EN 2010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Fetus, Islamophobia, Gender Binary
Document Summary
Introduction: the central argument of gender and sexuality is nature vs nurture. In the past most cultures believed that a persons sexuality was heterosexual unless it was distorted. This distortion could be caused by religion, morality, psychopathology, a genetic disorder: heterosexism: divides the world into two sexes, male and female, both heterosexual. John money believed that the development of a gender identity is based on a series of identifications and complementary oppositions. Homosexuality presents an interesting variant: homosexuality has a gender binary that most cultures use to define our sexuality as demonstrated in most religious texts. She offers a compromise that she calls cultural influence model. Thus, long before conception, your ancestors lived in environments that shaped them and now continue to shape you. If your mother was an alcoholic you might have major influences on all aspects of your life in the past and the present.
