What Causes Sexual Orientation? Essay Example

Have many people thought it is a sexual orientation support about biological makeup course by nature.  Hence there are genetic factors in play, long before we are born.  The concepts in genetics are interesting.  Scientists have been looking to see if they can identify the so-called gay gene.  Another group of people believe that sexual orientation is determined by environmental conditions.  For example, the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud was of the opinion that men with gay tendencies were attributed to the Puritan upbringing.  i.e ., overbearing mothers, and weak fathers.  Others cited the parents letting boys play with non-traditional gender Tories e.g., boys  playing with dolls, will result in developing gay tendencies.

The gender issue has yet to be resolved, that sexual orientation is considered extremely complex matter and not just a simple question of genetics.  Perhaps the real bottom line is that you cannot change your sexual orientation and turn somebody into becoming gay.  We are the product of our own unique chemistry.  The concept of sexual orientation is one that develops during the lifetime of a person.  Hence, someone being bisexual can impact people of both genders.  People come to discover during the course of their lives that they are either homosexual, hetrosexual, gay, lesbian or bisexual.  Opinion vary  in the gay community as to whether they were born that way or it  was a matter of simple  choice.  Most research scientists believe that the subject matter is a complex one.  Biological factors  are likely to be a determining factor in the causation of homosexuality.  As to date  scientists have not been able to isolate a gene specific to gay people.  The gay community insist that for all sense and purposes they are normal and as such continue to strive for equal rights.

The religious viewpoint is interesting.  Most religions point towards homosexuality as being an act against God.  The Christian faith has been particularly adamant on this point.  Hence, as God does not abide  this he would not create a homosexual person.  The Catholic medical Association commented : ‘if the same sex attraction were genetically determined, then one would expect identical twins to be identical in  their sexual attractions.  There are, however, numerous reports of identical twins, who are not identical in their sexual attractions’.  The religious conservative viewpoints have rendered the course of homosexuality to the following: domineering mothers, emotionally absent fathers, demonic possession, sexual molestation as a child a possible combination of the above.

The concept of normality is based upon the model of heterosexuality, the so called biological norm.  Some researchers have challenged this  assumption stating that most people generally fall on the scale between the two. “Scales measuring aspects of mating psychology were administered to heterosexual and homosexuals  of both sexes”  (Bailey, Gaulin and Agyei). Early civilized nations like the Greeks and Romans accepted homosexuality but did not make a distinction between it.  Early Christians believe that people who indulged in homosexual acts developed a liking for that lifestyle and were subsequently drawn into the behavioural conditions.

As to date we have no conclusive answers in terms of sociological,  psychological , biological and scientific definitions for what determines individual sexual orientations.  No doubt research will continue to examine this from a number of different perspectives.

Works Cited

Bailey, J. Michael, et al. “Effects of gender and sexual orientation on evolutionarily relevant aspects of human mating psychology.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Vol 66(6), (Jun 1994): 1081-1093.