Spiderman
Veteran Member
Thank you for that! May the gods richly bless you!
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Is sexual orientation determined at birth?
- Thread starter Spiderman
- Start date
I'm not gay, but I'm not straight either. And yeah, that's something within my psychological makeup it seems, set in motion from my birth. It's not so simple as that I was "born like this" though, although I voted 'Yes'.
Gay, bisexual, pansexual, polysexual - these are labels, identities. They are culturally constructed. What is not is the basis of these particular identities, which is in biological sexual and romantic attraction to certain sets of people, to which these identities correlate.
Spiderman
Veteran Member
I appreciate your contribution. I'm sure you have had your struggles. God bless you!
psychoslice
Veteran Member
Its no bodies fault because there is nothing wrong in it.
GeelongFams4WldPeace
Uncle
The worst scenario is:
- A heterosexual becomes a victim of a sex predator before maturity, and takes on a different sexual orientation that is not helping him / her reach their true identity.
- Victims many times become predators, and expand the problem.
- The problem grows exponentially.
- A heterosexual becomes a victim of a sex predator before maturity, and takes on a different sexual orientation that is not helping him / her reach their true identity.
- Victims many times become predators, and expand the problem.
- The problem grows exponentially.
Kilgore Trout
Misanthropic Humanist
I expect, like most things, our genes define a potential range of expression of an attribute, then environmental influences (which covers a wide range of things), at various points, influence where in that range the attribute is ultimately expressed.
Sexual abuse doesn't change your sexual orientation.
Confucian Mormon Buddhist
Member
Yes and no.
Obviously, sexual orientation can be genetic, and I'd say that it is at least 90% of the time, but it can sometimes change based on conditioning early in childhood.
Obviously, sexual orientation can be genetic, and I'd say that it is at least 90% of the time, but it can sometimes change based on conditioning early in childhood.
I say a bit of both.
Yes, I think people are "born that way" so to speak. But it's not that simple. Societal factors could and often do make people repress their real sexuality for a long time. Either bisexuality, homosexuality or any other non heterosexual attractions. Sexuality is also fluid, it can change naturally over time.
That's not to say anything is wrong with any sexual orientation, just that it's kind of.........complicated.
Yes, I think people are "born that way" so to speak. But it's not that simple. Societal factors could and often do make people repress their real sexuality for a long time. Either bisexuality, homosexuality or any other non heterosexual attractions. Sexuality is also fluid, it can change naturally over time.
That's not to say anything is wrong with any sexual orientation, just that it's kind of.........complicated.
-Sexual abuse does not change one's sexual orientation. It can lead to, however, frustration and emotional instability with sexual desires. Any sexual desires, even if they are a gay male abused by an adult female. Also the vast majority of sexual abuse victims are heterosexual and stayed heterosexual. Promiscuity can also result from abuse. But the affects are wide ranging and complicated.
-Arguable. But the cycle isn't exactly helped by people making judgement calls on the sexual orientations of victims.
-The problems often grows specifically from societal judgements. You yourself just potentially contributed to those problems by suggesting that homosexual victims are that way because of abuse and that heterosexual victims are so powerless that the abuse can change their sexual orientation. Both are quite insulting insinuations/implications for different reasons and do nothing but hinder those who suffered abuse in their lives.
The answer is no.
Genetic factors and prenatal environment play a role, sometimes large, in the development of sexual orientation, but the environment and socializing after birth play a role in actualizing the potential for an orientation.
Genetic factors and prenatal environment play a role, sometimes large, in the development of sexual orientation, but the environment and socializing after birth play a role in actualizing the potential for an orientation.
Shadow Wolf
Certified People sTabber
We also have to consider, we didn't even have a concept of heterosexuality and homosexuality until still fairly recently, and even then when it first came to be "heterosexuality" was considered a perversion as it implied your urges were too strong.
What would happen in a "Truman Show" type of situation? How would be people turn out, sexually, if we didn't have the stigmas? If we were more "free," I don't think "nature v nurture" would be an issue with sexuality, we'd probably see way more people exhibiting, at least some of the time, bisexual behaviors, and there just wouldn't be a reason to care about the "whys" other than that we genetically wired to be sexual animals.
You'd be wrong. Even among identical twins there is not a 1.0 correlation in sexual orientation. All scientific evidence points towards unknown/unmeasured environmental factors in the development of sexual orientation.
"Genetic and environmental effects on same-sex sexual behavior: a population study of twins in Sweden". Arch Sex Behav. 39 (1): 75–80
That's interesting! Two questions:
- even though twins genes are almost identical, is there a theory about other non-social, environmental factors?
- how is homosexuality in other animals accounted for?
Skwim
Veteran Member
My thoughts.
Even if homosexuality has absolutely nothing to do with anything at birth, be it genetic or otherwise, it's no more chosen than is heterosexuality. Therefore the question, "why does God find fault with it?" is still valid. Why come down on people for following their god given sexual urges in one case but not the other?
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Even if homosexuality has absolutely nothing to do with anything at birth, be it genetic or otherwise, it's no more chosen than is heterosexuality. Therefore the question, "why does God find fault with it?" is still valid. Why come down on people for following their god given sexual urges in one case but not the other?
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Bird123
Well-Known Member
It is not God that finds fault with it. It is mankind who finds fault with it.
OK. people can choose to do most anything, however everyone is born predetermined to be attracted to one of the sexes.
How do I know? Let me start with a story. Growing up, I was a regular kid. I had no sex on my mind then my family was in a department store. We came across a lady demonstrating exercise equipment. WOW! That gal had a great pair of legs. All I could do was stare. When the family moved on they found I was missing. They found me watching that gal with the great legs.
At this moment in time. There was no choosing. I had no idea what sex was. All I knew was that gal had a great pair of legs and I didn't want to leave.
After grown, I heard people talking about choosing sexual orientation which sounded wrong to me based on my experiences so I investigated further.
Of all the people I asked I have not found a single person who said they remember at some point growing up that they made a conscious choice who they were attracted to. Just like with me, it just happened. What about you?
The parameters of our lives change things. Sometimes our differences cause people to hate, judge, and condemn others. This is not intelligent nor is it at a Higher Level. These are things we will learn that we do not want returning to us.
God grants total freedom of choice. Even with a predetermined sexual orientation, anyone is also free to make any choice they choose. This turns the picture gray for anyone wanting firm labels on others in order to judge, hate and condemn. For those demanding, I find their default conditioning as a result of religion is the other guy always tends to be the bad guy. Clearly much learning is needed by many to eliminate the hate.
That's how I see it. WE are all Living our Lessons. So often the answers are right in front of our noses within our own experiences.
Indeed, there are several. Hormone levels in the womb is a big one.
edit: I realize you may have meant post-natal environment. We haven't found direct evidence of any to my knowledge, but we do know diet and chemical exposure can have epigenetic effects. With something as complex as sexuality, the search may never come to any concrete conclusion on all possible factors and effect size.
I would imagine it would depend on the animal as to how it is accounted for, but with much the same situation where genetics and environmental factors work together. That is an entirely un-evidenced hypothesis, though.
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Skwim
Veteran Member
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