The Origins And Role Of Same Sex Relations In Human Societies

Author : James Neill
Publisher : McFarland
ISBN 13 : 0786469269
Total Pages : 479 pages
Book Rating : 4.60/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Origins and Role of Same-Sex Relations in Human Societies written by James Neill and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2011-10-03 with total page 479 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This groundbreaking work draws on a vast range of research into human sexuality to demonstrate that homosexuality is not a phenomenon limited to a small minority of society, but is an aspect of a complex sexual harmony that the human race inherited from its animal ancestors. Through a survey of the patterns of sexual expression found among animals and among societies around the world, and an examination of the functional role homosexual behavior has played among animal species and human societies alike, the author arrives at some provocative conclusions: that a homosexual or bisexual phase is a normal part of sexual development, that same-sex relations play an important balancing role in regulating human reproduction, that many societies have institutionalized homosexual traditions in the past, and that the harsh condemnation of homosexuality in Western society is a relatively recent phenomenon, unique among world societies throughout history. This well researched and meticulously documented book is the first that integrates into a coherent picture the startling revelations about human sexuality coming from the recent work of sexual researchers, psychologists, anthropologists and historians. The view that emerges, of an ambisexual human species whose complex sexual harmony is being thwarted by the imposition of an artificial understanding of nature, represents a new way of thinking about sex.

Author : Francis Mark Mondimore
Publisher : JHU Press
ISBN 13 : 1421401789
Total Pages : 365 pages
Book Rating : 4.82/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Natural History of Homosexuality written by Francis Mark Mondimore and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 1996-10-30 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Selected by Choice Magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title A terrible sin, a gift from the gods, a mental illness, a natural human variation—over the centuries people have defined homosexuality in all of these ways. Since the word homosexual was coined in 1869, many scientists in a variety of fields have sought to understand same-sex intimacy. Drawing on recent insights in biology and genetics, psychiatrist Francis Mondimore set out to explore the complex landscape of sexual orientation. The result is A Natural History of Homosexuality, a generous work that synthesizes research in biology, history, psychology, and politics to explain how homosexuality has been understood and defined from ancient times until the present. Mondimore narrates tales of love and courage as well as discrimination and bigotry in settings as diverse as ancient Greece and Victorian England, early America and fin de siecle Vienna. He also tells fascinating stories about societies which accepted, incorporated, or institutionalized homosexuality into mainstream culture, stories illustrating that same-sex eroticism was often accepted as a normal aspect of human sexuality. In twentieth-century America, researchers first recognized that homosexuality might not be "pathological" when Alfred Kinsey and Evelyn Hooker conducted the first studies of sexuality not biased by preconceived notions of "normal" sexual behavior. After exploring sexual development in the human fetus, Mondimore reviews current biological research into the nature of sexual orientation and examines recent scientific findings on the role of heredity and hormones, as well as Simon LeVay's 1991 brain studies. He then turns to a very important focus: on people and their individual experiences. He explores "what happens between childhood and adulthood in an individual that makes him or her come to identify himself or herself as having a sexual orientation." He also explains our current understanding of bisexuality and the transgender phenomena of transsexualism and transvestism. Finally, Mondimore analyzes the circumstances of such prominent scandals as the anti-homosexual trials of Oscar Wilde and Philip von Eulenberg, and recounts the Nazi persecution of homosexuals during the Holocaust. This far-reaching discussion includes a description of the ex-gay ministries and reparative therapy as well as the Stonewall riots and AIDS, ending with the emergence of gay pride and community.

Author : Gilbert H Herdt
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 0429977093
Total Pages : 201 pages
Book Rating : 4.91/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Same Sex, Different Cultures written by Gilbert H Herdt and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-05-15 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Because homoerotic relations can be found in so many cultures, Gilbert Herdt argues that we should think of these relations as part of the human condition. This new cross-cultural study of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals around the world, Same Sex, Different Cultures provides a unique perspective on maturing and living within societies, both historical and contemporary, that not only acknowledge but also incorporate same-gender desires and relations.Examining what it means to organize ?sex? in a society that lacks a category for ?sex,? or to love someone of the same gender when society does not have a ?homosexual? or ?gay/lesbian? role, Herdt provides provocative new insights in our understanding of gay and lesbians lives. Accurate in both its scientific conceptions and wealth of cultural and historical material, examples range from the ancient Greeks and feudal China and Japan to the developing countries of Africa, India, Mexico, Brazil, and Thailand, from a New Guinea society to contemporary U.S. culture, including Native Americans. For all of these peoples, homoerotic relations emerge as part of culture?and not separate from history or society.In many of these groups, loving or engaging in sexual relations is found to be the very basis of the local cultural theory of ?human nature? and the mythological basis for the cosmos and the creation of society. The mistake of modern Western culture, Gilbert contends, is to continue the legalization of prejudice against lesbians and gays.In this light, the book addresses the issue of ?universal? versus particular practices and reveals positive role models that embrace all aspects of human sexuality. Finally, it offers knowledge of the existence of persons who have loved and have been intimate sexually and romantically with the same gender in other lands through divergent cultural practices and social roles.The most important lesson to learn from this cross-cultural and historical study of homosexuality is that there is room for many at the table of humankind.

