Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why

Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why PDF Author: Simon LeVay
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199753199
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
What causes a child to grow up gay or straight? In this book, neuroscientist Simon LeVay summarizes a wealth of scientific evidence that points to one inescapable conclusion: Sexual orientation results primarily from an interaction between genes, sex hormones, and the cells of the developing body and brain. LeVay helped create this field in 1991 with a much-publicized study in Science, where he reported on a difference in the brain structure between gay and straight men. Since then, an entire scientific discipline has sprung up around the quest for a biological explanation of sexual orientation. In this book, LeVay provides a clear explanation of where the science stands today, taking the reader on a whirlwind tour of laboratories that specialize in genetics, endocrinology, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, evolutionary psychology, and family demographics. He describes, for instance, how researchers have manipulated the sex hormone levels of animals during development, causing them to mate preferentially with animals of their own gender. LeVay also reports on the prevalence of homosexual behavior among wild animals, ranging from Graylag geese to the Bonobo chimpanzee. Although many details remain unresolved, the general conclusion is quite clear: A person's sexual orientation arises in large part from biological processes that are already underway before birth. LeVay also makes it clear that these lines of research have a lot of potential because--far from seeking to discover "what went wrong" in the lives of gay people, attempting to develop "cures" for homosexuality, or returning to traditional explanations that center on parent-child relationships, various forms of "training," or early sexual experiences--our modern scientists are increasingly seeing sexual variety as something to be valued, celebrated, and welcomed into society.

Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why

Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why PDF Author: Simon LeVay
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199753199
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 432

Get Book

Book Description
What causes a child to grow up gay or straight? In this book, neuroscientist Simon LeVay summarizes a wealth of scientific evidence that points to one inescapable conclusion: Sexual orientation results primarily from an interaction between genes, sex hormones, and the cells of the developing body and brain. LeVay helped create this field in 1991 with a much-publicized study in Science, where he reported on a difference in the brain structure between gay and straight men. Since then, an entire scientific discipline has sprung up around the quest for a biological explanation of sexual orientation. In this book, LeVay provides a clear explanation of where the science stands today, taking the reader on a whirlwind tour of laboratories that specialize in genetics, endocrinology, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, evolutionary psychology, and family demographics. He describes, for instance, how researchers have manipulated the sex hormone levels of animals during development, causing them to mate preferentially with animals of their own gender. LeVay also reports on the prevalence of homosexual behavior among wild animals, ranging from Graylag geese to the Bonobo chimpanzee. Although many details remain unresolved, the general conclusion is quite clear: A person's sexual orientation arises in large part from biological processes that are already underway before birth. LeVay also makes it clear that these lines of research have a lot of potential because--far from seeking to discover "what went wrong" in the lives of gay people, attempting to develop "cures" for homosexuality, or returning to traditional explanations that center on parent-child relationships, various forms of "training," or early sexual experiences--our modern scientists are increasingly seeing sexual variety as something to be valued, celebrated, and welcomed into society.

Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why

Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why PDF Author: Simon LeVay
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199752966
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
What causes a child to grow up gay or straight? In this book, neuroscientist Simon LeVay summarizes a wealth of scientific evidence that points to one inescapable conclusion: Sexual orientation results primarily from an interaction between genes, sex hormones, and the cells of the developing body and brain. LeVay helped create this field in 1991 with a much-publicized study in Science, where he reported on a difference in the brain structure between gay and straight men. Since then, an entire scientific discipline has sprung up around the quest for a biological explanation of sexual orientation. In this book, LeVay provides a clear explanation of where the science stands today, taking the reader on a whirlwind tour of laboratories that specialize in genetics, endocrinology, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, evolutionary psychology, and family demographics. He describes, for instance, how researchers have manipulated the sex hormone levels of animals during development, causing them to mate preferentially with animals of their own gender. LeVay also reports on the prevalence of homosexual behavior among wild animals, ranging from Graylag geese to the Bonobo chimpanzee. Although many details remain unresolved, the general conclusion is quite clear: A person's sexual orientation arises in large part from biological processes that are already underway before birth. LeVay also makes it clear that these lines of research have a lot of potential because--far from seeking to discover "what went wrong" in the lives of gay people, attempting to develop "cures" for homosexuality, or returning to traditional explanations that center on parent-child relationships, various forms of "training," or early sexual experiences--our modern scientists are increasingly seeing sexual variety as something to be valued, celebrated, and welcomed into society.

