Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality Argumentative Essay

Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality PSY/265 February 17, 2013 Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality To understand homosexuality you need to first understand what it means. Homosexuality is defined as being a romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual activity of the same sex or same gender. Over the years homosexuality seems to be more common and accepted not only among peers but among different cultures, that was not always the case.

Homosexuality has been documented over the ages in many different ways, from being accepted by the ancient Greeks in pictures where you see the older man inserting his penis between a boy’s thighs (not in the anus of the young boy) and thrusting until he ejaculated. The Romans described centuries later about certain groups of men who dressed what is referred to these days as being flamboyant from the clothes they wore to the way they did their hair, they also described these men as having a very flamboyant personality. These men were said to be walking in certain neighborhoods looking for partners.

Then you had the other side of it where it was and is still considered a religious sin within the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths. Florence which was a Christian city in the 15th century considered male-male interaction as a sin of Sodom. In this paper we will discuss three perspectives are cross-cultural perspective, biological perspective, and psychological perspective. Cross-cultural perspective on homosexuality takes a look at the cultural part of homosexuality. Ford and Beach (1951) in their review of 76 preliterate societies, 49 societies viewed male-male interaction as normal and considered acceptable.

The 27 societies left have sanctions against male-male interactions. It is said that some societies look at male-male sexuality as a rite of passage and that semen is looked at as a source of strength and virility. Now it is understood that this is only accepted during the early teenage years and that during the late teenage years and early the males are expected to take a wife and to have solely male-female relationships. Biological perspective is said to focus on the roles of evolution, genetics, and hormonal influences in the shaping of the sexual orientation of an individual.

There is biological testing dating back all the way to 1930 on the biological argument over homosexuality. Karen Hooker conducted a psychological test in 1957 and was able to show through her testing and research that there was no connection between determinism and sexuality. Due to this testing and research the APA removed homosexuality as being deemed as a mental disorder. It is said that Allen and Swabb found in the 1990’s that the hypothalamus was a great deal smaller as oppose to that of a heterosexual. It is said that sex hormones have a strong influence on the behavior on other species.

Researchers felt that if that was possible in other species than maybe it was possible that hormonal factors played a role in determining sexual orientation in humans. It is said the researchers were able to connect different levels of male or female hormones. When talking about psychological perspectives you are talking about two major theories, the first being psychoanalytic theory, and the second being learning theory. Psychoanalytic theory states that a boy will identify with his father and a girl will identify with her mother and if these connections are not made between the same sexes then they are more likely to be homosexual.

Learning theory states that sexual orientation is learned. This means that if a boy while going through the experimental stage feels pleasure from being with the same sex then they are more likely to be with the same sex again. The same is true with a girl, if she feels pleasure from a girl she is more likely to go back to a girl. Although this entire researcher has been done I do not think or feel that anybody can control who you fall in love with. I have been with the same sex but I would not label myself as gay or as bisexual.

I think we feel the need to label people because it gives us what we feel is order in a world that is so full of chaos. When it comes to telling your parents or loved ones that you are with the same sex, I think that it plays a big part in what you think about yourself and feel about yourself. You want to be approved by those you love and when you are not it will play a big role in your life psychologically. References: Rathus, S. A. , Nevid, J. S. , & Fichner-Rathus, L. (2011). Human Sexuality in a World of Diversity (8th ed. ). Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon.