Poll: Is Sexual Orientation Nurture or Nature?

[Ramthundar]

Well, this question was brought up during my Psychology class.

"Is Sexual Orientation only biologically based?"

We, the students, were then asked to split into groups ranging from "Strongly Agree" to "Strongly Disagree." I choose to go to "Stronly Agree" because the way my teacher explained it, Sexual Orientation meant which gender you prefer to have Sex with. Not on how you act or love, but Sex. And I figured, since sex is a biological process, doesn't that mean it's biologically based?

But as the discussion wore on, I began to wonder, How does sex first start in the brain? Is it like eyes or like piano playing? Let me explain.

Most traits in you will develope in two ways. Either you get them at birth/happens naturally (such as having 2 eyes) which always happens unless a freak-gene appears, or you are born with a certain level (maybe your natural at the piano, maybe you sound like a drunken mouse hopping on the keys), which can be improved/changed through practice.

So I thought, is being gay/lesbian/straight something that is chosen straight from birth (Nature, aka a genetic factor) or are we born a little gay/straight/neutral and how we are raised (Nurture) depends on which Orientation is grown and which is hindered.

So, what are your thoughts? Is your Sexual Orientation determined by Nature, Nurture, or both?

To be noted, we also watched a video during my class talking about this. It showed that some twins (aka, same genes and environment) that had one guy gay and the other straight. It also went on to say that evidence shows that if you are a male, the more older brothers you have the more likely you are of being gay. Except only if the first born brother was right handed. Weird, right?

Spoiler: To Those Who Have Strong Relegious Beliefs

If you're not going to contribute anything more then GAYS ARE GOD"S MISTAKE please leave now and bother someone else. You can, however, discuss relegious influence, as that can be a Nurture factor.

Extra Note: This thread is not meant to bash on gays/lesbians, only to discuss Psychological views. I'm sorry if any of what I said was offensive in anyway.

 

[Arcticflame]

I think that there are born gay and born straight, and those that are born with a tendency, which are then influenced by nurture to become one or the other.

Obviously there is a strong tendency for heterosexuality. (Any evolutionary survival of the fittest theory would be ridiculous otherwise).

I don't think it's nature or nurture in equal amounts, but close enough for that to be my choice.

 

[Marv21]

I would personally say its a little bit of both, otherwise sheltered Christain kids wouldn't be gay, so Nature defintely has a big part to it.

 

[Antidamacus]

Gender roles are so far flung now it's a pain in the neck to define anything anymore.

And since this is not a solved problem and I am not a psychologist, this will just be mindless bantering.

Sexual Orientation is probably the result of biologic and environmental situations mostly out of the person's control.

What I mean is when I look at things like the Kinsey Scale, I tend to think people get nudged to one side or the other based on how they are (body type and personality traits factor in I think) and how their lives unfold (think "children who are beaten tend to beat their children")

Does it mean it you put a pretty faced boy in San Fransisco and have all the girls laugh at him he'll be gay? No I don't think it's that cut and dry but I do think it's a final culmination of events and biology that put us a tiny range of preference.

Take it for what it's worth.

 

[Alex_P]

Sex drive is biological, sure, but culture plays a big role in defining how you perceive your sexual feelings, just as it's culture that defines gender roles. For example, sexual orientation is generally a big deal in modern America, and it's still perceived in a rather essentialist and dualistic fashion, so not many people identify as bisexual. If we didn't think of "Do I want to fuck men or do I want to fuck women?" as a big identity-defining life choice that came with its own special label and set of cultural stereotypes and everything, don't you think we'd see a many more bisexuality?

-- Alex

 

[Curiosity's Cat]

like 90% nature, 10% nuture. Who you are attracted to is as much a matter of hormones and chemistry as anything else, you can't choose who you are attracted to whether or not they are a different gender.

Having said that, take the spartans and other groups in history where a large part of the population practiced homosexuality as a societal norm. I think in these cases nuture definitely played a part.

 

[Snotnarok]

It's nature, I don't question it because I myself came to the conclusion that I'm indifferent/asexual, I've had my blood run to confirm hormones and the whole lot. Sure I wanted to be "normal" and date but by god I hated every minute of it. I took some figure drawing classes in college (several people of both genders and sizes and shapes were models) and I know that neither gender effects me in the least. If it isn't nature I don't know what is, I sure as heck can't bring myself to enjoy any part of it it so it's not exactly up to me.

 

[NoNameMcgee]

I think both, but almost entirely natural. It can be influenced in certain ways but I think most of the time its a natural thing.

One thing that is certain is that its out of a persons control. So its definately not a choice.

I didn't choose to be attracted to women, I just am, and i'm sure its the same for gay people. I think i'm naturally straight. If being straight is natural then so is being gay.

 

[NeutralDrow]

I have little hopes for this discussion, but...

The most reasonable explanation I've seen from someone who I couldn't confirm was a scientist or researcher is that the answer is most likely both. Having a particular trait in one's genes doesn't necessarily mean that trait is going to be expressed.

 

[SimuLord]

One of my best friends is (as he likes to say) "queer as a three-dollar bill", and he grew up in a very traditional Southern Christian family on the Georgia/Alabama border. I cannot rightly imagine any scenario where anyone could possibly have "nurtured" him into his homosexuality, and he was closeted until he got to college and finally met people who were like him. He ended up moving to San Francisco, much to the dismay of his parents.

