GENDER DIFFERENCES IN ATTITUDES

Gender Differences In Attitudes Towards Homosexuality

Gender Differences In Attitudes Towards Homosexuality

Introduction

Modern theorists argue that U.S. definitions of sexual identities operate within a binary system that consists of homosexuals/bisexuals and heterosexuals. The naturalness of masculinity/femininity in male/female relationships is an assumed part of individual sexual identities. This naturalization of gender binaries, called heteronormativity, is the foundation of sexual identities in society.

Heteronormative definitions of sexuality shape social institutions. This binary system assumes that desire, behavior, and identity are the same and that sexual desires and behaviors match up with overall sexual identity categories. For example, masculine men desire and have sex with feminine women, and feminine women who have sex with men are heterosexual. Identities that stray from the gendered ordering of sexual identities are known socially as homosexual.

Discussion

Historically, the stated rationale behind heterosexuality has been the successful operation of required reproduction, because women could not reproduce without men, the most suitable relationships were considered to be between men and women.

However, many social scientists and theorists have questioned this naturalness, arguing that the cultural norms governing heterosexuality have changed greatly over time. This change suggests that, rather than being a biological drive that is inherent in the human populations, sexual identity is more intricately and socially produced. Furthermore, scholars argue that heterosexuality has become compulsory in U.S. society. Individuals are socially compelled to adhere to the norms that govern heterosexuality, so they continually reproduce heterosexual expectations through their representations of their inner sexual identity. This compulsion drives the assumptions of heterosexuality in U.S. society. All people are assumed to be heterosexual until they “come out of the closet” and disclose their identity to be outside heterosexual expectations. Feminist and sociological scholars have looked into the functions of compulsory heterosexuality as producing the continual marginalization and oppression of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual (LGBT) communities.

Studies done on intimate sexual behaviors, personal identifications of sexuality (homosexual, bisexual, or heterosexual), and sexual desires have shown sexual identity to be more complex than individual assertions of identity might suggest. Even though people may define themselves as heterosexual, they may have had same-sex relationships or intimacies in the past. Likewise, individuals who may sleep with the other sex can have erotic fantasies about people of the same sex. This has led to the development of the social construc-tionist approach to sexual identities. Some social construction theories assert that sexual identities are unique products of specific historical and cultural moments that are themselves continually changing.

Construction of Homosexuality

There is broad agreement in the critical social sciences and humanities literature that homosexuality is socially constructed. There is also some consensus that the construction of homosexuality is, in some way or other, bound up with constructions of gender. Viewing constructions of homosexuality and gender as interrelated highlights issues of structure, agency, and power and raises the following questions: What dynamics and processes are at play in the construction of homosexuality, and how do these intersect with the dynamics and processes that underpin the construction of gender? ...