Download Sexual Orientation

Sexual Orientation
Chapter 10
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Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Sexual Orientation
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Getting Oriented Toward Sexual Orientation
Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual
Orientations
Adjustment of Gay Males and Lesbians
Coming Out: Coming to Terms With Being Gay
Gay Lifestyles
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Getting Oriented Toward Sexual
Orientation
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Sexual orientation
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The direction of one’s romantic interests and
sexual attractions
Heterosexual orientation
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Erotic attraction to, and preference for developing
romantic relationships with, members of the other
sex
Homosexual orientation
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Erotic attraction to, and preference for developing
romantic relationships with, members of the same
sex
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Getting Oriented Toward Sexual
Orientation
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Gay males
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Lesbians
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Males who are erotically attracted to and desire to
form romantic relationships with other males
Females who are erotically attracted to and desire to
form romantic relationships with other females
Bisexuality
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Erotic attraction to, and interest in developing
romantic relationships with, males and females
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Getting Oriented Toward Sexual
Orientation
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Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
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A great majority of gay people have a gender identity
that is consistent with their anatomic sex.
Classification of Sexual Orientation
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It is difficult to classify many people’s orientation and
their interests may shift over time.
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Gay males and lesbians may experience sporadic heteroerotic
interests.
And heterosexual people may have occasional homoerotic
interests.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Getting Oriented Toward Sexual
Orientation
• In response to people’s various sexual interests, Kinsey et al.
developed a continuum of sexual orientation.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Getting Oriented Toward Sexual
Orientation
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What percentage of people is gay?
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According to Kinsey et al., about 4% of men and 1%
to 3% of women reported being exclusively gay.
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However, there is controversy over how many people are
gay.
Current estimates generally find lower percentages of gay
people in the population than Kinsey did.
 More recent data show that about 3% of men identify
themselves as gay and about 2% of women identify as
lesbians.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Getting Oriented Toward Sexual
Orientation
•An alternative to the Kinsey continuum views
heterosexuality and homosexuality as separate dimensions.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Getting Oriented Toward Sexual
Orientation
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Other research has found that women’s
sexual orientations are more flexible than
men’s are and seem to be more based on
their social experience.
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This helps explain why women report less
homophobia compared to men.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Getting Oriented Toward Sexual
Orientation
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Bisexuality
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Many bisexuals have a somewhat stronger attraction
to people of one sex over the other.
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Three categories of bisexuals have been proposed: bi-gay, bistraight, and bi-bi.
About 1% to 4% of the population is bisexual.
Both heterosexual and homosexual populations
report biphobia.
Many bisexuals are happily married
Some homosexuals use bisexuality to mask their
homosexuality
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Perspectives on Gay Male and
Lesbian Sexual Orientations
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Historical Perspectives
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Ancient Greeks and Romans
Adult males formed sexual relationships with
adolescent males (Greece)
 Flamboyance (Rome)
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Judeo-Christian tradition
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Sodomy and other nonprocreative sexual acts,
even within marriage, considered sinful.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Perspectives on Gay Male and
Lesbian Sexual Orientations
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Cross-Cultural Perspectives
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Male-male sexual interactions exist in
societies throughout the world.
These interactions may involve only behavior and
do not imply sexual orientation.
 Some interactions are rites of passage into
manhood
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Female-female sexual activity is less common
throughout the world.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Perspectives on Gay Male and
Lesbian Sexual Orientations
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Cross-Species Perspectives
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Primates and other animals
Same-sex sexual behavior may be displays of
dominance and submissiveness.
 May be a form of play or a way of requesting
protection
 Sexual motivation may play a role in some malemale and female-female sexual interactions among
animals.
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But researchers do not find prolonged, exclusive samesex sexual activity when male-female opportunities exist.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Perspectives on Gay Male and
Lesbian Sexual Orientations
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Attitudes Toward Sexual Orientation in
Contemporary Society
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Attitudes toward gay people have been negative
and pervasive.
