Sexual Orientation Flashcards
What is asexual?
person perceives little or no interest in engaging sexually with others
What is pansexual?
open to any gender
Queer
umbrella term, non-gendered term, also a slur, intended to not labels one’s sexuality
Two-spirited
have the spirit of both the male and female
Androphilic
anyone attracted to males
Gynephilic
anyone attracted to females
Ambiphilic (not really used)
If both Androphilic and Gynephilic
Sexual orientation
The category of people you are attracted to
Affectional orientation
The interaction between affect and cognition such that it produces attraction, erotic desire, and ultimately feelings of love for members of the other sex, the same sex or both
Historically there was no word like homosexual, what happened??
As its general usage become popular those who engaged in the activity were no longer doing a behavior, they became a certain creature.
What were 3 examples of what people thought of homosexuals?
o Thought to be what was wrong with society
o Called shallow, narcissistic, effeminate, predatory and prudish
o Blamed for American defeat in Vietnam and for WW2
Why did people start identifying as gay or lesbian instead of homosexual?
Because homosexual had such a bad connotation associated with it and was very sexualized
What is sexual orientation?
The gender(s)/sex(es) that you are attracted to
What is gender identity?
The psychological sense of being male, female, or somewhere else on the gender spectrum
What is heterocentric?
the assumption of a universal heterosexual orientation
What do we tend to do to people who don’t fit into our norm and who is it bad for?
We question who does not fit into our norm (ex: when did you choose to be straight/gay video). IT is bad for everyone! Especially heterosexual men (think of Dan Savage’s video)
What are 5 questions listed on the heterosexual questionnaire? (pick 5 out of 10)
- when did you first decide you were a heterosexual?
- what do you think caused your heterosexuality?
- is it possible this is just a phase and you will out grow it?
- if you have never slept with a person of the same sex, how d you know you wouldn’t prefer it?
- why do you insist on being so obvious with public displays of affection? Can you just be who you are and keep it quiet?
- whom have you told about your heterosexuality and how did they react?
- do heterosexuals hate or distrust others of their own sex? Is this what makes them heterosexual?
- why do heterosexuals place so much emphasis on sex?
- why do heterosexuals try to recruit others into this lifestyle
- a disproportionate majority of child molesters are heterosexual…. Do you consider it safe to expose children to heterosexual teachers?
People love to theorize what makes people gay but not…
what makes people straight
What is heterosexism?
prejudice and discrimination against individuals of other sexual orientations and genders, based on the implicit assumption that heterosexuality is the norm
What did the Kinsey scale ask people to rate (2)? What did each number mean (0-6)?
Asked to rate experiences and fantasies:
0: Exclusively heterosexual
1: Predominantly heterosexual, only incidentally homosexual
2: Predominantly heterosexual, but more than incidentally homosexual
3: Equally heterosexual and homosexual
4: Predominantly homosexual, but more than incidentally heterosexual
5: Predominantly homosexual, only incidentally heterosexual
6: Exclusively homosexual
What variables would people for on the Klein sexual orientation grid?
What did 0= and 6=?
People would rate the variables for past, present and ideal. 0 = exclusively heterosexual to 6 = exclusively homosexual
What is placement on the Klein grid determined by?
Placement on the scale is determine by self-report of sexual behaviour and secondarily by self-report of sexual desires and attractions
What was different about the sexuality questionnaire?
Attraction to men and women weren’t seen as opposite sides of the spectrum but as separate spectrums.
What did 1 vs. 7 mean on the sexuality questionnaire and what variables were being rated?
Each component is assigned a number from 1 (other sex only) to 7 (same sex only) in terms of past, present and “ideal” circumstances.
What is sexual configurations theory?
- Thinking of every individual as having a sexual configuration on a number of axes (ex: gender, sex, partner number, etc)
- Focus on eroticism and nurturance as broader separate categories
- Talks about solitary sexuality as a valid form of expression
Define eroticism vs. nurturance
♣ Can be bisexual in terms of attraction = eroticism
♣ But can want a heterosexual relationship = nurturance
Explain and draw that othering to diversity idea:
Other: white background = all heterosexual, not talking about sexuality
Difference (most common): making that background more apparent. Comparing squares (heterosexuals) to gay people (dots). Looking how different these two groups are. Usually the minority group, the differences are seen as weird.
