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59 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Sexual Orientation |
- A person's erotic and emotional towards members of his or her gender or members of the other gender. |
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Homosexual |
- A person whose sexual orientation is towards members of the same gender. |
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Heterosexual |
- A person whose sexual orientation is towards members of the other gender. |
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Bisexual |
- A person whose sexual orientation is towards both men and women. - About 1.1% of men and 3.5% of women label themselves as bisexuals. |
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Lesbian |
- A woman whose sexual orientation is towards other women. |
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Gay |
- Homosexual; especially male homosexuals. |
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Straight |
- Homosexual; that is, a person whose sexual orientation is towards members of the opposite gender. |
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Queer |
- A self label used by some LGB's as well as by some heterosexuals who prefer unusual sexual practices. |
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Heteronormativity |
- The belief that heterosexuality is the norm. |
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Homophobia |
- A strong, irrational fear of homosexuals. - Negative attitudes and reactions to homosexuals. |
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Sexual Minority |
- Another term that encompasses LGB.
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LGB |
- Acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual. |
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Attitudes Towards LGB |
- 2010 survey states 45% of Americans expressed disapproval of homosexual sex. - However, views have changed substantially since 1974, where a survey reports 74% of Americans expressing disapproval. - 55% of LGB's over 100 studies report verbal harassment, 14% assault with a weapon, 41% experiencing discrimination, 19% victimization from police, 28% verbal harassment from family, and 45% sexual harassment. - Homosexuals were previously unseen in media but now are more common with portrayals being either negative (shallow and comical) or positive. - 85% of Americans approve teaching about homosexuality in schools. - The Hate Crimes Statistics Act passed in 1990 by the Congress necessitated legal protection for sexual minorities from hate crimes for the LGB community. - In 2000 Matthew Shepard, a freshman of Wyoming University was severely beaten to comatose and died 5 days later because of his sexual orientation. |
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LGB as a Minority Group |
- On top of high experiences with hate crimes, they also receive other forms of prejudice such as employment. - According to census data, gay men on average are more educated than straight men but earn less. - Homosexuality has sometimes been the reasons for dishonorable discharge. - President Bill Clinton brought controversy over his "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gay men in the military which was not rescinded until 2012. |
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Gay and Proud / Texan and Proud Job Application Experiment |
- Hebl et al, 2002. - Confederates consisted of undergrads who experimented with local job applications for sexual minorities in Houston. - The group divided into 2 groups where half wore "Texan and Proud" hats as the control group while the other wore "Gay and Proud" - Results were measured on whether the staff said a job was available, given permission to complete a job application, whether they got a callback, as with other subtle measures such as length of interaction with the staff. - Results of formal discrimination showed no difference between experimental and control groups. - Results of subtle discrimination revealed conversations of the experimental group were only half as long as their counterparts and more negative although they were unaware of which cap they were wearing. |
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Gay Stereotypes |
- Includes perverted, promiscuity, immoral values, among other negative characteristics. - Another stereotype is that gay men are child molesters. However, it is quite the opposite statistically, as only 2% to 3% of sexual child abusers are homosexual. |
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Difference Between Racial Minority and Sexual Minority |
- Sexual minority can be concealed. - Advantages include being able to "pass" inside the heterosexual world. - Disadvantages include having to be dishonest, which takes a psychological toll on the individual. |
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Antigay Prejudice |
- Negative attitudes and behaviors towards gays and lesbians. - Also termed Sexual Prejudice. |
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Heterosexism |
- The belief that everyone is heterosexual ad that heterosexuality is the norm; homosexuality is denigrated. |
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Covert Homosexual |
- A homosexual who is "in the closet", who keeps his or her sexual orientation a secret. - May be heterosexually married, have children, or be a respected professional in their community. |
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Overt Homosexual |
- A homosexual who is "out of the closet", who is open about his or her sexual orientation. - May live in an entirely LGB community or in a large city where there is large LGB culture. |
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Coming Out |
- A term for the process of acknowledging to oneself, and then to others, that one is gay or lesbian.
