In Henry James and Queer Modernity, first published in 2003, Eric Haralson examines far-reaching changes in gender politics and the emergence of modern male homosexuality as depicted in the writings ...of Henry James and three authors who were greatly influenced by him: Willa Cather, Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway. Haralson places emphasis on American masculinity as portrayed in fiction between 1875 and 1935, but the book also treats events in England, such as the Oscar Wilde trials, that had a major effect on American literature. He traces James's engagement with sexual politics from his first novels of the 1870s to his 'major phase' at the turn of the century. The second section of this study measures James's extraordinary impact on Cather's representation of 'queer' characters, Stein's theories of writing and authorship as a mode of resistance to modern sexual regulation, and Hemingway's very self-constitution as a manly American author.
Sigmund Freud, Alfred Kinsey, E.O. Wilson, and others have suggested that social pressure suppresses natural tendencies for humans to express bisexuality, the apparent norm for one of our two closest ...genetic relatives, the bonobo. An analysis of data obtained from a new online sample of 1,150,938 people in 215 countries and territories (63.9% from the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada) who completed the English version of a validated questionnaire of sexual orientation lends support to this idea. A histogram of scores from 0 (exclusive opposite-sex inclinations) to 18 (exclusive same-sex inclinations) forms a near-normal distribution. Although this distribution was likely caused to some extent by sampling bias, it may also reflect the unusual honesty people show when taking online tests anonymously, as an increasing body of evidence demonstrates. We present a formal mathematical expression of a social pressure theory of sexual orientation, along with empirical evidence and computational explorations that support the theory. We also present an analysis of the new data set. Among other findings: sexual orientation labels corresponded to broad, skewed, overlapping distributions of scores. Self-labeled gays/lesbians and, to a greater extent, self-labeled straights, reported that the larger the mismatch between their sexual orientation label and their actual sexual inclinations, the more distress they felt regarding their sexual orientation, a finding that is predictable from cognitive dissonance theory. Educating the public about the true nature of sexual orientation might quell the often rancorous public debates on this topic, as well as give comfort to a large number of mislabeled people.
Past researchers found that the association between disclosure of sexual orientation and mental health problems was inconsistent. This study aims to identify variables that may moderate and mediate ...this relationship. A total of 1,404 Chinese lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults participated in this study. They provided demographic information and completed measures of disclosure of sexual orientation to family (DSOF), perceived parental support for sexual orientation (PPSSO), sexual orientation victimization in family (SOVF), perceived burdensomeness (PB), thwarted belongingness (TB), and depression. Structural equation modelling was conducted for data analyses. In the direct and mediation models, DSOF had non-significant association with depression. In the moderated mediation model, PPSSO and SOVF moderated the effects of DSOF on PB and TB. The indirect negative effects of DSOF on depression through PB and TB were stronger for participants with higher PPSSO or lower SOVF. Specifically, DSOF had the largest negative association with depression through PB and TB for participants with very high PPSSO or very low SOVF, whereas such indirect associations were the largest positive for those with very low PPSSO or very high SOVF. Family attitudes and behaviors toward non-heterosexual sexual orientation may change the direction and the extent to which DSOF contributes to depressive symptoms through PB and TB.
The gay gene Vázquez, Iz González
Biology & philosophy,
10/2022, Volume:
37, Issue:
5
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
I argue that scientists should adopt a sexual orientation view that includes 'internal' sexual orientation markers such as desire, fantasies, and attraction, plus self-identification, and that these ...two markers should line up. By 'internal' markers, I mean inner states or processes of the agent. This can be contrasted with 'external markers', by which I mean, behaviours of the agent. I begin by critically reviewing four genetic studies of sexual orientation that are representative of the literature. I look at how each of these studies deploy the concept of 'sexual orientation', and show a) that they are each using different notions, and b) that none of the notions are satisfactory. I argue that these accounts have a very limited amount of predictive and explanatory power. Following this, I outline what an account of sexual orientation that has more predictive and explanatory power might look like. I argue that this account will be one that includes internal markers and self-identification.
Asexualité Schneckenburger, Stella A; Tam, Michelle W.Y; Ross, Lori E
Canadian Medical Association journal (CMAJ),
03/2024, Volume:
196, Issue:
11
Journal Article
I defend an account of sexual orientation, understood as a reflexive disposition to be sexually attracted to people of a particular biological Sex or Sexes. An orientation is identified in terms of ...two aspects: the Sex of the subject who has the disposition, and whether that Sex is the same as, or different to, the Sex to which the subject is disposed to be attracted. I explore this account in some detail and defend it from several challenges. In doing so, I provide a theoretical framework that justifies our continued reference to Sex-directed sexual orientation as an important means of classifying human subjects.
In a study with 17,785 subjects obtained over the Internet from the United States and 47 other countries, Kinsey's hypothesis that sexual orientation lies on a continuum was supported. ...Self-identifications of subjects as gay, straight, bisexual, and other corresponded to broad, skewed distributions, suggesting that such terms are misleading for many people. Sexual orientation range-roughly, how much flexibility someone has in expressing sexual orientation-was also measured. The results support a fluid-continuum model of sexual orientation, according to which genetic and environmental factors determine both the size of the sexual orientation range and the point at which an individual's sexual orientation is centered on the continuum.
Presents a collection of abstracts for Volume 10, Issue 3 edition of Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
PDF
