...Do you have any recollection or memory of your own self before you were born? Do you remember shifting through a menu similar to that of McDonald’s and selecting the color of your hair? What about the color of your skin, or maybe your height? Of course you don’t. However, if you were given the opportunity to completely change the person you’ve worked hard to mold into what you currently call you, would you take it? Again, you most likely wouldn’t. Your physical body, your thoughts, imagination, personality--all make up the whole you. You didn’t choose to be you, you just are. Sadly, throughout the course of history, we, as a collective society, have scrutinized those who were considered “different” simply because we were scared. No matter what the textbooks or historians say, discrimination is the direct result of fear and ignorance. It is a superficial, false hate. How would one define this false hate? Well, if we were to go with the literal definition, according to Webster’s dictionary, hate is the feeling or animosity toward someone[1]. Another widely accepted description of hatred is that it’s very similar to love, often blinding, and making people prone to believe things that are definitely not true. Oftentimes, many of us fall victim to this, and feelings of animosity and prejudice begin to stir in our minds; sometimes these feelings are reflected in our actions. What’s more, the sad part is that same prejudice and feelings of hatred have no backbone—they can’t be supported...
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...open-minded and accept gay marriage. However, there are still a number of people who cannot agree with gay marriage and even hate it. In the United States, some states have already legalized gay marriage but most states haven’t yet. Gay marriage should be legalized in the United States because homosexual love is a normal phenomenon, everyone has his own right to choose his marriage partner, and gay marriage legalization is good for the United States becoming a more democratic country. Traditional people think that a man should get married with a woman but should not get married with a man. Homosexual love is different from straight love. Because homosexual is different, people consider it a mental illness. Actually, homosexual love is a normal phenomenon. It has been proved that homosexual love is not mental illness. A gay’s gene distinguishes them from normal people’s gene and homosexual love is also related to gays’ growth environment (Whitley, 2011). At least five percent of people in this world are gay. How can people define that these five percent of people are abnormal and they have mental illness? Reviewing the long history, a lot of grand people are gay. For example, Socrates is homosexual. He was one of the greatest founders of Western Philosophy and he was also famous of...
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...ROSKILDE UNIVERSITY 2005 HOMOSEXUALITY Joanna Barnecka Kinga Karp Mie Lollike Psychology, Modul Autumn Semester 2005 Group Number 107 Supervisor: Bettina Hjortholt Characters: 106.189 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 2 ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. 2 MOTIVATION.............................................................................................................. 3 PROBLEM DEFINITION ............................................................................................... 4 CARDINAL QUESTION ................................................................................................ 4 SUB-QUESTIONS ......................................................................................................... 4 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................... 5 INTRODUCTION TO THE TERM HOMOSEXUALITY .................................... 6 THEORETICAL BACKGROUNDS FOR UNDERSTANDING HOMOSEXUALITY................................................................................................... 9 HOMOSEXUALITY FROM A BEHAVIOURISTIC POINT OF VIEW ................................ 10 HOMOSEXUALITY FROM A BIOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW ....................................... 16 HOMOSEXUALITY FROM A PSYCHODYNAMIC POINT OF VIEW....
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...Gay Marriage: Advocacy or Objectivity Jenay McNair ENG/147 7/19/2015 University of Phoenix Gay Marriage: Advocacy or Objectivity Do you Adam take Steve to be your lawfully wedded husband? I now announce you, man and husband. Marriage: A word that has three meanings, a representation of true love, and a cause of a national constitutional debate. Merriam Webster dictionary reads that Marriage is the relationship that exists between a husband and wife, and similar relationship between of the same sex (“Marriage”, n.d.). So why the big discussion about to same-sex couples marrying one another. Homosexual rights movement in the U.S states travels back to the 1960s where the Stonewall riots. These riots were the start of a notorious political movement during the time a when homosexuality was illegal in all 50 states. As of Feb 9, 2015, gay marriage was legalized in 37 U.S states including the District of Columbia. Even though the political movement of same-sex marriage has surpassed the right to not only be open but also to marry in the United States. People are still manipulating the argument by using religion, the wellbeing of children, and Economy issues to sabotage the right of same-sex marriage. Ultimately, Same-sex marriage has slowly become a significant factor amongst today’s society. Throughout the United States, same-sex marriage has been a touchy issue within the countless religious groups. Opposing practices such as Catholicism, Mormonism...
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...In order to graduate I had to do a research paper. The topic was "Survival in the Real World" and then we picked a topic from there. I, of course, did mine on homosexuality. One of the greatest poets of the twentieth century, Dr Seuss, once said, "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind" ("Quotations" 13). That is, essentially, the greatest advice a person can receive and is at the heart of gay rights. As a young homosexual grows into adulthood and enters the "real world" he or she will, without a doubt, encounter someone who "minds." Whether it be socially, legally, religiously, or even internally challenges will emerge. These challenges must be recognized, understood, confronted, and, hopefully, overcome. Some of these challenges cannot be confronted without taking legal action or changing the way another person thinks, therefore rendering the challenge, for most people, difficult or otherwise impossible to overcome. In these cases the individual's only method of overcoming the issue is through various resource organizations or support from friends and/or family. In other cases, the challenge is an emotional one and can only be overcome through an internal process of acceptance and understanding. Those cases are the most common for homosexuals and include important processes such as "coming out." Assumptions and homophobia are one of the biggest problems for homosexuals if they are to get the majority of...
