Words: 4332
The existence of gender classification determines our sexual segmentation. They are classified as either males or females. These gender classifications are also used as bases of physical work capacities, clothing preferences, decisions for priority and the like. More often than not, these segmentations represent the differences of their demographic and cryptographic profiles.
However, the existence of homosexuality as blurred these distinguishing features. Moreover, this phenomenon has never been inevitable particularly in every society, especially societies that own characteristics that encourage homosexuality. An example would be an environment where trends preferred by both genders are rapidly innovating. In elaboration, the hasty graduation and acceptance of the so-called “unisex clothing accessories” might have further increased the number of homosexual individuals.
The “peer pressure” exerted by those individuals who are already self-confessed about their homosexual ender might also affect one’s behaviors and perceptions to the point in which another individual adopts their current homosexual lifestyles. The “environment” where a person is habituated is also taken into consideration. An individual might happen to develop his/her perceptions for a person of the same sex if they belong in a common environment for a unusual period of time especially if he/she experiences poor relationship with either his/her mother or his/her father.
Another crucial factor will be the experience of being teased as gay during childhood. Whereas, the most aromatizing experience is sexual harassment??may it be done by a member of the same sex or not, development of homosexuality in the victim is highly probable. Confusingly, homosexuality might be caused by one’s free will. As a child grows older, he/she might develop some behaviors which might be considered as inappropriate for his gender, such as cross-dressing and playing with the opposite sex’s toys.
Though parental supervision is very efficient, the child develops choices which lead to homosexual actions as he/she develops intimate and closer feelings to his/her play mates. Until today, there is no legal recognition for homosexual individuals and the controversy Tort ten acceptance AT tenet excellence In our society Is s II t I drawn on ten line. As a result, most families with homosexual members express disappointment or disapproval. Usually, they cope through the hurt by ignoring their reactions completely or by not speaking about it at all, but sometimes, they transform their depression into sublime reactions.
Examples of which are expressed in art and other talents. Also, because of the mass media’s influence, they find celebrity idols to relate tit and to conjure inspiration from. It is also possible for them to imitate the career paths of these celebrities in hopeful realization that they are or will be widely accepted by the public. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY Homosexual individuals are very common nowadays. Some of them are your friends, your relatives, your teachers, and many are being watched in the television.
They are everywhere. The aim of this study is to identify why they are propagating?? the specific causes or factors that might have influenced their gender, such as factors concerning the environment and traumatizing experiences. This study also exposes their different ways of coping with the reactions shown by their family and other relatives. At the least, the people around them deny their gender or feign ignorance. At worst, they are disapproved by their own families and are verbally or physically abused.
They then tend to transform their resent into appreciable skills. Otherwise, they can develop a rebellious attitude that may worsen over time. Lastly, this study aims to explain a rational explanation concerning the relationship of the mass media’s portrayal of homosexuality with the behavior of the homosexuals themselves. Factors included would be the existence of self-confessed homosexual characters or celebrities, fictional or non-fictional, in television shows, radio programs, or in pieces of literature that shed positive light on homosexuality.
The influences by these people can be observed in the increasing number of gays who start coming out of the closets. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Homosexuality is commonly defined as the sexual interest and romantic attraction in members of the same sex. In contrast, heterosexuality is sexual attraction to the opposite sex, while bisexuality is attraction to both sexes. Like heterosexuality and bisexuality, homosexuality is evident in sexual dreams and fantasies, sexual acts, romantic attraction, and falling in love.
The terms “homosexual” and heterosexual were coined by the sexual law reformer K. M. Banker, and used in an article he wrote for a German newspaper in 1869. They were then all forgotten until rediscovered by the Berlin sexologist Magnums Hierarchies in 1905. “Homosexuality’ is earlier Trot ten Greek moms, meaning same (netters meaner toner), Ana La sexes, meaning sex. “Homosexuality’ then quickly became the accepted scientific and everyday term for referring to same-sex contacts, between either men or women.
The term “lesbian” gained popularity more than a century ago. Today, it is the accepted term for female homosexuality. It derives from Losses, the Greek island that around 600 B. C. Was home for Shop, the teacher and poetess who wrote about love between women. Men, on the other hand, prefer the term gay to homosexual. The Gay Liberation or Gay Rights Movement, which arose in the mid-sass, works to gain legal and social acceptance for homosexuals. Before the sass, some psychologists held that homosexuality was a mental illness.
