Christianity and the Socio-cultural Construction of Contemporary US Sexuality

1. Introduction:
It seems that within the past 20 or 30 years sexuality and gender have become especially prone to social exploration and academic probing. This coincides with the recent boom in cultural studies (Black Studies, Queer Studies, East Asian Studies, Latino/a Studies�) that began with the US cultural revolutions of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Post-modernisms emergence in the late 1960s and early 1970s promoted and enabled the development of many of these cultural studies departments. One such cultural revolution was Stonewall, when gays decided to begin their fight for equal rights and general acceptance. Stonewall struck the world in 1969, starting New York City�s Greenwich Village- where drag queens, gays, lesbians and trans fought for one of the first time for equality, for justice and for equal rights. (Miller Out of pg 365-366) Police officers had previously raided known gay nightclubs, arresting the dancers. The names of these arrested persons were of course published in local newspapers-, which could ruin their lives. From New York City rioting spread to Chicago, Miami and San Francisco (hotbeds of homosexuality in the post-WWII era of returning soldiers who made new homes). (Miller Out of pg 368)
A simple issue, sexuality is not. Little is known and more is theorized about the origins of human sexuality. (Human Sexuality Class Notes from 2 April �02) Human sexuality has arguably been directed towards opposite-sex long term coupling in the West. Freud theorized that all humans were innately bisexual with post-natal programming directing human sexuality towards opposite-sex partnering because that system had the most legal/social/familial benefit. (Miller Out of pg 247) I want to see how conceptions of sexuality have changed since Freud by testing a sample of the Miami-Oxford microclimate. I plan to gather some evidence indicative of the present sexual climate at Miami by giving my survey to at least 50 students. In light of Ancient Greek and the animal world, I want to partially unpack contemporary and historical Christian influences on human sexuality. I wish to further explore this reality, and examine my survey results using the myriad rich notions of socio-cultural construction and sociobiology that the past 20-30 years have spawned. Since I will be evaluating primarily the products of the last 5-10 years of my survey participants lives it is important to note that �only in the mid 1960s would hetereroticism be distinguished completely from, reproduction, and male-female pleasure sex justified for itself.� (Katz The Invention 86-87) Thus, my survey sample group will primarily be in their early 20s. This generation is one of that has presumably grow up in a historically slightly more sex-positive US culture.
Hypothesis:
Based on general experience, I hypothesize that females will be more likely than males to have had same-sex experiences in the past 5 years due to feminist movements and changes in the recent construction of femininity. I also hypothesize that the more religious a person is the less likely s/he will be to have had same-sex experiences. I hope to highlight via my hypothesizes that human sexuality is socio-culturally promoted or directed towards heterosexual activity. I do not seek to measure the biological base of human sexuality, which is probably a key determinant in human sexuality, but merely to evaluate the socio-cultural forces, focusing on Christianity.
Plan to accomplish/Purpose of Project:
I plan to accomplish surveying four Miami classes as case studies to test my hypotheses. In addition to case studies, these surveys will potentially provide a general overview of how socio-cultural forces such as (parent�s education level, home setting, age, years of college�) has influenced the sex lives of my survey subjects. My survey and project address the larger question of sexuality- how some humans claim that homosexuality is �unnatural� or a choice. It relates to the debate of homosexuality as �unnatural�- which is for the most part unfounded given that most animal species not only occasional engage in same-sex activities, but further that most animal species are also primarily polygamous. (Bagemihl Biological Exuberance pg 3) �Lifetime monogamy�makes us rather unique among primates� as The Ethical Slut asserts on page 30. (Liszt & Easton) This �unnatural� argument highlights anthropomorphism and how humans have potentially become elitist members of the animal world. Compared to Ancient Greek Culture and humans� �wild� relatives, how tamed have humans become by socio-cultural Christian constructions or frames?
Relevance of Project:
My project is important because it will scientifically sample people�s actual sexual behavior, instead of using looser �common-sense� perceptions. Reading my project will enrich your life, hopefully, because it will clue you into the perhaps subtle influences that Christianity can exercise in forming one�s sexuality. You will presumably also learn something about the history of human sexuality through my historical references. Take for example, how profoundly does it affect children raised with Adam & Eve when they hear about �Adam & Steve� or �Anne & Eve?� Does this paradigm shit or paradigm confrontation/challenge come to late for one to potentially embrace their non-heterosexual sexuality?
Literature Review:
Although little research or writing has been done about non-human animal sexuality, virtual seas of research and writing have been done about human sexuality, �officially� starting in Europe in the 1860s and continuing into the present. (Human Sexuality Class Notes from 7 Feb �02) Online searches in google.com for �animal homosexuality� or �gay animals� or even �animal sexuality� yield few results. One of the few results cited numerous times on line is Dr. Bruce Bagemihl�s seminal work Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity. In his book Dr. Bagemihl covers everything from same-sex penguins that have raised chicks from �donor eggs� to same-sex giraffe activity and long-term same-sex male dolphin couples, in addition to various other species. (Bagemihl Biological Exuberance)
Various books and theories exist to attempt to explain human sexuality. Essentially, I believe that human sexuality is such a convoluted and varied arena that it can only be subjected to generalizations and personal theories for personal sexualities. Much like our native language(s), sexuality and gender are primarily imprinted or learned in the first 18 months of life. At this early age humans learn �thousands of words and the complex rules for understanding and using our�language.� (Park Loving Beyond Sex pg 1) Just as we subconsciously learn our language, unintentionally or innocently absorbing and replicating words and thought patterns, we also absorb sexuality and gender scripts. We learn what is �appropriate� and �inappropriate� via the conditioning of laws from the state and ideals from the church and other people.
Animals are not recognized as having the culture that most human societies possess. Thus, they are not capable of being gay, or culturally in ownership of an identity. As Bagemihl notes: �the words gay and lesbian are burdened with human connotations (cultural, psychological, historical, and/or political) and may not be regarded as appropriate designations for animals.� (Bagemihl Biological pp 3) Animals are capable of being homosexual or engaging in same-sex activity but not necessarily being the Western cultural identity known as �gay� or �lesbian� or �bisexual�.
In contrast to contemporary labels, ancient Athenians believed that you had to learn how to be an honorable man from somebody- with boys being considered beautiful until they got a beard or �or only so long as they look like a woman (Athenaeus 50 and Homosexual and Lesbian Experience class notes from 18 Sept. �01).� In classical Athens paiderastia (educational/sexual relationship that was generally mutually beneficial, between a youth and older man) was a form of education- it was sexual contact with someone that you respect- that involved a formal process for some:
1. The older man (erat�s) gives gifts and maybe gets permission from the lad�s father.
2. The older man (erat�s) teaches the boy (eromenos or paidika) how to be a noble or honorable man.
3. Intercrural sex (penile thrusting between the thighs, no penetration) is given to the teacher (erat�s) by the boy (eromenos) in return for the lessons on how to be noble.
4. The erat�s (the older man) would have been active in the intercrural intercourse, while the eromenos (the younger boy) was passive (Homosexual and Lesbian Experience class notes from 13 Sept. �01).

