Sexuality And Gender Identity

Improved Essays
Sexuality is defined as “the capacity or ability to have sexual feelings” as well as “a person’s sexual orientation or preference in relation to the gender they are attracted to.”(Webster’s Dictionary, 1891) Sexual orientation also refers to a person's sense of identity-based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in a community of others who share those attractions.(Michael G. Shively MA & John P. De Cecco PhD 1977) However, sexuality and sexual orientation involve more than just a simple attraction and scientist believe that there are lots of genes that can influence sexual orientation. In fact, another factor that can influence one's sexual orientation is the gender issue. National Geographic dedicated a whole edition …show more content…
This is because every child is different and they find themselves and express themselves in ways that are comfortable to them. With Millennials opening their minds to a broader understanding that gender is more of a spectrum and a social construct than a binary, it is understood that gender and sex are different things with sex being determined by biological factors such as chromosomes and genetics. On average, around the age of two years, children become aware of the physical difference between boys and girls and they are able to easily label themselves (Green 1974, Tucker 1975). As kids grow older and start attending school they are likely to be influenced by other kids, and due to the fact that human beings have an inert need to belong they tend to conform to what’s happening in their surroundings (Ferguson, 1989, 2001, 2010) which could be supported by Roy Baumeister and Mark Leary (1995) who have organized evidence for this “deep need to belong”. Although gender identity and sexual orientation are distinct, gender identity helps answer the question of whether or not a child’s sexual orientation can be changed with the aid of conversion therapy. This is because gender identity is the expression of what a child feels internally however, these expressions don’t always conform with the sex they were assigned at birth. For example, a boy may express feminine characters(because of his genetics) and later have a relationship with a male (seen as gay) Conversion therapy may not be successful in the pursuit to change this child's sexual orientation because not only is he struggling with gender identity but he also acts in a way which feels right to him(because of genes). This suggests that conversion therapy cannot change something that's internal and was not a

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    This idea again brings up the concept of intersectionality, but also causes me to question societal categories. The author states: “Sex, gender, sexuality: three terms whose usage relations and analytical relations are almost irremediably slippery.” (Sedgewick 27). Sexuality and gender are lumped together as the LGBT+ community, even though they’re different identities. Perhaps it’s because being transgender and being gay are both straying away from norm.…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Sexuality is more than just sexual activity. It is a part of what makes us human and it is anything that constructs sexual feelings. Unfortunately, individuals are restrained from expressing and embracing such art. Certainly, there are expectations imposed on society as individuals are caged up trying to live up to such conservative expectations and traditions of purity and heterogeneity (Kilgore and Ranu 359). Therefore, sexuality is influenced by various aspects in our life from past to present events that have shaped our identity.…

    • 2108 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The American Psychological Association Taskforce on Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation reviewed literature on conversion therapy in 2009. They concluded that there has been no methodologically sound research on adults who have participated in conversion therapy that has proven it is effective in changing sexual orientation or gender identity (Jadwin-Cakmak, 2015). Because having a sexual orientation of lesbian, gay, or bisexual is not a mental health disorder, efforts to change one’s sexual orientation are inappropriate. Though Gender Dysphoria, which is the incongruence between one’s physical body and one’s gender identity, is stated in version five of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a mental disorder, there is still no research that shows conversion therapy is effective in changing gender identity (Jadwin-Cakmak, 2015). The leading medical and mental health associations in the U.S. have all rejected conversion therapy not only due to its lack of evidence of it’s effectiveness, but also because of it’s potential risks.…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Gender Issues In Intersex

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “Intersex is a group of conditions where there is a discrepancy between the external genitals and the internal genitals (the testes and ovaries)” (Kaneshiro, 2) Intersexuallity is a essence of being born with a mixture of both male and female biological characteristics, which are caused by an error in the sex chromosomes. Since both sides are present, it is very difficult for physicians to deal with issues involving the assignment of a specific sex or any consultations revolving around the issue. Intersexuality has been a major topic in medicine through history as has been subjected to a lot of controversy and different procedures. Even in the present day and age there are a lot of differences between how its viewed in distinct cultures and…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is also essential to acknowledge the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity, as well. Sexual orientation is how an individual experiences…

