Last Saturday, the Office of Diversity & Inclusion held a workshop focused on sexual orientation with Associate Professor of Sociology Dr. Carl Riden and Assistant Professor of English Dr. David Magill. Held in Hiner 207 at noon, the workshop addressed sex, gender and sexuality in an academic discussion on the differences, defining each word and discussing how each one affects the other.
When discussing sex (i.e., female or male), Riden and Magill affirmed that it is defined by biology more than anything else, concerning primary sex characteristics (e.g., external genitalia), secondary sex characteristics (e.g., change of pitch in voice) and chromosomes. Sex, in the end, is determined by basic physicality.
Contrasting sex, gender is not based on one's physical characteristics, but on society's determination on what is femininity and masculinity. Gender is defined between what constitutes girls vs. boys, dolls vs. guns, skirts vs. pants, and pink vs. blue. Magill said, "We think stereotypically of those genders."
By putting together sex and gender, both contribute to society's perceptions on sexuality. Discussing how it is incorrect that a person may believe that a feminine male automatically equates to him being gay or that a masculine female automatically equates to her being lesbian, Riden and Magill argued that the stigma in society of determining another's sexuality merely by their demeanor is inaccurate and groundless.
Riden and Magill defined sexuality in their presentation as "how people experience the erotic and express themselves as sexual beings." Even so, sexuality still splits off, complicating itself further between sexual identity and sexual orientation.
Discussing the differences, Riden and Magill defined sexual identity as being the sexuality one labels oneself, regardless of any internal desires or sexual behaviors one experiences.
Sexual orientation, regardless of what one identifies outwardly with, is determined by one's actions and desires. Therefore, while a person can have a sexual identity with one sexuality, the same person could have a sexual orientation with an opposite sexuality.
As Riden said, "Desire and what you do, not the same." Such conflict could arise from what one's culture deems acceptable, influencing each person on how inclined each could be to deny oneself in the pursuit of societal acceptance. Riden discussed how people may have sex with someone, regardless of their gender, for means of survival (e.g., money) or to fit societal norms (e.g., have sex with spouse), orienting themself differently to what they identify with for their own reasons.
As the entirety of the workshop centered on sexuality, the question as to why people have sex was discussed, including: procreation, pleasure, to fit societal norms, money, control, religion (in some cultures), and love. Additionally, Magill and Riden discussed different types of attraction people feel, being emotional, physiological and social.
Each attraction asks different things of each person. For emotional attraction, Riden said it asks, "Who do we see as a potential romantic partner?" Meanwhile, physiological attraction asks the question, "Who turns us on?" Lastly, social attraction asks, "Who do I see as a reasonable spouse or a reasonable life-long partner given my upbringing, my social circumstance?"
Further discussing each, Riden described social attraction as the attraction towards someone who is more of an image of what fits as suitable to be attracted to. "It's really the mind," Riden stated, concerning what social attractions are controlled by.
Physiological attraction, though, differs from emotional attraction in how it deals with bodily desires, rather than intellectual, image-based desires. Riden said, "We have a lot less control of that. It's kind of an automatic response. It's not culturally influenced, but as an individual we can't go, ‘I'm going to be turned on by this thing,' and make it so."
Meanwhile, emotional attraction focuses on the love aspect of relationships. Riden added, "Romance and eroticism are not the same things."
Riden concluded, "Who I might get turned on by, who I might fall in love with and who I see as a legitimate person I might build a life with can be three totally different kinds of people. Ideally, we find a person who can be all of that, but given the way we define sexuality and acceptable sexuality, that's not always going to happen."
If interested in participating in further discussions on sexuality or asking any questions of your own, consider attending PRIDE meetings Thursdays at 8 p.m. in Ruffner 115.
If interested in a more literary approach, Magill will teach English 362: Literature of Diversity: Gender and Bodies next semester, which will "examine contemporary literature and film for its depictions of gender as constituted through and around particular bodies. Thus, we will read with an eye toward understanding how writers narrate the body, how they produce genders, and how those two projects are always intertwined," as reported in the Fall 2011 English Majors' Newsletter.
If considering an online class for next semester, Riden will teach Sociology 495: Sexuality and Society.