Research�s Relation to a Larger Question:
I have found the politics of animal sexuality rife with the projected politics of human sexuality. All kinds of political complexities convolute animal sexuality similar to what we saw in Jane Goodall�s �Through a Window� where she personified animals, even to the point of naming them and attributing human emotions to them. In the US we seem to associate animal sexuality with human sexuality and thus project our biases onto animals. The anthropomorphic perspective of animal sexuality highlights the importance of proving or disproving animal homosexuality as what some consider a natural phenomenon. Homosexuality is the anomaly on the conveyor belt, the irregular product of complex socio-cultural and genetic workings. Thus religious conservatives tend to seek to deny or dismiss animal homosexuality as �immature sex, displays of dominance or temporary strategies or have still other explanations, even mistaken identity.� (Ray Animal Sexuality pg 1) Proponents of animal homosexuality include some equal rights gay activists who seeks to assert the �natural condition� of human sexuality. This �natural condition� would presumably assure equal rights under US law, de to a naturally occurring condition. The question of homosexuality as a natural phenomena or state could lay the foundation for equal rights for bisexual, gay, lesbians and transgender (BGLT) peoples in the US. There would also seem to be a tremendous potential for homosexual animals to deflate evangelical Christian�s arguments that homosexuality is �unnatural.�
3. Materials and Methods: Experimental Design:
Via a multiple choice paper survey, I evaluated a small sample of contemporary human sexuality and sexual behavior. I will analyze contemporary human sexual behavior using historical (Puritanism/Christianity to Post-WW II �gay� port cities) and socio-cultural (post-stonewall, post-2nd-wave American Feminism and nature vs. nurture) backgrounds to analyze profound human sexuality.
My anonymous (for ethical reasons) survey will be given to at least 50 Miami students and up to 80 (hopefully with a 1/1 sex ratio), with various demographics being considered. An N of 50-80 is desirable to draw enough evidence to yield decent credibility to my results. My SS class or Section A was my test run and part of my N. My survey questions include self-labeled political leanings, age, major, possible religious upbringings and efforts to gauge contemporary impacts of said Christianity or lack thereof. My surveys will be hand tabulated. I want to see how contemporary human sexuality fits into a historical frame.
Questions from Kinsey�s (famous American sexologist) survey were a potential source of inspiration- as was a survey given at Miami every decade since the 1960�s. Although I found those two sources primarily archaic. The Miami Survey talks about �pinned� couples- where contemporary US English would presumably slide something like �committed� couples into this slot. I have referenced few previous surveys. Instead, I have relied on personal experiences with surveys and submitted my draft to several professors in the Sociology Department with relative expertise in surveying, sexuality and identity.

Timeline:

25 Feb- Survey distributed to Dr. Paulson, Dr. Harrington and Dr. Corbett for critique
27 Feb- proposal submitted
10- 20 Mar- Surveys distributed this week
20-25 Mar- Surveys tabulated
25-30 Mar - Survey data analyzed.

Results:

I had 67 surveys completed by Miami University-Oxford Branch students. I distributed my surveys to four classes on Miami University�s Oxford Campus. When I distributed my surveys, I read aloud the header at the top of each survey page, in addition to stating that other religions/faiths spiritualities were important and I was focusing on Christianity because it is the dominant US religion/faith/spirituality. I also stated that each person should choose the answer that they feel best represents them and that the respondent should feel free to write concerns or questions in the margins. In general, it took about 10 minutes to complete my survey.
Section A: Female 0 Male 5
The first class (Section A) was Social Systems with Dr. Muriel Blaisdell on Tuesday 19 March 2002 from 3:30-3:40 pm.
Section B: Female 0 Male 4
The second class (Section B) was Natural Systems with Dr. Joseph Dorsey on Wednesday 20 March 2002 from 4:40-4:50 pm.
Section C: Female 46 Male 6
My third (Section C) and largest class was Human Sexuality with Dr. Lee Harrington, which was surveyed on Thursday 28 March 2002 from 3:00-3:10 pm.
Section D: Female 10 Male 2
My fourth class (Section D) was Identity: Race, Class, Sex and Gender with Dr. Susan Paulson, which was distributed on Tuesday 2 April 2002 from 12:30-12:40 pm.
Ten general observations from my surveys included:
1) Questions 1 & 2: My respondents were primarily 4th year College of Arts and Science students. My male students were primarily 2nd year Western College Program majors. Around 60 percent or 40 respondents were from the College of Arts and Science with an additional 22 percent or 15 respondents from either the School of Business Administration or Education and Allied Professions. Western Majors accounted for 15 percent or 10 respondents in my survey.
2) Question 5: My survey sample had overwhelmingly spent most of their lives in suburban region-types. 95 percent or 63 respondents indicated that they came from suburban backgrounds.
3) Question 6: My survey sample was composed of 75 percent or 50 female respondents and 25 percent or 17 male respondents, indicating that my project failed to attain a 1/1 sex ratio.
4) Question 7: My survey sample contained 82 percent or 55 respondents from Catholic or Protestant backgrounds and 18 percent or 13 respondents from Hindu, Jewish, Non-religious, was left blank or specified �other� religion backgrounds.
5) Question 9: My survey sample lost their virginity (defined as vaginal penetration for opposite-sex experiences and anal intercourse for gay same-sex experiences and oral sex for lesbian same-sex experiences) mainly from ages 16-17 (24 percent or 16 respondents) or 18-19 (28 percent or 19 respondents) or are still virgins (22 percent or 15 respondents). Between male and female respondents, there was little difference statistically. More females reported still being a virgin on my survey (24 percent female vs. 18 percent male). My survey sampling does not contain enough male subjects to draw accurate conclusions.

6) Questions 8 & 9 & 10: These three interweave sexual behavior and frequency of religious/faith/spiritual activity: I basically found little or no correlation between sexual behavior (questions 9 & 10) and a respondent�s self-perception of their religious dedication (question 8). There was no conclusive evidence because my evidence mainly deals with smaller classes and a disproportionate number of males and females. This makes for a poor comparison.
7) Questions 11: My survey sample showed that 7 percent or 5 respondents had ever progressed further than kissing someone of the same sex. There were 3 women in Section D and one male in each Section C and Section D who report this same-sex experience. An overwhelming 93 percent of my respondents had had no same-sex contacts according to their survey responses. This means that approximately 1 in 13 of my respondents admitted to having a same-sex experience. This is lower than the nationally quoted US statistic of 1 in 10 people being BGLT. (Human Sexuality Notes from 11 April �02)
8) Questions 14 & 16: On my sexual identity scale and sexual behavior scale I found little variation- this survey question gets to the point of my survey- identity vs. behavior. Presumably, because behavior is contained by social standards of what is �appropriate� and �desirable.� The table below will show that most respondents were a 6 or 7 for question 14 about their sexuality identity. There were even a couple fives reported, closer to bisexuality than the heterosexual pole. While my respondents general sexual identity tended to be towards the exclusively heterosexual pole of 7, their sexual behavior on the sexual behavior scale was generally focused on the heterosexual pole.

Percentages decline from 80 percent, 25 percent, 45 percent and 50 percent in question 14- to 80 percent, 100 percent, 95 percent and 100 percent on the actual activity in question 16. This difference in identity and activity attests to the discouragement of homosexual behavior despite potentially slight homosexual inclinations. Thus one could presume that some of my respondents� homosexual urges has been eliminated or dwarfed by socio-cultural conditioning.
9) Questions 15 & 17: Around 97 percent or 65 respondent reported change in neither sexual identity in the past five years nor sexual activity in the past five years. This is not unusual, especially given the microclimate at Miami University-Oxford which seems to have a regional reputation as traditional and even anti-gay based on my personal experiences. The two people that reported change in the past fives years were two women, one in Section D and one in Section C.
10) Question 19: My survey sample were 85 percent or 57 respondents White/Caucasian and 15 percent or 10 respondents were Black/interracial/left blank.

My hypothesis that females are more likely then males to have had same-sex experiences was true, but only by a hair since 3 females and two males reported same-sex contact in my survey of 67 people. I was unable to draw any connection between one�s religious/faith/spiritual activity and their sexual activity. I did not address potential biological foundations for human sexuality because I wanted to see how it was socio-culturally shaped, which is something that I can measure. My survey sample was overwhelmingly heterosexual identified and generally had had exclusively opposite-sex sexual contact/activity.
This is partially because sexuality is a scripted behavior that encompasses physical capacity for sexual pleasure/arousal as well as the actual and social meanings that are in every society attached to sexual behavior and the formation of sexual identities. The construct of marriage in the US is one such sexuality script; it traditionally forbids sex until marriage, when the sex taboo is broken in an exciting, celebrated manner during the honeymoon.
Sexuality is one of the most profound and universally framed characteristics of humanity. Socio-cultural constructions dominate the formation of sexuality (sexual scripts of socially condoned or appropriate behavior and socially punished or inappropriate behavior), which is typically chained to the generally socio-cultural construction of gender (appropriate social behavior and/or performance for a male/female/Eunich/Hijra�).
Gender and sex tend to dictate sexuality because people should be heterosexual and masculine or feminine according to their biological sex. �Gay� and �straight� sexual identities are cultural labels and systems. One could argue that going to gay clubs, anonymous sex; drugs, effeminacy and other traits are just what gay persons do. Perhaps these lifestyles of anonymous sex, drugs and effeminacy are also what gay men are shown that they should do. Perhaps most images that gay persons have seen of other gay men generally depict gay men in less desirable lights, as men who have anonymous sex, use drugs and other features that are not necessarily negative but generally viewed as such by mainstream contemporary US society. But in the dominant worldview, which is prevalent at Miami, they are considered negative because they can inhibit the protestant work ethic(s) and moral codes or typical US �middle-class� heterosexual norms, outside of which more homosexuals than heterosexuals find themselves because of their typically marked gay sexuality (counter-hegemonic frame). Hence, homosexuality in humans is �marked� or �different� or �otherized� compared to heterosexuality. How did homosexuality partially become marked? How did same-sex activity transition from Ancient Greek same-sex �apprentiships� to profligate?
Christianity, especially the more evangelical US Protestant sects, back the �correct� performance of sexuality as much as any other history book or historical text, religious or not. Christianity can order our world, telling us what is right or �good/holy� and what is wrong �sin� (as if such a simple dichotomy existed!). The Bible shows Adam and Eve, and Sodom and Gomorrah- and stories that could be construed to negatively portray same-sex activity. Although as Gomes states: �Jesus himself made no mention of it, and homosexuality does not appear of much concern to�early churches�� (Gomes The Use and Abuse of the Bible pg 147). This has presumably encouraged the labeling of homosexuality as a sin and outside of respect (potentially encouraging hedonist behavior because of the �homosexuals� location outside of generally respectable frames) because they are outside of typical opposite-sex relations/gender norms/polarities. Please see my attached survey from Section D, it highlights the impact of Christianity upon one Miami University young woman�s sexuality and sex life. �The legitimization of violence against homosexuals and Jews and women and black�� could be seen as originating from the bible, and thus sanctioned (Gomes The Use and Abuse of the Bible pg 146). While the bible is easily divided into Adam and Eve, David and Jonathan are rumored to have been lovers, and there must have been hermaphrodites shattering this Adam and Eve paradigm or binary opposition.
The fact of the matter is that the "real world" is to a large extent unconsciously built up on the language habits of the group.... We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation. -Edward Sapir in Carroll

In this quotation Sapir highlights how forms of language force upon its speakers, via cognitive processes, a particular perception of reality (Tolmach-Lakoff Language War pg 47). For example the infamous utterance �that�s so gay� converts to �that�s so shitty/fuck up/dumb�insert negative term here� in most people�s minds, whether or not they realize it. Thus, homosexuality or gayness is equated with negativity, reflecting perhaps some people�s perception that homosexuality in �unnatural� or undesirable. Thus language is used to convey a subconscious text.
Language is also partially used to communicate what, who, when, where and what is �appropriate� this has changed over time due to Christianities influences upon the same-sex mentoring that we saw in Ancient Greek society. Human nature has been tamed by Christianity and other socio-cultural constructions to create what Foucault would probably consider the most economically beneficial system, one of heterosexuality. The lose of same-sex pleasure and enjoyment of same-sex contact for opposite sex procreative contact has been tremendous. Recent advances such as the birth control pill in the late 1960s or early 1970s and 1st and 2nd wave feminisms' affect upon women�s especially �repressed� sexuality have liberated human sexuality for study and for open variations to the traditional script. Stonewall also helped promote homosexuality as a viable alternative- not as something that was shameful and �dirty.�
I have few specific additional questions. It would be nice to analyze the biological foundations for human sexuality. It would also be nice to have some more definite answers about the origins of human sexuality. However, if we knew the origins of human sexuality than we could potentially alter it, would it be ethically just to change someone�s sexual orientation to the parent�s desired orientation? I suggest that the current means of investigating sexuality both in a historical and contemporary context continue.
I admit to having a personal bias, which is potential source of error. Another source of error could have been the language of my questions- they might not have been clear. I noticed that one respondent was confused by �secular� or �religious� for question 20. That person wrote �public� in the margin, which would be �secular� in the US. Human Sexulity is about perception and socio-cultural construction, I hope that my project has highlighted this for you.

