HETEROSEXUAL QUESTIONNAIRE ASSUMPTIONS

1
HETEROSEXUAL QUESTIONNAIREASSUMPTIONS

• Heterosexuality is an inferior experience,
  chosen in ignorance of the real and better
  option.
•   Heterosexuality can be tolerated as long as it
  remains invisible. Open heterosexuality is
  offensive.
•   Heterosexuals are perverted. All they ever
  think about is sex.
• All heterosexuals are dangerous, child
  molesters.
•   Heterosexuals are incapable of, and/or not
  interested in, having real, long term, committed
  relationships.
• Heterosexuality is a problem, and needs to be
  fixed.
•  

2
ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT DIFFERENCE

• Being different means being dangerous, immoral,
  insensitive, ignorant, superficial, inadequate,
  unreliable, perverted, and, not as good as
  normal.
• Being different means - being undeserving of
  respect, privacy, sensitivity, or inclusion, let
  alone admiration.
• Being different means being other, and
  therefore less than, and therefore without
  entitlement.

3
CHANGING VIEWS

• The 1950s
• The navvy or the uneducated boy is often sought
  by the sensitive or middle-class homosexual,
  whereas the working class man is drawn to a
  better-educated and more cultured person. Not
  only do such liaisons involve grave social risks
  even to the pitch of blackmail but because of
  their intrinsic unsuitability they are doomed to
  failure from the start. Thus many homosexual men
  lack the capacity to form enduring relationships.

Malleson, J. 1951, Any Wife or Any HusbandSexual
Problems in Marriage, p.132.
4
CHANGING VIEWS

• The 1960s
• Whereas male homosexuality is almost invariably
  expressed by mutual masturbation and other
  physical practices, feminine homosexuality is
  often confined to the psychological level, with
  perhaps no physical manifestations at all beyond
  the tender embraces which our society generally
  accepts as being a natural accompaniment of
  friendship between women Women who are
  predominantly homosexual usually show evidence of
  a deep sense of insecurity in general, as well as
  a failure to realise their own femininity.

Storr,A. 1964 Sexual Deviation, pp71 75
5
CHANGING VIEWS

• The 1960s
• Female homosexuality can be seen as almost a
  social necessity amongst women who have not
  married and so do not have male companyThe male
  is unable to escape from the emotional
  involvement with his motherThe sex drive of the
  male homosexual is very strong but is directed
  towards men, as women are too frighteningIt is
  seldom fully satisfying sexually, and homosexuals
  tend to be promiscuous in search for a more
  complete relationship.

Bevan,J 1966, Sex The Plain Facts, pp72 - 75
6
CHANGING VIEWS

• The 1960s
• A boy may also turn to homosexuality if he has
  some physical problem, like a bad case of
  pimples, or fatness or if he feels that he is too
  short or too tall.

Pomeroy,W. 1968, Boys and Sex, p65.
7
CHANGING VIEWS

• The 1970s
• The importance of a stable, warm family life as
  a means of preventing the possible development of
  homosexuality is shown by a study in Britain of
  over 120 lesbians. Children reared in families
  which have only one parent, which are disturbed
  by distortions in the relationships of the
  parents to each other or to the child, or whose
  sexual attitudes are repressive or ignorant, are
  particularly vulnerable.

Llewllyn Jones, D 1971, Everywoman, p79.
8
CHANGING VIEWS

• The 1970s
• Homosexuality may result from forced lack of
  heterosexual contacts in male only or female only
  associationsThe predominant view at the moment
  is that homosexuality is an emotional disturbance
  primarily from disturbed relations between the
  child and his parents.

Steen,A Price, J. 1977, Human Sex and
Sexuality, pp 196 99.
9
CHANGING VIEWS

• The 1980s
• A homosexual is a person who prefers the
  continuing company, the emotional and physical
  contact of persons of his or her own sex, and
  preferentially responds erotically to a person of
  the same sex.

Llewllyn Jones, D 1981, Everyman, p212.
10
CHANGING VIEWS

• The 1990s
• Its OK to be attracted to someone of the same
  sex. Being attracted to people of the same sex
  is a natural and healthy way to be.
• Youre not alone. There are thousands of young
  people who have been through this, and many more
  wondering about their sexuality and whether they
  are the only one. It takes time to know who you
  are. It is OK to question your sexuality, its
  OK to be unsure, and its OK to take your time.
  Many young people have similar feelings to you,
  it is all part of finding out about yourself.

Here for Life Youth Sexuality Project 1997,
Youre Not Alone! A joint project of the Gay and
Lesbian Counselling Service (WA) and the WA AIDS
Council.
11
Changing Views

• 2000
• Homosexuality is not chosen like selecting
  clothes or a line of work. No one knows how human
  sexuality is determined. In discussions with
  thousands of families with gay children it was
  found that
• The gay child is often aware of his or her sexual
  orientation at an early age

12
Changing views

• None of the children are influenced or taught to
  be gay by another person
• In homes where gay children try to become
  heterosexual, all attempts fail
• Being gay is not just a stage youngsters go
  through
• P Flag International

13
Changing views

• Psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental
  health professionals agree that homosexuality is
  not an illness, mental disorder or emotional
  problem. Much objective scientific research over
  the past 35 years shows that homosexual
  orientation is not associated with emotional or
  social problems

14
Changing views

• In the past homosexuality was thought to be a
  mental illness because mental health
  professionals and society had biased information
  from studies which only involved lesbians and
  gay men undergoing therapy for problems. When
  researchers examined data about gay people who
  were not in therapy, the idea that homosexuality
  was illness was found not to be true
• Australian Psychological Society Information
  Sheet on Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality 2001

15
SEXUALITY

• Even a superficial look at other societies and
  some groups in our own society should be enough
  to convince us that a very large number of human
  beings probably a majority are bisexual in
  their potential capacity for love.
• Whether they will become exclusively heterosexual
  or exclusively homosexual for all their lives and
  in all circumstances or whether they will be able
  to enter into sexual and love relationships with
  members of both sexes is, in fact, a consequence
  of the the way they have been brought up, of the
  particular beliefs and prejudices of the society
  they live in and, to some extent, of their own
  life history.

Margaret Mead