Sexual Orientation - Essay Example

?[Your full April 23, Is there such a thing as a “normal” sexual orientation? Introduction “Sexual orientation is a term frequently used to describe a person’s romantic, emotional or sexual attraction to another person” (American Psychiatric Association). This attraction may be towards person of the same gender or opposite gender, or even toward both genders, and neither gender at all. Persons feeling romantically attracted to those of the same sex are termed as gays and lesbians because they have a homosexual orientation. Persons attracted toward those of the opposite sex are termed as heterosexuals. Persons attracted toward both genders at the same time are called bisexuals. Person not attracted to any kind of sexual activity with neither gender is going through abstinence or asexuality. This homosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, and abstinence, is what we call sexual orientation of a person. It involves both the feelings plus the identity of the person. An individual may recognize his identity as being a homosexual, heterosexual, or bisexual, at any point of his life and this identity would be different from the gender identity or gender roles that the society assigns to an individual. This paper intends to discuss if there is such a thing in the world as normal sexual orientation. Normal Sexual Orientations Researchers suggest that being a heterosexual is normal as is being a non-heterosexual. Gays and lesbians have been identified in all ages and they live just the normal way as others. They belong to all cultures, all socio-economic statuses, and all religions. A homosexual can also feel erotically aroused by a member of the opposite sex at some times in life although he may identify himself as a gay. A heterosexual, likewise, can feel attracted toward a person of the same sex although not too often and although he claims himself to be a heterosexual. Thus, a variation in normality is seen in the behavior of individuals, and this variation cannot make the behavior abnormal. Huegel states that “Being gay is normal. Being lesbian is normal. Being bisexual is normal. Being transgender is normal. Being heterosexual is normal.” Homosexuality is a Normal Sexual Orientation Gay marriages and gay rights are issues that have been an effort toward making people consider non-heterosexual orientations as normal. The earliest known gay rights organization is the Society for Human Rights in Chicago that was established in 1924 and launched first gay rights movement. After that, the Mattachine Society was established in 1951 and there have been a number of other organizations and movements till then which support gay rights. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) passed by Congress in 1996 protects the marriage rights of gays since there were many states which had banned gay marriages before 1996. Congress approved the law in 2010 and legalized gay marriages. When talking about gay rights, we must discuss what actually the rights that have been legalized for gays are. These include ceremonial marriages, child adoption, domestic partnership registration on public record, domestic partnership affidavit given by employers to gay employees that defines the couple’s economic relationship, health care, insurance, lawsuits, property, and the like. Hence, we see that courts and laws have been trying to make people believe that heterosexuality is normal. Abnormal Sexual Orientations However, there are some bizarre sexual orientations that are regarded as abnormal. Paraphilia Paraphilia is a sexual orientation in which a person is sexually attracted toward a non-human object, animal, or a person with whom sexual activity is not socially acceptable. The paraphilic sexual orientation is considered abnormal by all mental health organization like the American Psychiatric Association. According to the Traditional Values Coalition: The paraphilias listed in the DSM are abnormal sexual orientations toward non-human objects or individuals and include the category of fetishes – or bizarre sexual orientations or attractions that can involve inflicting pain on themselves, animals, or other people. These fetishes include Transvestic Fetishism, which is cross-dressing. Pedophilia Pedophilia is a kind of sexual orientation in which a person is sexually attracted toward children. According to McNally, “Pedophiles solely attracted to prepubescent children have a dysfunction in mechanisms of sexual attraction that precludes transmission of their genes” (88). McNally asserts that although pedophilia is an abnormal sexual orientation, yet it is a debate whether it should be regarded as a mental disorder or not because for it to be called a disorder, it should inflict some harm on the disordered person. We see that the victims of pedophilia suffer from emotional harm and distress while the pedophile does not suffer from any emotional or physical harm or injury. However, since pedophilia is a result of flaws in internal biological systems, it is regarded as mental illness. If this is the rule, then heterosexuality should also be regarded as a mental illness or an abnormality because it also occurs due to dysfunction in “gender modularity system” (McNally 88). Heterosexism and Homophobia Heterosexism is the belief that only the heterosexual individuals are normal and all other non-heterosexual orientation is abnormal. This belief is strengthened by homophobia which is about the adoption of negative feelings toward homosexuals or LGBT (lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgendered) people. These negative feelings that people have adopted about LGBT have made the latter suffer from gender discrimination. People start assuming other individuals’ identities just by the roles they play in their society. Heterosexism considers a man to be a gay if he is