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...What Causes Homosexual Desire? Review of Related Literature This literature review includes some of experiment and studies about four causes of homosexuality. The main point of this essay will be discussing and comparing between present and past, why today people now more convert themselve to be homosexual. The question why only needs causes, if comparing with the past about twenty to thirty years ago, there were less people who are homosexual or bisexual than now. This research essay will provides five sections which are five main causes, it includes psychology, experience(social environment), cultural influences and individuals liking due to differences between homosexuality and heterosuxaulity Psychology and Biology The focus on brain and behavior study shows us many evidence that homosexaulity is definitely related to psychology and biology. Could homosexuality be illness if it is only about psychology because human has different idea in everything and also has difference in mental health. However, there are several studies could not find any conclusion that being homosexual is considered an illness or not. “Although dispassionate scientific research on whether homosexuality should be viewed as an illness was largely absent from the fields of psychiatry, psychology, and medicine during the first half of the twentieth century, some researchers remained unconvinced that all homosexual individuals were mentally...
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...today, there are thousands of different races, cultures, sub-cultures, values and religions. At times most were once separated by either vast bodies of water and land or borderlines drawn out by the many different kingdoms and civilizations. Over the centuries with great triumphs in human exploration, technologies and politics, people began to amalgamate. Although invisible lines of beliefs and age old conflicts have kept most cultures separate for the most part people have always found a way to mingle and co-exist. Human diversity is the difference among people and how those differences make an effect on society. These differences can include biological, social, and cultural differences (ask.com). With the help of psychology we have also found a way to better understand each other. Humans are a very cultural species. Culture provides modes of thinking, acting, and communicating ideas about how the world works and why people behave as they do (Pearson). Everything we do as humans relates to our cultures and where we come from, whether it’s how we speak, walk, dance, right down to how we may think and our beliefs comes from our individual cultures. Cross cultural research allows psychologist to examine the way these influences affect our behavior as well as the study of gender. Cross cultural studies gave birth to Anthropologists Margret Mead’s classic work “Sex and Temperament” which is still cited by Feminist abroad because of its findings. It suggest that definitions of masculinity...
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...8/23/2012 | Homosexuals have been advocating for the right to marry one another since the early 1970’s. The idea of this being allowed to happen in society is vulgar to the sanctity of marriage. If today’s culture continues to promote this behavior then it will lead to people seeking acceptance to more extreme perverted relationships. It also violates the natural order of what human kind was created for. This issue imposes the acceptance of homosexuality to the world. The implication of same sex marriage is turning a moral issue into a civil rights argument. It confuses what gender role a person is to portray in a family unit. Christianity advocates that same sex marriage offends God. Throughout history the definition of marriage has been understood as a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman with the duty to procreate that is until the late twentieth century. As of January 1, 2013 the United States will have nine states that recognize same sex marriages. Marriage between men and women in America is already a struggle with divorce rates between 40% and 50%. Allowing homosexual couples to marry will only increase these rates in the country. If these nine states continue to grant these so called “marriages” then without question this will lead to the meltdown of the way society operates (“Should gay marriage be legal”). If people keep promoting this abnormal behavior, then what will stop a person from seeking acceptance to more extreme relationships? If homosexuals win the...
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...history and many ancient civilizations openly engaged in homosexual activity. Currently, all research seems to conclude that there is no universal accepted truth as to why homosexuality exists, but many researchers agree that there are certain experiences and situations that tend to contribute to homosexual behavior. This research paper explores numerous contributing factors that are thought to raise the likelihood of someone becoming a homosexual. Readers will be interested to explore the core argument of biological and genetic makeup versus arguments of nature. Numerous studies and experiments help support both sides of the argument, but neither side is able to produce irrefutable evidence naming a direct cause of homosexuality. This research paper serves as a way for individuals interested in the causes of homosexuality to explore numerous viewpoints, stereotypes, and unbiased valid information on the topic. This research could be used to help individuals understand why homosexuality exists in today’s society. Causes of Homosexuality Homosexuality is perhaps one of the most misunderstood realities within today’s society. There are many people that view it as disgusting, unnatural and taboo. Others claim to support the right to love whomever with little or no understanding what being homosexual truly entails. Homosexuality is more than sexual attraction and desire. Many of those who have no tolerance of the homosexual lifestyle view it as something existing entirely on sexual...
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...relentlessly throughout the history of mankind that sexuality is fluid. Many scientific studies have contributed to the theory that a large percentage of people are neither exclusively heterosexual nor solely homosexual, but rather varying degrees of both. This has been depicted...
