Week 9: Part 2 Flashcards
Two Major Developments
Over the past 50 years, two major developments have helped to shape our thinking about gender and sexuality:
-Sexology—a field of study that attempted to classify sexual desire and gender identity.
-Community activism—a creative and focused movement that evolved in response to a history of oppression and marginalization shared by persons embracing sexual and gender diversity.
-Community activism has led to growing recognition of sexual and gender rights in Canada.
The Heterosexual Is Invented
In 1892, American doctor James Kiernan was the first to use the terms “heterosexual” and “homosexual” (though differently than we use the terms today).
-Heterosexual: people who were seen as deviant because they had sex primarily for pleasure, not procreation, and who were erotically attracted to people of both sexes.
-Homosexual: people whom we would now think of as transgendered—people who bend or cross conventional gender roles.
The beginning of the 20th century marked a shift in how people made sense of these desires and behaviours.
The Heterosexual Is Invented
In 1892, American doctor James Kiernan was the first to use the terms “heterosexual” and “homosexual” (though differently than we use the terms today).
-Heterosexual: people who were seen as deviant because they had sex primarily for pleasure, not procreation, and who were erotically attracted to people of both sexes.
-Homosexual: people whom we would now think of as transgendered—people who bend or cross conventional gender roles.
The beginning of the 20th century marked a shift in how people made sense of these desires and behaviours.
Normal vs. Abnormal Sexuality
By 1900, much of the concern around sexual normality and abnormality was focused on whether people were engaging in sex primarily for reproduction (normal) or pleasure (deviant).
Richard von Krafft-Ebing (1840-1902) was a pioneer in creating categories of normal and abnormal sexual behaviour.
In his work Psychopathia Sexualis, the heterosexual represents normality
He defined heterosexuality as reproductive sex between a man and a woman, and homosexuality as same-sex desire.
Scientific Theories of Homosexuality
Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (1825-1895), a German lawyer, was a pioneer of the gay and lesbian rights movement.
-He viewed homosexuality as inborn and natural, and was vocal in the fight to decriminalize sodomy.
-Ulrichs created categories of the Urning (a female caught in a male body) and Urningin (a male caught in a female body) to make sense of same-sex attraction.
Alfred Kinsey
-The Kinsey Report, published in 1948 as Sexual Behavior in the Human Male,
-found that 37% of men had had a homosexual experience.
-The report showed that people’s sexual behaviours combined so- called perverse behaviours with those considered normal.
-In 1953, he published a second report, titled Sexual Behavior in the Human Female.
Society and Sexual Behaviour
The second generation of sexologists
-suggested that our social world plays a significant role in shaping our sexual desires and behaviours;
-challenged heterosexism; and
-were influenced by the feminist movement, which challenged the notion of a woman’s “natural” place in society, suggesting that the “female” gender role is defined as much by social expectations as by any innate characteristics.
Biological Determinism
attempts to explain sexuality in terms of biology. Ex: queer persons are born queer and their sexuality is not a matter of choice.
Social Constructionism
argues that sexualities are constructed by our social and cultural context and also by our cultural history.
Argument against Social Constructionism
-Research has found that people cannot change their sexual orientation.
-Some individuals do not act on their desires, but the desires do not disappear
-People accept that our sex, gender expression, and sexual orientation rely upon at least some biological factors.
Queer Theory
-Over the past 20 years or so, Queer theory has emerged as a way to explain sexuality and gender.
Queer theory is partly a response to
-the realization that many people do not fit neatly into the binary oppositions of man–woman, heterosexual– homosexual, and so on.
-Queer deals with issues of gender ambiguity, gender confirmation, fluid sexualities
-Recognizes that sexual identities are multiple, fluid, and unstable.
-Embraced sexual pluralism: Many people can’t fit into a binary
Sexual orientation
emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction to another person, independent of gender identity or role.
Cissexual/ Cisgender
persons who have only ever experienced alignment between their gender identity and their anatomy
Cisnormativity
the mistaken assumption that all, or almost all, individual are cisgender
Heterosexism
a system of oppression that assumes heterosexuality is normal and superior
Heteronormativity
the belief that people fall into distinct genders with natural roles and that heterosexuality is the only sexual orientation