Author : Institute of Medicine
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309210658
Total Pages : 366 pages
Book Rating : 4.52/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-06-24 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At a time when lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals--often referred to under the umbrella acronym LGBT--are becoming more visible in society and more socially acknowledged, clinicians and researchers are faced with incomplete information about their health status. While LGBT populations often are combined as a single entity for research and advocacy purposes, each is a distinct population group with its own specific health needs. Furthermore, the experiences of LGBT individuals are not uniform and are shaped by factors of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geographical location, and age, any of which can have an effect on health-related concerns and needs. The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People assesses the state of science on the health status of LGBT populations, identifies research gaps and opportunities, and outlines a research agenda for the National Institute of Health. The report examines the health status of these populations in three life stages: childhood and adolescence, early/middle adulthood, and later adulthood. At each life stage, the committee studied mental health, physical health, risks and protective factors, health services, and contextual influences. To advance understanding of the health needs of all LGBT individuals, the report finds that researchers need more data about the demographics of these populations, improved methods for collecting and analyzing data, and an increased participation of sexual and gender minorities in research. The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People is a valuable resource for policymakers, federal agencies including the National Institute of Health (NIH), LGBT advocacy groups, clinicians, and service providers.

Author : Matthew Vines
Publisher : Convergent
ISBN 13 : 1601425163
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.64/5 ( download)

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Download or read book God and the Gay Christian written by Matthew Vines and published by Convergent. This book was released on 2014 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reinterpretations of key Bible texts related to sexual orientation, written by a Harvard student, present an accessible case for a modern Christian conservative acceptance of sexual diversity.

Author : Menelaos Apostolou
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030539253
Total Pages : 252 pages
Book Rating : 4.52/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Evolution of Same-Sex Attraction written by Menelaos Apostolou and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-10-06 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the evolutionary origins of same-sex attraction, evaluating multiple existing evolutionary theories. It combines empirical findings with theoretical arguments in order to review evidence on the prevalence rates of same-sex attraction and determine its genetic and environmental basis. Among the topics addressed: Attitudes towards same-sex attraction across human history Assessing the weak selection pressures hypothesis of attraction Assessing the male choice hypothesis of attraction Evolution of same-sex attraction in men versus women The Evolution of Same-Sex Attraction will be of interest to academics and students of evolutionary and psychological sciences, filling a gap in literature on the origins of specifically same-sex attraction.

Author : John Dececco, Phd
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317774418
Total Pages : 186 pages
Book Rating : 4.19/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Origins of Sexuality and Homosexuality written by John Dececco, Phd and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-04-04 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This well-documented book highlights some of the theories of bisexual and homosexual identities and their conceptual bases in cultural history, moral philosophy, biology, and social psychology. Some of the most respected minds in the field of human sexuality challenge traditional views on homosexuality and question the moral principles implicit in many existing psychiatric and psychological theories.

Author : Colin Spencer
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 456 pages
Book Rating : 4.75/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Homosexuality written by Colin Spencer and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of homosexuality, which examines its place within early societies, first civilizations, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Victorian era. Spencer concludes that homosexuality is only accepted in loosely democratic societies.

Author : Louis Crompton
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780674030060
Total Pages : 652 pages
Book Rating : 4.60/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Homosexuality and Civilization written by Louis Crompton and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-07 with total page 652 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How have major civilizations of the last two millennia treated people who were attracted to their own sex? In a narrative tour de force, Louis Crompton chronicles the lives and achievements of homosexual men and women alongside a darker history of persecution, as he compares the Christian West with the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome, Arab Spain, imperial China, and pre-Meiji Japan. Ancient Greek culture celebrated same-sex love in history, literature, and art, making high claims for its moral influence. By contrast, Jewish religious leaders in the sixth century B.C.E. branded male homosexuality as a capital offense and, later, blamed it for the destruction of the biblical city of Sodom. When these two traditions collided in Christian Rome during the late empire, the tragic repercussions were felt throughout Europe and the New World. Louis Crompton traces Church-inspired mutilation, torture, and burning of sodomites in sixth-century Byzantium, medieval France, Renaissance Italy, and in Spain under the Inquisition. But Protestant authorities were equally committed to the execution of homosexuals in the Netherlands, Calvin's Geneva, and Georgian England. The root cause was religious superstition, abetted by political ambition and sheer greed. Yet from this cauldron of fears and desires, homoerotic themes surfaced in the art of the Renaissance masters--Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Sodoma, Cellini, and Caravaggio--often intertwined with Christian motifs. Homosexuality also flourished in the court intrigues of Henry III of France, Queen Christina of Sweden, James I and William III of England, Queen Anne, and Frederick the Great. Anti-homosexual atrocities committed in the West contrast starkly with the more tolerant traditions of pre-modern China and Japan, as revealed in poetry, fiction, and art and in the lives of emperors, shoguns, Buddhist priests, scholars, and actors. In the samurai tradition of Japan, Crompton makes clear, the celebration of same-sex love rivaled that of ancient Greece. Sweeping in scope, elegantly crafted, and lavishly illustrated, Homosexuality and Civilization is a stunning exploration of a rich and terrible past.

Author : Simon LeVay
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262121999
Total Pages : 375 pages
Book Rating : 4.96/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Queer Science written by Simon LeVay and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1996-05-14 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.