interested in beauty salons rather than going to a gym. A woman fearing a homophobic story; an employee hiding from the employer that he is a gay from fear of losing the job; a lesbian being humiliated in front of her colleagues; and, an asexual man posing to be enjoying heterosexual jokes with his friends, are all the examples of heterosexism. In all of these examples, we see that people in general believe only heterosexuality to be a normal sexual orientation and all others as abnormal, which is actually something discouraged by scientists and courts. Our society is full of “homophobic, sexist, and bigoted institutions and individuals” (Huegel) which brainwash us to accept only the heterosexual orientation as normal and discard all others. But still, there are many others who accept a non-heterosexual orientation of a person and let him live a normal life just like others. It is the social construct that makes a society think just one way. It is required that measures are taken to spread more and more awareness in the society so that we come out of the concepts of heterosexism and homophobia. Huegel asserts that being a non-heterosexual is perfectly normal but these are the misleading concepts that prevail in our society that define the meaning of being a heterosexual or a bisexual or a transgender. These concepts make it hard for a person to feel himself normal and to make others feel that he is normal if he is of a sexual orientation other than heterosexuality. No matter it is difficult for a GLBTQ (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or questioning) person being stigmatized and stereotyped in the society, but there are several organizations and NGOs that are working “toward creating a better understanding and acceptance of GLBTQ people” (Huegel 2). Normal non-heterosexual orientations still suffer from discrimination Lewis found in his research that homosexuals had to face great disapproval due to their sexual orientation, discrimination in civil liberties and employment (2). He has compared blacks’ and whites’ attitudes toward homosexuality and has concluded that they have different opinions about homosexuality and they tend to look at gay rights from different perspectives. Teney and Subramanian examined attitudes of students toward gays in 70 multiethnic schools. They found that gay civil rights were being violated and sexual prejudice prevailed. A similar research was conducted by Jenkins, Lambert and Baker who studied attitude of college students toward gays. They state that “despite greater acceptance of gay rights and relationships in recent decades, significant homophobia still exists in the U.S. population” (1). Colvin studied the differential treatment that is shown toward lesbian and gay officers. He found that gay officers found barriers in employment opportunities but also enjoyed some benefits too. Stoutenborough, Haider-Markel and Allen found in their research that court decisions regarding gay civil rights do not have significant influence upon public opinion about gays. Wald, Button and Rienzo studied gay anti-discriminatory ordinances and policies and found that gay rights policies are important to maintain a balance between the gay and lesbian population and the rest of the society. Conclusion To sum up, it must be stated that there do exist normal sexual orientations. Being a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning are normal. However, there are some kinds of weird sexual orientations like paraphilia and pedophilia that are not normal and which are not socially acceptable. Other than these, all sexual orientations, heterosexual or non-heterosexual, are normal. However, since we live in a homophobic and heterosexist society, we prefer to accept only the heterosexual orientation as normal and for homophobes, all other kinds of sexual orientations are not normal. States and courts are trying to make such policies and laws that support non-heterosexual orientations so that the society starts accepting them as normal and do not make them suffer from discrimination. Research has proved that non-heterosexuals are subjected to discrimination based upon their sexual orientation. Need has arrived to create such awareness in the society that makes us accept those around us as long as they are not harming us or themselves. Works Cited American Psychiatric Association. “Sexual Orientation.” Healthy Minds, Healthy Lives. APA, 2011. Web. 22 Mar 2011. . Colvin, Roddrick. “Shared Perceptions Among Lesbian and Gay Police Officers: Barriers and Opportunities in the Law Enforcement Work Environment.” Police Quarterly 12.1 (2009): 86-101. Lewis, Gregory B. “Black White Differences in Attitude toward Homosexuality and Gay Rights.” Public Opin Q 67.1 (2003): 59-78. Jenkins, Morris, Lambert, Eric G., and David N. Baker. “The Attitudes of Black and White College Students Toward Gays and Lesbians.” Journal of Black Studies 39.4 (2007): 589-613. Huegel, Kelly. GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Career & Questioning Teens. USA: Free Spirit Publishing, 2003. McNally, Richard J. What is Mental Illness? USA: Harvard University Press, 2011. Stoutenborough, James W., Haider-Markel, Donald P., and Mahalley D. Allen. “Reassessing the Impact of Supreme Court Decisions on Public Opinion: Gay Civil Rights Cases.” Political Research Quarterly 59.3 (2009): 419-433. Teney, Celine, and S.V. Subramanian. “Attitudes Toward Homosexuals Among Youth in Multiethnic Brussels.” Cross-Cultural Research 44.2 (2010): 151-173. Traditional Values Coalition. LGBT Lies About ‘Sexual Orientation’ And ‘Gender Identity’. N.p, n.d. Web. 24 Mar 2011. . Wald, Kenneth D., Button, James W., and Barbara A. Rienzo. “The Politics of Gay Rights in American Communities: Explaining Antidiscrimination Ordinances and Policies.” American Journal of Political Science 40.4 (1996): 1152-1178. Read More