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Life Experiences of LGB |
- There are various degrees of overtness and covertness. - There is more discrimination against gay men than lesbians - Culturally, female relationships are considered more "normal", for example 2 women sharing an apartment is more "normal" than if 2 men did. |
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LGB Development |
- Some experts believe sexual orientation is determined at age 5 or 6 or even prenatally. - Other experts argue sexual orientation starts at age 10 to 12. - One study reports that prevalence of homosexuality was 10% to 12% in adulthood among those displaying greater variance in childhood compared to 1% to 2% among those who did not display gender variance in childhood. - Majority of gender variant children do not turn out homosexual. - Sexual minority women report their first same gender romantic attraction at age 12 and sexual minority men at age 11 but there are lots of variability. - First questioning of one's sexual orientation occurs on average 12 for males and 15 for females. - Self labeling occurs at age 16 for men and 17 for women. - The development for "coming out" is complicated by the negative climate for sexual minority in youth. - Boys engage in negative name-calling more than girls towards homosexual peers in grade school and increases in frequency from 7th grade to 12th grade. - Even at college level, peer harassment can be intense, leading to suicide such as the Tyler Clementi case. - Sometimes, sexual attractions can change over time and become homosexual in later years such as in the 20's and 30's. - Schools often fail in aiding development of sexual minority children. - 86% of women and 92% of men report their members were strictly attracted to the opposite sex but 10% of women and 4% of men report "mostly" to the opposite sex. |
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Sexual Fluidity |
- Changes that occur over time in sexual attraction, identity, or behavior. |
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LGB Communities |
- A loose international network of LGB. - Began flourishing after WW2. - Activist groups slowly fored in the 1950's and 1960's energized partly by the Stonewall Rebellion and the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980's cemented the community as never before. - Symbols and rituals later defined them for example the Greek letter Lambda or the Pink Triangle used by the Nazis. - Gay bars, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Metropolitan Community Church, and gay baths among many others. |
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Gay Baths |
- Clubs where gay men can socialize. - Features include a swimming pool or whirlpool and access to casual sex. - The majority were closed in the 1980's in fear of the spread of HIV/AIDS and resurrected in the 1990's with much controversy within the community. |
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Gay and Lesbian Relationships |
- Contrary to stereotypes, a substantial number of gay and lesbians form long-term, cohabiting relationships. - According to numerous surveys, 8% - 21% of lesbian couples had been together for 10 or more years and 18% to 28% for gay couples. - 2004, gay marriage was briefly legal in San Francisco and Massachusetts. - In a 2010 census, there were 132,000 same gender married couple households and 515000 same gender unmarried partner households in the US. - Studies show that LGB and heterosexual relationships are very similar in terms of satisfactions, loves, joys, and conflicts. |
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Lesbian and Gay Families |
- Increasingly lesbian and gay couples are creating families with children and some are single mothers who were heterosexual in her previous marriage. - The adjustment and mental health of children in gay or lesbian households are identical of children from heterosexual households. |
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Sexual Identity |
- One's self identity as homosexual, bisexual, queer, or something else. |
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Statistical View of LGB |
- There may be conflict between sexual identity and choice of sexual partners. - It is complicated in that there are many ways an individual may define homosexualism. - According to the NSFG, about 5% men and 12% women have had at least one same gender sexual experience in adulthood and 4% of both men and women experience sexual attraction to members of their own gender. - Roughly 2% of men and 1% of women have a homosexual identity. - About 10% of men and women have experienced same-gender sexual experience in adulthood. |
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riMedical Model |
- A theoretical model in psychology and psychiatry in which mental problems are thought of as a sickness or a mental illness; the problems in turn are often thought to be due to biological factors. |
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Homosexuality as Sin |
- Before the 20th century, homosexuality was dominantly believed to be sin or heresy. - During the Spanish Inquisition, those accused of heresy were also frequently accused of homosexuality and were burned at the stake as with most all mental illnesses. - By the 20th century, homosexuality was viewed as a mental illness (medical model). - Psychiatrist Thomas Szasz in 1965, as with other supporters advocated against the medical model in his "The Myth of Mental Illness", saying that mental illness is a negative and misleading label for homosexuals. |
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Research Evidence in Homosexuality: Clinical Studies |
- Clinical studies, which are studies conducted by a psychotherapist, looked for disturbances in current adjustment or past/home experiences. - The research indicated that homosexuals were poorly adjusted and neurotic. - The reasoning for this research however, is circular. |
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Research Evidence in Homosexuality: Studies with Control Groups |
- Made significant improvements over clinical studies due to the presence of a control group. - The question of this study was rephrased to "do homosexuals have more psychological disturbances than heterosexuals?". - The results reflected the clinical studies but it was criticized because the group in study were all therapy patients. |
