Question.516 - Submit your final portfolio—an analysis of an issue or event in diversity through the four general education lenses: history, humanities, social sciences, and natural and applied sciences. Note: Be sure to incorporate instructor feedback from your final project milestones into this final submission, particularly Milestones One, Two, and Four.
Answer Below:
The Influence of Sexual Orientation in the Modern Society Diversity is an umbrella term that caters a vast understanding into it. Diversity is not something that we see from the surface level and considers that people are diverse since they seem to be connected to each other rather diversity also reveals how we accept others and how we appreciate others perspective without being judgmental. Sexual orientation is one such issue that falls under the concept of being diverse and this is one of the major issues till now that has and at the same time has not influenced the society at large. Sexual orientation is one of the issues that can be studied and examined from all the lenses of general education. Role of History The origin of homosexuality or the LGBTQ concept is not something that has initiated in the modern society with the advancement and progress of society or because of the several gender and queer theories that has spread all over humankind. It was the power mechanization in society that has suppressed these concepts of queer and homosexuality. From the early civilization and in mythology, humankind has been framed and normalized in heterosexual manner where the union is meant to be only with a man and a woman. Apart from this union, every other union was not appreciated or normalized. There was a hierarchy in maintain hegemony in society where the institutions like religion, politics and family were ruling the entire society. Although its been evident when we see the myths and folktales where even Gods are seen to be united homosexually but in the real world, the term sexual orientation was not that heard and known by the people in the past times because the suppression was immense and people didnt dare to come out of their closet and this has ruined the lives of the innocent people. Movies like Boys Dont Cry, Broke Back Mountain gives an insight into horrific scenario that was prevailing in the earlier times. In Boys Dont Cry, the story revolves around a real character named Brandon Teena was a girl who was not satisfied and happy with her body and she wanted herself to be transformed as a man and so he changes his identity and starts dating a girl (Swan, 2001). When her real identity reveals out, she was gang raped, humiliated and murdered and her only fault was loving another girl and being her own self (Swan, 2001). The other movie, Broke Back Mountain is one of the most tragic movies that show the relationship between two homosexuals where the love doesnt get accepted by the society and one has to pay his life for it (Lee et al., 2005). In this movie, both the men were having heterosexual relationship and yet they were united to their lovers (Lee et al., 2005). This shows how marriage between a man and a woman was so important and mandatory. This is the historical narration that we see in the past times where sexual orientation was too rigid and limited only being straight. Apart from being straight, the other spectrums were not accepted by society rather they were either killed or segregated from every social institution. Therefore, it is evident that through the lens of history, we can say that the issue of sexual orientation has a huge impact in the society in terms of diversity. Role of Humanities In the field of humanities, gender identity and sexual orientation plays an important role among all the fields of education. It is the scholars from humanities that are discovering many new strategies and implementing them in human race in order to make love accepted in all variation and spectrums. In humanities, the term sexual orientation has become wide and spread in the lives of people where people are taking courage to come out of their closet and express their love publicly. This is how diversity is influencing the modern society. Although the entire acceptance from every corner of the world is still a long way to come but still humanities is playing a huge role in making the society modern literally not from the surface level but from the mindset. Homophobia is reducing at certain extent since the humanities is promoting love in all shapes and variations and people are trying to normalize the other sexual orientations apart from being heterosexual (Passaseo, 2019). Role of Natural sciences Sexual orientation is a part of natural science that helps in understanding the cause of sexual orientation and how it happens. Natural science is the study of the branches of science- physics, chemistry and biology. In order to understand about sexual orientation, biology is important and applicable. Scientist believe that cause of sexual orientation is because of hormonal, genetic and the influence of environment. It has been experimented that male are weak and mostly aroused through sexual orientation than female. Scientists have found out and addressed two major elements that build sexual orientation in an individual and the two elements are- the body in which one is born and the attraction that forces them towards another individual physically. This seems to be very obvious and natural when we try to study it from the lens of natural science but when it comes in general term, we tend to find it something strange and weird. But natural science shows us the way to bring diversity in our life through sexual orientation. Role of Social sciences The impact of sexual orientation falls in the field of social science especially because it is the society that has suppressed love in various spectrums since ages. Although we see the transition that has come from the historical narrative to the modern society, yet research has always found that the sexual minorities (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) are always subjected to cruel discrimination and rejection from society. These sexual minorities are in the position of women which shows that the history is repeating by itself. Although these sexual minorities were subjected towards oppression before but during that time these individuals were not courageous enough to come and stand upfront against the conventions of the society. This is how society in creating a negative influence in the society when it comes to sexual orientation because people are still homophobic to accept love between same-sex. In the educational institutions, the importance of the lens of social science in terms of sexual orientation can be understood effectively as it creates a negative impact in the psychology of the students. This affects diversity and inherits animosity from the institution because of the environment they get to experience where students are bullied, harassed and discriminated. This is a scar that remains throughout their life and suppress them to express their love and come out of their closet before the world. Therefore, it is very important for academic institution to promote homosexuality and love as the most beautiful aspect of our life. Deep insight into Sexual Orientation Lens of history Heteronormativity has always been considered to be the only right thing in society that also falls under the set norms of social construction. No matter homosexuality was always there because love is something that cannot happen according to the standards of society. But the difference is that people were not courageous and bold enough to come out of the closet because everyone was happy with the norms and conventions to follow. But as time passed, with the development of science and psychology, research has been done, and psychologists initiated many theories and studies that have made people understand the difference between ideology and reality. From the early civilization and in mythology, humankind has been framed and normalized in a heterosexual manner where the union is meant to be only with a man and a woman. The union between man and woman was considered to be sacred and mandatory, whereas any other union was supposed to be a filthy sin. Many movies were created based on real-life stories to show that this issue was prevailing from the past times and is not something new. Movies like Broke Back Mountain, Boys Dont Cry, and The Color Purple all depict the theme of homosexuality and queerness in the movies. All the movies are based on true facts and story that helps us study the issue of sexual orientation from the lens of history. Apart from being straight, the other spectrums were not accepted by society rather they were either killed or segregated from every social institution. In each of the movies, the victims of homophobia have ended their lives or got murdered, brutally treated, and not considered part of society. Lens of Humanities The field of humanities plays a huge role and has a great impact on this issue of sexual orientation. Because of this field, the issue is heard and discussed by people who are otherwise talking about this issue as itself a crime before. There have been different experiences and perspectives for different individuals with social interaction. Studies have found that over 90% of LGBTQ individuals perceive society as the way they want, where they see the hope of acceptance which was not possible in the last decades, while at the same time, many have reported brutal treatment and discrimination that they face (Drake, 2013). Acceptance is still a huge thing in todays time, where only 19% of individuals claim that society accepts LGBTQ and the rest assert that they are still the victims of homophobia (Drake, 2013). From these data, it can be understood that acceptance is still yet to come wholeheartedly from people. Still, the people from LGBTQ need to continue their struggle of being accepted in terms of diversity. No matter the little acceptance that they have got, the humanities field has made people see society from a broader perspective and come out from the confined notions of society. However, this will continue because changing the mindset of the whole nation is something next to possible but not evitable. The way society sees the issue of sexual orientation impacts personal and professional life because we always seek peace and love in both aspects of our lives. I always promote diversity in my professional life since I work in a diverse field at home depot, where I have to deal with different customers and look after their concerns. Moreover, I always have wanted to work in such an atmosphere where there wont be any differences that will create a barrier to working as a team. Diverse teams lead to better opportunities and result in increased productivity. The Lens of Natural Science Natural science is the study of the branches of science- physics, chemistry, and biology. In order to understand sexual orientation, biology is important and applicable. Scientists believe that cause of sexual orientation is because of hormonal, genetic, and the influence of environment. But it is not that simple to understand the exact reason why does a person of one sex get attracted to the same sex or to a different sex. It is the deep research and study of the psychologists like Sigmund Freud that can answer the uncertainties. Human sexual orientation is a vast concept, and yet the diversity of this concept is not understood or acknowledged. It is the