What is sexual orientation? This is a term that has been coined to define all of us. It is how one defines themselves, who they are in this world, it is their being. Sexual orientation is a “multidimensional and individually flexible composition of sexual and emotional attraction to ones own sex.” (Mahler & Mundle, 2015, p.461) Choosing who one is, who they are emotionally and physically attracted to is their own choice, however the reality of things is that its not just our own choice. The Community, relationships and life situations have been seen to put homosexuality in the air and pressure one to change who they are to fit in. Reparative therapy is a way that many people have thought it can permanently change ones’ sexual orientation from being homosexual to the stereotypical accepted heterosexual orientation. Within this article, the controversial debate about reparative …show more content…
29). In past history, homosexuality and “homosexual desires had been viewed as being sinful, criminal, signs of immaturity, and a mental illness or other pathology” (Beckstead, 2012, p.122). The concept of homosexuality has been in the world for centuries, however the evolution of sex and what is seen to be appropriate has changed to more of a heterosexual view. At this point, this is where society wanted to change everyone that was different, which resulted to reparative therapy. For many years, children, adolescence, and adults that had any signs have any homosexual tendencies were put into groups, churches, or hospitals to try and help them get rid of these homosexual tendencies in other terms “cure” them. Some people were in these programs for their entire life and some were released within a few weeks. Leaders with this type of therapy were usually, church leaders, licences mental health doctors, or non-licenced
In her article “Homosexuality Cannot Be Cured,” Casey Sanchez argues that reparative camps are damning the LGBT community. She profiles a former ex- gay minister John Smid. Smid was the founder of Love in Action (LIA). The majority of the clients of this camp were young men who came from religious families. These boys were being forced into these camps because their parents wanted them to learn that being gay was a sin and that it could cast a person out from their family, church, and home. Smid was struggling with his sexuality as well. Founding LIA gave Smid the platform he needed to treat young men his away. LIA is standing strong today, but Smid has left because he has found that there is no key evidence that anyone can turn from homosexual to heterosexual ( Sanchez).
Sexual orientation is a term used to describe a person’s physical, sexual, and romantic attraction to another person, whether they be Male or Female. The term is relatively new and the idea of having a homosexual identity has only been around for one-hundred years at the most (APA).
First of all, sexual orientation is what attracts or arouses one sexually and it consists of: heterosexuals, which are individuals attracted to the opposite sex, homosexuals, same sex, bisexual, attracted to both, and finally asexual, which is not attracted to any sex. The shame was present back in the early 20th century where homosexuality was a crime. It was considered a mental illness, as in something was wrong with the individual’s brain. To right this wrong, it was decided to use conversion therapy to actually convert those individuals from gay to straight. Somesh
Treatments such as conversion therapy have been thoroughly debated by doctors, everyday civilians and even politicians. The question surrounding the topic asks whether or not the treatment is ethically and morally acceptable. Conversion therapy is an option of treatment catering to the LGBTQ community that claims to be able to change a person’s sexual behaviors such as orientation, preference and identity. The main controversies on the topic argue the physical and psychological side effects, treatment options and whether or not different sexual behaviors are mental illnesses that requires treatment.
Homosexuality was once considered a mental illness which lead to attempts to “cure” it. One of the main theories of homosexuality is that it stems from deviant behavior experienced in childhood. Some men develop homosexual attractions due to a bad relationship with a distant father or in response to childhood molestation (Shapio 5). While some homosexual attractions have been caused by these issues, most homosexuals have not been exposed to molestation or family issues. One of the methods to cure homosexuality is conversion therapy. Conversion therapy consists of a variety of methods, both physical and psychological. Some of these methods include praying away the gay, electroconvulsive therapy, hypnosis, and drugs (“11 Ridiculous” 1). There are many camps which are designed for conversion therapy but many of their practices remain secret. There is little information to be found online regarding these camps because they realize that they are behaving inappropriately so they hide their acts. In the 1980s, homosexuality was determined to have a biological cause; this created two sides – supporters of conversion therapy and its detractors (Friedman 1).
Conversion Therapy, also known as Reparative Therapy, is defined as a multitude of dangerous practices that claim to change a person’s sexuality or gender (hrc.org). The goal of Conversion Therapy is to try and make the patients behave stereotypically more feminine or masculine, teach heterosexual dating skills, and redirect arousal all together (dailybeast.com). However, the consequences of Conversion Therapy can lead to depression, anxiety, drug use, homelessness, suicide, or catching and transmitting Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) (hrc.org). Some of the techniques used are vomiting, inducing nausea, or paralysis while showing homoerotic images (huffingtonpost.com).
Homosexuality can be described as a romantic or sexual attraction or act between people of the same gender, and it can also be a term used to refer to a person's sense of identity based on the same attractions or behaviors. Homosexuality is among the three main categories of sexual orientation, alongside heterosexuality and bisexuality, and up to the present day, the scientists have not been able to know the factors that determine the sexual orientation of different people. Some of them, however, guess that sexual orientation of different people is caused by a complex interplay of the hormonal, genetic and environmental influences, and it is not a choice for the people concerned.
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 unprecedented growth of the gay community in recent history has transformed our culture and consciousness, creating radically new possibilities for people to ‘come out’ and live more openly as homosexuals”(Herdt 2). Before the 1969 Stonewall riot in New York, homosexuality was a taboo subject. Research concerning homosexuality emphasized the etiology, treatment, and psychological adjustment of homosexuals. Times have changed since 1969. Homosexuals have gained great attention in arts, entertainment, media, and politics. Yesterday’s research on homosexuality has expanded to include trying to understand the different experiences and situations of homosexuals (Ben-Ari 89-90).
When I first seek out for therapy, it was interesting and scary. I made my first appointment and I was anxious and upset during my visit. I did a 20 minutes interview over the phone before my first initial office visit. My intake worker that assess my caseload allowed me to know her briefly, and let me know she would not be my therapist, but allowed me to accept the rules, polices, and therapist assigned to me. As the article stated, “explain what therapy is, how it works, and answer questions about what the client can expect from therapy in general and from therapy with you.”
To begin with, sexual orientation can be determined by more than one factor and is not the same for everybody. According to the American Psychological Association:
Starting in April of 1952 homosexuality was listed as a “sociopathic personality disturbance” by the American Psychiatric Association (PBS). Four years later, on August 30th, 1956, Evelyn Hooker conducted many psychological tests
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.
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: Productive and Non Productive Aspects Gender carries a more social tone. It refers to socially constructed differences between the sexes and to the social relationships between women and men. These differences between the sexes are shaped over the history of social relations and change over time and across cultures. Gender identity depends on the circumstances in which women and men live and includes economic, cultural, historical, ideological, and religious factors. Gender relations also vary according to the economic and social conditions of the society and differ between social and ethnic groups. The definition of sexuality can encompass many things. This can mean the feelings we have about ourselves as sexual beings, the ways in which we choose to express these feelings with ourselves and others, and the physical capability each of us has to give and experience sexual pleasure. Sex is the total sum of physical characteristics that distinguish males and females from each other. The most distinctive difference in characteristics is that man and women have different reproductive organs. This is pretty obvious and so are other traits like facial hair, deep voices, and muscular builds. Current Scenario: If you are questioning your sexual orientation or gender identity, you probably have already figured out that society is telling you what it wants you to be. Families, religions, and different cultural and ethnic institutions communicate expectations to us, both in direct and indirect ways, about how to be. Often as children queer people get a sense that they don't fit with society's codes. It may not be completely clear to some individuals at first in what way they don't fit; instead they feel a vague sense o...