Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality Free Essays

According to Rathus, Nevid, and Fichner-Rathus, (2005) the term homosexuality denotes sexual interest in members of one’s own anatomic sex and applies to both_ _men and women. Homosexual males are often referred to as gay males and homosexual females or referred to as lesbians. Gay males and lesbians have existed throughout history. We will write a custom essay sample on Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality or any similar topic only for you Order Now The historical and scientific perspectives on homosexuality have shaped the way gay individuals perceive themselves in various ways. These perspectives may also be beneficial to heterosexuals’ understanding of others in our world of sexual diversity. When looking at historical perspectives, religion and past societies’ sexual behavior is addressed. Although past Greek and Roman cultures were frequently involved in homosexual relationships, the Christian religion denounced those sexual associations and made their beliefs and intentions clear that this behavior was not to continue, for example, according to the book of Genesis in the Holy bible, the city of Sodom was destroyed by God as a punishment as a punishment for sexual activity with members of the same sex. The legal system became intertwined with the Christian belief that homosexuality was sinful and would punish inappropriate sex acts as criminal offenses (Rathus, Nevid, Fichner-Rathus, 2005). Another perspective to consider is heritage. Traditionally, in many cultures, there are specific roles for the male and the female. When family is the â€Å"primary social unit† as we find in Latino and Latina American culture, anything but the designated gender roles is not acceptable (Rathus, Nevid, Fichner-Rathus, 2005). Interestingly enough, males can be sexual with other males without being considered gay (Rathus, Nevid, Fichner-Rathus, 2005). Women cannot be sexual with other women though because that would be a threat to the traditional male dominance in that culture. Women also need to be virgins when they marry men so any sexual acts before marriage are prohibited. Specific gender roles in many cultures around the world lay the foundation for what is correct and incorrect for males and females in regard to sexual orientation. The scientific perspective of homosexuality is whether homosexuality is caused by environmental influences or whether gay individuals are born that way. This question has been pondered byscientists for decades, but there is strong evidence to support the idea that homosexuality is an inborn characteristic. Research done on both identical and fraternal twins, show that there are higher concordance rates of gay monozygotic twins. Rathus, Nevid, and Fichner-Rathus, (2005) report that about â€Å"52% of identical (MZ) twin pairs were found to be â€Å"concordant† (in agreement) for a gay male sexual orientation, compared with 22% of fraternal (DZ) twins and only 11% of adoptive brothers† (p. 312). Also, evidence has suggested that hormonal influences could be responsible for differences in sexual orientation. Rathus, Nevid, and Fichner-Rathus (2005) explain that prenatal sex hormones be responsible for tissues in the brain to think sexually one way, but for genital development to be the other way. Also, structural examinations on the brains of heterosexual and homosexual males have provided speculative evidence that a part of the hypothalamus in gay males is smaller than that region of the hypothalamus in heterosexual males. The scientific perspectives have helped many gay people come to terms with themselves, which has made coming out easier. Before scientific evidence provided clues that homosexuality could be inborn, many people believe that people â€Å"choose† to be gay. However, the scientific evidence proves that many are actually â€Å"born† gay. Gay people do not choose their sexuality, but rather live according to sexual impulses that are going on within them. Gay individuals now accept themselves more because they are convinced that they did not choose their sexual identity, as much as it was given to them. Many homosexuals have formed organizations that are involved personally with others in sharing life stories and involved politically in achieving equal rights for gays and gay couples Although I have always been attracted to individual of the opposite sex, which means that I am Heterosexual, after learning about the historical and scientific perspectives of Homosexuality that I was not aware of before, I better understand others who are oriented in ways that differ from mine. I feel as though learning about the history, the scientific research concerning cross-species subjects, and the biology on homosexuality can be beneficial for humanity in order to learn tolerance for differences among sexual orientations. References Rathus, S. A. , Nevid, J. S. , and Fichner-Rathus, L. (2005). Human sexuality in a world of diversity. (6th ed. ) Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. How to cite Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality, Papers Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality Free Essays HISTORICAL AND SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVES PSY/265 Ana Diaz 10/20/1012 Kavita Kostek The way we view homosexuality has very much to do with how we were raised and taught depending on where we are from, our parents beliefs and what others around us tell us. Because of this we believe what we believe and will stand by them unless we ourselves come to a different conclusion as we grow older. I was raised a Catholic and was taught by the Bible teachings that homosexuality was wrong and will go to hell if that is what you practiced. We will write a custom essay sample on Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality or any similar topic only for you Order Now In this paper we will look a little at the historical and scientific perspectives of homosexuality. We will first be starting with the historical view which has much to do with what the bible teaches on homosexuality. When we look back at ancient Greece where homosexuality was really not that big of a deal, older men would have relationships with adolescent males’ right at the time when they grew their first beards (online text pg. 28). Then we can go to Rome where there were men that were very feminine and walked around certain parts of town looking for men to bed. In Florence which was a very Christian city had many sodomites (this is a Jewish and Christian word that signifies the connection between sodomy and the city of Sodom in the Bible which supposedly God destroyed (Genesis 19). I remember watching a movie called â€Å"Caligula†. This movie depicted how free the Romans were with sexual favors and bedding with those of same sex was an all-time occurrence especially male with male (online textpg. 