sexuality and Identity

• Sexuality


  Who someone is sexually attracted to
• Sexuality


  Can bring inequality and discrimination
• Sexuality


  • More likely to be a strong part of someone's identity if they identify as homosexual or bisexual rather than heterosexual
  • Homosexual identity has been referred to as 'coming out'
• Kinsey reports found that in the US, homosexual encounters are much are common than people would imagine
• 37% of men have experienced a homosexual experience to the point of orgasm, but less than 4% identify as homosexual
• Sexual identification


  A strange and more complex thing than other aspects of identity
• 'Rent-boys'


  • Say themselves as heterosexual, and despised the men they had relations with, in order to neutralize their behaviour
• Homosexual males in Westernized cultures

  • Have certain expectations and characteristics, e.g. having feminine mannerisms, a higher voice and more attention to their appearance
  • When someone accepts the label 'gay' they will fulfill these roles
• Sexuality is an area where the media seems to be obsessed with hyper-sexual images everywhere you look
• 'Male gaze'


  Men sexually exploiting women in the media, for their own benefit
• 'Compulsory heterosexuality'


  How women are socialised into a heterosexual role, ensuring their availability to men
• Lesbian identities have been constructed as abnormal since it's a threat to male dominance and power over women
• Heterosexuality is a social construct, rather than biology
• Women are subjected negatively the term 'slag' if they attribute the same sexual activities as men
• Homosexuality is no longer classified as a mental illness and has been removed from the DSM
• The Equality Act Of 2010 makes it illegal to discriminate anyone on the grounds of sexuality
• Gay people today are now open about their sexuality, with 45 openly gay MP's who have been elected in 2018
• Celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres and Tom Daley have been open about their sexuality, while previously celebrities such as George Michael have hidden their sexuality
• Postmodernists would argue that people's identities are more focused on image and style and the traditional aspects of identity, such as sexuality, age and disability are less important
• McCormack studied attitudes towards sexuality in a sixth form college and found that homophobia is not tolerated and seen as immature, with boys being much more accepting of homosexuality
• Sexuality continues to define who we are and how we're treated