Sexuality Is Defined By Sexual Orientation

Have you ever wondered how sexuality is viewed in the eyes of a different culture? Since America is a melting pot specifically with the Latino culture we have and is a very diverse country, it still carries culture identity. When you have a set cultural ideology for example the Latino Culture ideology, it sets the rules and norms for gender and sexual identity. In this essay we will be talking about how religious aspects of the Latino/a culture are affecting how people view sexual orientation. How religion in the Latino culture creates a discrimination against homosexuality and non-gender norms. This topic was chosen because I believe it is interesting how some cultures are used to believing that certain rituals and big events have to be within a man and a woman and cannot be both. I have personally witnessed how sexuality does affect the Latino culture; and has been involved in the rituals that make it so heteronormative. Through evidence of religious cultures, gendered identities and family structures we will see how religion in the Latino culture shapes and forms sexuality. I will be examining how Catholicism shapes cultural norms for sexual orientation and gender identity, how heteronormativity is reinforced as the main stream within the religious Latino culture and how it is insensitive towards homosexuality. How having family and social circles that are used to a culture around are perpetuating gender identity against sexuality.

Human sexuality can be interpreted in many different ideas and understandings. Watching the documentary “Guardians of the Flutes,” I was able to see a different life style than I’m use to but at the same time see many similarities. Both men and women have different roles in their daily lives and their works do not intersect. The Sambia tribe is patriarchal, in which the men have the control or rule, similar to most American house hold; however, that is changing. Understanding the way sex influences or impacts our lives is very important. Not only do humans interact sexually but also many animals. Human sexuality is being able to be comfortable with one to be able to interact with others in a deeper level.

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

Sexual orientation can be considered as one of America’s most controversial topics. Although the rationale and choice differs from person to person, and is considered to be a private matter of personal preference, many people have experienced negative backlash and harsh criticism due to their individual likings. In general, sexual orientation is defined as: a person 's sexual identity in relation to the gender to which they are attracted; the fact of being heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual. While the definition seems to be straightforward and concise, the subject of sexual orientation encompasses much more than just the intensity of emotional and erotic attraction and response to members of the opposite sex, the same sex, or both

Social Construction of Sexuality Sexual orientation refers to an enduring pattern of sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions to individuals of the opposite sex, same sex, both sexes, or more than one gender. These attractions and behaviors that express them, engender an individual’s awareness of their social identity and sexuality. Sexuality is composed of a broad range of behaviors and processes, including the way your body develops and the way you feel and respond toward others. To understand the social construction of sexuality we must pay attention to the factors that shape and constrain it: race, ethnicity, gender, and social class, without ignoring the limitations, constraints, and disadvantages faced such as poverty, prejudice

even though sexuality can be considered universal, the sexual behaviors affiliated with it offer different attitudes in various communities. Sexuality is aligned to sexual attraction where individuals can identify themselves with a broad range of sexuality that is bisexual, gay or being lesbian. Sexuality can change over time in a person depending on the circumstances surrounding him or her. It may be affected by the social circle and emotional imbalances that may occur in an individual. Interestingly there exists sexual inequality among many societies in the world. As observed, many societies encourage men to have multiple sex partners but forbid it in women. Moreover, pre-marital sex is promoted in men, but women are flaunted if they participate in pre-marital sex. Across the globe, Western Europe has embraced certain norms in sexuality such as homosexuality whereas African society embraces a negative attitude towards the same.

To start, after extensive reading, many writers have attempted to understand the desire to participate in sexual activity with the same sex, therefore finding that the reasons vary from low self-esteem,

Sexual orientationism is best described as discrimination or prejudice against homosexuals on the assumption that heterosexuality is the dominant, or normal, sexual orientation. Within society there are many barriers, assumptions, and stigmas placed upon the queer community, numerous of which steam from this heterosexist stance that has become the dominant ideology. This stance has historical significance in trauma, and oppression of those within the sexual minority, and how this can play on representation.

The underneath implication is indeed heteronormativity, where heterosexuality is treated as normal and the governing rule. Its power is to regulate people to conform to certain kinds of relations. In fact, heteronormativity reinforce not only particular kinds of sexual practice, but also binary gender categories, which promote masculine role as positive and feminine role as negative. Any forms of sexual orientation other than heterosexuality, such as homosexuality or bisexual, are considered as deviants and they challenge the dominant group’s claim to universality. By making them as inferiority or as ‘Other’, needs and preference of homosexual and bisexual groups are often kept silence.

Growing up as a person with different cultural backgrounds, being from both settler and Indigenous ancestry, I have encountered many different views of sexuality.

In the Gendered Nature of Sexual Scripts by Michael W. Weiderman, the author talks about what societal factors influence males and females view of sex and their genitalia. The perception of one’s views on their genitalia is related to the sexual script that they are assigned and how society deems they should feel about sex. If one were to deviate from their assigned sexual script, the social ramifications may be detrimental to how they are perceived not only to society, but to the opposite sex.

The most common sexual orientation, regardless of culture, is heterosexuality. This is defined as a sexual orientation in which an individual is generally sexually attracted to members of the opposite sex. A Centers for Disease Control national survey “reported that the percentage of Americans who identify themselves as heterosexual was 90 percent for men and women” (King, 2011, p. 363). This orientation is also considered by many people, cultures and religion throughout history and into the present as being the “normal” and “natural” orientation, with the idea that any deviation from heterosexuality is unnatural, a choice, and a thing that needs to be corrected. This belief,

Gender is often based on one’s biological sex, hence, there are only two categories; an individual is either a male or a female. In the same way, Western sexual practices are seen as either normal or deviant and relationships are often constrained to categories of either a heterosexual or a homosexual relationship. In short, Western ideas are very rigid and constrained. In parts of Brazil, a group of effeminate men who engage in same-sex relationship and who alter their bodies to be as feminine as possible is an example of a group who do not conform to

Human sexuality is a common phrase for all, and anything, pertaining to the feelings and behaviors of sex for the human race. Sexuality has been a topic that has been discussed and studied for as far back as 1000 years B.C. and is still being studied today. As the discussion of sexuality has progressed through history, theories have been created based on research and experiments that scholars have implemented, based on their own perceptions of human behavior. Out of the many theories that pose to explain sexual behavior, Sexuality Now explained ten that are seemed to be the most overlapped, and built off of theories. Of these theories, two that were discussed in the text were the behavioral and sociological theory. These two theories cover some of the basic ideas of what could possibly influence a person’s sexuality.

Throughout history there has been speculation about what influences sexuality in men and woman. Is sexual orientation biological or cultural in nature? There is a common misconception that sexual identity operate in parallel with gender roles( Sell, 2005 as cited in Wilkinson & Roys, 2005, p.65). Scholars have not came to an agreement regarding what actually comprise a person’s sexual orientation, however a sexual orientation has been deemed a cumulative experience and interaction of emotional and sexual feelings towards one or both genders (Wilkinson & Roys, 2005, p.65). The paper provides provides some clues as to what factors influence sexual orientation in men and woman.