The Biological Of Sexual Orientation

Whatever my friends gut feeling told her when she got back from the date would be her final answer. Now I know that this could actually by their evolutionary adaptations going. They may be over analyzing, but it could be for the good of their future and not because they are being pessimists. Overall, this reading gave me an idea for the perfect advice to give them and that would be to follow their gut. For the second article, the authors discussed sexual orientation and how it develops. This is also an interesting subject because their are many arguments for both sides that I have heard in the past. It was nice to hear information from a purely scientific location. The answer to this long time debated topic is simply that it is a mix of nature and nurture; it is affected by the x chromosome and the upbringing. This means that both sides of this debate win and both of them lose. The sad part about this answer, is that in the end it will not make the impact that it should. People feel so strongly on each side that scientific fact will probably never matter much in the debate. At least, it will not matter to those who do not put much merit into scientific claims such as

One theory that many psychologist and scientist are trying to prove is that homosexuality has a fundamental biological basis. Similar to most mammalian species, humans at conception are females (McKnight 22). Toward the end of the first trimester is when the babies with a “male genetic message” begin to have small doses of two hormones, chorionic gonadotropin and luteinizing hormone, which start the altering process of the gonads into testes (McKnight 22). The hormones two jobs are to control the sexual development and control their function (McKnight 22). When the brain starts to develop masculine characteristics and lose the feminine characteristics, the processes are separate and occur at different

He contradicted the argument that homosexual behaviour is related to genetic, hormonal or biological disorder. To abolish these views, the author mentions that ‘no school of medicine, medical journal or professional organization has ever recognized such claims (p. 2) - at least at the time he wrote the article in 1994.

Throughout the history of humans, people have been having sex. It’s obviously necessary for the continuation of humans as a species. But it definitely hasn’t been for just reproductive purposes. People have been engaging in same-gender sex for probably as long as humans have been around. However, the terms we think of today when we think of different sexual orientations didn’t get coined until the 19th and 20th centuries. And with these terms came huge stigma that still exists today. There are many different sexual orientations that people identify as (including heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, as well as many others); the orientations that do not coincide with what people viewed as normal were originally given classification as mental disorders.

Homosexuality is defined or characterized as attraction towards the same gender either male or female. It came from the Greek language, where “homo” means the same or similar, hence referring to the attraction between two beings of the same sex. Homosexuality is also referred as a clinical term. Most male homosexuals generally prefer to be called "gay men" and most homosexual women generally prefer to be called "lesbians." Homosexuality is one of the three main categories of sexual orientation, alongside bisexual and heterosexual. The longstanding consensus of the behavioral and social sciences and the health and mental health professions is that homosexuality is an example of normal and positive variation in human sexual

In a scientific investigation on human homosexuality, there is an ongoing debate over the claim, “being gay is innate.” The debate is raised due to the unequal sense of the term, innate, in scientific discourse. As well as undetermined scientific evidence on how being gay arises. To understand why, and to lead us on to some of the scientific researches done around this, we will firstly evaluate the meaning of innateness. Then pick out a particular component out of those meanings and critically examine two main studies to conclude with the most plausible view on this unsettled debate.

What is sexual orientation and what are some of the scientific explanations for the development of diverse sexual orientations in humans? In Gay Straight and the Reason Why: The Science of Sexual Orientation by neuroscientist Simon Levay, sexual orientation is the sex that we as human beings prefer for sexual interaction. The diverse sexual orientations in humans range from same sex (homosexual, gay or lesbian), opposite sex (heterosexual or straight), and in some cases to both sexes (bisexual). Levay later goes onto explaining how sexual orientation is not just in terms of same-sex and opposite-sex attraction, but in

I think sexual orientation is both biological and environmental. The biological part is determined during the fetal stage which is influence by a hormonal balance. The environmental is influence on the development of the human sexual orientation it possess a double message. However, heterosexuality is more biologically because it is more of a sexual attraction between the opposite sex.

A recent study has found proof that male sexual orientation is connected with genes. “Scientists tested the DNA of 400 gay men and found that genes on at least two chromosomes affected whether a man was gay or straight” (Sample 1). A specific part of the X chromosome called Xq28 had some influence on men’s sexual behavior. However scientists have not found concrete fundaments as to which of these number of genes in the region are involved in the determination of men sexual preference, or the number that lie in other sites within the genome.

The nature and nature of homosexuality is heavily debated. Some people believe that homosexuality is biologically determined and others believe it’s base on ones environment. This topic can be argue to be base on both nature and nurture. Studies conducted in the past decades support both the biological and environmental aspect of homosexuality.

The world has come very far with all the dramatic changes we have faced over the years. Wouldn’t you agree? As much change as the world has been through there are still numerous social problems that still exist in society today. Amongst those numerous social problems, sexual orientation and inequality stand out to me. Research from biology, psychology, and sociology is where our understanding of sexual orientation comes from. There are two hypothetical theories researchers have discovered examining the biological basis toward sexual orientation. One concept is the neurohormonal theory, biologist contend that homosexuality is caused by abnormal sex hormone levels in utero. The alternative theory is based on behavioral genetics, determining the source and magnitude of genetic impact on sexual orientation. This theory suggested the concept that gay men were genetically female. Later this theory was proven to be false. Homosexuality was considered as a pathology or mental illness. Not every psychologists agreed with that perspective. A researcher by the name of Havelock Ellis stated that homosexuality was congenital and for that reason it could not be considered as a disease. Sigmund Freud another theorist had the concept that everyone is born bisexual and that either homosexuality or heterosexuality is developed through social and personal experience. Ellis and Freud both concurred that homosexuality was not a mental illness. Despite these researchers’ opinions in 1973,

There are many people who believe that gender is little more than a social construct. One of the most convincing arguments for this stance is the issue of homosexuality, especially male homosexuality. When boys are born, there is no doubt that they share the same gender. Yet as they grow up and diverge to become homosexuals and heterosexuals, they begin to demonstrate a host of different characteristics that makes one clearly distinct from the other. A close examination of typical homosexual and heterosexual behavior confirms this fact. Although males are born with the same sex, homosexual and straight males differ in how they dress, talk and behave.

It has long been debated where our sexual orientation comes from, particularly whether its biological or social forces driving these behaviors. In regards to homosexuality and bisexuals, some have argued that it may be a choice that these individuals are making.(Levay 2012: 41)Some have even said it is a mental disorder that one can recover from, but there is plenty of data that says otherwise.(Levay 2012: 41)(Levay 2012: 65) I believe diverse sexual orientations develop in humans due to sex hormones during fetal life, gene influences, and other effects such as birth order influences. I’ve come to this conclusion based on the narrative provided via Dr. Simon LeVay’s book Gay Straight, and the Reason Why, and the research that has been compiled showing strong influences from a multitude or reasons. I will also be looking at a research paper by Francesca Iemmola and Andrea Camperio Ciani, who looked into genetic factors influencing sexual orientation in men. It is clear there are gender differences between men and women, and this is probably one of the strongest indicators that hormones can affect the outcome of variations in gender traits.

In addition, homosexuality can also be caused by biological factors. The first biological factor is hormonal imbalances in the body. Hormones play an important role in stimulating one’s intensity of sexuality. Estrogen is normally associated with female and testosterone with the male. A homosexual man is likely to have either more estrogen or less testosterone and vice versa (Buchanan, 2000). Furthermore, sexual orientation is developed in the womb, as suggested by Bogaert (2006). He said a woman body may prompt an immune reaction on the male fetus as the body sees a male fetus as an ‘outsider’. Therefore, antibodies will be created and this may affect the male’s brain growth. This explains why older brothers are more likely to be gay. In addition to that, homosexual males’ brain structures are similar to heterosexual females. According to Rahman (2008), these brain differences may develop early in the feotal development.

Throughout history there has been speculation about what influences sexuality in men and woman. Is sexual orientation biological or cultural in nature? There is a common misconception that sexual identity operate in parallel with gender roles( Sell, 2005 as cited in Wilkinson & Roys, 2005, p.65). Scholars have not came to an agreement regarding what actually comprise a person’s sexual orientation, however a sexual orientation has been deemed a cumulative experience and interaction of emotional and sexual feelings towards one or both genders (Wilkinson & Roys, 2005, p.65). The paper provides provides some clues as to what factors influence sexual orientation in men and woman.