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However, there are signs that Americans have grown
more tolerant.
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View that same sex intercourse is always wrong held by
56% of people today, as opposed to 77% 10 years ago
84% believe that homosexuals should have equal rights
Yet people continue to make a distinction between gay
“civil unions” and gay marriages.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Perspectives on Gay Male and
Lesbian Sexual Orientations
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Sexual orientation and the law
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Gay people continue to fight for equal rights and privacy
protection, e.g., the overturning of sodomy laws.
1986 Hardwick vs Bowers: Supreme Court let stand a
Georgia law that punished oral-genital or anal-genital by
up to 20 years in prison
A 2003 decision reversed it, striking down a Texas law
against deviate sexual intercourse, stating that it “demeans
the lives of homosexual persons”
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Perspectives on Gay Male and
Lesbian Sexual Orientations
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Gay activism
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Involved with fighting discrimination and protecting
civil rights
Involved with lobbying for increased funding for
HIV/AIDS research and treatment
Involved with education regarding safer sex practices
Protect civil rights of people with HIV/AIDS
Involved with providing support for people with
HIV/AIDS
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Perspectives on Gay Male and
Lesbian Sexual Orientations
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Stereotypes and sexual behavior
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Contrary to popular stereotypes, many gay
couples vary the active and passive roles in
sexual relations.
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For example, sexual behavior between lesbians
rarely adheres to separate butch-femme gender
roles.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Perspectives on Gay Male and
Lesbian Sexual Orientations
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Biological Perspectives
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Evolutionary perspective
Male-male and female-female sexual behavior
results from reciprocal altruism, which increases
group survival.
 Individuals are bound together emotionally
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This hypothesis remains controversial.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Perspectives on Gay Male and
Lesbian Sexual Orientations
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Biological Perspectives
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Genetics and sexual orientation
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Much evidence supports a genetic relationship
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Monozygotic (MZ) twins/Identical twins
 Twins who develop from the same fertilized ovum
 Share identical DNA
Dizygotic (DZ) twins/Fraternal twins
 Twins who develop from different fertilized ova
Concordance
 About 52% of MZ twin pairs were found to be in
agreement for a gay male sexual orientation.
 And 22% of DZ twins and only 11% of adoptive brothers
were concordant.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Perspectives on Gay Male and
Lesbian Sexual Orientations
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Biological Perspectives
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Hormonal influences and sexual orientation
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Testosterone
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Effects of prenatal exposure to sex hormones
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Activating effects
 Influence level of sex drive, but not sexual orientation
There is some evidence to support a relationship.
Structure of the brain
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One study found that the third interstitial nucleus of the
anterior hypothalamus was smaller in gay men than in
heterosexual men.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Perspectives on Gay Male and
Lesbian Sexual Orientations
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INSERT FIGURE 10.3 HERE
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Perspectives on Gay Male and
Lesbian Sexual Orientations
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Psychological Perspectives
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Psychoanalytic views
Gay male or lesbian sexual orientation results
from unsuccessful resolution of the Oedipus
complex (for boys) and Electra complex (for girls)
 Unresolved castration anxiety plays a role in gay
male sexual orientation
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Learning theories
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Focus on the role of reinforcement of early
patterns of sexual behavior
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Perspectives on Gay Male and
Lesbian Sexual Orientations
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Gender Nonconformity
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Failure to conform to gender-role stereotypes
consistent with one’s anatomic sex
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On average, gay males tend to be somewhat
feminine and lesbians to be somewhat masculine.
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However, there is much variation within each group.
