Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality
Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality
PSY/265
February 17, 2013
Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality
To understand homosexuality you need to first understand what it means. Homosexuality is defined as being a romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual activity of the same sex or same gender. Over the years homosexuality seems to be more common and accepted not only among peers but among different cultures, that was not always the case. Homosexuality has been documented over the ages in many different ways, from being accepted by the ancient Greeks in pictures where you see the older man inserting his penis between a boy’s thighs (not in the anus of the young boy) and thrusting until he ejaculated. The Romans described centuries later about certain groups of men who dressed what is referred to these days as being flamboyant from the clothes they wore to the way they did their hair, they also described these men as having a very flamboyant personality. These men were said to be walking in certain neighborhoods looking for partners. Then you had the other side of it where it was and is still considered a religious sin within the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths. Florence which was a Christian city in the 15th century considered male-male interaction as a sin of Sodom. In this paper we will discuss three perspectives are cross-cultural perspective, biological perspective, and psychological perspective.
Cross-cultural perspective on homosexuality takes a look at the cultural part of homosexuality. Ford and Beach (1951) in their review of 76 preliterate societies, 49 societies viewed male-male interaction as normal and considered acceptable. The 27 societies left have sanctions against male-male interactions. It is said that some societies look at male-male sexuality as a rite of passage and that semen is looked at as a source of strength and virility. Now it is understood that this is only accepted during the
PSY/265
February 17, 2013
Historical and Scientific Perspectives on Homosexuality
To understand homosexuality you need to first understand what it means. Homosexuality is defined as being a romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual activity of the same sex or same gender. Over the years homosexuality seems to be more common and accepted not only among peers but among different cultures, that was not always the case. Homosexuality has been documented over the ages in many different ways, from being accepted by the ancient Greeks in pictures where you see the older man inserting his penis between a boy’s thighs (not in the anus of the young boy) and thrusting until he ejaculated. The Romans described centuries later about certain groups of men who dressed what is referred to these days as being flamboyant from the clothes they wore to the way they did their hair, they also described these men as having a very flamboyant personality. These men were said to be walking in certain neighborhoods looking for partners. Then you had the other side of it where it was and is still considered a religious sin within the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faiths. Florence which was a Christian city in the 15th century considered male-male interaction as a sin of Sodom. In this paper we will discuss three perspectives are cross-cultural perspective, biological perspective, and psychological perspective.
Cross-cultural perspective on homosexuality takes a look at the cultural part of homosexuality. Ford and Beach (1951) in their review of 76 preliterate societies, 49 societies viewed male-male interaction as normal and considered acceptable. The 27 societies left have sanctions against male-male interactions. It is said that some societies look at male-male sexuality as a rite of passage and that semen is looked at as a source of strength and virility. Now it is understood that this is only accepted during the
References: Rathus, S. A., Nevid, J. S., & Fichner-Rathus, L. (2011). Human Sexuality in a World of Diversity (8th ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon.