Initial Post

Discusses the beliefs and assumptions that gender role expectations have on an individual’s sexual experience.

• Post your response to the discussion board by Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. ET
• Respond to two other students’ postings by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. ET
• This is a graded discussion worth 25 points
• Download the Grading Rubric for the Discussion Boards

Sexual Orientation

We examine the psychosocial theories that have been advanced to explain sexual orientation, consider how Western religious views and the views of medical and psychological professionals have changed concerning homosexuality, and identify successes and future goals of the gay rights movement.

After completing this lesson, you should be able to:

• Discuss different types of sexual orientation
• Describe how prenatal influences on the brain affect sexual orientation
• Discuss biological and cross-cultural perspectives on homosexuality
• Define homophobia and discuss ways in which it is expressed
• Identity hate crime, how it affects homosexuals and the legislative attempts to control these crimes
• Discuss the impact of being both gay and a member of an ethnic minority group
• Define key terms, including – homosexual, gay, lesbian, straight, sexual orientation, bisexual, and asexual

Reply post to Sara

Gender roles influence how an individual behaves sexually. Structural factors like social norms shape individuals’ perceptions of appropriate sexual behaviors for men and women, setting up double standards that allow men more sexual freedom than women (Wingood and DiClemente 2000). One gender role expectation is that the male has a need for sex. One of the most common assumptions voiced by women was that men need frequent sexual activity and would therefore abandon a woman, or in some instances resort to violence, if she did not agree to have sex. (guttmacher.org, 2006). In a study done by Guttmacher Institute, even when a man expressed a willingness to wait for sex, respondents were distrustful. The fear of being abandoned was the reason most frequently cited for engaging in sexual intercourse with a male by the participants. There are stereotypes involved in this, i.e. a woman dressed in a short skirt and a low-cut top may be perceived by a man as sexy and as someone a male would want to engage in sexual activity with. A woman nicely made-up may be perceived as “wife material”. Many cultures traditionally place more value on masculine than feminine behaviors, commendation of a conventional male role implies authorization of a power gap between men and women, which could translate to sexual relationships. If one person has more power, that person is likely to control the other person in the relationship (Jenkins 2000; Yoder and Kahn 1992). Thus, more conventional beliefs about men’s and women’s roles in society could lead to a power differential between men and women, which could lead to risky sexual behaviors and beliefs (Guttmacher.org, 2006). Another gender role belief is that women have less sexual desire than men. This, of course, is not true. Women have just as much of a sexual desire as males.

Sources:

Wingood GM, DiClemente RJ. Application of the theory of gender and power to examine HIV-related exposures, risk factors, and effective interventions for women. Health Education and Behavior. 2000;27:539–565.

Yoder JD, Kahn AS. Toward a feminist understanding of women and power. Psychology of Women Quarterly. 1992;16:381–388.

https://www.guttmacher.org/journals/ipsrh/2006/03/…

Reply post to CARL

Men take out the garbage and women cook the food. These are just some of the things that have been and are taught to children. In my home I was taught that the man makes the money and the woman stays home and cleans and raises the children. What happens when the man does not do so well at the making of the money? What if the woman in not naturally maternal? What if in your house there is only a man or only a woman? Does he work and not take care of the kids? Does she only take care of the kids and no one works? What if your house, like so many in today’s society, have same sex couples? Are there two men working and no one is taking care of the kids? Do the two women take care of the kids and no one work? Just because a man is a man does not mean he naturally likes women. This holds true for woman as well.

Gender roles cannot define a person’s sexual preference simply for the fact and gift of free will. As a youth, because I liked to make sure I was dressed nicely with my hair trimmed and cut and ensemble matching, I like backpacks and messenger bags and had an extensive collection of them and I had a love for all types of shoes, the people around me perceived me as homosexual. To those people I looked a certain way which made me a certain way (Ial. 2014). I have a friend who I have gone and played basketball against and lost to, I play online videogames with and every once in a while we go to the gun range, he works as a bouncer in a high end night club; perceivably manly things, who is in fact a homosexual. Gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual even transgender is not something you look like or dress like it is who you are. Your role, male or female, does not determine who your heart wishes to be with.

Reference

ial. (2014, Oct 13). What exactly does gay look like? wouldn’t you all like to know. University Wire Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.portal.lib.fit.edu/doc…
Some classifications of gay men are “otters” (young, thin, has body hair), “bears” (large/heavy/muscular, usually older, extremely hairy) and “twinks” (young,