This is no longer believed to be true. Many experts contend, however, that the stress and condemnation society places on a homosexual can cause mental disturbances. Homosexuality has been reported in nearly all societies. Despite the social condemnation, homosexual men and women have continued not only to exist but also to distinguish themselves in society and government, the arts and sciences, and the church and law. Moreover, recent studies show that Religious upbringing and culture can strongly affect rates of homosexuality.
Renaissance figures such as Leonardo ad Vinci and Michelangelo eave been identified as homosexual. Other famous figures identified as homosexual in recent times include Oscar Wiled, playwright; Gertrude Stein, writer; Alan Turing, mathematician and inventor of the computer; Tennessee Williams, playwright; and James Baldwin, author, to mention a few. Surveys and investigations regarding sexual behavior in the United States indicate that a substantial number of persons (both male and female) have had homosexual encounters at some time in their lives, usually in their youth.
Only a small percentage of these persons, however, go on to adopt homosexuality as a consistent sexual pattern. In addition, participation in a homosexual act does not necessarily mean that the person is homosexual. Many people who have occasional homosexual experiences do not define themselves as gay or live a gay lifestyle. About one fourth of homosexual males and lesbians have been heterosexually married. There may be attempts to deny, eliminate, or conceal homosexual interests through involvement in heterosexual (or nonsexual) activities. The process of concealing a homosexual identity is called passing.
In only a minority of cases do homosexuals exhibit effeminate male or virile female behavior that would dead others to suspect their homosexual orientation. Aside from their romantic and sexual behavior, most homosexuals live conventional lifestyles. Labeling the self as homosexual often does not occur until the early twenties, typically when one is exploring homosexual behaviors and lifestyles. A homosexual may then “come out”, that is, share knowledge about his or her homosexuality initially with other gay people and later with anonymousness (“straight”) friends, families, and strangers.
Gay subcultures have expanded in recent years. There are now gay religious groups for most denominations. Gay student organizations meet at many colleges, and in some areas, there are groups for high school students. Many professional organizations have gay caucuses. Larger cities often have gay business associations. Shared interest groups include arts enthusiasts, gay choruses and theater groups, outdoor activities, sports (including the Gay Games), and computer networks. Gay telephone information services, community centers, and health clinics exist in most urban areas.
Gay-relented Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are nine In many places. Newspapers, magazines, and bookstores educate people about the diversity of the ay community. Social attitudes toward homosexuality vary across different cultures and times in history. In Western culture, homosexual acts were first called a sin, and then made a crime. Next, homosexuality was labeled as a sickness. More recently, it has been characterized as a status of individual condition. Religious condemnation of homosexuality became translated into laws making all homosexual acts illegal.
In recent years, many religious groups have become accepting of homosexuals, although they do not necessarily approve of homosexual behavior. Some Christian ND Jewish denominations condemn discrimination against homosexuals, and in some cases allow ordination of homosexuals. Public attitudes toward homosexuality have changed. Some still consider homosexuals to be sinful, sick or criminal. Increasingly, the public believes that homosexuals should have the same basic rights and protection against discrimination that are granted to other groups in American society. Controversy surrounds the question as to why an individual is homosexual.
Some investigators feel that physiological production exist between homosexuals and other persons. Others believe that homosexuality results from such environmental factors as emotional conflicts in child-parent relationships during early childhood or in peer relationships during adolescence. However, only one of the two alternatives, heredity or environment, nature or nurture does not cause homosexuality. It is the result of a mixture of many determinants that influence a person’s development. Some determinants are effective only at specific, critical periods of development, not before and not after.
Some determinants of sexual orientation begin before birth, and others much later, after birth. Many, also, have concluded that the issue is too complicated to cite one particular issue. Parentally, sex hormones that influence the sexual centers and pathways of the brain are the most important determinants of future sexuality. Their influence is only partial, not final. After birth, social stimuli that center the brain through the senses add to the differentiation of the brain as masculine or feminine, homosexual or heterosexual. Some babies are born with a history of an abnormal amount or type of sex hormone while in the womb.
