Sexual Orientation

Sexual orientation differs from sexual identity in that it encompasses relationships

with others, while sexual identity is a concept of self. Sexual identity and sexual
behavior are closely related to sexual orientation, but they are distinguished, with
sexual identity referring to an individual's conception of themselves, behavior
referring to actual sexual acts performed by the individual, and orientation referring
to "fantasies, attachments and longings."
[19]
Individuals may or may not express their
sexual orientation in their behaviors.
[1]
People who have a homosexual sexual
orientation that does not align with their sexual identity are sometimes referred to
as 'closeted'.
Gender, transgender, and conformance

The majority of transgender people today identify with the sexual orientation that
corresponds with their gender; meaning that a transwoman who is solely attracted
to women would often identify as a lesbian. Female-attracted transmen often
consider themselves straight men, yet some participate in the lesbian community.

Causes
Biology
Main article: Biology and sexual orientation
Research has identified several biological factors which may be related to the
development of sexual orientation, including genes, prenatal hormones,
and brain structure. No single controlling cause has been identified, and research is
continuing in this area
Genetic factors
Genes may be related to the development of sexual orientation. At one time, studies
of twins appeared to point to a major genetic component, but problems
in experimental designof the available studies have made their interpretation
difficult, and one recent study appears to exclude genes as a major factor.
[57]


Environment and sexual orientation
Family influences[edit]
Researchers have provided evidence that gay men report having had less loving and
more rejecting fathers, and closer relationships with their mothers, than non-gay
men. Some researchers think this may indicate that childhood family experiences are
important determinants to homosexuality,
[9]
or that parents behave this way in
response to gender-variant traits in a child.
Fraternal birth order[edit]
Main article: Fraternal birth order and sexual orientation
According to several studies, each additional older brother increases a man's odds of
developing a homosexual orientation by 28%48%. Most researchers attribute this
to prenatal environmental factors, such as prenatal hormones.

Sexual arousal
Studying human sexual arousal has proved a fruitful way of understanding how men
and women differ as genders and in terms of sexual orientation.
Some researchers who study sexual orientation argue that the concept
may not apply similarly to men and women. A study of sexual arousal
patterns
[105]
found that women, when viewing erotic films which show female-
female, male-male and male-female sexual activity (oral sex or penetration), have
patterns of arousal which do not match their declared sexual orientations as well as
men's. That is, heterosexual and lesbian women's sexual arousal to erotic films
do not differ significantly by the genders of the participants (male or female) or by
the type of sexual activity (heterosexual or homosexual). On the contrary, men's
sexual arousal patterns tend to be more in line with their stated orientations, with
heterosexual men showing more penis arousal to female-female sexual activity and
less arousal to female-male and male-male sexual stimuli, and homosexual and
bisexual men being more aroused by films depicting male-male intercourse and less
aroused by other stimuli.
Culture
See also: LGBT history, Societal attitudes toward homosexuality, and LGBT
community and multiculturalism


Gay Pride, Paris 2009
Research suggests that sexual orientation is independent of cultural and other social
influences, but that open identification of one's sexual orientation may be hindered
by homophobic/hetereosexist settings. Social systems such as religion, language and
ethnic traditions can have a powerful impact on realization of sexual orientation.
Influences of culture may complicate the process of measuring sexual orientation.

necrophilia
History[edit]
Singular accounts of necrophilia in history are sporadic, though written records
suggest the practice was present within Ancient Egypt. Herodotus writes in The
Histories that, to discourage intercourse with a corpse, ancient Egyptians left
deceased beautiful women to decay for "three or four days" before giving them to
the embalmers.
[3][4][5]
There was an old miner named Dave
who kept a dead whore in his cave
You have to admit
He hadn't much wit
But look at the money he saved!

Pedophilia
Development and sexual orientation
Pedophilia has been described as a disorder of sexual preference,
phenomenologically similar to a heterosexual or homosexual sexual
orientation because it emerges before or during puberty, and because it is stable
over time.
[53]
These observations, however, do not exclude pedophilia from the
group of mental disorders because pedophilic acts cause harm, and pedophiles can
sometimes be helped by mental health professionals to refrain from acting on their
impulses which cause harm to children.
[54]
Causes and biological associations
Although what causes pedophilia is not yet known, beginning in 2002, researchers
began reporting a series of findings linking pedophilia with brain structure and
function: Pedophilic men have lower IQs,
[76][77][78]
poorer scores on memory
tests,
[77]
greater rates of non-right-handedness,
[76][77][79][80]
greater rates of school
grade failure over and above the IQ differences,
[81]
lesser physical height,
[82]
greater
probability of having suffered childhood head injuries resulting in
unconsciousness,
[65][83]
and several differences in MRI-detected brain
structures.
[84][85][86]
They report that their findings suggest that there are one or more
neurological characteristics present at birth that cause or increase the likelihood of
being pedophilic.