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...male or female. It came from the Greek language, where “homo” means the same or similar, hence referring to the attraction between two beings of the same sex. Homosexuality is also referred as a clinical term. Most male homosexuals generally prefer to be called "gay men" and most homosexual women generally prefer to be called "lesbians." Homosexuality is one of the three main categories of sexual orientation, alongside bisexual and heterosexual. The longstanding consensus of the behavioral and social sciences and the health and mental health professions is that homosexuality is an example of normal and positive variation in human sexual orientation. Currently the most common adjectives in use are lesbian for women and gay for men, though gay can refer to either men or women. The American Psychology Association defines sexual orientation in the following way: “Sexual orientation is an enduring emotional, romantic, sexual, or affectionate attraction toward others”. There are three broad categories within the family of sexual orientations which are defined as: heterosexuality, homosexuality (gay orientation) and bisexuality. The origins of homosexuality has been surfacing now and then in our time and we will look at how the future will hold for them(homosexuals). Literature Review Nowadays, homosexuality is an uncomfortable and even forbidding topic for many, but in the ancient world it was commonplace and usual. Homosexuality existed since a long time ago and with it the land...
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...educated and involved society. Media’s representations impact our society’s perception and shared reality. The way media represents a certain topic creates a public perception. Because of media framing, they can show us certain sides of an issue or shine a light on one perspective while effectively dimming the light on another. Because of this, we create perceptions based off of information that may not be whole. With these perceptions, we begin to construct a social reality. Once this reality is created, it is difficult to change it even if we find contradicting information. Because of these reasons, the way media represents information is crucial. The issue that will be discussed in this paper is that of gay marriage, stereotypes of homosexuals, and the scientific side of homosexuality. The way media has represented this topic over the past 30 years has varied immensely. We’ve come a long way over the past couple decades and homosexuality is now widely discussed in all forms of media including news, television, advertisements, movies, books, magazines and politics. It is important to close the gaps between the perception, the reality, and the representation of the way media portrays homosexuality. Identifying differences between the representations of homosexuality decades ago compared with now will provide necessary information to form an educated and well-rounded opinion on this issue. This issue is important to our...
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...Approaches to Social Psychology. A widely recognised definition of social psychology is “an effort to understand and explain how the thought, feeling, and behaviour of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others” (Allport, 1985). However, how to measure this, the research methods to be used and what constitutes useful evidence has caused much debate in the history of social psychology. This essay will compare and contrast the two epistemologies of essentialist and social constructionist approaches to social psychology and the research methods of quantitative and qualitative used in each approach. Essentialists’ view of the world is that the properties possessed by a group are universal in that group and do not depend on context. However, a member of a group may possess other characteristics that are not required to include it as a group member but, it must not have characteristics that preclude it from being a member of the group (Burr, 1995). For example, essentialists believe that personality consists of a number of traits and personality of an individual is established by the level of each of these traits. Essentialists also believe that these traits remain more or less stable over time and it is our personality that influences behaviour (Maltby, 2010). As essentialists are able to classify groups as such, they use quantitative research methods of controlling one or more variables to measure the effects or resulting behaviour of another...
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...Abstract Proposition 8 is an initiative measure adopted by voters at the November 4, 2008 election. This proposition added a section to the California Constitution providing “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California” (Wohlsen & Hoag, 2009). Voting yes and getting the win on Proposition 8 will define marriage in California (to mean only) a union between one man and one woman. Yes will add exactly 14 words to the California State Constitution: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Voting no on Proposition 8 will define marriage in California( to mean) a union between any two people regardless of gender, which would include same-sex couples (Wohlsen & Hoag, 2009). Clearly, the effects of this vote will be far-reaching and long lasting. Advocates of Proposition 8 urge people to consider many consequences prior to voting. The following will explore counter arguments effecting these consequences and show that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional as it “violates the due process and equal protection rights of gays and lesbians under the U.S. Constitution by denying them the right to marry the person of their choice and by singling them out for disparate treatment without a legitimate rationale” (Ashby, 2010). Same Sex Marriage: Overturn Ban on Same Sex Marriage in California An Argument to Vote No on Proposition 8 During the hearing, it was argued that Propositions 8’s withdrawal of the right of marriage...
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...Corinne Elkins Professor Dargue English Composition 102 9 March 2011 Eating Disorders: Make an Informative Decision A wiry, 5’11” dancer composed of no more than ninety-five pounds, steps her calloused foot and sweat drenched body onto the carpet while trying to contain her utter joy and excitement. This young woman has just been offered acceptance into a prestigious dance program, but how did she achieve this miraculous feat? Of course the obvious come to mind which include hard work, dedication, and perseverance; however, her story does not end here. Her biggest challenge surmounted to the genes of her thicker bones and the bulky nature of her muscle structure. Her decision to accomplish her emaciated slender physique was helped by an eating disorder by the name of anorexia nervosa, and in her opinion it was a completely legitimate decision. Unfortunately, my friend Samantha was unaware of all of the drastic side effects that come along with this mental illness, and she may have made an alternate decision if she was better informed. Nowadays, most people are more knowledgeable about eating disorders than they were even ten years ago. Many people are already aware that, according to H. Buis, eating disorders are forms of mental disorders that occur all over the world but are most brutal in people near high school and college age and are even more common in the Western hemisphere. However, others are alarmed to realize that eating disorders, like most other mental disorders...
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