Some of these babies also have a birth defect of the sex organs, for example aromatherapies. There is an increased possibility that they will develop a bisexual or homosexual disposition, relative to the sex in which they are reared and live socially. From the study of such cases, it becomes apparent that a very large part of sexual orientation is in place by age eight, after which it becomes immutable. Among children with no known history of hormonal abnormality, some boys develop girlish ways (sissy boys) and some girls develop boyish ways (tomboys). Often, sissy boys grow up to be homosexual.
It is less common for tomboyish girls to do so. Only a mall proportion of homosexuals have a history of a typical childhood gender behavior. A first homosexual crush, like a heterosexual one, may occur in the early elementary school grades. Explicitly erotic fantasies begin around the time of puberty, if not earlier. They present themselves as daydreams, night dreams, wet dreams, masturbation fantasies, and erotic thinking and romance and falling in love. In other cases, they focus very specifically on physical characteristics of a person, or on particular sexual activities.
In homosexual adolescents, the awareness of same-sex attraction usually precedes same-sex experience. Adolescents Walt n nonsexual attractions and fantasies may become sensitizes to feelings of being different. They may experience some identity confusion. Some teenagers go through the phase known as “pseudo’ homosexuality. These individuals occasionally engage in homosexual relationships. This behavior, though, is temporary. It does not predict a definite pattern of lifetime deviancy. Psychologists explain this phenomenon in the following manner.
Before they reach adolescence, boys flock together, so do girls. Their friendship becomes intimate and inseparable. At times, they talk sex, share iterate and narrate their discoveries about adult sex. This is a normal development. Boys and girls go through this phase as a step in the development of normal boy-girl relations. Adolescents who are made to feel guilty and depressed by negative social stabilization of their own possible homosexuality are at risk for suicide. Some homosexuals have homosexual relatives. One or both parent’s may have a history of gay experience.
Gay or partly gay parent’s produce and raise predominantly heterosexual children, with about the same probability as any other family. There is no single factor that explains the origin of homosexuality?? no tatter of genetics, hormonal influence, family relationships, or life experiences. It cannot be attributed to either heredity or environment exclusively. Hormonally and in body build, homosexuals and heterosexuals do not differ in any systematic way. Homosexuality is not specifically associated with fear of other sex, or a desire to be like in the other sex.
It is not caused by exposure to pornography. Adolescent and adult experiences do not cause or change an individual’s sexual orientation. Homosexuality is not a matter of voluntary choice. It cannot be changed by free will or the will of others. Nor can punishment or prayer change it. METHODOLOGY In connection with our study objectives, we decided to conduct a survey of 8 questions that will authenticate our findings. The questionnaires, entitled as “Factors that Affect Homosexuality’ were shared online through the free services of Surveying@ and Goggles.
The surveys links (http://www. Surveying. Com/ s/PYLORIC and HTTPS://docs. Google. Com/spreadsheet/vermiform? Succumb) were then shared from one Backbone@ wall of people belonging to the 15-30 years old age- group to another. There were a total of 11 useful and anonymous responses, all of which answered through the posted links on the mentioned social networking site. Data gathering was accomplished on October 2012. The first question confirms their gender. It indicates that if you are not homosexual, then the questionnaire is inapplicable to you.
The second question asks you to identify the experiences you encountered as a canal a Disease on ten Tooling sconces: Lack AT parental relations with my father or mother, Peer Pressure, environment, name-calling/teasing, Sexual harassment, rebellion, or others. Thirdly and fourthly, it inquires about whether or not their (1) parent’s and (2) relatives accepted their homosexuality. The following states that if their answer was “no” to the former questions, they would have to specify how they manage through it.
The choices were: by suppressing their gender, by not speaking about it, by avoiding these people, by focusing on their talents, by rebelling, or by looking for an inspiration (celebrity idol, relative you look up to, etc…. The last two inquired about the mass media’s effect. The first of the two asked if they had a celebrity idol that is popularly homosexual, and the second asks them to indicate how these celebrity/IIS affect them with given choices of: Makes them feel accepted, shows them the possibility of success, paths a possible career for them, or others.