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Research Evidence in Homosexuality: Nonpatient Research |
- This study composed of a group of homosexuals not in therapy compared to a group of heterosexuals not in therapy. - The study reported that homosexuals were equally adjusted as heterosexuals. - This study received high recognition by the American Psychiatric Association which had listed homosexuality as a disorder prior to 1973. |
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Research Evidence in Homosexuality: Population Studies |
- More recent studies of the general population with better designs indicated higher rates of depression and anxiety in homosexuals. - The controversy is the 6% points difference between 9.1% homosexual vs 3.6% heterosexual attempted suicide rates, if the difference is big or negligible. - However, the higher rates of suicide and depression in LGB do not necessarily indicate mental illness but rather the result of social pressure. |
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Conversion Therapy (Reparative Therapy) |
- Any one of a number of treatments designed to turn LGB's into heterosexuals. - Existed for over 100 years, latest methods come from far-right religious groups. - Included giving electric shocks to gay men as they viewed nude slides of men and castration or brain surgery. - Most therapies were forced and ere based on the assumption that homosexuality could be and should be cured. |
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Biological Theories for the Origin of Homosexuality: Genetic Factors |
- A study that recruited 56 gay/bisexual men with a twin brother reports that 52% of their cotwins also being gay (52% concordance rate). - 54 gay/bisexual men of the studies with nonidentical twins report 22% of their cotwins being gay. - Of adopted twins, only 11% were gay. - The same research conducted on lesbians report 48% concordance for identical twin lesbians, 16% of 37 fraternal twin lesbians, and 6% concordance for adopted twin lesbians. - One research team believes that a gene on the X chromosome is responsible for homosexuality. - A milestone research in 2005 of 456 individuals from 146 families with 2 or more gay brothers report possible influence from 3 genes on chromosomes 7,8, and 10. |
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Biological Theories for the Origin of Homosexuality: Prenatal Factors |
- One theory by studies on rats supports evidence that severe stress to a mother in pregnancy tends to produce homosexual offspring because it reduces the amount of testosterone in the fetus. - Another theory is the Fraternal Birth Order Effect. - 2D:4D finger ratio. - Left handedness: gay men are 40% more likely than straight men to be left handed while lesbians are twice as likely than straight women to be left handed. |
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Fraternal Birth Order Effect |
- The theory supported by consistency in the research outcomes that the rate of homosexuality become more prevalent later in the later birth order for men. - An essential factor is that the individual must have more older brothers but not more older sisters. - This theory does not apply to lesbians. - It is believed that for each successive pregnancies with a male fetus, the mother produces more HY antigen from the gene on the Y chromosome which affects brain differentiation during the prenatal stage. - Researchers believe between 15% - 30% of gay men had their sexual orientation created in this manner. |
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2D:4D Finger Ratio Theory |
- The theory that forms around the fact that men have generally a smaller 2D (index) ratio to their 4D (ring) finger. - Lesbians have a smaller 2D ratio to 4D than other women. - Does not apply to gay men. - 2D:4D ratios are also possible indicators of prenatal androgen exposure. |
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Biological Theories for the Origin of Homosexuality: Brain Factors |
- Neuroscientist Simon LeVay in 1991 found significant differences in certain cells in the anterior portion of the hypothalamus between gay and straight men. - Animal researchers believe to have identified a similar region of the hypothalamus in the rat to be responsible for sexual orientation. - Currently there are no well-documented anatomical difference between homosexuals and heterosexuals but modern studies shows that gay men and straight women respond to AND, a male pheromone, and that lesbians and straight men respond to EST, a female pheromone. |
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Criticisms for LeVay's Research |
- The sample was very small, including only 19 gay men, 16 straight men, and 6 straight women. - It was conducted before MRI was introduced so the brains of the living could not be studied. - All but 6 of the straight men and 1 of the straight women had died of AIDS so the groups were not comparable. - Other scientists found no differences in this region of the brain to be responsible for sexual orientation (Bryne, 2000 and Swaab 2005). - Lesbians were omitted from the study, making them invisible in the research. - The brains were also acquired from adult bodies so it cannot be determined if the hypothalamus causes sexual orientations or if the different experiences of the gay men affected the hypothalamus. - The gay men were known to be gay by records at time of the death while the heterosexuals were only presumed straight. |
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Biological Theories for the Origin of Homosexuality: Hormonal Imbalances |
- Research surrounding the possibility that an endocrine imbalance causes homosexuality found that there is no hormonal differences between homosexuals and heterosexuals. - Previously, it was thought that testosterone supplements will cure homosexuality but it did however made them more horny because testosterone is responsible for sexual response. |
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Sexual Orientation: Learning Theory |