    • 184 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In today’s news, sexual orientation is a big debacle The debate whether genetics or environment influence sexual orientation has gone on for many years. One of the most famous, psychological experiments in history, was the tragic episode of David Reimer. During a circumcision, at seven months old, his penis was completely burnt off. Then a greedy, perverted doctor named Dr. Money, came along and tried to persuade the parents of David to raise him as a girl. Thus David became Brenda and her life changed forever.…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    These roles are constructed by society and through social interactions. Slowly, we can determine which of our behavior receives positive sanctions and we begin to conform to those gender roles. In Spencer Cahill’s “Fashioning Gender Identity,” he explains that adults treat babies differently based on their sex, starting from the earliest days of infancy. This is the beginning of an identity that children begin to develop and eventually goes on to become a sex-class. By associating emotions, attitudes, and even colors with a specific gender, children learn that there are two different types of people.…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sexual orientation Indentiy is denfinalty not social development, is for the most part made of hereditary qualities. Some Sexual orientation parts may slightly affect social development, for example, culture. Sex parts are for the most part originates from organic contrasts amongst men and lady, quantifiable. Sex is a bio truth of femaleness and maleness. Them two are as of now not quite the same as origination.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In the current state of our society, as well as in much of human history, an individual’s gender and sexuality, in addition to their expression thereof, determine much of their social standing. Men and women face vastly different realities, as do cisgender and transgender people, and heterosexual and non-heterosexual people (to whom I will hereto refer as queer individuals, as a reclamation of the slur). Exactly how separate are gender and sexuality, though, and how do they correlate? While carried by each of these facets of identity are much different implications for one’s life, gender and sexuality in all their forms are deeply intertwined. The separate groups of people who break the cisgender, heterosexual norm are even combined in one…

    • 1489 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Rather than being something which someone “has” or subscribes to, gender is instead something that someone “does” or “performs.” Gender is not something that is static, innate, and universal, but it is dynamic, socially constructed, and both experienced and acted out in a great number of different ways. While the “nurture” side gets past the reduction of gender to biology, it fails to acknowledge that the social factors which influence the development of gender identities extend beyond childhood and adolescence all the way through a person 's life. Also, though there is a relationship between sex and gender, the two concepts are analytically distinct and can interact with each other in a variety of ways which reflect the vastly different ways in which individuals are socialized. Intrinsic to this notion of gender is that is a social phenomena which is prevalent in literally every element and sphere of social life, and is shaped by individuals collectively depending on cultural and historical contexts (Thomas, May…

    • 1300 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This quote stood out to me because it rivals the proposed basis of the book. The summary of the book presents the idea that Middlesex was written with the intent to challenge gender norms and the concept of gender identity as a whole; this quote, however, demonstrates an acceptance of these norms and little questioning on how gender identity is determined. Eugenides in earlier and later sections of the book portrays Cal with male stereotypes, such as being into bloody literature or the fact that Cal’s attracted to girls. This quote demonstrates the latter, what specifically makes it stand out is the line “did Calliope ever feel an inkling to her true biological nature?” (Middlesex 327).…

    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I have a son and three girls when they was younger my son use to play dolls, and my sister stated he was going to be gay. However, he is not. When children experience having thoughts and feeling as to Josie its hard on parents as well as the child. It seems the whole family is effected with the transformation the child's identity issues. As a social worker p.266 states, we have to seek appropriate resources to provide information, support or other intervention to assist adolescents in resolving questions of gender identity and sexual decision making.…

    • 100 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are quite a number of factors that shape sexuality—religion, culture, gender, and family upbringing amongst other things—and every individual weighs each factor differently in its impact, or lack thereof, in the shaping of their sexual identity. Along with several others, I find it an arduous task to pinpoint the strongest influences on the formation of my sexual identity or if there even was anything that had an impact other than biology. I was never very religious or cultural and my parents had opposing views on sexuality and most other matters. I would like to think that at least by the time I got to pubescence that I was shaping my own identity with a meager influence from my parents, however I am aware that a lot of the development of my sexual identity could be subconscious.…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Infants: Gender Identity

    • 551 Words
    • 3 Pages

    At birth, infants are typically assigned a gender identity that closely corresponds with their genitalia, male or female. Society classifies the attached genitalia to predetermine the socialization a child’s receives whether consistent with masculinity or femininity gender roles. Society uses the previously mentioned to differentiate a person’s sexual orientation without consulting or providing a child the opportunity to make that distinction on their own. The human biology infers two possibilities of gender; XX chromosomes identify females at birth and an XY chromosome determines males at birth. Infants that are born with indecisive sexual anatomy that fails to align with either male or female reproductive systems identify as intersex.…

    • 551 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sexual Identity

    • 1200 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Developmental experiences in the LGBTQ community can interact with the differential meaning of their identity. In the academic journal, The Role of Sexual Behavior in the Identification Process of Gay and Bisexual Males, Eric M. Dube discusses the different roles of same-sex sexual behavior in the concept of identification and the coming- out process between gay and bisexual males. He explains males identify their attractions as “sex- centered” or “identity centered”. Dube uses experiments to demonstrate how in the matter of understanding one’s experience can define who they really are. “Sexual identity development model is also known as coming- out model, sexual minority males develop same- sex attractions during childhood, engage in sex with other males during early adolescence, and identify themselves as such in early adulthood.”…

    • 1200 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays