What Gives US a Sexual Orientation

Sexual Orientation

What Factors Determine Sexual Orientation

When a child is born they will look either male or female based on their genitalia and other cues that are psychologically fixed. Of course, there are children who are inter-sexed, but that is a discussion for another time. Whether that person is born obviously male or female there is no outward method for determining a baby's sexual orientation when they are born. It is a matter that is much discussed and bandied by people who want an easy answer. But easy answers to such questions as these are few and far between. Seeking to find out a child's sexual orientation when they are born, or discovering it for them as they develop, is a faulty attitude to take. This essay will look at the nature vs. nurture debate to see if it has yet been determined how a person's sexual orientation is determined.

By definition, sexual orientation is an individual's "personal and social identity based on…attractions, behaviors expressing them, and membership in a community of others who share them" (In re Marriage Cases, CA, 2008). This means that people express a sexual orientation in three different ways according to the American Psychological Association. It is a matter regarding to which gender a person is attracted. Secondly, they express that attraction through certain behaviors which lead others to believe that they are attracted to either males, females, or both. The last part of the definition deals with living arrangements or location. It is basically saying that people are more comfortable around others who are like them in many ways. Since sexual orientation is a large part of who a person is, an individual will generally try to seek out others who have the same sexual orientation. The definition is complete and telling, but it does not give a clue as to why attraction occurs the way it does.

Of course, most of the population is heterosexual. Population estimates of the homosexual and bisexual communities range anywhere from 3% to 12% of the population. So, it goes without saying that large portion of the population sees themselves as "straight." This is not to neglect people who live a different sexual orientation than the three mentioned here, but it is easier, for the purposes of this small paper to narrow the field.

The discussion hinges on nature or nurture, or, is a person born with their sexual orientation predetermined, or do they choose what it will be. There are many arguments either way. Scientists have been searching for a, so-called, "gay" gene, but has not as yet been discovered. However, nurture, or choice, also does not seem to be the clear answer for many reasons. Many people who are orientated as homosexual seem to be either very effeminate or masculine despite being physiologically of the opposite gender.