Too deep of thoughts for my mood.
Nov. 29th, 2003 12:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
valarltdThinking about homosexuality. Whether it's genetic, a choice to sin, or what.
I believe being gay, like intelligence, is a product of both nature and nurture.
There are markers that the tendency toward gayness is genetically coded, or altered in the code by exposure to prenatal hormones. There are studies that say it's based in the hypothalmus. A younger brother of brothers is more likely to be gay than the oldest. If one identical twin is gay, the other is 20 times more likely to be so than a non-identical sibling.
Salon ran an article (which i can't find) that showed lesbians have higher rates of middle ear deafness than straight women.
OTOH, you can put an Einstein in a malnourished, understimulating environment and you aren't going to get a 180 IQ.
I think actual expression of the coded-in potential depends on many factors.
I think social acceptance of homosexuality has a lot to do with how many people actually identify or practice. In Ancient Rome, it was considered appropriate. Many, many men took male lovers, but they all married to produce sons. Rome levied heavy penalties on bachelors. In 1950's America it was illegal. Many gay men married and led closeted suburban lives, suspecting the truth but never acting on it.
I think religious upbringing affects it. Being raised hyper religious can force one into the closet even to oneself. It often leads to hasty mixed-orientation marriages in order to "prove" one likes the opposite sex.
There will always be a certain percentage of people to whom the oppposite sex tastes and smells wrong. There will always be a certain percentage for whom the same sex doesn't smell or taste right. But I think there needs to be a bigger room for bisexuals. We aren't just "gay and afraid to admit it" or "straight and experimenting." I think a lot of bi kids are pushed into identifying one way or the other (usually gay) too early. For most people, it's individual members of each sex who push their buttons.
I have a theory that the smarter a woman is, the more likely she is to be bisexual or lesbian. I can't back it with anything, because I know the plural of "anecdote" is not "fact."
In the end, I feel homophobia is no more justified than anti-intellectualism. I don't think it's comparable to racism or sexism, because I am not sure of the "born that way" theory. I think one can be born with a tendency toward being gay, just as one can be born with a tendency toward a high IQ, but it takes nuture and societal mores to bring it out.
I believe being gay, like intelligence, is a product of both nature and nurture.
There are markers that the tendency toward gayness is genetically coded, or altered in the code by exposure to prenatal hormones. There are studies that say it's based in the hypothalmus. A younger brother of brothers is more likely to be gay than the oldest. If one identical twin is gay, the other is 20 times more likely to be so than a non-identical sibling.
Salon ran an article (which i can't find) that showed lesbians have higher rates of middle ear deafness than straight women.
OTOH, you can put an Einstein in a malnourished, understimulating environment and you aren't going to get a 180 IQ.
I think actual expression of the coded-in potential depends on many factors.
I think social acceptance of homosexuality has a lot to do with how many people actually identify or practice. In Ancient Rome, it was considered appropriate. Many, many men took male lovers, but they all married to produce sons. Rome levied heavy penalties on bachelors. In 1950's America it was illegal. Many gay men married and led closeted suburban lives, suspecting the truth but never acting on it.
I think religious upbringing affects it. Being raised hyper religious can force one into the closet even to oneself. It often leads to hasty mixed-orientation marriages in order to "prove" one likes the opposite sex.
There will always be a certain percentage of people to whom the oppposite sex tastes and smells wrong. There will always be a certain percentage for whom the same sex doesn't smell or taste right. But I think there needs to be a bigger room for bisexuals. We aren't just "gay and afraid to admit it" or "straight and experimenting." I think a lot of bi kids are pushed into identifying one way or the other (usually gay) too early. For most people, it's individual members of each sex who push their buttons.
I have a theory that the smarter a woman is, the more likely she is to be bisexual or lesbian. I can't back it with anything, because I know the plural of "anecdote" is not "fact."
In the end, I feel homophobia is no more justified than anti-intellectualism. I don't think it's comparable to racism or sexism, because I am not sure of the "born that way" theory. I think one can be born with a tendency toward being gay, just as one can be born with a tendency toward a high IQ, but it takes nuture and societal mores to bring it out.
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no subject
Date: 2003-12-05 08:42 pm (UTC)Hear hear for the whole entry, ive never heard/seen anyone that could sit down and put it out so clearly. I definately relate to bisexuals being attracted to particular people of both sexes.
Also, I dunno if this matters, but I'm in high school and in my psychology class (taught by the head of the department) we discussed the fact that the students in his classes most often tend to hang out in a certain "clique" and many of the girls and more of the boys are homo or bisexual. I found this interesting, but when I looked around, it seemed true.
So, thought you might be interested in a little supporting info.
no subject
Date: 2003-12-05 09:24 pm (UTC)I could cite a hoary old adage about birds of a feather. But I think you've heard it. People want to be with people who are like them. This means if a large percentage of your friends are gay, you (generic you) probably are too.