Sunday, 05 April 2009

• Sunday Education 1: Introductions

  
  Hey so this week's topic is a little hard to introduce because it's just introductions.  We're introducing ourselves to you, and that's not very involved, and there isn't really that much to know.  So we thought we would define some terms instead, because we have homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual, pansexual, asexual, transgender, and transsexual members, and you may not be familiar with all those terms. 
  
  We would also like to state that, while this may seem a bit... overwhelming, in length, it actually reads pretty nicely.  Even our own team members saw this post and were intimidated by its length... but we assure you that these are really good definitions that are worth reading, and that this post will not take up as much of your time as it looks like it will.  If you really don't want to read it, at least read the terms you are completely unfamiliar with, if any. 
  
  Homosexuality refers to attraction between or sexual behavior with people of the same sex and/or to homosexual orientation (as "homo-" literally means "same").  As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to an enduring pattern of (or disposition to) the experience of attractions towards people of the same sex (or gender).  This attraction may be physical, sexual, emotional, affectionate, romantic, or any other host of emotions commonly associated with relationships or sexual behavior.  Notice the use of the word "or" -- not everyone experiences all of these "qualifiers"; some do, and others don't.  There is great diversity among homosexuals, the same way there is great diversity among heterosexuals.  "Homosexual" may also refer to an individual’s sense of personal and social identity based on those attractions, behaviors expressing them, and membership in a community of others who share them.  Males who exhibit homosexual patterns of attraction are generally called "gay" and women who exhibit homosexual patterns of attraction are generally called "lesbian" (either as an adjective or noun).  There is a lot more to it than this, but we don't want to beat you over the head with too much education too soon.
  
  Bisexuality refers to physical attraction to or sexual behavior with people of both sexes or genders (male and female), or a bisexual orientation. People who have a bisexual orientation can experience all of the same qualifiers listed above (attraction may be physical, sexual, emotional, affectionate, romantic, or any other host of emotions commonly associated with relationships or sexual behavior) to both sexes or genders; bisexuals may also express membership in a community of others like them or the bigger community of queers.  According to Alfred Kinsey's research into human sexuality in the mid-20th century, many humans do not fall exclusively into heterosexual or homosexual classifications but somewhere between.  We will discuss this further in the future.  A lot can be said about bisexuality and a lot of misconceptions need to be cleared up.  It will have its own week, in fact.  Stay tuned. 
  
  Heterosexuality refers to physical attraction to or sexual behavior with people of the opposite sex or gender, or a heterosexual orientation.  Heterosexuality is the "default" in most societies.  It is assumed that an individual is heterosexual until they "come out" and say otherwise.  We'll talk more about this too.  Forgive us for not going into greater detail, but we're sure you're pretty familiar with this term. 
  
  Homosexuality, bisexuality, and heterosexuality together make up the three main classifications of sexual orientation and are part of the Heterosexual-homosexual continuum, a way of looking at things that has heterosexuality on one pole and homosexuality at another with bisexuality midway so an individual could be varying degrees of bisexual.  Some of us agree with this way of looking at things more than others.
  
  The word transgender and transgender identification are a bit complicated.  Transgender literally means "across or beyond the gender role or expectations assigned to one's biological sex" as the prefix "trans-" means "across" or "beyond" and gender is described, in the field of psychology, as the cultural expectations for femininity and masculinity (more or less). Gender is separate from one's biological maleness and femaleness. One way to think of it is that "sex is between the legs and gender identity is between the ears". Transgender is also some sort of "umbrella term" in that it encompasses many varying identities. Some transgender folk still identify as their biological sex but feel that they exhibit many qualities that are normative and accepted in the "other" sex or feel that they simply do not fit their gender role; other transgender folks don't feel that their sex at birth should be used to describe them; others do not identify with or present as the sex they were assigned at birth; and still others identify completely outside of "male" and "female" and see themselves as some sort of third gender (or as some combination of both genders).
  
  **It should be noted that a transgender identity does not imply any specific form of sexual orientation (transgender people may identify as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, etc, like any other person) and that not all transgender folks are transsexual, meaning many do not plan on having sex reassignment surgery to become a member of the "opposite sex."  We will talk more about this in the future.  At least two members of our team identify as transgender.
  