Diversity: everyone has some sort of sexuality that fall somewhere on a grid. The squares, some have solid lines, dashed lines, slightly curved. So instead of saying all of this group is the same, everyone is put on the grid. Shows all heterosexuals are not the same as all gay people are not the same.
What is a queer and feminist approach to understanding sexuality (thinking from the margins)? Draw it!
It is an outer circle that includes: cisnormativity, alignment normatively, heteronormativity, homonormativity, mononormativity, sexual normatively, fixedness normativity that all filter into the inner circle which is you.
DRAW the SCT and explain the 4 parts that make it up, ex: sexual orientation
a) Only focuses on binary: men, women, both
b) But there is a gender/sex challenge part = sex/gender doesn’t matter. Challenging the norms.
c) how specific: only only attracted to women (left), both (middle), men (right)
d) what is a core part of your sexuality? If you don’t care about sex/gender it would be 0%
Explain the brain difference findings and what the issue was with it
Size different in the INAH3 and SCN. Study was don of cadavers. HUGE FLAW: They didn’t know the sexual orientation of any one dead but those who died of HIV/AIDS were assumed gay but who knows what effect those diseases would have had on the size of the hypothalamus!
Part of the issue with this research is if you can prove you’re biologically gay then its okay b/c you can’t help it, which is just a shit way to think.
Explain the difference in brain symmetry
On average male brains are less symmetrical than women. Gay men have a level of symmetry that falls between men and women.
Explain the difference in neural connectivity (white matter)
o Seems to be more white matter in women because more distribution across the brain
o Gay men fell between men and women but still so small
Explain the difference in response to sexual stimuli? What is the issue?
Gay men responded to what they are attracted to. Not a cause, a consequence.
Explain the findings for left-handedness
o 34% more likely in gay men
o Been replicated across studies
o Being left handed is associated with being deviated from the norm
o Being left handed is more associated with being gay (only 10% of people are left handed and 20-30% of gay men are left handed)
Explain the 2D:4D ratio
Researchers look at the pointer finger and ring finger. The idea is that people who had higher testosterone in utero have a longer ring fingers
What are the findings for having an older brother?
It is the biggest predictor of them all!
o A woman’s body treats a male fetus differently than it treats a female fetus. As the mother has more and more boys the more immunity therefore it plays an effect on testosterone and this is why it is linked to gay gene.
What are the findings from twin studies?
If you have an identical twin who is gay, then you have a 50% chance of being gay as well but there is more to it then just that
There is some evidence that the utero environment contributes to this
What is the finding for the “gay gene”?
In the 90s they tried to find a gay gene to say that people couldn’t help it and that they were born that way!
There is not a gay gene it is possible that there are a few though.
What are most psychosocial explanations about sexuality?
Mostly theoretical due to difficulty in testing empirically. Our environment shapes our attractions to some degree.
What should we be aware of in term of sexual orientation research?
Sexual orientation may develop differently in men than women so we need to be careful of studies just slapping the male findings onto women.
What was the purpose of Michael Bailey’s lab at Northwestern?
for men you were either gay straight or lying, there was no such thing as bisexual and so Bailey’s lab tried prove this by bringing people into their lab
What did Bailey think was the difference between men and women
Men have more category specific genital sexual arousal
Women have bisexual/pansexual genital sexual arousal
What did people think of Bailey’s research and what has the lab since put forth?
Bailey’s research highly criticized by bisexual people
New research from Bailey Lab indicates that there is evidence for bisexual orientation in men in brains and genitals
Bisexual
attracted to any gender
Pansexual
similar to bisexual attracted to people across the spectrum
Omnisexual
not caring to what the gender is (also similar to bisexual)
Queer
umbrella term where you don’t need to identify your gender or your partners gender
Asexual
no sexual attraction to any gender
Eric Anderson
Big advocate that north American men’s virginity is a minority and we are moving towards more sexually expressive men
Asexuality
A sexual orientation defined by the absence of sexual desire for and sexual attraction towards others
Many asexual can have..
