Many people are not able to distinguish between gender identity and sexual orientation. In reality, a sizeable portion of the population is convinced that there is a logical relationship between them. Despite the fact that sexual orientation and gender identity are closely connected, sexual orientation relates to a person’s sexual inclinations, whereas gender identity refers to how a person perceives and expresses their gender (Fausto-Sterling 532). Researchers from a variety of fields have placed a priority on the fact that gender identity and sexual orientation are two separate concepts with independent meanings. The fact that a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity is not primarily based on their gender serves as justification for this.
Most individuals can typically tell whether someone is male or female based on how their physical signs of the sex line up. However, all animals, including humans, also naturally experience intersex disturbances. Within these settings, there have been many challenges in the research on sexual and gender orientation. When a person’s inborn sexual anatomy that is not fitting in the conventional ideas of a female or male body, the condition is referred to as intersex (Fausto-Sterling 534). More than twenty-five genes that were originally assumed to be exclusively linked to male or female biology have been discovered during the past three decades, but they really exhibit more intricate, non-binary variation (Fausto-Sterling 537). It becomes more and more clear that biological sex does not fit into the binary model with the development of fresh scientific information. Due to this, some of the researchers prefer to use the terms such as male-male sexual behavior, which emphasizes the complexity of the concept of homosexualism. As inherent variances of human physiology, intersex disorders are becoming more widely acknowledged.
Because they enjoy the advantage of being regarded as normal by society, people whose biological sex and gender identity are the same rarely investigate the connection between biology and identity. At the same time, some people who hold a point of view that sexual orientation is inborn are more acceptive of different sexual and gender orientations. This is due to the situation that they attribute it to the interaction of genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors. Therefore, for them, homosexual behavior is just another model of human development and not an anomaly.
There are many ways how one’s sexual or gender orientation can be influenced. In practically every facet of life, societal demands for gender presentation are rising. The gendered choices that boys and girls “should” make when it comes to toys, colors, outfits, games, and hobbies are obvious to even very young children (Liszewski 2391). Tomgirls are frequently used to describe girls whose gender presentation is perceived as somewhat masculine. Finding supportive or neutral identities is more difficult for boys whose gender and gender presentation are viewed as unsuitable.
Concluding, it can be seen that sexual orientation refers to a person’s attraction to other people and the sexual, romantic, and emotional pull they have toward them. It goes against gender identity or orientation. In essence, gender identification refers to a person’s identity as a man, a woman, or someone else rather than to the person they are attracted to. This indicates that being transgender is not the same as being gay, lesbian, or bisexual or feeling that a person’s assigned gender is considerably different from the gender he or she identifies with.
Works Cited
Fausto-Sterling, Anne. “Gender/sex, sexual orientation, and identity are in the body: How did they get there?.” The Journal of Sex Research, vol. 56, no. 4, 2019, pp. 529-555.
Liszewski, Walter. “Persons of nonbinary gender—awareness, visibility, and health disparities.” The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 379, no. 25, 2018, p. 2391.