Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Steven Ruiz

Dr. Jan Koontz

Psych 101-22

9 November 2017

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

    Sex is such an important part of our lives for obvious reasons such as survival and perpetuation of the species but sexual behavior in humans is far more complex beyond just reproduction. Sexual orientation also known as sexual preference, or even sexuality refers to a pattern of emotional, romantic, and sexual attractions to men, women, or both sexes. Gender identity is defined as a person’s sense of being male or female.  Orientations can be interpreted in various ways and identities are in the end, up to the individual to decide and define. There are a notable group of people, the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) community, who feel that they have a different sexual orientation or gender identity than the majority of Americans. According to the second edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-II) in 1968, homosexuality was listed as a mental disorder. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is a book published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and offers a common language criteria for the classification of mental disorders. In this, the APA followed in a long tradition in medicine and psychiatry, trying to “cure” homosexuality (American Psychiatric Association, 1968). It was not until 1987 that being homosexual completely fall out of the DSM list. Today, between 3% and 10% of the population identify as homosexual. (Kinsey, Pomeroy, & Martin, 1948; LeVay, 1996; Pillard & Bailey, 1995) With so many individuals feeling like they are different from the “norm”, lets first go into what the different types of sexual orientation?

     Sexual orientation can be complicated because people can describe and categorize themselves however they’d like. According to Alfred Kinsley’s research (1948), Kinsley found that people did not fit into exclusive heterosexual or homosexual categories, thus developing a continuum commonly known as the Kinsey scale. The Kinsey Scale is a seven-point scale that represents a continuum of human sexual behavior. The scores range from zero (exclusive heterosexuality) to six (exclusive homosexuality). Most people have a heterosexual orientation, while some people have a homosexual orientation or bisexual orientation. Heterosexuality (also known as being straight) is the most “accepted” form of sexuality. It means that they are attracted to someone of the opposite sex. On the other hand, Homosexuality (or being gay) is the attraction to someone of the same sex.  Bisexuality is described as attracted to people of the same and opposite sex. There are many theories as to what causes Homosexuality and although there is still no clear direct cause found, research evidence suggests that sexual orientation has an underlying biological component. This research showed gene-level contributions to sexual orientation with researchers estimating that genes account for at least half of the variability seen in human sexual orientation (Pillard & Bailey, 1998). For many years people believed that homosexuality was caused by different socialization, familial or up-bringing experiences. However, research consistently demonstrated that the family backgrounds of heterosexuals and homosexuals are the same (Bell, Weinberg, & Hammersmith, 1981; Ross & Arrindell, 1988). So regardless of how sexual orientation is determined, research has made it clear that sexual orientation is not a choice but a stable characteristic that can’t be changed (Jenkins, 2010).  Many people also confuse or intermix sexual orientation with gender identity because of stereotypical attitudes that exist about homosexual people. But, while these two are related, they are very different issues. What is gender identity?

        Oftentimes, gender and sex are used interchangeably when they should not be. Sex refers to biological differences such as chromosomes, hormonal profiles, internal and external sex organs. While gender describes the characteristics that a society or culture decides as masculine or feminine. So, based on the definition of gender by LeVay (2011), gender identity is one’s personal attitude towards being more male or female. Generally, our gender identities correspond to our chromosomal and phenotypic sex, but this is not always the case. When individuals do not feel comfortable identifying with the gender associated with their biological sex assigned to them at birth, then they experience gender dysphoria (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Gender dysphoria is a diagnostic category in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) that describes individuals who do not identify as the gender that most people would assume they are. Many people who are classified as gender dysphoric seek to live their lives in ways that correspond with their own gender identity. This may involve dressing in opposite-sex clothing and assuming an opposite sex identity. These individuals may also undertake transgender hormone therapy in an attempt to make their bodies look more like the opposite sex, and in some cases, they choose to have surgeries to change the appearance of their external genitalia to resemble that of their gender identity called gender reassignment. Gender dysphoric people take these drastic steps because they feel like their body is a mistake of nature and they seek out to correct this mistake. (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) What are some categories or types of gender dysphoric people?

        Transgender is actually used as an umbrella term for individuals whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth (American Psychological Association, 2011). The term transsexual directly refers to people whose gender identity is different from their assigned sex. Often, transsexual people change or wish to change their bodies through hormones, surgery, and other means to make their bodies correspond with their gender identities. People who were assigned female at birth but identify and live as male and have changed or wish to alter their bodies through medical intervention to more closely resemble their gender identity are known as transsexual men or transmen (female-to-male or FTM). The same goes for the opposite, people who were assigned male but identify and live as female and have changed or wish to change their bodies through medical intervention to more closely resemble their gender identity are known as transsexual women or transwomen (male-to-female or MTF)( American Psychological Association, 2011). The term cross-dresser pertains to individuals who wear clothing that is traditionally or stereotypically worn by another gender in their culture. They may vary in how completely they cross-dress, from one article of clothing to fully cross-dressing. The difference between transsexuals and those who cross-dress is that usually cross-dressers are comfortable with their assigned sex and do not wish to change it. Cross-dressing is a form of gender expression and is not necessarily tied to erotic sexual activity (American Psychological Association, 2011). Also, another term gender dysphoric people use for themselves is Genderqueer. Genderqueer people may identify as either having an overlap of, or indefinite lines between, gender identity. Having two or more genders (being bigender), having no gender (being agender, nongendered, genderless), or having a fluctuating gender identity (genderfluid) can all fall under the term Genderqueer.