Is it possible to change your sexuality - Essay Example

Is it possible to change your sexuality? Human sexuality issues are something that is considered as taboo in the society for long. However these issues are discussed time and again so as to bring to light the different aspects related with it as well as the notions raised by groups and factions who have one thing or the other to offer to the whole discussion. On a societal level, people-to-people contact must be stressed so that they come in close contact with each other and start understanding the needs and wants of their fellow human beings and thus no question arises when this subject starts to make headlines and the hard liners begin their daily protesting routine, just for the sake of nothing but raising a voice here and pelting stones there. This does not work in life as it mars the spirit of freedom for one and all and invites trouble from all quarters. Empathy must be the way forward in such a case whereby one puts him or her in the other’s (homosexual individual’s) shoe for a moment and start thinking of the problems and difficulties he or she would have to face in the same scenario. This would solve many a problem, as it would generate much more understanding and a sense of attachment with the gays and lesbians of the society. On an individual level, a gay or for that matter a lesbian must understand the commitment he has with the society and he also should know as to how his actions could affect it, both from a positive as well as from a negative point of view. He must avoid the trouble of inviting pressure from the hard liners if he possibly can but if the homosexual feels that it is his right to do whatsoever he wishes then he must do it, in the best manner possible, not only to benefit his own self but also provide comfort and consolation for the other homosexual who agrees to marry the former one. However, one should keep a close and vigilant eye on the pressures he would have to face at the hand of the society and the pressure groups when he decides to carry out the same. Just the mere fact that in the present times, homosexuals have started to be seen as quite normal individuals within the society is ground enough for one and all to understand that the solution provided for their betterment as well as the society would be easily taken up by one and all and they would not discard it on the pretext that it does not take into view a particular section’s feelings and emotions into mind. The two parties or as they should be known as the two sides need to discern that it is in their better interest to make one happy while at the same time, though not being on the losing side, the other part has to be brave enough to accept what the solution holds for them in the short while, the long run and more so the benefits that comprise the same. True that homosexuals do need their space and indeed it is the duty on the part of the people and the society to make them feel so but all is not like that when things are looked upon at from a practical standpoint and people start judging from angles which are quite personal rather than being for another individual in the society. The role of media in portraying the sexual aspects is one of an important one since it makes the distinction as to what comes clearly under its jurisdiction and what is not a part of the fragment that we are touching upon. Furthermore, the role played by the human beings in a sexual mode is one of a taboo kind since it invites for a lot of harsh judgment and bitter thoughts start pouring in left, right and center. In the times much like today, different factions of the society comprising of varied people want to change their sex for one reason or the other. We will delve into that further as we move on with the subject at hand. This could be due to differing views of males and females with respect to their genders as they perceived them being suffocated and stuck in the boundaries of their specific sex. They wanted to explore life from a different perspective and hence their urge to change their sex arose time and again and same is the case in the present times as well. Now we investigate further into the notion related with changing sexual self of an individual and for this related research will be provided in the following paragraphs. Psychotherapy or reparative therapy is literally rules out of the equation when one discusses the notion of changing sex in gays and lesbians. Thus the homosexual sexual orientation does not quite suffice to even a small extent when the talk goes out loud concerning the psychotherapy aspects. However what this study brings to light is the fact that homosexual individuals with the help of reparative therapy could actually turn into heterosexuals. But the same is in a predominant position so to speak. Evidence has been found out for the change in sexual orientation with assistance from reparative therapy which usually occurs in some gay men as well as that in lesbians. The desirability aspect seems to crop into the whole equation of whether or not a person can possibly change his or her sexual orientation or the sexual self. The matter related with sexuality is one of a difficult nature to understand to start with. A number of clinicians are of the view that change in sexuality usually results in harmful manner by self-loathing increases as well as lower self esteem issues and not to forget the depression and hopelessness regimes setting in, within an individual. Then there is the aspect related with ethical and moral consideration of the doctors and clinicians who help to change the sexual orientation of their clients. There are voices heard in the domain that ethical laws are being violated when clinicians are doing their bit at changing the sexual orientation of desirous individuals who have quite a number of varied reasons behind their undertaking. At the present, a very small number of counselors, clinicians and social health workers provide relief to the homosexuals when it comes to changing their sexual orientation and turning them into heterosexual individuals. There are also some religious aspects related with the reparative therapy which is employed to homosexuals and thus debates are endless in the related scheme