Nature, Nurture, or Something in Between...?
What Can we Learn From Animals?
As with most science, we often look to animals as models to study sexual behavior. This can take many forms. We study sexual behavior in lab animals, such as drosophila flies and rats, by manipulated their genes or their environment. We look to wild behaviors of animals, trying to understand why homosexual behaviors inconsistent with reproductive goals might arise in nature. In both cases, it is hard to tell exactly what animals say about sexuality and much less what they say about human sexuality. Below we have collected various sources that look at the study of homosexuality in animals.
FINDINGS ON HUMAN SEXUALITY
Some say that a “gay” gene will never be found. This reasoning could be accurate. Pinpointing an exact gene for homosexuality would be nearly impossible. There is the possibility of a combination of genes relating to human sexuality, but there is still no definite proof, as “the mechanisms by which sexually dimorphic structures are formed in the brain remains poorly understood.”
Rather than just searching for the exact DNA behind human sexuality, some scientists have investigated the overall effect of brain development on sexual orientation. A large fraction of the population (40%-90%), depending on the society considered, believe that sexual orientation is a choice or the consequence of events in early childhood. This is mostly due to Sigmund Freud’s original notions on homosexuality. However, Jacques Balthazart provides evidence in “Brain Development and Sexual Orientation” that hormones before birth and in early life play a role in sexuality. In the book many case studies are investigated to support that nature is the main influence in human sexual orientation, not choice.
Like humans, animals are sexually differentiated and show preference almost exclusively to one sex. But also like humans, this is not always the case with animals, which is why many tests have been run and observations have been made on mammals to examine parallels in sexuality.
Rather than just searching for the exact DNA behind human sexuality, some scientists have investigated the overall effect of brain development on sexual orientation. A large fraction of the population (40%-90%), depending on the society considered, believe that sexual orientation is a choice or the consequence of events in early childhood. This is mostly due to Sigmund Freud’s original notions on homosexuality. However, Jacques Balthazart provides evidence in “Brain Development and Sexual Orientation” that hormones before birth and in early life play a role in sexuality. In the book many case studies are investigated to support that nature is the main influence in human sexual orientation, not choice.
Like humans, animals are sexually differentiated and show preference almost exclusively to one sex. But also like humans, this is not always the case with animals, which is why many tests have been run and observations have been made on mammals to examine parallels in sexuality.
The Who: Scientists of Sexuality
“Every theory is a self-fulfilling prophecy that orders experience into the framework it provides.” ~ Ruth Hubbard
Science cannot be carried out without an agent - a scientist. Every scientific theory has a scientist behind it, a real person with their own beliefs and experiences that produce biases in the work they do. Despite what we may be led to believe, science is highly subjective despite the high degree of objectivity it proclaims. The influence of these biases in science can be crazily obvious or painfully subtle. Thus, science should be examined with a critical eye. This is especially important in the case of sexuality science since due to the political significance it has in society as of late. One thing that we can consider in understanding these biases are the scientists themselves. Who are they? What makes their lives unique, and how do these experience affect their work? Is their work valid despite this? All of these questions need to be addressed before we can consider studies of sexuality.
Science cannot be carried out without an agent - a scientist. Every scientific theory has a scientist behind it, a real person with their own beliefs and experiences that produce biases in the work they do. Despite what we may be led to believe, science is highly subjective despite the high degree of objectivity it proclaims. The influence of these biases in science can be crazily obvious or painfully subtle. Thus, science should be examined with a critical eye. This is especially important in the case of sexuality science since due to the political significance it has in society as of late. One thing that we can consider in understanding these biases are the scientists themselves. Who are they? What makes their lives unique, and how do these experience affect their work? Is their work valid despite this? All of these questions need to be addressed before we can consider studies of sexuality.
For Further Reading...
- Whom You Love: The Biology of Sexual Orientation, https://www.msu.edu/~youlove/index.html
- The Kinsey Institute: Advancing Sexual Health and Knowledge Worldwide, http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/index.html