 

[El Taco the Rogue]

You are who you are. Although appparently, one in 5 males are born gay, but due to a society that still disowns gays, many never discover it.

 

[Ramthundar]

Sex drive is biological, sure, but culture plays a big role in defining how you perceive your sexual feelings, just as it's culture that defines gender roles. For example, sexual orientation is generally a big deal in modern America, and it's still perceived in a rather essentialist and dualistic fashion, so not many people identify as bisexual. If we didn't think of "Do I want to fuck men or do I want to fuck women?" as a big identity-defining life choice that came with its own special label and set of cultural stereotypes and everything, don't you think we'd see a many more bisexuality?

-- Alex

Well, I see your point with the bisexuality. Probably more people would have a less time trying to "conform" into the "right" orientation if they didn't fear public harrasment.

But in the question, Sexual Orientation means the simple biological on/off switch that is activated everytime you see the sex that you want to mate with. So even though a person may act like they like women/men, they may still have urges for the same sex as theirs. So unless they were severly punished/supressed, they would follow what Nature gave them. At least, if that's how sex is programmed into us. It's one of those iffy theories that still needs research

 

[Sewblon]

I think that it is mostly nurture. I mean if a homosexuality gene exists, how did it survive and get passed on through all of human history? Also, I read that failure to resolve the Oedipal Complex can cause homosexuality and that's a psychological issue not necessarily a genetic issue. I read that Soy can make men gay because it is full of estrogen. The Oedipal Complex theory was from Wikipedia and the soy theory was from a pamphlet about alternative medicine, so my sources are dubious.

 

[xitel]

Well, in my experience as a bisexual male, I can safely say that it is mostly a matter of nature, and only a small bit nurture. I grew up in a household in which the topic was never brought up one way or another, either acceptance or hatred. And yet I am still bisexual. So the only thing it can really be, in my opinion, is nature. The nurture element comes into play not in the determination of one's sexuality, but when it comes to accepting and displaying that fact. If the entire society around someone is completely oppressive of homosexuality, the person in question will be more likely to refuse to accept their homosexuality. So in other words, while a person's sexuality is nature, their acceptance of it is nurture.

 

[Unmannedperson]

I think it is mostly nature. I mean, if it was purely nurture, then no offense, but why would anyone be gay? Just to try out life on one of the lowest class rungs? That would be like if given the option to be white or black in the South around 1850 someone chose black. There is no logical explanation for why someone would try to make life harder on themselves that it already is.

(For you literature buffs out there, examples like Henry David Thoreau's "Walden" experiment was actually an attempt to simplify life even though most would see it as making life harder)

Also, there are cases of gay people or animals even appearing completely isolated from each other, so the idea of homosexuality is definitely not one purely spread through communication; there must be another factor; one that we all share. A factor common amongst all humans, such as eyesight, taste, basic emotions such as love and hate, fear, the need to sleep, hereditary genes, etc. For the reasons above, I place "gender orientation" in the aforemetioned list.

Like race, gender, appearences, nationality, etc., sexual orientation is something handed to us at birth. Sure some are swayed either way by society, but deep down, a person is the person they are born to be and we all just need to accept that and move along.

 

[traceur_]

It's just nature

 

[zifnabxar]

I has been shown that if a fetus is exposed to certain chemicals within the womb, the child will favor one sexual orientation over an other or atleast slide in some direction along the scale. I don't recall if any chemicals have been found to change what sex the child will identify themselves with, that may be more a nurture issue.

Before anyone freaks out, NO fetuses are experimented on in this way. The results were from observing past data of mothers who had taken certain medications many years before they were determined to be unhealthy and endangering to the fetuses. I don't recall the particular drug off the top of my head, but if anyone's interested pm me and I can try to look it up or ask around.

EDIT: Fun fact: at hot temperature, male fruit flies ignore the females and become homosexual.

 

[imperator prime]

I firmly believe it's 99% 'nature' that wires our brains to be exclusively opposite-sex oriented, same-sex oriented, or somewhere in between, and I also really believe that people who are 100% 'gay' or 'straight' are very rare and that most people-- in a sufficiently open and accepting environment-- are capable of some degree of attraction to either sex (asexuals excluded). Which is where 'nurture' comes in; if society weren't so heterosexist and there wasn't as much pressure as there is to adhere to rigid gender & orientation "norms," I think there'd be a lot more 'flexible' people who-- if they experienced even a fleeting attraction to someone of the gender they aren't usually attracted to-- wouldn't automatically repress it. It might not be strong enough for them to act on it, but I think a *lot* more people would feel at liberty to disclose that they aren't "100% absolutely straight" (or "100% absolutely gay" for that matter). Just look at how homoerotic a LOT of drunk 'straight' people can get. Booze doesn't "change" one's orientation, but it does un-inhibit people. I mean I'm all about other guys, but there are still women I find stunningly attractive. Even without liquor. If they tried to get together with me I don't think I'd care to go through with it... would probably suggest we settle for a game of Scrabble in our underwear or somesuch... but I can acknowledge that they're beautiful without it threatening my identity.