Straight Science? Homosexuality, Evolution and Adaptation

Straight Science? Homosexuality, Evolution and Adaptation PDF Author: Jim McKnight
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113472747X
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
A genetic basis for homosexuality has been all but proved, yet Darwinism, the most widely accepted evolutionary theory, emphasises successful reproduction. How do we explain a lifetime preference for non-reproductive sex? Whilst social constructionism offers explanations in terms of social learning and cultural preferences, the body of evidence for a genetic predisposition to homosexuality grows. Social learning argues that homosexual sex is merely misdirected and therefore futile, but far from dying out it continues through the ages and is found in different cultures. What if there was an evolutionary advantage to homosexuality? Straight Science? Homosexuality, Evolution and Adaptation dares to ask such questions.

This Book Is Gay

This Book Is Gay PDF Author: Juno Dawson
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
ISBN: 1728254612
Category : Young Adult Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
The bestselling young adult non-fiction book on sexuality and gender! Lesbian. Gay. Bisexual. Transgender. Queer. Intersex. Straight. Curious. This book is for everyone, regardless of gender or sexual preference. This book is for anyone who's ever dared to wonder. This book is for YOU. This candid, funny, and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it's like to grow up LGBTQ also includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrums, not to mention hilarious illustrations. Inside this revised and updated edition, you'll find the answers to all the questions you ever wanted to ask, with topics like: Stereotypes—the facts and fiction Coming out as LGBT Where to meet people like you The ins and outs of gay sex How to flirt And so much more! You will be entertained. You will be informed. But most importantly, you will know that however you identify (or don't) and whomever you love, you are exceptional. You matter. And so does this book. This book is for: LGBTQIA+ teens, tweens, and adults Readers looking to learn more about the LGBTQIA+ community Parents of gay kids and other LGBT youth Educators looking for advice about the LGBTQIA+ community Praise for This Book is Gay: A Guardian Best Book of the Year 2018 Garden State Teen Book Award Winner "The book every LGBT person would have killed for as a teenager, told in the voice of a wise best friend. Frank, warm, funny, USEFUL."—Patrick Ness, New York Times bestselling author "This egregious gap has now been filled to a fare-thee-well by Dawson's book."—Booklist *STARRED REVIEW*

Thinking Straight About Being Gay

Thinking Straight About Being Gay PDF Author: T. M. Murray
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781504943956
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Imagine a future scenario in which prospective parents will have the option to decide the sexual orientation of their offspring in the privacy of a doctor's consultation room. In the past, liberals dreaded the intrusion of a paternalistic state apparatus into the minutiae of people's private lives. In the future they may have to fear the reverse: that private reproductive decisions will impact the very demographic composition of future generations that make up 'the public'. Nowhere does this book claim that the ability to isolate a 'gay gene' or similar genetic marker for homosexuality currently exists. Rather, it demonstrates how Christian bioethicists and liberal eugenicists have so far anticipated and addressed the seemingly implausible scenario just described and provides a liberal critique of the their arguments, should pre-natal selection for sexual orientation ever become a genuine possibility. Murray provides an unprecedented survey of Christian bioethicists' responses to the 'gay science' of the 1990's, and shows where they fit in a long religious tradition of stigmatizing and pathologizing homosexual people that stretches back to first century Christian communities. This book contains no assertion that all people who identify as homosexual, gay, lesbian, bi, or transgender are born that way. Nor does it suggest that being 'born that way' is a necessary condition for granting full legal acceptance of homosexual behavior. Rather, it reveals how religious teachings about human sexuality have both misrepresented the facts of human nature and misjudged their ethical significance. Murray's analysis provides an opportunity for the universal and global church and those who object to homosexuality as less than innate to reconsider and learn new perspectives. - Reverend Rowland Jide Macaulay, Founder & CEO, House Of Rainbow Fellowship, Lagos, Nigeria and London, United Kingdom A fresh, informative and challenging contribution to the scientific and ethical issues concerning homosexuality, which debunks traditional Christian objections and tackles the emerging debate around the potential of 'genome editing' to eliminate same-sex behaviour. - Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner

Let's Get The Gay Thing Straight

Let's Get The Gay Thing Straight PDF Author: Gary Mortara
Publisher: Gary Mortara
ISBN: 0615532373
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 93

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Book Description


The Invention of Heterosexuality

The Invention of Heterosexuality PDF Author: Jonathan Ned Katz
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022630762X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 303

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Book Description
“Heterosexuality,” assumed to denote a universal sexual and cultural norm, has been largely exempt from critical scrutiny. In this boldly original work, Jonathan Ned Katz challenges the common notion that the distinction between heterosexuality and homosexuality has been a timeless one. Building on the history of medical terminology, he reveals that as late as 1923, the term “heterosexuality” referred to a "morbid sexual passion," and that its current usage emerged to legitimate men and women having sex for pleasure. Drawing on the works of Sigmund Freud, James Baldwin, Betty Friedan, and Michel Foucault, The Invention of Heterosexuality considers the effects of heterosexuality’s recently forged primacy on both scientific literature and popular culture. “Lively and provocative.”—Carol Tavris, New York Times Book Review “A valuable primer . . . misses no significant twists in sexual politics.”—Gary Indiana, Village Voice Literary Supplement “One of the most important—if not outright subversive—works to emerge from gay and lesbian studies in years.”—Mark Thompson, The Advocate

Navigating Differences

Navigating Differences PDF Author: Jammie Price
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136382992
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 162

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Book Description
Navigating Differences: Friendships Between Gay and Straight Men is a one-of-a-kind cross-sexual study that shows you how today’s gay and straight men build, maintain, and foster true friendships. In this activist, participatory study, you’ll get a day-in-the-life look at 44 pairs of cross-sexual men’s friendships and see what helps them negotiate the terrain of their emotional, sexual, psychological, and social differences in today’s climate of often publicly defended homophobia and heterosexism. Navigating Differences succeeds in bringing the true picture of cross-sexual men’s relationships to you, regardless of your personal orientation or political affiliation. You’ll find information--straight from the lives of the study’s participants--that shows you how different sexual orientations impact the way men spend time together, maintain friendships, cope with sexual struggles, and open good communication channels. Most importantly, you’ll get detailed facts and feedback concerning: hegemonic masculinity embracing, struggling with, and ignoring differences group demographic characteristics embeddedness and emotional communication outness in-groups, out-groups, and reference groups Hearsay and prejudice might claim to know what gay and straight men think of each other, but Navigating Differences replaces rumors with research and shows you what really keeps gay and straight men in lasting friendships in all arenas of life. You’ll learn firsthand what it takes to overcome differences and what it means to turn difference into meaningful relationships.

The GayBCs

The GayBCs PDF Author: M. L. Webb
Publisher: Quirk Books
ISBN: 1683691636
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 38

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Book Description
A Moms Demand Action Book Club Pick “The perfect way to teach your kiddos LGBTQ+ vocab while celebrating the beauty of embracing yourself and others.”—KIWI Magazine A joyful celebration of LGBTQ+ vocabulary for kids of all ages! A playdate extravaganza transforms into a joyful celebration of friendship, love, and identity as four young friends sashay out of all the closets, dress up in a wardrobe fit for kings and queens, and discover the wonders of their imagination. In The GayBCs, M. L. Webb’s playful illustrations and lively poems delight in the beauty of embracing one’s truest self—from A is for Aro and Ace to F is for Family to T is for Trans. The GayBCs is a heartwarming and accessible gift to show kids and adults alike that every person is worthy of being celebrated. A bonus glossary offers opportunities for further discussion of complete terms, communities, and inclusive identities.

Queer Science

Queer Science PDF Author: Simon LeVay
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262121999
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 375

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Book Description
What makes people gay, lesbian, bisexual, or heterosexual? And who cares? Written by one of the leading scientists in the research of sexual orientation, Queer Science looks at how scientific discoveries about homosexuality influence society's attitude toward gays and lesbians, beginning with the theories of the German sexologist and gay-rights pioneer Magnus Hirschfeld and culminating with the latest discoveries in brain science, genetics, endocrinology, and cognitive psychology.