In a society dominated by heterosexual groups, how do gay people identify themselves? Do they think their homosexuality is based on genes or choice? This article mainly elaborates on this issue from four aspects. First, from a historical perspective, by studying the history of homosexuality, determine the factors that influence the formation of lesbianism; second, from the existing literature, verify the influence of genes on the homosexual group; third, from the existing research data, elaborate Homosexuality is a choice; fourth, talk about the impact of society and family on lesbians' self-identity and their self-identity.
Tracing back to Chinese history, there are official historical records of lesbianism, which originated from Empress Chen of the Han Dynasty. After Empress Chen fell out of favor, she asked a woman to wear men's clothes and sleep with her. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty found out, he killed the woman and deposed Empress Chen. China has records about homosexuality since ancient times. In the imperial palace, there were a large number of maids because there were no men to satisfy their sexual needs. Many maids had lesbian tendencies, and there are a lot of records in official and unofficial history. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, economically developed provinces such as Guangdong and Zhejiang also had a large number of records of folk lesbianism. The sericulture girl in Shunde, Foshan, Guangdong is one of the most recorded examples. There are also many descriptions of lesbianism in Chinese literary works, such as Dream of Red Mansions. There are also many records of homosexuality in the West. For example, the United States in the 19th century. Many legal figures have called for legislation to severely punish homosexuality, but none of them has been implemented. Let’s focus on the origin figure of Western lesbianism, Sappho. Sappho was born into a noble family between 630 and 612 BC. The rich family wealth frees her from the hardship of making a living and allows her to decide her own lifestyle as she pleases. Precocious and precocious, she chose Lesbos, the cultural center of Greece at that time, as the place to settle, specializing in literature and art. At that time, many Greek women came to Lesbos Island to learn poetry under his tutelage. Sappho not only taught them knowledge, but also wrote many poems expressing her strong love for them. At that time, love affairs with strong spiritual connections between teachers and students were popular in ancient Greece, and Sappho's poems with strong homosexual emotions were widely sung. At that time, the currency on the island of Lesbos all had Sappho's head as the pattern. Since the end of the 19th century, Sappho has become synonymous with lesbianism. "Lesbian" (meaning lesbian) and the adjective "Sapphic" are both derived from Sappho. Sappho is also considered the originator of lesbianism.
From this point of view, the homosexual group has always existed in human history and is not just a product of modern society. Looking at the representative figures of homosexuality, we can find that the places where homosexuality is most documented are the richest places in the region. For example, the Imperial Palace of China, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Western lesbians are generally born in royal palaces and aristocratic families. Since history is composed of layers, lesbians are mostly recorded. This is partly because the area is more developed and the place attracts more attention from historians. What cannot be ignored is that the largest birthplaces of gay groups are still in affluent areas. There may be deeper reasons, just like the topic of this article. In fertile areas, human beings have a more complete understanding of themselves and have a stronger sense of existence as human beings. They are more daring to express their homosexual tendencies; in affluent areas, people's sexual needs can be more deeply explored and displayed more superficially. These factors may be the reason why lesbians are more recorded in history. Today, the level of research and recognition of lesbians in developed countries far exceeds that in developing countries. This is also an example. Economic factors play a large role in lesbian self-identification. The prosperity of economic conditions indirectly promotes the formation of lesbianism.
The most important conclusion about the influence of genes on homosexuality comes from Hamer. . Dean Hamer is a researcher at the National Cancer Institute. Hamer's team discovered that a small region on the X chromosome, called Xq28, is found in 33 of 44 pairs (83 percent) of gay twins. Unlike Pele and Pillard's 50% chance, Hamer believes that if one twin is gay, the chance that the other is gay is 33%. In other words, gay men are 3% more likely than straight men to get Xq28, the so-called "gay" gene on the X chromosome. There are some things worth noting about this study. First, Hamer did not set up a control group from the general population. If a specific sequence on the X chromosome appears in homosexuals and in similar proportions in non-gay people, there is no statistical significance. Hammer did not test the genes of heterosexual twins, but there is some data showing that heterosexual twins also carry the so-called "gay" gene. All of this suggests that the "gay" gene may not play a role in homosexuality as Hammer suggests. In addition, seven pairs of gay twin brothers in the Hammer study did not have the "gay" gene. It seems that the "gene theory" has failed in these seven pairs of brothers. Hammer's research methods have also been questioned. George Risch of Yale University used the same research method and failed to replicate Hamer's findings. The influence of genes on homosexual behavior cannot yet be proven and remains in a state of doubt. Genes may be a concept imposed by heterosexuals in order to understand homosexuals. Perhaps the formation of homosexuality itself is caused by behavior and has nothing to do with genes.
Heredity plays an important role in lesbian identity. One of the reasons many lesbians initially break through their psychological constraints is that they believe lesbianism is natural. Unable to change, they used the arguments of heredity and genes to convince their families and themselves. In a predominantly heterosexual society, self-identity is extremely important to lesbians. Gene theory is also an important support for lesbians.
In interviews and research reports about lesbians, a large number of lesbians believe that becoming gay is their own choice. This is what is called self-identity. There are six stages of self-identity, namely: identity confusion, identity comparison, identity tolerance, identity acceptance, identity pride and identity integration. These six stages can also show that lesbian self-identity is a dynamic process of change. They constantly adapt and blend into their environment. Self-identification of sexual identity is a more important issue than heterosexuality. Behind them there is a large heterosexual community that does not understand homosexuality. In the final stage of self-identification, they all tend to identify their self-identity as homosexuality as a choice. From genetic determinism to self-selection, they have spanned a long psychological journey. The environment plays a decisive role in people's choices. The environment determines the scope of choices and the difficulty of choices. The self-selection theory of lesbians shows, to a greater extent, that the environment is a major cause of the formation of homosexuality. For example, there is a psychological environment of being raped, growing up in a domestic violence environment, etc. These may make lesbians hate men. And this is an important part of their self-identity. They don't like men, they like women, that is, people of the same sex. Lesbians have made their own choices in the micro-environment of the family under the macro-background of society, and they have also established their own identity. Eventually they reached identity pride and gradually moved toward identity integration.
The social environment felt by homosexuals is different. In developed areas, people have a relatively high level of acceptance of homosexuality and are relatively better able to understand the homosexual community. However, in poor areas of our country, homosexuality is still regarded as an alien existence. But relatively speaking, society's tolerance for homosexuality varies with the development of economic conditions. The influence of official propaganda media and various TV series has also gradually become apparent. People, especially among the younger generation, are increasingly recognizing lesbian identities. More people tend to think lesbianism is a choice. The biggest pushback lesbians face is from their closest family members. To the outside world, recognition remains superficial. This shallow identification creates obstacles when lesbians are their own relatives. Deep down, most people still cannot accept the fact that their family members are lesbians. This strong resistance also prevents many lesbians from coming out. It can be seen that society's recognition of lesbian identity is still shallow and superficial, and needs further improvement.
The main factors that determine the sexual identity of homosexuals include economic environment, personal experience, etc. Environmental factors are a huge container that will have a certain impact on an individual's experience and personality. An individual's experience also determines the individual's degree of identity. Different gay individuals are currently at different stages of identity due to their personal experiences. The social environment towards homosexual identity is gradually becoming more enlightened, but it is still a superficial recognition. There are still huge barriers to gay identity within the nuclear family environment. This is also the most critical factor preventing lesbians from achieving happiness. Family has a great influence on the lives of homosexuals, and family is very important to homosexuals.