|
Homosexuality
Homosexuality
in Western popular thought over the course of the 20th century has
generally referred to sexual acts between individuals of the same sex.
There has been and continues to be a common belief that individuals are
either homosexual or heterosexual, both in terms of their sexual
orientation and behavior. In reality, many individuals engage in a wide
spectrum of sexual behaviors at any given stage in their lives or over
the course of their lives. While there are individuals who at any given
point in time may engage in exclusively other-sex or same-sex sexual
behaviors, others may exhibit a pattern of "bisexuality" that
involves varying degrees of both other-sex or same-sex behavior.
Furthermore, an individual who at one point in his or her lifetime
engages exclusively or primarily in other-sex behavior may opt to engage
exclusively or primarily in same-sex behavior, or vice versa at a later
point in time. In his now classic studies on male and female sexuality
in U.S. society, published respectively in 1948 and 1953, Alfred C.
Kinsey, a prominent pioneer in sexual research, argued that humans
cannot be easily put into invented categories such as
"heterosexual" and "homosexual." Somewhat later,
Michel Foucault, a prominent French philosopher and psychologist, argued
that the category "homosexual" is a social construct that is
only a little over 100 years old. Indeed, not until 1926 was the term
first seen in print, in the New York Times. Foucalt asserted that
the practice of sodomy became transformed into an explicit social
category referred to as homosexuality. This term has been interpreted in
a wide variety of ways, ranging from a form of psychodynamic pathology
to an alternative sexual lifestyle engaged in by sensitive and
enlightened individuals who often refer to themselves as gays or
lesbians. According to this social constructivist perspective,
homosexuality per se did not exist in ancient Greece or various other
indigenous societies in which same-sex behaviors of one sort or another
reportedly occurred. Indeed, the ancient Greeks did not even have an
equivalent for the terms "homosexual" or
"heterosexual," although same-sex sexual behavior was not only
practiced but extolled. At any rate, same-sex behaviors include
oral-genital intercourse, anal intercourse, insertion of dildoes, mutual
masturbation, hugging, kissing, stroking, and various other activities.
To a large extent, same-sex oriented people engage in many of the same
forms of sexuality as do other-sex oriented people.
Until recently, most
theorists and therapists tended to view homosexuality as a deviant or
aberrant form of behavior -- a view still widely held by the general
public and by certain religious groups. Cross-cultural evidence
demonstrates that same-sex behavior in many societies may be regarded as
different but not morally defective or psychologically abnormal. Indeed,
various indigenous groups, such as the Sambia on the island of New
Guinea, actually have a form of socially-institutionalized and approved
form of homosexuality in which adolescent males engage in same-sex acts,
such as fellatio, before marrying a woman and rearing a family. Some
males may choose to restrict their behavior to same-sex acts after
adolescence and some married males may occasionally engage in same-sex
acts. By contrast, Western psychology and psychiatry, at least until
relatively recently, have tended to regard same-sex behavior as abnormal
and the product of inappropriate gender socialization. Although Freud
argued that humans are born with a bisexual nature which in time becomes
mediated by culture, the American Psychiatric Association up until 1973
had designated homosexuality as a pathological form of behavior. The
Association lifted its claim that homosexuality is abnormal in 1974, and
now maintains that there is no scientific evidence that demonstrates the
effectiveness of any therapies that attempt to transform homosexuals
into heterosexuals. In 1994, the American Medical Association, a
traditionally conservative organization, called for "a
non-judgmental recognition of sexual orientation by physicians."
While the causes of
homosexuality as a sexual orientation remain controversial, many sex
researchers believe that it may be the product of a complex interaction
of sociocultural and biological factors. While the evidence still
remains highly tentative, there is cause to believe that some
individuals exhibit a greater biopsychological predisposition to engage
in same-sex acts than others. A team of National Cancer Institute
researchers in a study of over 100 homosexual men found that many of
their uncles and male cousins were also homosexual, suggesting an
hereditary factor. In its comparison of the DNA of 40 pairs of same-sex
oriented brothers, it was learned that almost all shared genetic markers
in the Xq28 region of the X chromosome. Research on the DNA of 36
lesbian sisters did not reveal a corresponding pattern.
People who prefer to
engage in same-sex behavior vary widely in terms of their lifestyles.
While many continue to remain circumspect and even secretive about their
sexual orientation for a variety of reasons, others have chosen to
"come out of the closet" and participate in the gay and
lesbian subcultures which have become more visible and politically
active both domestically and internationally. Despite a growing
understanding of the nature of homosexuality, myths about people who
prefer to engage in same-sex behavior continue to abound. Contrary to
the common belief that homosexuals tend to recruit children and
unsuspecting adults into same-sex behavior, homosexuals, like
heterosexuals, discover their sexuality as a process of maturation. The
vast majority of individuals who engage in same-sex behavior are reared
in heterosexual homes. Due to the pervasive patterns of homophobia or
anti-homosexual sentiments and behaviors that exist in the larger
society, many same-sex oriented individuals experience considerable
psychic ambivalence and even distress in the process of coming to terms
with their sexuality. Teens exhibiting a same-sex orientation are
reportedly three times more likely than their other-sex oriented peers
to attempt suicide. Homophobia also causes a high level of violence and
discrimination targeted at gays and lesbians, and disproportionate rates
of alcoholism and other substance abuse among gays and lesbians.
Contrary to popular
stereotypes, few homosexuals in the U.S. can be characterized as
assuming only a masculine or only a feminine role in sex. Research
suggests that homosexual behavior tends to fall into the following three
categories in terms of frequency: (1) oral-genital acts, hugging, and
kissing; (2) anal sex; and (3) alternative acts such as
"fisting" (in which a hand, but not in the form of a fist, is
inserted into the partner's rectum). Although homosexuality is often
popularly associated with transvestitism or cross-dressing, heterosexual
cross-dressers appear to be about as common as homosexual
cross-dressers. Furthermore, homosexual men do not appear to be any more
prone to pedophilia (sexual attraction to children) than do heterosexual
men. Various surveys indicate that homosexuals have more partners over
the course of their lifetimes than do heterosexual or
"straight" individuals. Nonetheless, many homosexuals form
long-term, monogamous relationships. Indeed, the AIDS epidemic has
prompted many homosexuals to choose a lifestyle emphasizing an exclusive
sexual relationship with a single partner rather than one emphasizing
multiple-partner relationships.
Cross-culturally, women
appear to participate in same-sex relationships less often than men.
Same-sex relations among women, however, tend to be more acceptable in
certain indigenous communities and Third World countries. In some
African communities, prosperous trader women may choose to marry women
and even establish families with them by having a son or trusted male
employee impregnate their wives. In India, some homosexual women have a
socially approved role as devotees of certain Hindu or Sikh goddesses.
Despite the existence of female homosexuality in all societies both
today and in the past, women who engage in same-sex practices have
tended to be ignored in Western historical studies. The recent
renaissance of gay and lesbian studies has played an important role in
changing awareness of homosexuality.
|
Sex
