Sexuality Is A Social Identity That Goes Beyond The Objectivity

From birth, one's sexuality is shaped by society. Cultures institute behaviors that are to be seen as the societal norms, which work to constantly reinforce societal expectations of how genders should act in relation to one another. Although some may argue that one's sexuality is an innate characteristic resulting from genetic makeup, there is a large amount of evidence pointing to its social construction instead. Through the power differences between males and females, established gender roles, and drastic economic shifts, society establishes sexuality and reinforces the behaviors that are expected of its citizens.

In society, heterosexuality is a principal method of organizing institutions and regulating individual behavior. A culture based on ideas of heterosexuality values relationships that are between men and women; as a result, sexual contact occurring between same sex individuals is seen as deviant and labeled as homosexual. In her book, Ward explains how straight white men can have sex with other white men while retaining their heterosexuality in addition to gaining a masculine appeal. Ingraham and Namaste’s discussion of heteronormativity, heterogenders, and supplementarity aids in understanding why straight white men are not labeled as homosexual and how this functions to reproduce inequalities based on race, gender, and sexuality.

Some women seek lesbian relationships because they want to reject this sort of powerless state they may feel in a heterosexual situation. Relationships between men to men and women to women hold several differences, but at the same time they share several similarities. Downing concludes the article by stating that there are both gay men and lesbians that dismiss the homosexuality myth, but it is crucial that they understand that the myth does hold a cultural vision on the power of gender and human selfhood. In order to get past the myth, we must understand to accept its existence.

It is hard to challenge what is seemingly normalized in society. Especially when looking into the realm of gender and sexuality, the male and female gender accompanied by heterosexuality is often just accepted and deemed as a social norm. Social institutions such as marriage, health-care laws, and the economic system benefit those who act within the heteronormative behaviors and appropriate gender expression. The gender binary, though, is far from accurate when assuming personal identity. If someone follows the social script of the femininity, he or she is expected to be female and possess female anatomy. The same goes for men: if he or she expresses masculinity he or she is expected to be male with male anatomy. Anything outside of this expectation is deemed socially unacceptable and subject to backlash. With the strong ties Western society has to the gender binary and appropriate gender roles, it is impossible to picture anything else. The Fa’fafine in Samoa, however, present a great challenge to the norms instilled in society.

Nagel’s text discussing the driving factors behind international perceptions of sexuality offers an insight into how sexuality is viewed and understood globally. She discusses how culture, country of origin, ancestry, language, religion, and ethnicity/race play a crucial role in the perception of individual sexuality and its reception by its audience. Joanne Nagel writes about the ways in which heterosexuality is still very much the norm in ethno sexual spaces and the impact that heteronormativity has on members of different races, ethnic groups and nations. Nagel then goes on to highlight how racial and ethnic boundaries play a role in how the sexuality of peoples belonging to specific ethnic, racial and cultural groups are received by members of other ethnic, cultural and racial groups. She explains how these boundaries help create a narrative of ‘us vs them’, ‘pure vs impure’ ‘wrong vs right’, where differences such as

The world is full of all type of discrimination, Racial Discrimination, Equal Rights among minorities, yet, the society struggles with sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is the classification of individuals, such as heterosexual, bisexual, or homosexual based upon their emotional and sexual attractions, relationships, self-identity, and behavior (Mooney, page 400). This sexual orientation is a global problem. It is illegal for a males or females to be homosexual in the majority of the 86 countries in the United Nations (Ottosson 2008); these individuals can victim of criminal punishment or corporal punishment for being

Cho explains this by saying, that although women are stigmatized for being that sex, when they are denounced for being both a woman and a certain race, it can become a wholly different experience for an individual (351).