of things. There are “ex-gay” notions related with the desires of homosexuals and the religious aspects embody the very same feeling so to speak. Individual counseling and advice is offered to gay men and lesbians who desire to change their sexual orientation and they are told of ways to overcome their fears and raise their self esteem and bring them in line with the normal men and women of the society. The psychotherapy or reparative therapy is received by individuals courtesy the different mental health professionals and clinicians who are doing their utmost to bring the society at norms as far as these homosexual individuals are concerned. They are offering their valuable advice day in day out as well as providing support to them so that these gay men and lesbians could turn a new leaf as far as their respective lives are concerned. The gay men feel as if their lives are on the outside and that they cannot do their normal duties in an easy manner at all. This is what reparative therapy suggests when gay men are studied over a continuous period of time. Further, same sex attractions are regarded as being a disorder in the first place and this is something which is looked upon at as being a bane in the line of development of an individual. This plays its vital role at the changing stages of the sexual orientation and cannot be discarded off for one reason or the other. When it comes to the understanding of having heterosexual attractions in the individuals who have undergone reparative therapies, we find out that this study easily brings to light the notion which suggests a diminishing attraction regime in such individuals. This is predominantly true in the case of gay men which are the clients of the reorientation therapists. Some of these individuals remain unchanged in their attraction regimes and show no signs of attracting another gender for that matter. This is an interesting observation since it not only underlines the subject related with the changing sexual self of individuals but also speaks of the differing circumstances which happen as concerns to their attraction attributes and beliefs when they have undergone their respective reorientation therapies which are only possible courtesy the reparative therapies which are undertaken by clinicians and mental health counselors. Another significant aspect related with the changing sexual orientation regimes lies in the fact that a number of critics and researchers ask the question as to whether or not the changed sexual basis remains for a particular period of time and then it reverts back to the same old self of the individual. This is a debatable issue and one that requires close examination of the subject at hand. Till the present time one knows that the sexual orientation is one facet that determined in the earliest of time periods within a human being’s birth and that this remains quite an ongoing and unchanged characteristic of his body which is in all essence resistant to change. Thus there is a consensus as far as sexual orientation is concerned which limits itself to the whole lifespan of an individual and this is supported very much by different studies and findings done in the related quarters. This entails of different areas which comprise of the conversion therapy outcome findings which has its fair share of exceptions to back it up with and the research which has its say in the developmental continuity between the gender-atypical behavior, first in the childhood stages and then later on in the adult homosexuality self of the individual. Then there are the aspects related with the studies done in the field of biological etiology related with sexual orientation which is comprised of an underlying premise that is provided evidence by contribution from etiology having a probabilistic relationship that exists between the conditions of identified biological selves and the outcome in the wake of the sexual orientation regimes. Moreover, the ideology that the sexual orientation is indeed fixed and cannot be changed for that matter has been time and again debated across a number of different platforms and there have been related challenges which have been raised every now and then which suggests that there is smoke only when there is enough fire to back it up. This basis also takes a look at the sex differences which are present in individuals who are desirous of getting their sexual orientations changed for some peculiar reasons which are already discussed at length within this paper. There is the concern related with fundamental stability or the flexibility of sexual orientation which lies in the wake of the consideration towards sex. Both men and women come under the changing sexual regimes which have been highlighted under such a premise, raised in essence by critics and researchers alike from time to time. The study suggests that there could be some differences when it comes to men and women and when there is a clear differentiation between the two as concerns to the sexual orientation characteristics and traits that are being spoken about here. The sexual flexibility is a strong point as far as women are concerned but seems to fall short on the count of men when we speak of the same contexts as regards to their sexual selves. By flexibility, we mean that sexual orientation is changed over a period of time marked by differing circumstances, regimes and alterations. These are more or less governed by time related features as far as orientation aspects are linked. Concerning the question related with whether or not individuals are able to get their sex changed or not, we find that there have been mixed results as the studies suggest over a period of time and there have been differing views both from the clinicians’ perspective as well as from the view of the individuals who are desirous of getting their sex changed for one reason or the other. There have been positive results which have been achieved in the wake of the sexual orientation techniques but this does not mean that there is absolute guarantee as concerns to the end results of the efficacy of these procedures so to speak. However improvements and enhancements have been envisaged time and again which easily suggest some way ahead and that too towards advancements in the related field and surely one could witness something happening in the positive direction in the times to come. There are observations raised by a number of critics who have one thing or the other to offer in the wake of the whole discussion related with the changing sexual orientations and the reparative therapies which are employed. Critics are of the view that homosexual individuals can get their sexual orientations changed if and only if they control their homosexual feelings which they have within themselves and that they can be successful if they are able to relabel their homosexual orientation as one of a heterosexual nature with the passage of time. This is an interesting observation which has been raised by critics from all quarters of the medical science and requires scrutiny and further research by all and sundry. What is more enticing to know is the fact that these critics are adamant that the homosexual orientation does not change and it remains intact no matter how hard the therapists try. This speaks volumes of the observations and the eventual research that goes in line with the reparative therapy done by the critics and not by the people who actually own the said regime in the first place. Then there is the aspect of the individuals receiving more than one therapy at the same time and in certain instances one after the other which raises an interesting debate that the individuals know these therapies are a mere eyewash and these would not offer any remedy to their problems as such. However all this comes from the mouth of the critics and is indeed one side of the picture which cannot be taken for absolute understanding and belief cannot be established on the same premise all said and done. Similarly, having similar feelings while the homosexual individual has changed his or her sexual orientation into one of a heterosexual one is something that poses as a problem for the subject as this individual would most likely seem to show different attraction regimes when his or her sexual basis has changed and these are some of the things which easily come under the regime of the changing sexual orientation techniques and the attached components. As discussed before, one of the side effects of unsuccessful change of sexual orientation is in the form of depression and low self esteem, the latter being apparent even when the homosexual individual was desirous of turning into a heterosexual one. Several studies have been carried out which show that the individuals seem to get frustrated after it was told to them that there sex could not be changed for one reason or the other and that they could even come back and get their sex changed at some point in time within the future, thus giving them false hope of which they are very aware of, right from the very beginning. There are marked differences when it comes to bisexual men and women and heterosexuals as concerns to sexual orientation regimes. They demonstrate different changes to the same treatments or tests that are done over them and these are manifested in the form of different notions and views backed up with solid evidence provided by researchers, clinicians and so on and so forth. Thus there is strong argument which lies in its favor more than anything else. Sexual orientation, all said and done is not an easy thing to alter and it requires patience and understanding on the part of the individual more than anyone else who lives with him and comprehends his feelings. There is a lot of patience required which goes down well with such an individual since this sexual orientation changing regime could consume a lot of his time and at the end of the day could eventually give him heartbreak more than anything that he could have imagined. On a number of different dimensions, lesbians have been known to have shown greater change than their male counterparts which suggests that indeed sexual orientation can be changed and more research needs to be done in the related contexts so that positive results could be had by all and sundry. Having said that, there is still a lot of room for improvement and the medical science field can expect a number of positives that could be derived out of it in the times to come. After all, there is hope for individuals who want to change their sexual orientation and thus make themselves at ease with the feelings of depression, low self esteem and other problems which seem to engulf an individual from all sides. All said and done, the role of the society is immense when it sees that an individual living within it wants to change his or her sexual orientation. The society must not resist the change that has risen within this individual rather it should encourage this person to do whatsoever he or she feels like. After all, everyone has a right to live in the best manner he or she desires. BIBLIOGRAPHY Kinnish, Kelly K & Strassberg, Donald S. (2005). Sex Differences in the Flexibility of Sexual Orientation: A Multidimensional Retrospective Assessment. Archives of Sexual Behavior Vol. 34, No. 2 Diamant, Louis. (1995). The Psychology of Sexual Orientation, Behavior, and Identity: A Handbook. Greenwood Press Ebertz, Linda. (1997). Sexual Orientation: Toward Biological Understanding. Praeger Publishers Spitzer, Robert L. (2003). Can Some Gay Men and Lesbians change their Sexual Orientation? 200 Participants Reporting a Change from Homosexual to Heterosexual Orientation. Archives of Sexual Behavior Vol. 32, No. 5 Downey, Jennifer I. (2002). Sexual Orientation and Psychoanalysis: Sexual Science and Clinical Practice. Columbia University Press Murphy, Timothy F. (1997). Gay Science: The Ethics of Sexual Orientation Research. Columbia University Press Chivers, Meredith L & Bailey, J Michael. (2000). Sexual Orientation of Female-to-Male Transsexuals: A Comparison of Homosexual and Nonhomosexual Types. Archives of Sexual Behavior Vol. 29, No. 3 Horowitz, Stephen M. (2001). Differences between Sexual Orientation Behavior Groups and Social Background, Quality of Life, and Health Behaviors. The Journal of Sex Research, Vol. 38 Lippa, Richard A. (2003). Handedness, Sexual Orientation, and Gender-Related Personality Traits in Men and Women. Archives of Sexual Behavior, Vol. 32 Word Count: 3,004 Read More