Identity is a complex issue. It means recognizing yourself as a unique and differentiated being, who remains who you are despite the changes that occur over time and with experience.
Identity also has an evident social nuance, and implies a certain degree of assimilation of the characteristics that define other groups, with which we feel identified. Furthermore, it is a phenomenon composed of many dimensions, which make sense when united. Therefore, it cannot be understood solely as character, orientation or behaviors; but as the more or less harmonious integration of all of them.
In this article we will address what sexual identity is and the emotional correlates that emerge from it being an essential element to understand the how and why of our most intimate relationships.
What is sexual identity
Identity, in absolute terms, includes the way in which the human being understands and thinks about himself, attributing to himself a myriad of properties through which he defines his own individuality. It involves both the personal and the social; and contemplates aspects as diverse as the religion one professes, the ethnic group one belongs to, the place one lives in and the relational aspects that arise when dealing with others (sexuality being established as another communicative function).
Sexual identity is a key concept for self-definition. An adequate approach requires considering the physiological, psychological and social; aspects that may also be susceptible to change. The perception of what we are does not remain unchanged, despite the fact that the first years of life are the most relevant for building the foundations on which everything else will be built.
In recent years we have witnessed a notable reinterpretation and revision of the traditional prism, breaking the dichotomy on which the understanding of the human being was built and unfolding very diverse nuances in which the uniqueness of each person can find a better space for representation.
Next we propose concepts related to sexual identity which are necessary to understand what it consists of.
Sexual identity: five related concepts
Below we will define biological sex, sexual orientation, sexual behavior, gender orientation and gender expression.
Although they are relatively independent concepts, they all have some relationship with sexual identity, so their knowledge is very important.
1. Biological sex
Sex is a construct through which the phenotypic differences of an animal are categorized, in relation to its sexual dimorphism. In human beings, the dichotomy “man” or “woman” has always been assumed; which generally alludes to anatomical, hormonal and physiological issues that differentiate one from another. Thus, it has been understood as a strictly biological variable, in which genetics attributed XX chromosomes for women and XY for men.
However, discrepancies in the basic chromosome arrangement are currently recognized; distinguishing the XXX, XXY, XYY and even the XO; as well as men with pattern XX (La Chapelle syndrome) and women with pattern XY (Swyer syndrome). All of this seems to be suggestive that sexual reality cannot be reduced to absolute and lapidary terms, but that there is a genotypic variety that forces us to reconsider the usefulness of this duality.
Recently, the birth of a baby with undifferentiated sexual characteristics was the reason for almost immediate surgery, in order to choose any of the categories that society could accept (man or woman). Nowadays it is a much less widespread practice, since the risk of psychological damage is recognized. Furthermore, many social currents advocate the explicit recognition of the condition of intersexuality as a “third sex.”
2. Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation is defined based on the sex of the people for whom we feel physical and/or romantic attraction. In this sense, the concepts most commonly used today are heterosexuality (attraction towards people of the opposite sex), homosexuality (attraction towards people of the same sex) and bisexuality (attraction towards people of both sexes). Despite this, it is very important to remember that orientation is a dimensional phenomenon, and not a category in which one can enroll.
Thus, orientation takes the form of a continuum or spectrum whose extremes would be homosexuality and heterosexuality, and in which each person would be located at some relative point. There is, therefore, no possibility of classifying this question in absolute terms, but always from relativity and taking into account questions of degree. For this reason, no homogeneity can be assumed for people based on their identification as homo, hetero or bisexual.
There are also individuals who consider themselves asexual, in the sense that they do not perceive interest in either men or women. Although this orientation has been considered in some cases as an “absence of orientation”, in many classifications it is referred to as another form of sexuality, along with the classic ones that have already been cited in this same text.
Finally, queer people would feel attracted to others without paying any attention to the sex or gender to which they belong, considering that these dimensions imply an absurd reductionism. The rejection of these terms would also be accompanied by a certain social claim regarding the existence of patriarchal power structures that constrain the freedom to love and feel.
