1. Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Sexual Orientation
Chapter 10
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Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

2. Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Sexual Orientation
Getting Oriented Toward Sexual Orientation
Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
Adjustment of Gay Males and Lesbians
Coming Out: Coming to Terms With Being Gay
Gay Lifestyles
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

3. Getting Oriented Toward Sexual Orientation
The direction of one’s romantic interests and sexual attractions
Heterosexual orientation
Erotic attraction to, and preference for developing romantic relationships with, members of the other sex
Homosexual orientation
Erotic attraction to, and preference for developing romantic relationships with, members of the same sex
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4. Getting Oriented Toward Sexual Orientation
Gay males
Males who are erotically attracted to and desire to form romantic relationships with other males
Lesbians
Females who are erotically attracted to and desire to form romantic relationships with other females
Bisexuality
Erotic attraction to, and interest in developing romantic relationships with, males and females
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5. Getting Oriented Toward Sexual Orientation
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
A great majority of gay people have a gender identity that is consistent with their anatomic sex.
Classification of Sexual Orientation
It is difficult to classify many people’s orientation and their interests may shift over time.
Gay males and lesbians may experience sporadic heteroerotic interests.
And heterosexual people may have occasional homoerotic interests.
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6. Getting Oriented Toward Sexual Orientation
In response to people’s various sexual interests, Kinsey et al. developed a continuum of sexual orientation.
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7. Getting Oriented Toward Sexual Orientation
What percentage of people is gay?
According to Kinsey et al., about 4% of men and 1% to 3% of women reported being exclusively gay.
However, there is controversy over how many people are gay.
Current estimates generally find lower percentages of gay people in the population than Kinsey did.
More recent data show that about 3% of men identify themselves as gay and about 2% of women identify as lesbians.
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8. Getting Oriented Toward Sexual Orientation
An alternative to the Kinsey continuum views
heterosexuality and homosexuality as separate dimensions.
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9. Getting Oriented Toward Sexual Orientation
Other research has found that women’s sexual orientations are more flexible than men’s are and seem to be more based on their social experience.
This helps explain why women report less homophobia compared to men.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

10. Getting Oriented Toward Sexual Orientation
Bisexuality
Many bisexuals have a somewhat stronger attraction to people of one sex over the other.
Three categories of bisexuals have been proposed: bi-gay, bi-straight, and bi-bi.
About 1% to 4% of the population is bisexual.
Both heterosexual and homosexual populations report biphobia.
Many bisexuals are happily married
Some homosexuals use bisexuality to mask their homosexuality
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

11. Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
Historical Perspectives
Ancient Greeks and Romans
Adult males formed sexual relationships with adolescent males (Greece)
Flamboyance (Rome)
Judeo-Christian tradition
Sodomy and other nonprocreative sexual acts, even within marriage, considered sinful.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

12. Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
Cross-Cultural Perspectives
Male-male sexual interactions exist in societies throughout the world.
These interactions may involve only behavior and do not imply sexual orientation.
Some interactions are rites of passage into manhood
Female-female sexual activity is less common throughout the world.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

13. Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
Cross-Species Perspectives
Primates and other animals
Same-sex sexual behavior may be displays of dominance and submissiveness.
May be a form of play or a way of requesting protection
Sexual motivation may play a role in some male-male and female-female sexual interactions among animals.
But researchers do not find prolonged, exclusive same-sex sexual activity when male-female opportunities exist.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

14. Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
Attitudes Toward Sexual Orientation in Contemporary Society
Attitudes toward gay people have been negative and pervasive.
However, there are signs that Americans have grown more tolerant.
View that same sex intercourse is always wrong held by 56% of people today, as opposed to 77% 10 years ago
84% believe that homosexuals should have equal rights
Yet people continue to make a distinction between gay “civil unions” and gay marriages.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

15. Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
Sexual orientation and the law
Gay people continue to fight for equal rights and privacy protection, e.g., the overturning of sodomy laws.
1986 Hardwick vs Bowers: Supreme Court let stand a Georgia law that punished oral-genital or anal-genital by up to 20 years in prison
A 2003 decision reversed it, striking down a Texas law against deviate sexual intercourse, stating that it “demeans the lives of homosexual persons”
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

16. Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
Gay activism
Involved with fighting discrimination and protecting civil rights
Involved with lobbying for increased funding for HIV/AIDS research and treatment
Involved with education regarding safer sex practices
Protect civil rights of people with HIV/AIDS
Involved with providing support for people with HIV/AIDS
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17. Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
Stereotypes and sexual behavior
Contrary to popular stereotypes, many gay couples vary the active and passive roles in sexual relations.
For example, sexual behavior between lesbians rarely adheres to separate butch-femme gender roles.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

18. Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
Biological Perspectives
Evolutionary perspective
Male-male and female-female sexual behavior results from reciprocal altruism, which increases group survival.
Individuals are bound together emotionally
This hypothesis remains controversial.
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19. Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
Biological Perspectives
Genetics and sexual orientation
Much evidence supports a genetic relationship
Monozygotic (MZ) twins/Identical twins
Twins who develop from the same fertilized ovum
Share identical DNA
Dizygotic (DZ) twins/Fraternal twins
Twins who develop from different fertilized ova
Concordance
About 52% of MZ twin pairs were found to be in agreement for a gay male sexual orientation.
And 22% of DZ twins and only 11% of adoptive brothers were concordant.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

20. Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
Biological Perspectives
Hormonal influences and sexual orientation
Testosterone
Activating effects
Influence level of sex drive, but not sexual orientation
Effects of prenatal exposure to sex hormones
There is some evidence to support a relationship.
Structure of the brain
One study found that the third interstitial nucleus of the anterior hypothalamus was smaller in gay men than in heterosexual men.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

21. Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
INSERT FIGURE 10.3 HERE
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22. Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
Psychological Perspectives
Psychoanalytic views
Gay male or lesbian sexual orientation results from unsuccessful resolution of the Oedipus complex (for boys) and Electra complex (for girls)
Unresolved castration anxiety plays a role in gay male sexual orientation
Learning theories
Focus on the role of reinforcement of early patterns of sexual behavior
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

23. Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
Gender Nonconformity
Failure to conform to gender-role stereotypes consistent with one’s anatomic sex
On average, gay males tend to be somewhat feminine and lesbians to be somewhat masculine.
However, there is much variation within each group.
Begins at an early age
Gay males report feeling more sensitive as children
Gay males and lesbians report feeling different as very young children
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

24. Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
Gender nonconformity and the butch-femme dimension
Lesbians more likely to report being “tomboys”as children
Butch lesbians more likely than femme lesbians to recall gender-atypical behavioral preferences
Hormonal & physical differences between butch & femme lesbians
Childhood effeminacy and a gay male sexual orientation
Self-perceptions of being different and social distance from other males lead to the development of erotic attractions toward members of their own sex.
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25. Adjustment of Gay Males and Lesbians
In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed a gay male or lesbian sexual orientation from its list of mental disorders.
Recent studies found increased feelings of anxiety and depression and suicidal tendencies in gay males and lesbians compared to heterosexuals.
How these findings are interpreted depends on one’s attitudes toward homosexuality.
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26. Adjustment of Gay Males and Lesbians
Other research finds that differences in psychological adjustment are due more to an individual’s lifestyle than to his or her sexual orientation.
Treatment of Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
A vast majority of gay men and lesbians do not seek professional help to change their sexual orientations.
Debate continues regarding whether exclusively gay people can change their sexual orientation, rather than their behavior.
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27. Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
Homophobia
Negative attitudes and feelings toward gay people
Intolerance, hatred, fear
Use of derogatory names
Telling disparaging “queer jokes”
Barring gay people from housing, employment, or social opportunities
Taunting (verbal abuse)
Gay bashing
Violence against homosexuals
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28. Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
Homophobic attitudes are more common among traditional males who hold a fundamentalist religious orientation.
Politically conservative college students are more accepting of negative attitudes toward gay people than are liberal students.
Some homophobic men may have homoerotic impulses of which they are unaware.
Gay bashing and the HIV/AIDS epidemic
Some people hold gay men more responsible for the epidemic than heterosexual men.
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

29. Perspectives on Gay Male and Lesbian Sexual Orientations
“Treatment” of Homosexual Orientations
Very few actually desire to change
Masters & Johnson reversed sexual orientation by involving the individuals in pleasurable sexual experiences with the opposite sex
Most effective with people who were:
Bisexual
Married
Highly motivated to change
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

30. Coming Out: Coming to Terms With Being Gay
Coming Out to Oneself
Involves the development of sexual identity
Attraction to members of the same sex
Self-labeling oneself as gay or lesbian
Sexual contact with members of the same sex
Disclosure of orientation to others
It takes some people several years to recognize and accept a homosexual orientation for themselves
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon

31. Coming Out: Coming to Terms With Being Gay
Coming Out to Others
Patterns of coming out to others vary.
Some tell everyone
Some tell only a few select people.
Family members and loved ones may be initially rejecting or accepting.
Over time, most at least grudgingly accept that a family member is gay.
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32. Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Gay Lifestyles
Gay communal structures
Gays in the armed services
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Clinton, 1993
Gay rights organizations
Not all gay people join the “gay community”
View sexual orientation as only a small party of their identity
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33. Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Gay Lifestyles
Lifestyle Differences Between Gay Males and Lesbians
Casual sex
Gay males are more likely than lesbians to engage in casual sex with many partners.
Gay bars
Cruising
Searching for a sex partner
Sexual activity outside a primary relationship is common among gay male couples.
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34. Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Gay Lifestyles
Variations in Gay Lifestyles
Close couples
Gay couples whose relationships resemble marriage
Open couples
Gay couples who live together but engage in secret affairs
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35. Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon
Gay Lifestyles
Variations in Gay Lifestyles
Functionals
Gay people who live alone, have adapted well to a swinging lifestyle, and are sociable and well-adjusted
Dysfunctionals
Gay people who live alone and have sexual, social, or psychological problems
Asexuals
Gay people who live alone and have few sexual contacts
Copyright 2008 Allyn & Bacon