The gathered data indicated that the strongest factors affecting a person’s sexual orientation towards homosexuality was name-calling, environment, and peer pressure. Also, most of them stated that their families and relatives do not approve of their gender and that they tend to be indifferent to it??by not talking about it. Mass media, accordingly, also helps in their confidence and that having celebrity idols help them cope through the reoccurring discrimination. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Figure 1 . Factors that affect Homosexuality Do you consider yourself to be homosexual?
What do you think were some of the factors which influenced you to develop your homosexual behaviors/identity? Is the change in your sexual identity gladly recognized by your parent’s? How about your relatives? If your both or one of your answers is no to the last two questions, how do you cope? Since the Philippine media portrays homosexuals as acceptable or tolerable, how does it affect you? Do you have a celebrity idol that is homosexual as well? How does he/she influence you? (Check more than on if appropriate) YES
Peer Pressure, Environment, Name-calling/Teasing NO By not speaking about it to them, By avoiding them, By focusing on my talents moderates my insecurity Makes me feel accepted Environment, Name-calling/Teasing By avoiding them, By focusing on my talents, By looking for inspiration (celebrity idol, relative you look up to, etc… ) see myself better Environment, Sexual Harassment By not speaking about it to them, By avoiding them, By focusing on my talents I feel like people will also tolerate me Paths a possible career for me Lack of parental relationship with my father or mother, Peer Pressure, Environment,
Name-calling/Teasing YES makes me more confident Lack of parental relationship with my father or mother, Name-calling/Teasing NO By not speaking about it to them, By avoiding them, By focusing on my talents, By looking for inspiration (celebrity idol, relative you look up to, etc… ) gives me hope that my family will accept me one day Shows me the possibility of success despite discrimination against my gender, Paths a possible career for me By suppressing my gender, By focusing on my talents, By looking for inspiration (celebrity 1001, relative you KICK up to, etc… ) makes me Torte t ten Locomotion’s optimism
Lack of parental relationship with my father or mother, Name-calling/Teasing YES By not speaking about it to them, By focusing on my talents, By rebelling I think my parent’s realize that it is normal Shows me the possibility of success despite discrimination against my gender Peer Pressure, Sexual Harassment, sexually harassed by an older playmate NO By suppressing my gender, by trying to focus on my academic path Lessens my depression Makes me feel accepted, Shows me the possibility of success despite discrimination against my gender Peer Pressure By not speaking about it to them, By focusing on my talents, By looking for inspiration celebrity idol, relative you look up to, etc… ) makes me more at ease As the survey results in Figure 1 conclude, among the eleven homosexual respondents, the most common experience that they included as a possible factor of their homosexuality was name-calling/teasing–a total of seven out of eleven respondents which can be related to Huntington Aid’s statement saying that(2007) name calling can make a child believe that he really is what people tease him to be. Ratter than Ignoring ten names teen call, teen recognize teen Ana truly tank teen are inadequate compared to everyone else. This explains why teasing can realistically be a sociological cause for homosexuality.
Among the common answers for the same question were also “environment” and “peer pressure”. The environmental factors includes the lack or overpopulation of members of the opposite sex that can be observed in schools that are exclusive to one sex, in a child’s group of playmates, and even the superiority of one sex among siblings. Peer pressure, on the other hand, does not refer to the imitation of individuals due to the idea that whatever it is they are imitating is cool. In fact, it is the other way around. The possible explanation for his is that homosexuals, instead of embracing what is boyish and masculine, are attracted to feminine objects simply because they are overly encouraged and pressured to do otherwise.
There were also instances wherein an individual developed hatred for a sex entirely because of certain instances, specifically, sexual harassments and abuses. One said that he/she was “sexually harassed by an older playmate”. 3 out of 11 also mentioned that they lacked personal relationship with their parent’s hence their gender. It is one thing to discuss the causes of homosexuality, it is another to elaborate on the later homosexual behavior. However, one factor is certain: the familial acceptance. As you can observe in the above- displayed chart, even if some families and relatives of a few homosexuals approve of their sexual orientation, most are still in dark, or hopefully, still in the process of accepting it.
