Rosio Rivas-Zavala
910969610
I was born gay Being gay is natural. Hating gay is a choice. John fugelsang.
Many people will asked themselves what is sexual orientation? I remember the first time someone asked me on a questionnaire what was my sexual orientation, I did not know what it meant, and I thought it had to do with my sexuality. The book gay, straight and reason why by neuroanatomist Simon leVay claimed that INAH3 nucleus size which is found in the brains of the homosexuals who died from AIDS in the 1980’s comparing it with straight men who died from other causes. Also there are reasons for being born gay. According to the author leVay, sexual orientation, refers to the sex a person prefers to be, feeling attraction for
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Authors Bailey, Dunne and Martin from the article genetic and environmental on sexual orientation and its correlates in an Australian twin sample, causes of male and female sexual orientation, levels of homosexual interest, validity of sexual orientation using the Kinsey scores and the role of genes, shared environment, non-shared environment. Authors of the article sex difference in sexual orientation found that male sexual orientation is influenced by a gene on the x chromosome (bailey, Dunne and martin 2000: 525) this study sheds light to understand that its natural because males are born that way. Measures used by bailey, Dunne and Martin by using to Kinsey scale, the Kinsey scale will help to better understand people behaviors and feelings, helping them identity their true sexual interest. According to Levay, gay men and women have gayer sibling than straight people up to 22 percentage for males and 25 percent for females. Even though the percentage is not too high, this statistic proves that it runs in the family. Generally an individual who is gay can also have a gay …show more content…
Author levay, explained that the studies by blanchard and bogaert show that having an older brother will have the effect on males increasing the likelihood of being gay by 33 percent (levay 2011: 256) due to this study probability of a younger to be gay rises each time. Younger brothers will run a chance of being gay even if they want to or not. The older brother effect is caused by a mother immune system may “remember”” and exert an influence on the fetuses of younger sons. It seems a mother is blame, just because a baby is being develop in the womb, but what about the father? It takes two to get pregnant. In the womb is where he is being affected. Author, leVay, states, one-quarter and on third of all gay men owe their sexual orientation to their brothers (laVay 2011: 257) once scientific reasons emerge, people realized some of the reasons why various sexual orientation exist. There are reasons why people are gay such as older-brother effect as more evidence rises, people know who to blame. The older brother effect, reminds me of my Latin culture, where men rather have males sons than females daughter because of macho culture but if they only knew the more sons you have the higher probability you will have a gay son. Which in Latin cultures a father is a shamed and hurt to have a gay
The gay personality may be determined during a child’s early years of development or throughout the individual’s life. A lesbian or gay individual like heterosexual individuals are influenced by family, peers, and society. Family structure, social factors, and cognition and conditioning help the development of sexual identity (Kwiatkowski, 2010). The child while living with the parents, adopt many of the customs and values the parents emphasize. The parents may stress the importance of gender roles in the household which the child may learn to
Mentioned is the chromosome Xq28 which is the region where scientists believe plays a key role in determining orientation, they found that 33 out of 40 brothers who were gay had similar inherited genes for chromosome Xq28. However, Bailey 's study on inherited genes is variable and limited, it does not explain the entirety of how sexual
A pattern emerges where the scholarly literature exploring this topic is largely focused on males. Reason being is that it appears that males are the sex who are predominantly homosexual in their orientation (LeVay & Baldwin, 2012). However, the sensitivity within the discourse of sexual orientation arises when it is debated upon whether one 's sexual preference is innate at birth, hence a force of nature or biology, or if it is a result of culture, nurture or environmental factors (Emmanuele et al., 2010). Furthermore, an experimental design will be proposed to further examine this topic. Comparing the three chosen studies, it is evident that a biological and endocrinological perspective does account for sexual orientation (Kraemer et al., 2006; Manning et al., 2007; Miller et al., 2008). Of the studies that currently exist on this topic, data shows that prenatal testosterone levels are indicative of sexual orientation (Kraemer et al., 2006; Manning et al., 2007; Miller et al., 2008). This paper addresses a topic that is relevant in today 's society; a topic that has, for the most part, been written off as having any scientific roots (Emmanuele et al., 2010). This paper counters that belief and in reading this essay, it will be evident that biology and endocrinology have a much stronger influence on sexual orientation than previously thought.
Why some people are attracted to members of their own sex whereas others are attracted to members of the opposite sex is no known cause or reason. There is belief to it possible contributing from genetics, hormonal and the environmental influences. One study stated that there is a 50 percent chance that if one identical twin is homosexual or bisexual, the other twin is too. Similar findings lead that some researchers estimate that sexual orientation is 30 to 70 percent genetic (Mustanski, Chivers, & Bailey, 2002).
