Gender Sexuality

Sexuality

Sexuality can be an awkward topic for many people. I am a psychology major and have seen lots of research covering sexuality and sexual orientation. Roles for men and women are at times drastically different and if you veer from societyЎ¦s path you may be seen as deviant or wrong for acting or feeling different from the norm. Today it is more common/excepted to see masculine heterosexual women and feminine heterosexual men. Just because they are different does not make them wrong. Adolescents experience much more adult feelings than in the past. They grow up and are faced with adult situations sooner than ever before.

While a major part of the differences between boys and girls stems from genetics, some believe that another large portion is learned from early childhood. Girls are brought home in a pink blanket and boys in blue. Even though most parents buy their child gender specific toys, studies show that they are usually preferred. Studies by Huston and Sedney (1987) disprove the belief that social pressure creates sex roles. Children raised androgynously display their stereotypes just as strong as children raised stereotypically. Boys are seen with a rough and tumble play and their games are focused on competition in large groups. Girls on the other hand play in smaller groups that involve little or no competition. As children grow older sex roles become easier to defy. I agree with these studies in that genetics has the most to do with why we are the way we are. I am a girly girl and loved playing with dolls, even though there were always trucks and GI Joes around too. It was my choice, not something that was forced upon me. But in todayЎ¦s world I was also allowed to love participating