HOMOSEXUALITY

Homosexuality: Nature or Nurture

Homosexuality: Nature or Nurture

Introduction

The modern concept of homosexuality comes from the late nineteenth century, when medical and legal understandings of a healthy society led to the classification of desires and sexual practices. This does not mean that behaviors people understand as homosexual in the early twenty-first century have not existed since ancient times but that the category itself is a specifically modern invention. Contemporary understandings of homosexuality are entwined with concepts of heterosexuality; the two terms depend on each other for their sense. This paper provides an initial discussion that if homosexuality is due to nature or nurture.

Discussion

The modern concept of homosexuality comes from the late nineteenth century, when medical and legal understandings of a healthy society led to the classification of desires and sexual practices. This does not mean that behaviors people understand as homosexual in the early twenty-first century have not existed since ancient times but that the category itself is a specifically modern invention. Contemporary understandings of homosexuality are entwined with concepts of heterosexuality; the two terms depend on each other for their sense.

The term homosexual was coined in 1869, appearing in a German pamphlet attributed to the Austrian novelist and sex reformer Karl-Maria Kertbeny. In 1886 the German sexologist Richard Krafft-Ebing classified homosexuality as a "paraesthesia" or a "deviance" consisting of sexual desire for the wrong object. Because he believed that the purpose of sexual desire is human reproduction, he considered any sexual desire or behavior that led away from that aim to be an aberration. After studying many homosexuals, Krafft-Ebing, like his successor the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, concluded that homosexuality is neither a mental disease nor a perversion but a normal variation of human behavior.

Nature or Nurture

Homosexuality arises from nurture or nature? It is the argument that has been widely discussed all over the globe. But scientific research now largely seems to be slanting the argument in support of nature. A major factor that plays a role in sexual orientation is heredity and nature. Twin studies take advantage of the fact that identical twins have identical genes, whereas the genetic similarity between fraternal twins is, on the average, 50%. Pillard and Gooren (2006) studied pairs of male twins in which at least one recognized himself as homosexual. If both twins are homosexual, they are said to be concordant for this trait. They found that the concordance rate was 52% for identical twins and only 22% for fraternal twins; a difference of 30%. Other studies have shown differences of up to 6%. Genetic factors also show effects on female homosexuality. Studies found incidence of bisexuality and homosexuality in daughters, sisters, nieces, and female cousins (through a paternal uncle) of homosexual women. (Gooren 2006)

Another study by Lyons (2003) showed the following results;

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For several years, investigators have been puzzled by an apparent paradox. On average, male homosexuals have approximately 80% fewer children than male heterosexuals do. This reduced fertility should exert strong selective pressure against any genes that predispose men to become ...