In 1991, Simon LaVey published scientific findings, that suggested: “sexual orientation has a biological substrate” (par 22). According to his research, the nucleus of the anterior hypothalamus (INAH-3), is considerably smaller than those seen in heterosexual men. In 1993, a study done by Dean Harmer found if there are more gay relatives on the mother’s side than the father’s side, the X chromosome can influence a male to become straight. This gene, Xq28, was found in 33 out of 40 gay brothers, therefore influencing a future sexual orientation. However, there have been other studies shown that there is no X gene connecting the sexual orientation of males. Another issue in the scientific community is not being able to agree what homosexuality is in the first place. The search for the Xq28 gay gene assumes that homosexuality is not a default, almost like a genetic mutation for a maturing human. The assumption that something awkward happened when humans were developing in the womb. The search for the gay gene could be an excuse for the cure for homosexuals. Not only that, but parents could design their babies to not be
Another study that was conducted almost 20 years ago mentioned that an adopted brother of a gay male is twice as likely to become gay later on compared to a adopted
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 one article by Marcia Malory, “Homosexuality & Choice: Are Gay People ‘Born This Way’”, she goes into multiple studies on the genetics of a gay child's parents. A study conducted in 1993 the “gay gene” matter arose when it was looked into the homosexual children's parents having a different X chromosome marker. Nonetheless genes do not control our behavior completely as does environment. The brain may also play a role in sexual preference, like the study in 1991 showing the difference in neurons and pituitary glands. Later in the 2000s more studies showed that gay men have more symmetrical hemisphere and amygdala resembles that of women's. The brain develops in the womb and continues through late adulthood. When did a fetus choose its
Nearly 130 bird species have been observed engaging in sexual activities with same-sex partners. While the evolutionary purpose of this behavior is not clear, the fact that animals routinely exhibit same-sex behavior belies the notion that gay sex is not a modern human innovation. Other research has found that being gay or lesbian tends to run in families. It is also more likely for two identical twins, who share all of their genes, to both be gay than it is for two fraternal twins, who share just half of their genes, to both be homosexual. Those studies also suggest that genes seemed to have a greater influence on the sexual orientation of male versus female identical twins. A study detailed an in-depth analysis of blood and saliva samples taken from 409 pairs of openly gay brothers, including non-identical twins, from 384 families. The only common characteristic shared by all 818 men was being gay. Researchers theorized that any single nucleotide polymorphisms consistently found among these men would have something to do with sexual orientation. Sexual brain organization is dependent on sex hormone and neurotransmitter levels occurring during critical developmental periods. Psychologists Michael Bailey and Richard Pillard have studied identical twins who are raised together. "Although all people in all societies with rare exceptions are socialized to be heterosexual, the predictable, universal appearance of
According to Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary, sexual orientation refers to the inclination of an individual with respect to heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual behavior. The famous Kinsey Reports by Alfred Kinsey (1948) claims that about 10% of American adults are homosexual. This astonishing figure is often presented as fact but is often criticized to be highly overestimated by academia. (Refer to Appendix 1 for figures presented by other institutes). Studies by National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles reviews that lesbian increased from 2.8% in 1990 to 9.7% in 2000 while gay reported to rise from 5.3% in 1990 to 8.4% in 2000, depicting upward trends that are consistent with reports
There is much debate that homosexuality is a developmental problem caused by a weak bond between a father and son during one’s childhood. A failed relationship with one’s father can lead the boy to not fully internalize male gender identity and develop homosexually (Baird & Baird, 1995). Consider the gender development of identity. Infants indentify with their mother who is the first and primary source of nurturance and care. As girls age, they continue to identify mostly with their mother and boys shift towards their father. Through a father-son relationship, masculine identification is attained which is necessary if the boy is to develop a normally masculine personality (i.e. heterosexuality). This development task helps explain why boys have more difficulty than girls in developing gender identity and may also explain the higher ratio of male to female homosexuality (Baird & Baird, 1995). It is important that
Other studies conducted suggest that homosexuality might be base on difference in the brain structure of homosexual and heterosexual males. In 1991, Simon LeVay, a researcher at salks institute for biological studies in San Diego, found that an area of the brain called INAH-3 was larger in heterosexual men as in homosexual men [6]. INAH-3 is a small cell cluster in the hypothalamus that is involve regulating male sex behavior. LeVay’s finding provided clues that prove that sexual attraction to some extent might be biological. Other studies following levay’s study suggest that homosexuality might be base on genetic. It is believe that “gay gene” is passed from mother tho son.
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,
Dr. LeVay did a research and study about the brain to figure out the cause and the differences in the sexual orientation of the different people (LeVay &Valente, 2006). The main focus of his study was the brain of the homosexual and heterosexual individuals. Dr. LeVey’s research was
Many people now believe the reporting of many popular newspapers and magazines report of the "discovery" of a link between a certain gene and homosexuality, but hasn't it been considered a choice for such a long time? Is homosexuality a choice rather than genetic? To answer this question we'll start off by revealing some myths of homosexuality. The next part will explain the difference between a behavioral trait and a genetic trait. Finally I'll end be unveiling the truth behind the "homosexual gene."