  Transsexualism is a bit more concrete; it is a condition in which an individual identifies with a physical sex different from the one with which he or she was born.  The sex-related structures of the brain that define gender identity are exactly opposite the physical sex organs of the body, making the individual feel that their mind is literally, physically, trapped in a body of the opposite sex.  A medical diagnosis can be made if a person experiences discomfort as a result of a desire to be a member of the opposite sex, or if a person experiences impaired functioning or distress as a result of that gender identification.  "Gender Identity Disorder" and "Transsexualism" both appear in the two major diagnostic manuals used by mental health professionals worldwide and this has stirred up a lot of talk and fuss by the transgender and transsexual population.  So many of them don't feel that this is something that impairs their lives or makes their quality of life poorer; in fact, many of them would go so far as to say it makes their lives richer.  We will talk more about this to greater length in the future.  One or more members of our team is transsexual. 
  
  Pansexuality is a sexual orientation (like homosexuality, heterosexuality and bisexuality) that is characterized by the potential for aesthetic attraction, romantic love, or sexual desire for people, regardless of their gender identity or biological sex (as pan- literally means "all").  Some pansexuals assert that they are gender-blind and that gender and sex are insignificant or completely irrelevant in determining whether they will be sexually attracted to someone.  In its simplest form, pansexuality denotes the potential of sexual attraction to all genders / human beings. It is contrasted to bisexuality in that it is intended to negate the idea of two genders as expressed by bi-.  Pansexual people often feel that bisexuality is not inclusive enough a label in that it does not specifically include people who identify outside the gender binary (like transgender folk).  The controversy with this term is that many people who identify as bisexual are actually attracted to people who fall outside the gender binary.  The leading reason that an individual would cling to the label "bisexual" when a more "appropriate" term like pansexual exists to describe their attraction is because of the widespread unfamiliarity with the term "pansexual".
  
  An asexual is an individual who, instead of having high sexual attraction to one gender or another (or both), has a low attraction to all genders, or does not experience sexual attraction at all (or simply does not have any interest in or desire for sex...with anyone of any gender).  Some people consider this a lack of sexual orientation, but asexual individuals would disagree because some do have romantic and aesthetic attractions to people and most feel this more towards one gender than another.  In fact, some asexuals feel the need to identify themselves as having romantic attraction since they don't like how the labels bisexual, homosexual and heterosexual imply sexual attraction.  Some terms they would use to highlight their romantic attractions are "heteroromantic", "biromantic", "panromantic", "homoromantic" and "aromantic" (the last one being the lack of romantic attraction towards anyone of either sex; the other four are similar to the terms already defined, minus the lack of sexual attraction).  They usually identify themselves with a string of labels for identification (for example: biromantic asexual) to highlight the gender(s) they have romantic attraction towards while still showing their lack of sexual attraction. 
  
  **It should be noted that asexuality is distinctly different from celibacy which is the abstention from sexual activity by choice -- namely by people who do, in fact, experience sexual attraction.  In fact, not all asexuals are celibate, and some do have sex for one reason or another.  It should also be noted that asexual people have the same emotional needs as anyone else, and like in the sexual community they vary widely in how they fulfill those needs. Some asexual people are happier on their own, others are happiest with a group of close friends, and still others have a desire to form more intimate romantic relationships and will date and seek long-term partnerships. Asexual people are just as likely to date sexual people as they are to date each other.  The one thing that they need is open and honest communication about their lack of interest in sex.  Many asexuals do not see their lack of sexual interest as a problem in need of being "fixed".  Many many many of them are content the way they are.
  
  

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  Next week's topic:  Coming Out Stories
  
  If you want to share your coming out story with the Queerish Team and its friends, you have 12 days to write your blog, so do it!  Remember, guest blogs need to be submitted, at the very latest, by 9pm (Pacific time) Friday night to QueerishXangans@gmail.com. This means that April 17th at 9pm (Pacific) is our cut-off for your coming out stories.  Then your stories will be featured on Saturday, April 18, over the course of the day.
  
  Also remember:  If you submit your blogs in a message here it will lose its formatting, and we don't want that.  If you have italicized or bolded anything in your post, we want it to stay how you wrote it.  Please send your blogs to our email.  Please note that once you submit your blog to our email address you can no longer edit it.  If something you have said bothers you and you wish you had worded it better, send us a message and we will fix it for you.  Also note that we will be editing your blogs for grammar.  If you have a problem with us touching your work like this, say so when you write us.
  
  Stay tuned. 
  
  
  

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