- romantic relationships (most people are romantic)
- Can identify as hetero-romantic, homo-romantic, bi-romantic, etc.
T or F? Asexual men masturbate at similar rates to sexual men
True
T or F? - Asexual women show similar levels of arousal in the lab as sexual women
True
T or F? Majority of asexuals are distressed about their sexuality
False
T or F? Asexuals have slightly higher social withdrawal than sexual and are slightly more likely to have an autism spectrum disorder some evidence of predictors similar to other orientations
True
List and define the 6 stages of identity development for LGB People
∞ Identify confusion -when people start to realize that they are having attraction to people of the same sex. The sense of am i gay begins?
∞ Identify comparison- this feeling that i am different from other people this can lead to some sort of alienation if you do not see others who you can connect with on this level
∞ Identify tolerance- when someone becomes more comfortable with identifying as gay or lesbian so they start seeking out other queer people
∞ Identify acceptance – where people start to full embrace their identity as a gay person.
∞ Identify ride – when a person emerges themselves in the LGB world
∞ Identity synthesis – when people shift from seeking their Queerness as the primary part of their identity and more into their other identities and it is no longer the dominant thing that rules their interactions in the world. This usually happens in their late 20s
T or F? - Out LGB people suffer fewer negative health problems than closeted people
True
Why might some people not come out?
Coming out can be dangerous (depending where you live or who is around)
What is Femmephobia/Femmenegativity
things that are associated with femininity are looked down upon
Who reports the most happiness in terms of married couples?
Hetero married couples report most happiness, followed by cohabiting couples (all orientations), followed by singles
T or F? Lesbian couples report greater relationship satisfaction than either gay or homosexual couples
True
T or F? Non-monogamous gay couples are not as happy as monogamous gay couples
False
Who is more likely to stay friends after a breakup?
Same sex couples are more likely to remain friends after a break-up and to look for partners outside their age, race, and socio-economic demographic
T or F? The majority of gay couples wish to get married
True
Do we all have the potential for bisexuality?
- Evidence for sexual curiosity and sexual play during adolescence
- Many people fantasize about more than one gender
- Who we fall in love with is both internally and externally influenced
4 Facts about bisexuals…
- Bisexual men and women are both more romantically attracted to women and sexual attracted to men on average
- Bias against bisexual people in both gay and straight populations
- Assumption that bisexual people are hypersexual
- Bisexual people, like all people, can be monogamous or non-monogamous
Who reports the most sex?
Gay men in relationships report the most sex, lesbian couples have the least, and mixed couples fall in between
Who reports the most sexual partners?
Gay males report 42.8 partners on average in a lifetime, heterosexual males 16.5, lesbian women 9.4, and heterosexual women 4.6
Heterosexism
prejudice and discrimination against individuals of nonheterosexual orientations, based on the assumption that heterosexuality is the norm
Internalized homophobia
The fear, dislike and/or intolerance that gay and lesbian individuals feel towards themselves and others with same-sex orientation
Homonegativity
Explicitly negative attitudes toward gay and lesbian people (or anyone with same sex attraction)
T or F? - According to a recent study by the Coalition for Safer Schools and the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in Saratoga County, NY, the typical high school student hears anti-gay slurs 25.5 times a day
TRUEEEEE CANT WAIT TO BE DONE THIS MIDDYYYYYYY WOOOO
heterosexism
prejudice and discrimination again individuals of other sexual orientations and genders, based on the implicit asp,tion that heterosexuality is the norm
internalized homophobia
the fear, dislike, or intolerance that gay and lesbian individuals feel towards themselves and others with the same-sex orientation
homonegativity
explicit negative attitudes towards gay and lesbian people
conversion therapy
therapy directed at same sex or bisexual orientations to change them into have a heterosexual one
LGBTQ+ affirmative therapy
therapy aimed at helped LGBTQ+ individuals view their sexuality, identity, affectional orientation etc. in a positive light
Self identification
the process of coming to accept for oneself a particular sexual identity label
identity disclosure
the process of telling another person or other people tour sexual identity label