- Behaviorists emphasize through prevalence of bisexual behavior in other species and in young humans that people are born sexual and can be conditioned or learned to a predominant heterosexual or homosexual behavior. - This approach is however criticized because straight women are no less likely of getting raped than lesbians and the fact that majority of children in homosexual households grow up to be heterosexual. - However, the idea is supported in the animal world through the behavior of zebra finches. If young zebra finches are nurtured without the presence of a father or father-mother pair, they grow to be bisexual in character. |
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Sexual Orientation: Interactionist Theory |
- Psychologist Daryl Bem proposed a theory of development of sexual orientation that encompasses the interaction of how biological factors influence sexual orientation through temperament in childhood. - "Exotic Becomes Erotic". |
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The Exotic Becomes Erotic Theory |
- An interactionist theory proposed by psychologist Daryl Bem in 1996. - Begins with biological influences which influence childhood temperaments of activity and aggression. - Children who then have gender non-conforming temperaments will feel different than other members of their gender. - This feeling of being different causes them to feel exotic which is paired with erotic feelings. |
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Bem's Theory of Development Model |
1. Biological Variables 2. Childhood Temperaments 3. Sextypical / AtypicalActivity & Playmate Preferences 4. Feeling Different From Opposite or Same Sex Peer. 5. Nonspecific Autonomic Arousal To Opposite Sex or Same Sex Peers. 6. Erotic / Romantic Attraction To Opposite Sex / Same Sex Peers. |
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Criticisms For Bem's Theory. |
- Evidence not discussed by Bem contradicts some central propositions of the theory. - Theory reflects male experience and neglects female experience, however more lesbians (70%) were significantly more likely to recall feeling somewhat or very different than other girls their age than straight women (51%). |
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Support For Bem's Theory |
- In one study, the results showed that homosexuals are more likely than heterosexuals to have had a childhood of gender non-conformity. - The study was conducted by code rating videos of childhoods of both heterosexual and homosexuals by trained raters who knew nothing of the participant's adult sexual orientation. |
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Sexual Orientation: Sociology Theory |
- Sometimes negative labeling can cause a homosexual especially if a gender non-conforming child becomes so anxious about homosexuality that he accepts his identity as homosexual. - Cross-culturally, strict gender role societies restrict a child's interaction with the father's role in heterosexuality. The strict gender roles can also produce detest in such rigidness in gender roles. - Cultures with great maternal involvement and low parental involvement with infants often have the highest incidence of homosexuality. - Less gender rigid societies that are more permissive about sexuality such as the Native Americans may produce homosexuality. |
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Differences Between Gay Men And Lesbians |
- Women are more likely to be bisexual than strictly homosexual than men are. - According to the NSFG, 2.8% women and 0.5% men report bisexuality. - Women also show more flexibility or change over time in sexual orientation. - In lab research, straight men are only aroused by female stimuli and gay men vice versa, however, women become aroused by male or female stimuli, despite their sexual orientation. This is possibly related to the birth order effect. |
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Sexual Orientation in a Multicultural Perspective |
- There is less tolerance for homosexuality in African American culture; White Americans having the most with Asians and Latinos in between. - In one study, African American and Latina lesbians began questioning their sexuality at a younger age (around 14) compared with the White lesbians (around 17). However, the African American and the Latina lesbians "came out" less. - In a large study of the Asian American population, 88% report themselves heterosexual, 2% LGB, and 4% other while for Latinos, it was 93% heterosexual 1% LGB, and 1% other. - It is also true that Black and Latino men to engage extensively in homosexual behavior while labeling themselves as heterosexual. - In many cultures, the inserter in gay sex is rather not considered gay while the insertee is. - In Latino cultures, lesbians are faced with generally more prejudice. - In Asian cultures, sexuality is to be expressed privately, much less sexual orientation. |
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2 Aspects of Homosexuality Across Cultures |
1. The definition of homosexuality as viewed by the culture. 2. Level of disapproval or acceptance of homosexuality in the culture. |
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Deprivation Homosexuality |
- Homosexual activity that occurs in certain situations, such as prisons, when people are deprived of their regular heterosexual activity. |
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LUG |
- Acronym for Lesbian Until Graduation. - Used for women who live a lesbian lifestyle in college when it is more accepted until graduation and then heterosexuality afterwards.
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Bisexuality and its Proponents |
- Slang term referred to as "AC-DC". - Some bisexuals argue that it allows more variety in one's sexual and human relationships. - Radical homosexuals may refer to them as "fence-sitters" that betray the homosexual cause because they can act straight or homosexual. - They are stereotyped as non-monogamous because if they are married, they cannot really label themselves "bisexual". - One research report from a male bisexual sample, 65% were marred, 35% divorced and although they are behaviorally bisexual, 5% had a heterosexual identity, 38% bisexual identity, and 57% homosexual identity. |
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Bisexual Development |
- Some argue that bisexuality is a developmental stage to finding their own sexual identity. - A study of women aged 18 to 25 maintained their bisexual identity for 10 years. - Another study of men and women in New Zealand ages 21 to 26 that women are more likely to change their pattern of attraction than men. |
