categorizing gender, creates fear, suffering, disobedience and deprivation of liberty
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?
Though many researchers will agree that homosexuality is not genetic, still, others beg to differ. HRC.org published an article entitled “Guide to Coming Out,” the article states ‘sexuality and gender identity are not choices any more than being left-handed or having brown eyes or being heterosexual are choices…The choice is in deciding how to live your life.’ With society always shoving their view into the minds of Americans second of everyday, it is not that hard to see where the confusion arises.
But during this period of adolescence, I never really thought about what I was. All the things that took place in the emotional-sexual realm were, admittedly, real and concrete to me: I experienced real feelings for other boys (love, infatuation, sexual attraction). But at the same time, on an "intellectual" level, I never confronted these feelings, and so I continued having them without worrying about them or trying to transform them in any way. They just were, and that was fine with me. While some opponents of homosexuality often claim that it is "unnatural" (a claim which is thoroughly refuted in the essay "Homosexuality and the 'Unnaturalness Argument'"), for me, my homosexual feelings were very natural indeed.
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.
This has not always been the case, but society has attempted to find ways to justify this classification. Society’s attempt to cast homosexuality as deviant started with comparing homosexual bodies to heterosexual bodies, using heterosexuals as the standard for normal. Some scientists believed that homosexual people had an unhealthy “pathological condition” that caused “disorders of the brain”, which then leads to homosexuality (Terry 131). Scientists also believed that homosexuality was a condition where humans lose their “adaptive ability”, causing them to engage in homosexual behavior instead of pursuing a heterosexual relationship which will further the species ( Terry 132). By attributing more disabilities to the idea of the homosexual, society was socially constructing their deviance. Despite the fact that none of these theories could be proven, the mere idea that homosexual people were missing something pathological boxed their bodies into a deviant category. In addition, scientists also believed that genitalia could give some insight to why a person was homosexual. These scientists create diagrams and drawings of homosexual genitalia and tried to portray them as deviant and abnormal. For instance, Robert Dickinson, a scientist studying genitals and their relation to homosexuality, believed that larger genitalia suggested homosexual tendencies (Terry 141-143). Comparing his drawing of
A person's sexual preference is not a dark or light issue. Sexual preference is based on what appeals to the individual, with selective fascination in the opposite sex toward one side of the continuum and a selective appreciation for the same sex. Heterosexuality (appreciation for individuals from the opposite sex), homosexuality (fascination in individuals from the same sex), and bisexuality (fascination in individuals from either sex) are the three most regularly examined classes of sexual preference. However, in no way shape or form are these the only classifications in the realm of our behaviors and traits. The “Nature/upbringing Discussion” actually does not make much sense, because genes and circumstances have a constant interplay during the lifespan. However, whether through genes or education, there is no uncertainty that sexual orientation is displayed somehow in our encephalon or brain. This is because the brain is equipped to handle all our ideas and habits and everything that we stand for. Learning alters your encephalon every day, whether very temporary changes, like a telephone number you misremember, or permanent behavior patterns, like being shy or sociable, and like sexual
Since the 1800's, psychiatrists and psychologists have concluded that homosexuality is a mental disorder. They have believed it is brought about by misguided upbringing and their social environments. For instance, it was believed that if the child was lacking a male - figure in the home, he would most likely be gay. Or that child abuse can lead to lesbianism when the special needs of a little girl are denied, ignored, or exploited and the future womanhood of the child is in risk. However, inconsistencies in the research subjects' abuse records ruled these theories out. And if this were the case, then why is homosexuality present in different cultures? Some believed homosexuality was caused by a difference in brain structure. In 1991, Simon LeVay published research stating that sexual orientation may be the result of differing brain structures. The hypothalamus, a region in the brain that governs sexual behavior, was the structure that LeVay was pointing as the structure at fault. In his studies of the hypothalamus, he found that in homosexual men, the hypothalamus was smaller than that of heterosexual men. Instead, it was the size of the female hypothalamus, consequently explaining their sexual tendencies.
Sexual orientation describes patterns of sexual and romantic attraction towards someone else. Normally one pole attracts the other, but in this case, it does not work like that. There is little information on why a person’s sexual orientation might be deviated from what is normal. Research shows that this problem may be due to the role of genes, the environment, hormones, the way a family raised the kids, or because of the brain itself. According to Sigmund Freud, all human beings are bisexual, but they become heterosexual or homosexual because of the experiences they live with their parents and other people. Psychologists and psychiatrists have a negative attitude towards homosexuality. However, there are no norms, or empirical evidence supporting the idea that attraction towards the same sex is a form of mental illness or a psychopathology. Homosexuality is a matter of choice rather than an abnormality due to brain dysfunction (APA, 1975; 1987).