The reason behind this is simply the traditional idea that men are only for women and women are only for men. Because of this, some of them suppress or hide their gender, even then, they develop certain reflexes, one of which is our respondents’ common answers: by avoiding their family and relatives and by not speaking about it at all. The only positive effect of these reflexes that our respondents have agreed upon is that they are given an opportunity to focus on their talents instead. The mass media also plays an important role in their behaviors. According to our survey, as part of coping through their parent’s’ disapproval of their sexual identity, 10 out of 11 look for an inspiration which can refer to a celebrity that they admire.
In addition to that, they state that the Philippine media’s positive portrayal of homosexuals boosts their confidence and that it makes them more hopeful that their parent’s will someday accept them as they are. An example of a specific portrayal of homosexuality are the prominent celebrities in television and characters, may it be fictional or non-fictional, in television/radio programs as well as in pieces of literature. These positive depictions not only makes them feel accepted, it also gives them ideas of success possibilities and on how to achieve them. CONCLUSION Besides name-calling and teasing that can be properly explained by Robert K.
Marten’s “Self-fulfilling Prophecy” (the phenomenon wherein a person acts according to what he/she is teased of), the more intriguing sociological contributor of a person’s ender is the environment. As mentioned, an environment becomes prone to producing homosexuals when it is populated by either too much members of the same sex or too little. An example would be in a unisex school or university where children are not even given a chance to be attracted to members of the opposite sex because they are limited to knowing only very few. Also, the exclusion to only one sex leads to Tambala TTY Tanat can eventually lead to attraction Ana Turner development into a romantic perception of someone. This can be considered as nonconformity to one’s gender as a child.
Researchers have found childhood gender nonconformity to be the largest factor of homosexuality towards adulthood. Daryl Beam (2006) also theorizes that “some children will prefer activities that are typical of the other sex”. That preference, in accordance with the gender roles defined by society, will make a gender-conforming child feel different from opposite-sex children. A gender- nonconforming child will also feel that discomfort, however, that discomfort is directed towards children of the same- sex. In either case, this uncomfortable sensation may induce physiological arousal when the child is around members of the ex which it considers as being “different”, which will later be transformed into sexual arousal.
This nonconformity, as various researchers have studied, may be a result of genetics, prenatal hormones, personality, parental care or other environmental factors. Peter Barman (2002)suggests another theory focusing on the detail that another environmental entity contributing linked to homosexual behaviors are twins of different sexes. He hypothesized that, more likely, the male of the twins develops a liking for the same sex ,unless he has an older brother. Since parent’s usually utilize unisex clothes and toys for their twins, the distinction between the twins’ sex is blurred and the male tends to imitate his sister more and more, but the presence of an older brother will be able to carve him an example of the “real” man.
Although it mostly happens to young boys, it is also possible for girls to experience the same process. Peer pressure contributes to a person’s homosexuality not through the traditional manner , but through the reverse process. Instead of developing a liking for something because your friends/family tell you it’s “cool”, you effuse to like the object because you are exaggeratedly forced to like. An instance would be in a family of 4 male children with a very disable,strict and masculine father. Instead of imitating him, the siblings, or at least some of them, shun what he teaches them because of the fear that they might end up like him. The same goes for sexual harassment.
Regardless of the harasser’s sex, it may develop a change in your sexual orientation. Most likely, if a person was sexually assaulted by a person of the opposite sex, he/she may develop a hatred for that person associate him with his entire biological gender hence his attraction to same-sex people. It is an accepted fact that homosexuals might never be able to avoid social stigma or social disapproval even from their own parent’s and relatives. These, as a consequence, produce particular behaviors among homosexuals. The common mannerism of avoiding the topic of their gender or simply avoiding these people who disapprove of their sexual orientation is the most common reaction.
If worsened, this, as stated in Social Anxiety Disorder, can further transition into a social anxiety disorders referring o the fear of socializing with others and the excessive self-consciousness when doing so. On a brighter light, homosexuals who experience social stigma can also tend to focus on their talent and academics instead. In fact, homosexuals, based on real-life observations, once they have discovered their best gibbets hey tend to enhance in it. They are able to transform a negative emotion to a positive reaction. This is a defense mechanism termed by Sigmund Freud as “Sublimation”, and this does not occur only to gender-related issues. Celebrity idols and other forms of