SEXUAL ORIENTATION

1. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Usually seen as dichotomous: • hetero/homo • seen as discrete traits • Hetero: • “normal”  heterosexism • Homo: • “abnormal” • Bisexual: • ???

2. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Small % of population: • 1-10% • But vast ripple effects: • family, friends, etc. • rejection • discrimination, persecution • assault, death • broken homes • trauma • suicide

3. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Homophobia: Cultural attitude based on religious teachings Freud: Fear of own homosexual tendencies • Adams, Wright and Lohr (1996) gave test to measure homophobia to male college students • Group 1: high scores • Group 2: low scores • All participants were hooked to plethysmograph that measured erection • They all watched film clips of hetero, gay and lesbian sex • Group 1: 54% had increased penile erection to gay (male) tapes • Group 2: 24% • Conclusion: Freud was on the right track

4. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • In order to study homosexuality we need: 1. Head count: who is? need a definition 2. Definition a. self-label Can contradict each other b. behaviour c. how often? when? d. loose boundaries: gays have sex with the opposite sex; heterosexuals have sex with the same sex e.g. Tea room men, Indonesian men 3. Causes

5. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Gender differences In an experiment heterosexual and homosexual males and females watched videos of a. heterosexual sex b. male gay sex c. lesbian sex d. nude males e. nude females f. bonobos having sex The participants were hooked to a plethysmograph and were asked to report verbally when they were aroused.

6. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Results: a. heterosexual males became aroused when watching heterosexual sex, lesbian sex and nude females b. homosexual males became aroused when watching male homosexual sex and nude males c. both homosexual and heterosexual males had a 100% concordance between plethysmograph results and self report of arousal

7. SEXUAL ORIENTATION d. both heterosexual and homosexual women were aroused by all the videos according to the plethysmograph, but their self reports were at odds with objective data: women are not aware when they are aroused. e. males were not aroused by the bonobo video, females were! Another gender difference: a. more women self-label bisexual than males b. more women switch sexual orientation over their life times

8. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Cannot look for THE cause. INTERACTIONS • Individual differences in etiology • Circumstances: • jail, boarding school • Cross-cultural evidence: • prescribed homosexuality at certain age-stage Definition found in many cultures: • gay man is the one that is penetrated. (Anal intercourse the norm in most countries) • ethnic minorities in Canada are more in the closet

9. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Possible variables involved: • genes • hormones in utero • subtle intrauterine interactions • brain: timing • early influences • identity problems • social stereotypes, prejudice

10. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Retrospective memory: • unreliable • Alternate reality a common developmental theme: • adopted, Martian, different • Early attractions, crushes: • heavily shaped by culture • Selective memory • Children “bisexual” (Freud) • Capable of arousal with either sex – can later remember “always” being attracted to same sex

11. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Bisexuality: • If based on one encounter (at least): • 33% • Higher sex drive, more sexual activity in general, including masturbation. More high risk behaviour. • Majority married (heterorole) • Sexual pleasure oriented regardless of other person’s sex

12. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Danger: • 71% of bisexual men do not tell their female partners: • STDs – AIDS • Adolescent males: • very common transitional stage • Difficulty: • rejected by both hetero and homo. Called fence-sitters, some feel pressured to go in either direction • Many gays reject the concept, saying that bis are misguided homosexuals

13. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • So: • numbers difficult to estimate • definition: • fuzzy • causes: • flimsy support for several hypotheses • real danger: • prejudice

14. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS: • Genetic: • More concordance in identical twins, but does not rule out environment – otherwise it would be 100% concordance instead of 52%.

15. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Prenatal factors: • No agreement in different studies, contradictory data • Hypothesized: • severe maternal stress (no effects) • also, maternal stress is retrospective • no tally of stressed expectant mothers who had heterosexual children • very high levels of estrogen  lesbian offspring • birth order: males with several older brothers  gay • some studies show a complicated relationship between birth order and handedness (right or left handed) • some found a correlation between orientation and finger size: index and ring finger ratio or 2D:4D

16. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS (Cont’d): • Brain differences: • Small sample. Non-comparable: some died of AIDS. Is the difference due to orientation or to disease and its treatment? LeVay • Other differences found, but all in adults after the fact (chicken/egg) • Would need to look at newborn brains and if differences found follow-up into adulthood and observe sexual orientation • Endocrine imbalance: • No differences found.

17. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Learning: • Possible in some cases. Personal negative experience could override social reinforcement patterns. Also, peer group can provide more reinforcement than society at large. • Sociological theories: • Importance of labels. Labels affect perception. Perception affects behaviour. This can influence self-perception, leading to self-labeling.

18. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Reiss: • Rigidly polarized societies have higher incidence of same-gender sex. But only applies to males. • Another scenario: • very permissive societies, experimentation OK.

19. Bem: The Exotic Becomes Erotic

20. SEXUAL ORIENTATION Bem’s Theory – criticisms: • There is NO abundant evidence of inborn aggression and activity levels by gender, it’s all contaminated by culture. • Homosocial activities are mostly a cultural phenomenon. • Children who don’t fit the gender stereotypes are clearly told they are odd and wrong.

21. SEXUAL ORIENTATION Bem’s Theory – criticisms (Cont’d): • Many gays are “gender typical” in their interests, appearance, etc. Bem fell for the effeminate guy/macho woman stereotype of gays. • Many atypical (i.e., boys who played with dolls, girls who played with trucks) kids do not go on to become gay.

23. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Asexual category: • Not attracted to either sex. Non-existent sex drive. 1. Hormonal deficiency or imbalance 2. Central nervous system misconnection 3. Possible early trauma: childhood sexual abuse 4. Pituitary tumors 5. Asperger’s (autism spectrum) 6. Personality disorder (schizoid) 7. Late bloomers Research is scarce Can engage in sex usually to please partner. Some engage in masturbation.

24. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Freud: undifferentiated at birth (polymorphous perverse) • Phallic stage: Oedipus/Electra • Identification with same sex parent • Kinsey: continuum • Very complex issue • All beings potential for both • Embryological/developmental parallel

25. SEXUAL ORIENTATION • Situational variables • Several possible ways to acquire sexual orientation • Basic human needs shared by all: • sensual/sexual fulfillment • socio-emotional connection

26. SEXUAL ORIENTATION Bell and Weinberg typology of gays (sample of 979) • Close coupled: • one long-time partner, marriage type relationship, few problems, few sex partners, infrequent cruising. • Open coupled: • steady live-in partner but also many outside ones, lots of cruising. More likely to have problems and to regret being gay.

27. SEXUAL ORIENTATION Bell and Weinberg typology of gays (sample of 979) (Cont’d) • Functional: • not coupled, high number of sex partners, few problems. Younger, high sex drive, few regrets. • Dysfunctional: • not coupled, high number of partners, many sex problems as well as psychological problems, tense, unhappy, depressed.

28. SEXUAL ORIENTATION Bell and Weinberg typology of gays (sample of 979) (Cont’d) • Asexual: • low in sexual interest and activity, less exclusively gay, very secretive, loners, highest incidence of suicide thoughts.

29. SEXUAL ORIENTATION Bell, Weinberg and Hammersmith • In depth interviews comparing gays/ lesbians and straights. • No support for psychoanalytic, learning or sociological (labelling) theories. • They speculate a biological basis but have no data.