Begins at an early age
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Gay males report feeling more sensitive as children
Gay males and lesbians report feeling different as very
young children
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Perspectives on Gay Male and
Lesbian Sexual Orientations
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Gender nonconformity and the butch-femme
dimension
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Lesbians more likely to report being “tomboys”as
children
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Butch lesbians more likely than femme lesbians to recall
gender-atypical behavioral preferences
Hormonal & physical differences between butch & femme
lesbians
Childhood effeminacy and a gay male sexual
orientation
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Self-perceptions of being different and social distance
from other males lead to the development of erotic
attractions toward members of their own sex.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Adjustment of Gay Males and
Lesbians
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Adjustment of Gay Males and Lesbians
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In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association
removed a gay male or lesbian sexual orientation from
its list of mental disorders.
Recent studies found increased feelings of anxiety and
depression and suicidal tendencies in gay males and
lesbians compared to heterosexuals.
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How these findings are interpreted depends on one’s attitudes
toward homosexuality.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Adjustment of Gay Males and
Lesbians
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Other research finds that differences in psychological
adjustment are due more to an individual’s lifestyle than to
his or her sexual orientation.
Treatment of Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual
Orientations
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A vast majority of gay men and lesbians do not seek
professional help to change their sexual orientations.
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Debate continues regarding whether exclusively gay people can
change their sexual orientation, rather than their behavior.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Perspectives on Gay Male and
Lesbian Sexual Orientations
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Homophobia
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Negative attitudes and feelings toward gay people
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Intolerance, hatred, fear
Use of derogatory names
Telling disparaging “queer jokes”
Barring gay people from housing, employment, or
social opportunities
Taunting (verbal abuse)
Gay bashing
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Violence against homosexuals
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Perspectives on Gay Male and
Lesbian Sexual Orientations
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Homophobic attitudes are more common among
traditional males who hold a fundamentalist
religious orientation.
Politically conservative college students are more
accepting of negative attitudes toward gay people
than are liberal students.
Some homophobic men may have homoerotic
impulses of which they are unaware.
Gay bashing and the HIV/AIDS epidemic
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Some people hold gay men more responsible for the
epidemic than heterosexual men.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Perspectives on Gay Male and
Lesbian Sexual Orientations
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“Treatment” of Homosexual Orientations
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Very few actually desire to change
Masters & Johnson reversed sexual
orientation by involving the individuals in
pleasurable sexual experiences with the
opposite sex
Most effective with people who were:
Bisexual
 Married
 Highly motivated to change
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Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Coming Out: Coming to Terms
With Being Gay
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Coming Out to Oneself
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Involves the development of sexual identity
Attraction to members of the same sex
 Self-labeling oneself as gay or lesbian
 Sexual contact with members of the same sex
 Disclosure of orientation to others
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It takes some people several years to recognize
and accept a homosexual orientation for
themselves
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Coming Out: Coming to Terms
With Being Gay
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Coming Out to Others
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Patterns of coming out to others vary.
Some tell everyone
 Some tell only a few select people.
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Family members and loved ones may be
initially rejecting or accepting.
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Over time, most at least grudgingly accept that a
family member is gay.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Gay Lifestyles
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Gay communal structures
Gays in the armed services
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Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Clinton, 1993
Gay rights organizations
Not all gay people join the “gay
community”
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View sexual orientation as only a small party
of their identity
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Gay Lifestyles
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Lifestyle Differences Between Gay Males
and Lesbians
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Casual sex
Gay males are more likely than lesbians to engage in
casual sex with many partners.
 Gay bars
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Cruising
 Searching for a sex partner
Sexual activity outside a primary relationship is
common among gay male couples.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Gay Lifestyles
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Variations in Gay Lifestyles
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Close couples
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Gay couples whose relationships resemble
marriage
Open couples
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Gay couples who live together but engage in
secret affairs
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Gay Lifestyles
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Variations in Gay Lifestyles
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Functionals
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Dysfunctionals
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Gay people who live alone, have adapted well to a swinging
lifestyle, and are sociable and well-adjusted
Gay people who live alone and have sexual, social, or
psychological problems
Asexuals
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Gay people who live alone and have few sexual contacts
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon