CYAF 471 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Sexual Orientation, Asexuality, American Jews
28 Apr 2019
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Sexual orientation- whether one is erotically and romantically attracted to the same, other, or both genders. Heterosexual- person sexually attracted primarily to persons of the other gender. Gay- male sexually attracted primarily to other males. Lesbian- female sexually attracted primarily to other females. Bisexual- person sexually attracted to both males and females. Estimated 97% of the population identified as heterosexual; 3% of males and 1-2% of females identify as gay or lesbian. Females appear more flexible regarding sexual attraction- 50% of lesbians report also being attracted to males. Large studies find some same-gender attraction or activity reported by 16-20% of population. Prevalence is the same across cultures regardless of societal attitudes. Sequential homosexuality (during/before puberty but not after)- seen in many cultures, including papua new guinea and early islamic societies. China- same-gender sexual activity seen as a "western social disease", opposed until 1990s. Greeks- assumed both males and females were inherently same-gendered oriented.