3. Sexual behavior
Sexual behavior describes the free choice of other people with whom one has intimate encounters, depending on the specific interests and circumstances of each person at each moment of their life. In this way, there are people who consider themselves heterosexual but have relationships with men occasionally, and vice versa. The same can be said in the opposite sense, that is, when someone who considers themselves homosexual decides to sleep with an individual of the opposite sex.
Sexual behavior can assume enormous diversity, and is not always related to the orientation that each individual perceives for himself. Beyond the complexity of desire as a fundamental stage of the human sexual response, and the infinite ways in which it can be expressed, a series of extraordinary conditions have been pointed out in the literature on the issue that precipitate discrepant sexual behavior with respect to the orientation of those involved.
Thus, in physical contexts of great segregation by sex and/or that involve a situation of prolonged isolation (penitentiary centers, for example), it is relatively common for encounters of this nature to occur between people of the same sex (without any describe as homosexual). However, it is not necessary for this fact to be displayed in restricted contexts, but rather it is one more expression of the freedom with which human beings live their sexuality.
4. Gender identity
Gender is a reality conditioned by the historical and social moment, and therefore it cannot be assigned a set of defining and immutable characteristics. These are the roles that the environment attributes to people depending on whether they are men or women, and that correspond to the conceptualization of masculinity and femininity. Traditionally, men were assigned a masculine role and women a feminine one, limiting their natural unique qualities not linked to biological sex.
It is now recognized that sex and gender are independent, so each person can describe themselves as male or female only, or refer to a combination of both to some degree. There are even people who flow within the spectrum, assuming an intermediate position or being at one of its extremes at different times in their lives. All of this regardless of the sex assigned at the time of birth.
In the event that there is a coincidence between the sex attributed at birth (based on the recognition of the external genitalia) and the gender with which the person identifies, they would be said to fall into the cisgender category. In the opposite case, the term that tends to be used is transgender.
However, there are studies that highlight that the sex you are born with has a fundamental impact on attitudes and interests. In this way, it has been indicated that boys and girls show different attentional orientations from the moment of birth (they focus more on human faces and they on mobile stimuli), and shortly afterwards they choose toys differently (dolls for them and vehicles or construction devices for them).
Studies at later stages of development also show that girls, when presented with free drawing instruction, tend to depict natural motifs (such as flowers, landscapes, people, animals, etc.), while boys doodle war scenes or media. transport (also using a less varied color palette). Although the authors postulate a differential effect of testosterone on the pregnancy process to explain it, From a certain age there may be social conditioning that influences habits and behaviors.
On the other hand, it should be said that gender roles, existing beyond each of the individuals that make up society and transmitted as another element of human cultures, also influence gender identity. It is not simply a phenomenon with purely biological causes, or expressed from genes, but it also has to do with the interaction with the social environment.
5. Gender expression
Gender expression describes the behavioral aspects that the person champions as another element of their way of being. In the world there are countries where the divergence between sex and gender is criminalized, so many may choose to behave in a socially accepted way to the detriment of their desires or natural tendencies.
Thus, men who feel identified with the feminine gender may decide to adopt attitudes and habits socially attributed to the masculine (and vice versa). This would avoid conflict situations or even any risk to physical integrity or life. In other cases, social pressure or “what people will say” is a sufficient reason to inhibit what one feels, without the need for doing so to pose an objective danger. In any case, it is known that in all human cultures there are concepts of “male” and “female” as different realities, so this type of social pressures are present in all of them to a lesser or greater extent.
Impact of discrimination based on sexual identity
Social pressure can mean that many people face a moment of difficulty when they want to express their sexual or gender orientation, for fear that it could cause a conflict for third parties or even imply rejection from people they consider as significant. For this reason, it is relatively common that it is a process that requires time, and that it is quite far from the moment in which they became aware of how they felt.
The literature on this topic is abundant, and studies can be found that highlight a greater prevalence of various related disorders: depression, anxiety problems, post-traumatic stress, etc. However, these findings do not suggest greater vulnerability, but rather are the result of the losses that could occur during the “coming out” process.
The integration of all sexual and gender orientation as a form of human expression that deserves recognition is absolutely necessary, since it is one of the bastions of freedom over one’s own body. Only in this way can love be expressed in a constructive way in the purpose that unites us all: the pursuit of happiness.
