[Vision2020] Understand Sexual Identity

[Art Deco]

Gosh.

Are they allowed to discuss such subjects so openly?

What's the world coming to?  Consideration of facts over religious fantasy?

OMG!

w.

On Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 3:04 PM, Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com> wrote:

> Courtesy of the UI Argonaut at:
>
> http://www.uiargonaut.com/2012/04/02/understand-sexual-identity/
>
> ---------------------------------
>
> [image: image.jpeg]
>
> Understand sexual identityCynthia Fine* | *Community Health Educator for
> Planned Parenthood
>
> Meet the amazing Genderbread Person: A model for understanding sexual
> identity. The genderbread person is comprised of four different and
> interconnected aspects of sexual identity. The first important thing to
> understand is that it’s not a binary equation. You’re not either/or. Think
> of it more as a continuum or a Venn diagram with overlapping qualities.
>
> Biological sex
> This is the piece that’s easiest to understand. It’s the chromosomes,
> hormones and reproductive organs you were born with. Typically, these
> qualities are congruent and a person is male with testes, XY chromosomes
> and male hormones or female with ovaries, XX chromosomes and female
> hormones. A small, but significant, number of people are born with
> variations which may be subtle and unnoticed until puberty, or significant
> and obvious at birth. People who are intersex have characteristics of each
> sex in various degrees.
>
> Gender identity
> This is inside our heads. It’s how we see ourselves. Child development
> specialists believe children develop this sense of identity somewhere
> between 18 months and 3 years old. They may not be fully aware of their
> inner beliefs and perceptions, but they are determined early and not
> subject to change. Most develop an identity that matches their biological
> sex, but some develop a gender identity of neither or both sexes. For
> transgender people, their identity does not match their body. Some choose
> surgery and/or hormones to change their bodies to match their identity.
>
> Sexual orientation
> This is the potential to be erotically and romantically attracted to
> others. You may be attracted to the same gender, both genders, the other
> gender or no genders. There is broad agreement among experts that sexual
> orientation is not chosen or learned but is basically “hardwired” in the
> brain. Some people feel a lack of sexual attraction to anyone and define
> asexuality as a sexual orientation. Things can get complicated when sexual
> behavior doesn’t match sexual orientation. People may have sexual
> relationships with someone they’re not attracted to for a variety of
> reasons, including the desire for a perceived traditional family and
> concerns of discrimination and religious ostracism.
>
> Gender expression
> This is our outward expressions of femininity or masculinity. This is
> highly influenced by culture and subject to change. Clothing, hairstyle and
> manner of speaking and walking give clues to how we see ourselves.
>
> Life might be less complicated if we all fit neatly into tidy little boxes
> and matched simple descriptions. But it would also be infinitely less
> interesting.
>
> ---------------------------------
>
> Seeya round town, Moscow.
>
> Tom "lesbian trapped in a man's body" Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
> "If not us, who?
> If not now, when?"
>
> - Unknown
>
>
>
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-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
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