present science that has generalized people in terms of sexual orientation in order to make people understand the difference (Wong, 2017). Science still plays a huge role in defining sexuality, and it is not only based on social construction due to which the meaning and the scientific facts are not reached to the people. Judith Butler, in her book Gender Trouble, was sarcastic in her tone in order to explain how sexual orientation has become a part of social construction and not a biological concept (Butler, 2002). According to Butler, gender has nothing to do with biology because society has created gender in such a way that both have become two individual entities. When a baby is born, the sex is revealed by the doctor, and the rest of the things are decided and formed by society, including the gender roles of the baby. People keep science aside before deciding the gender roles of an individual, which is why they cannot accept the difference in terms of sexuality. Margaret McCarthy, a neuroscientist, claims about human sexuality that Homosexuality is not a disease; its part of natural human variation. I think weve reached the point that we have enough evidence that theres a biological basis for sexual orientation (Wong, 2017).? Scientists have found out and addressed two major elements that build sexual orientation in an individual, and the two elements are- the body in which one is born and the attraction that forces them toward another individual physically. This seems to be very obvious and natural when we try to study it from the lens of natural science, but when it comes in general terms, we tend to find it strange and weird. This is the reason why studying concepts like sexual orientation is important to study from the lens of natural science and then from the other lens like history and social science. The Lens of Social Science Human sexuality is more familiar and acknowledged when its studied from the lens of the social sciences. This is because sexuality is something that is ruled by society. Human sexuality is formed and decided as society wants and not through its biological implication. The social factors affect human sexuality, and ones sexuality is formed (Martins et al., 2005). Through the lens of social science, we get information on how sexuality is being perceived in society and how far people have accepted the difference between various spectrums of love. As people from the LGBTQ community are addressed as a minority group is something that is constructed socially, and we know this from the lens of social science. They are addressed as the minority because they dont fall under the traditional conventions of society, and the difference in sexuality is not considered to be something natural but rather something created. Society believes that other than being straight or heterosexual, all other categories are made up that people can and should change themselves to be accepted in the set standards of society (Martins et al., 2005). This is the reason why homophobia still prevails, and still, homosexuals are treated indifferently by segregating them from society. We either get information that a homosexual couple got married officially or a homosexual couple got murdered out of homophobia. The lens of social science helps us to be updated with the news and information on social issues like human sexuality. The concept of human sexuality has become more of a social issue or concept than a scientific fact or a concept. Therefore, there is still hatred towards the LGBTQ community where people are not able to accept them wholeheartedly, and the diverse form of love is not acknowledged. Conclusion Diversity is one of the significant concepts that have been prevalent since decades and it is evident that the term holds more importance in the present times because of technological innovations and progress in society. Homosexuality is not a modern aspect rather it was there from the beginning of the civilization but it was constrained and so it didnt come out from the closet. With the help of the field of studies like natural science, history, social science and humanities, LGBTQ and queer studies has been approached by the critics and scholars and also the active participation of the social workers have made people from different sexual orientation to come out of their closet and reveal their true identity which was hidden before due to the conventions and norms of society. Therefore, analyzing and interpreting a concept from every field of study provides adequate information with facts and approaches in order to understand diversity from a wide spectrum. References Butler, J. (2002).?Gender trouble. routledge. Bogaert, A. F., & Skorska, M. N. (2020). A short review of biological research on the development of sexual orientation.?Hormones and Behavior,?119, 104659. Drake, B. (2013). How LGBT adults see society and how the public sees them. Harper, G. W., & Wilson, B. D. (2017). Situating sexual orientation and gender identity diversity in context and communities. Lee, A., Proulx, A., McMurtry, L., Ossana, D., Ledger, H., Gyllenhaal, J., ... & Cardellini, L. (2005).?Brokeback mountain. Entertainment in Video. Passaseo, A. M. (2019). Scholars Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Martins, Y., Preti, G., Crabtree, C. R., Runyan, T., Vainius, A. A., & Wysocki, C. J. (2005). Preference for human body odors is influenced by gender and sexual orientation.?Psychological Science,?16(9), 694-701. Swan, R. (2001). Boys Don't Cry.?Film Quarterly,?54(3), 47-52. Wong, K. (2017).?Science of Sexuality we were born this way. Cosmos. Retrieved from https://cosmosmagazine.com/science/biology/science-of-sexuality/.More Articles From Humanities
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