Bibliography:

Bagemihl, Bruce. Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity. New York: St. Martin�s Press, 1999.
Carroll, John B. (ed). Language, Thought, and Reality: selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press Cambridge, 1956
Gomes, Alfred. The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Heart and Mind. New York City: William Morrow, 1996.
Katz, Jonathan Ned. The Invention of Heterosexuality. New York: Penguin Group, 1996.
Kluger, Jeffrey. The Gay Side of Nature.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,23309,00.html
Lakoff-Tolmach, Robin. The Language War. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.
Liszt, Catherine A., and Easton, Dossie. The Ethical Slut: A Guide to Infinite Sexual Possiblities. San Francisco: Greenery Press, 1997.
Miller, Niel. Out of the Past: Gay and Lesbian History from 1869 to the Present. New York: Vintage Books, 1995.
Park, James. Loving Beyond Sex: Transcending our Imprinted Sex-Scripts
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/NWL105.html
Ray, Claiborne C.. Animal Sexuality.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,816,23309,00.html

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TEACHING TOOLS & OTHER STUFF Visit some terrific DISCOVERY LABS.....! The Frisbee Lab The Moon Lab Geologic Time The Sun Lab The Taxonomy Lab Kepler's Laws and Jupiter's Moons Course DISCUSSION SITES--Add a comment......! Global Climate Change Course Starting Points--New Marine Ecology Course Starting Points--NEW --Marine Ecology LISTserve Costa Rica Course Starting Points--NEW --Costa Rica LISTserve Rivers: An Interdisciplinary Perspective--NEW Evolution & Earth Systems Discussion PRESENT --Evolution & Earth Systems Discussion PAST NS1: Participatory Research in Environmental Science PRESENT --NS1: Participatory Research in Environmental Science PAST Science Center Discussion Site Daily Necessities: Macintosh Resources |Search Engines | Library Resources|Server Stats| Family Album | View My Schedule | View Guestbook | Western College "Multimedia Potpourri" Edge of the Farm Conservation Area Harrison Scholar Hurricane Ike Service Trip 2008 Harrison Scholar Costa Rica Trip 2008 Spider Holding and Sex Education Night, Spring 2008 View Western College Photos/Movies! Spider and Cider Night, Fall 2007 Harrison Scholars New Orleans Service Trip 2007 Harrison Scholar Costa Rica Trip 2007 Harrison Scholars Louisiana Service Trip 2006 Spider and Cider Night, Fall 2006 View Western College Photos/Movies! Crawfish Festival 2006 Human Nature Multiple Intelligences' Lab, March 2006 Popcorn and Pythons Night, Spring 2006 Maple Syrup Festival, 2006 Spider and Cider Night, Fall 2005 Western College Graduation 2005 Spider and Cider Night, Spring 2005 Sharon Long Reception Photos/Movies 2005! Diane Kaufman Retirement Reception, Dec 2004 Spider and Cider Night, Fall 2004 Creek Walk, Natural Systems 1, Fall 2004 Western College Graduation 2004 Winter/Spring Ohio Bird Photo Collection Quicktime Streaming Slideshow Crawfish Festival 2004 Human Nature Multiple Intelligences' Lab, April 2004 Institute of Environmental Sciences Banquet, March 2004 Zoo Visit, Feb 2004 Popcorn and Pythons Slides, Jan 2004 Popcorn and Pythons Movie, Jan 2004 Popcorn and Pythons, Fall 2002 Popcorn and Pythons, Spring 2002 Natural Systems Creek Walk, 2003 Ohio-Louisiana 2003 Crawfish Festival 2001 Louisiana-Ohio Crawfish Festival Movie Western College Graduation Weekend, Spring 2003 Little Miami River Field Trip, April 2003 Collins Run Fish Collecting Trip, 2003 Environmental Effects on Fish Populations in Miami University Creeks Stream Sampling: Fish Diversity Study Slides, 2002 Stream Sampling: Fish Diversity Study MOVIE, 2002 Spring Valley Field Trip 2003 Visiting Southern Louisiana, Spring 2002