Queer Sexuality- Myths Busted 12

(This post is a part of the series Queer Sexuality-Myths Busted. A small, not all inclusive research project i did in college. I am hereby presenting a few portions of that research work so that more and more people become aware of Queer Sexuality and start seeing it in positive light.)

The medical Queer

“The sexual struggle is of two kinds: in the one it is between the individuals of the same sex, generally the males, in order to drive away or kill their rivals, the females remaining passive; while in the other, the struggle is likewise between the individuals of the same sex, in order to excite or charm those of the opposite sex, generally the females, which no longer remain passive, but select the more agreeable partners”

Charles Darwin 1871

A theory about the development of sexual orientation and sexual arousal suggests that these behavior patterns are learned unconsciously from asexual experiences during childhood. The learning begins when the child distinguishes between men and women by the pitch of their voice. Using it, the brain develops mental images of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ that consist of features typical to men and women in the child’s surroundings. Throughout childhood, relying on asexual experiences, the brain continues to develop the patterns of sexual behavior around those mental images. After puberty, behavior patterns that were learned from sexual experiences are added to those learned from asexual experiences during childhood.

Differentiation of some brain structures has been correlated with sexual orientation. For instance, the size of the INAH-3, which is a part of the hypothalamus, a brain area that among other things controls physical aspects of sexual activity, is larger in gay men than in heterosexual men and women. The hypothalamus also reacts to certain chemical compounds in accordance with the sexual orientation of the individual. The amygdala, a brain area involved in emotional activities such as fear, was found to be involved in sexual activities. The inner eat shows sex and sexual orientation differentiations. The cochleae of human females are 8-13% shorter than those of males. Otoacoustic emission (OAE), which is sound generated by the cochlea in response to external sound, was found to have sex differences even in newborns, and in adult women such differences correlate with sexual orientation.

Voice is generated and detected by genetically controlled organs, which are sex differentiated. It is robust and universal– it is one of the most reliable and commonly used cues for detecting the sex of a person. The distinction between men’s and women’s voices is based on differences in sound frequencies. Those are detected and processed by the inner ear and by the auditory neural networks, which project that information to various brain areas. It was found that concentration of sex hormones affects the development and connectivity of neural networks, and thus the outcomes of information that they process.

The root cues of human voice are sufficient, but not necessary, for the development of sexual orientation. Other cues may also play a role. For instance, after puberty, other root cues that depend on experiencing sexual pleasures come into play. Also, in deaf children, other mechanisms, which are still unexplored, replace the reliance on sound.

In addition to sensory cues, also arousal cues contribute to the identification of targets of sexual attraction. It was suggested that a combination of two innate emotions, fear and the feeling of safety, is a root cue of sexual arousal. These emotions are genetic, universal and robust. In general, their combination creates excitement. For example, the excitement of riding a roller coaster or driving a fast car is attributed to a combination of the feelings of fear and safety. Analysis has shown that a common thread of many sexual fantasies and behaviors is a combination of those emotions.