Modern day concepts of gay and lesbian have been adapted into Native culture. But those who with identify those concepts would not be connected with with cultural concepts of the nadleeh gender. There are complicated concepts of relationships when you analyze the gender values of Native communities and the values that the Euro-Americans have now. Navajos have five separate gender categories that arise from the five genders explained above. Those categories are traditional, transitional, contemporary, acculturated, and

Stigma attached to the word lesbian also kept women apart from one another. "Radicalesbians" describes the label lesbian as "the debunking/scare term that keeps women from forming any primary attachments, groups, or associations among ourselves." The women’s movement was hurt by the labeling by some in the media as a lesbian movement. Ironically, lesbians often felt underrepresented in the movement while heterosexual women were afraid of being labeled lesbians. "Radicalesbians" confronts this issue by arguing that women are being dominated by men "as long as the label ‘dyke’ can be used to frighten a woman into a less militant stand, keep her separate from her sisters, keep her from giving primacy to anything other than men and family."

Throughout history, definitions of sexuality within a culture are created and then changed time after time. During these changes, we have seen the impact and power one individual or group can have over others. In the Late Nineteenth Century into the Early Twentieth Century, we see multiple groups of people and or authorities taking control over the idea of sex and how they believe society is being impacted by sex. At this point in time, society had groups of people who believed they had the power to control how society as whole viewed and acted upon sex. Those particular groups and ideas changed many lives and the overall definition of sexuality within that culture.

“…there are lesbians who affirm that “women and men are different species or races (the words are used interchangeably): men are biologically inferior to women; male violence is a biological inevitability…” By doing this, by admitting that there is a “natural” division between women and men, we naturalize history, we assume that “men” and “women” have always existed and will always exist.’”

Gender segregation is still common in the Middle East and both genders are expected to fulfill their designated roles within society. There is a lot of pressure for both genders to marry and to not do so is considered “social disaster”. Arranged marriages are not uncommon, especially among the more traditional families (Whitaker) and in this relationship, men are generally considered the “active” partners while their wives are the “passive” partners (Tolino 5). These ideas are prominent throughout society in the Middle East and create problems for individuals who do not conform to their assigned roles, specifically members of the LGBT community. LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, although all gender and “sexual minorities” are considered part of this community (Human Rights Watch 69). LGBT individuals face struggles all around the world, but their problems are more pronounced in the Middle East, where the concept of homosexuality is vastly different than in the West. People in the Middle East generally view homosexuality as a “Western invention” and there is no clear distinction between “sex” and “gender”. The classification of an individual as “gay” does not always relate to “a physical act with someone of the same gender”. A male could be considered “gay” simply for not conforming to gender roles or acting feminine (Simmons 1). In the Middle East, members of the LGBT community face extreme inequality, primarily in the form of homophobic laws with

Sexuality is an issue that has been widely discussed and has often been misunderstood by society. It has often been a misconception by members of the heterosexual community that all lesbians want to be men. Through applying common sense, it can be understood why people may think gay women want to be men when looking in on the lesbian community, some lesbians prefer to express themselves and their sexuality through the way they dress and act; their short hair, masculine clothing, wearing no make-up and their macho

Throughout many countries around the world, homosexuality has always been subjected as a controversial matter. The societal attitudes towards the behavior of homosexuality vary substantially across Asia. Surprisingly, there are two conflicting attitudes toward homosexuality. Some Asian countries strongly condemn against homosexuality, whereas some Asian countries visibly accept homosexuality. Judith Butler explained that gender is represented as a stylized repetition of acts or imitation. She described the categories of sexuality and gender as a form of performativity (Butler 1996, 368). This essay will focus on China and South Korea and explore the experience of gender identity via to the socio-cultural contexts. This essay will also look

Gender and sexual orientation is a topic that has been and still today is not talked about in such a way it should be because of how society has chosen to structure and control it. Social stratification is a system in which groups of people are divided up into layers according to their relative privileges (power, property, and prestige). It’s a way of ranking large groups of people into a hierarchy according to their relative privileges (Vela-McConnell 2016). People, who deviate from the norm of the “accepted” gender and sexual orientation that society has placed upon us, are stratified below the norm of a dominating binary gender and sexual orientation. People who are queer face the struggle of mistreatment and an unaccepting society that has been socialized to see and act on gender and sexual orientation to being a dualistic system.