287). Sodomy was such a natural thing but it bothered the governors at the time so they created a group called â€Å"The Office of the Night in 1437 to enable its citizens to be able to accuse others anonymously of sodomy (Human Sexuality pg. 287). Once the Roman Empire ceased to exist, throughout Western Europe Christianity spread and its beliefs were made part of secular laws. Next we can take a look at homosexuals through the cross-species perspective. Biologists have watched the male-male and female – female behavior of 450 species in every part of the world (Hird, 2006). Through this study they monitored the behavior of baboons and learned that male baboons may present their rear to other male baboons and allow themselves to be mounted either because the other is dominant or for protection and favors. I think by this study they concluded that human beings are much more like the animal species than we want to be. We do have animal instincts. We will now look at the psychological views on homosexuality with looking into the psychoanalytic views of Sigmund Freud who is the originator of psychoanalytic theory. He believed that children are all open to all forms of sexual stimulation. He says that once a boy lets go of the incestuous desire for his mother he will relate with his dad and will desire women as he reaches puberty and the same for girls when it comes to how they relate with their mothers. What Freud is saying here is that depending on the relationship between parent and child and how it manifests itself sexually has influence on what the person’s personal sexual preference they will have when they mature. People are afraid of coming out and letting others know that they are gay because they are afraid of ridicule, personal injury or being ousted from their families. In the past it was much harder because there was much homophobia around. Now with all the gay activists and groups for support it is much easier. We have to be true to ourselves and if we feel that who we are physically is not who we really feel like then we should have to feel that we have to hide it. I grew up Catholic as I have stated and I grew up thinking that sex was between man and woman and not man-man or woman and woman. Now as I am older I know that people are just people but have different likes and that is what. Scientific findings never stirred me one way or another as to my sexual orientation. What did do it was my religious beliefs and even though I have nothing against the LGBT community I still believe that sex should be between man and woman along with marriage but I would never deny anyone else right to live life as they feel is right for them. References: Human Sexuality online text . How to cite Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality, Essay examples Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality Free Essays Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality PSY/265 February 17, 2013 Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality To understand homosexuality you need to first understand what it means. Homosexuality is defined as being a romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual activity of the same sex or same gender. Over the years homosexuality seems to be more common and accepted not only among peers but among different cultures, that was not always the case. We will write a custom essay sample on Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality or any similar topic only for you Order Now Homosexuality has been documented over the ages in many different ways, from being accepted by the ancient Greeks in pictures where you see the older man inserting his penis between a boy’s thighs (not in the anus of the young boy) and thrusting until he ejaculated. The Romans described centuries later about certain groups of men who dressed what is referred to these days as being flamboyant from the clothes they wore to the way they did their hair, they also described these men as having a very flamboyant personality. These men were said to be walking in certain neighborhoods looking for partners. Then you had the other side of it where it was and is still considered a religious sin within the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths. Florence which was a Christian city in the 15th century considered male-male interaction as a sin of Sodom. In this paper we will discuss three perspectives are cross-cultural perspective, biological perspective, and psychological perspective. Cross-cultural perspective on homosexuality takes a look at the cultural part of homosexuality. Ford and Beach (1951) in their review of 76 preliterate societies, 49 societies viewed male-male interaction as normal and considered acceptable. The 27 societies left have sanctions against male-male interactions. It is said that some societies look at male-male sexuality as a rite of passage and that semen is looked at as a source of strength and virility. Now it is understood that this is only accepted during the early teenage years and that during the late teenage years and early the males are expected to take a wife and to have solely male-female relationships. Biological perspective is said to focus on the roles of evolution, genetics, and hormonal influences in the shaping of the sexual orientation of an individual. There is biological testing dating back all the way to 1930 on the biological argument over homosexuality. Karen Hooker conducted a psychological test in 1957 and was able to show through her testing and research that there was no connection between determinism and sexuality. Due to this testing and research the APA removed homosexuality as being deemed as a mental disorder. It is said that Allen and Swabb found in the 1990’s that the hypothalamus was a great deal smaller as oppose to that of a heterosexual. It is said that sex hormones have a strong influence on the behavior on other species. Researchers felt that if that was possible in other species than maybe it was possible that hormonal factors played a role in determining sexual orientation in humans. It is said the researchers were able to connect different levels of male or female hormones. When talking about psychological perspectives you are talking about two major theories, the first being psychoanalytic theory, and the second being learning theory. Psychoanalytic theory states that a boy will identify with his father and a girl will identify with her mother and if these connections are not made between the same sexes then they are more likely to be homosexual. Learning theory states that sexual orientation is learned. This means that if a boy while going through the experimental stage feels pleasure from being with the same sex then they are more likely to be with the same sex again. The same is true with a girl, if she feels pleasure from a girl she is more likely to go back to a girl. Although this entire researcher has been done I do not think or feel that anybody can control who you fall in love with. I have been with the same sex but I would not label myself as gay or as bisexual. I think we feel the need to label people because it gives us what we feel is order in a world that is so full of chaos. When it comes to telling your parents or loved ones that you are with the same sex, I think that it plays a big part in what you think about yourself and feel about yourself. You want to be approved by those you love and when you are not it will play a big role in your life psychologically. References: Rathus, S. A. , Nevid, J. S. , Fichner-Rathus, L. (2011). Human Sexuality in a World of Diversity (8th ed. ). Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn Bacon. How to cite Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality, Essay examples