Sexual identity is a term that, like sex, has two distinctively different meanings. One describes an identity roughly based on sexual orientation, the other an identity based on sexual characteristics, a concept related to, but different from, gender identity. Sexual orientation refers to the direction of an individuals sexuality, normally conceived of as falling into several significant categories based around the sex or gender that the individual finds attractive. ... Sexual characteristics are those characteristics in a human or animal which are used to determine its physical sex. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ...

Identity related to sexual orientation

In this usage, sexual identity describes how a person identifies related to their sexual orientation. Hence a man who exclusively prefers women will usually have a straight or heterosexual sexual identity, and a woman who exclusively prefers women usually a lesbian or homosexual sexual identity.

However, not every person will identify with a sexual orientation that corresponds directly with sexual behavior, and many use sexual identity as a more specific term. Some examples:

• A married man occasionally wants to have sex with men. He may or may not act out those wishes. By inclination, that would make him bisexual. Nevertheless, he may still identify as a straight man.
• A woman in a lesbian relationship wants to have sex with men. She may act out those wishes, or she may not, maybe based on the prejudices against bisexual people in her community. By inclination, she is bisexual. Nevertheless, she may still identify as a lesbian woman.
• An otherwise conservative exclusively homosexual man has objections against what he considers "gay identity politics". He considers himself homosexual, but does not identify as gay.
• Two asexual people marry. They never have sex, nor want it, but still want the relationship. They may identify as asexual, or they may identify as straight.
• An ex-gay woman is in an exclusive relationship with a man. Although she still has fantasies and thoughts about being with a woman, she now identifies as heterosexual.
• A transman considers his relationship to a cis-man as technically heterosexual, but still both identify as gay. (Compare Homosexuality and transgender)
• People may identify as pansexual, queer or similar, despite having a sexual orientation that could just as well be described with straight, gay or lesbian, or hetero- or homo- or bisexual.

Sexual identity, therefore, is not simply synonymous with sexual orientation or sexual preferences, but describes how social or political influences make people identify (or not) with those. A lesbian is a woman who is romantically and sexually attracted only to other women. ... Identity politics is the political activity of various social movements for self-determination. ... This article is about human asexuality; asexual reproduction is a separate topic. ... The ex-gay or exodus movement claims that homosexuals can become heterosexual or otherwise leave homosexuality behind through counselling, prayer, and other therapies if they choose to do so. ... Transmen or trans men are transgender or transsexual people who were assigned female at birth based on genital appearance (or, in cases of intersexuality, were later assigned to the female gender) and who feel that this is not an accurate or complete description of themselves. ... Cisgender (IPA: ) is an adjective neologism that means non-transgender. ... Homosexuality and transgender are two separate concepts. ... The adjective pansexual refers to equal acceptance of all of the major human sexual orientations and identities, including heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, as well as transgender, transsexual and intersex people. ... The word queer has traditionally meant strange or unusual, but it is also currently often used in reference to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and asexual communities. ...

Identity based on sexual characteristics

The term sexual identity is used by psychologists and some recent writers in the general area of sexology to describe the sex with which a person identifies, or is identified. Sexology is the systematic study of human sexuality. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Scientists such as John Money, Milton Diamond, and Anne Fausto-Sterling have sought to discover and describe the biological processes involved in the formation of sexual identities. A large array of factors have been hypothesized as being determinative, but there is as yet no settled view on these matters. John William Money, Ph. ... Milton Diamond (born 6 March 1934 in New York, New York) is a professor of anatomy and reproductive biology at the University of Hawaii. ... Anne Fausto-Sterling, Ph. ... A biological process is a process of a living organism. ...

Formation of sexual identity

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One's sexual identity is not likely to be the result of any single factor, although some scientists and many laymen seek "causes" of sexual identity. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...

It is possible that some factors relevant to the gradual determination of a sexual identity have yet to be identified. The weights of the various factors that are now known or suspected have also not been clearly determined. That being said, there are several different groups of factors that need to be understood:

Genetic factors: Chromosomes play a large part in determining the sexual identity of a child. Normally for humans, the configurations are XX and XY for female and male respectively, but this is not always the case. There can also be chromosomal abnormalities which may result in karyotypes such as XXY, XYY, etc. as well. Some chromosomal abnormalities may have no outward manifestations at birth, but may have internal repercussions; however, some chromosomal abnormalities may affect the genitalia and result in conditions known as intersex. Look up Female in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The shield and spear of the Roman god Mars, which is also the alchemical symbol for iron, represents the male sex. ... Aneuploidy is a change in the number of chromosomes that can lead to a chromosomal disorder. ... Karyogram of human male using Giemsa staining. ... An intersexual is a person (or individual of any unisexual species) who is born with genitalia and/or secondary sexual characteristics of indeterminate sex, or which combine features of both sexes. ...

Some people believe that there is a "gay gene." Although substantial evidence suggests that biological factors contribute to homosexuality, that view may be too simplistic. On the other hand, the genotype of an individual may make his or her sensitivities to various sex hormones different from the sensitivities of other people. One's genetic constitution largely determines how one will react to environmental factors, especially in the womb. The genetic factors influencing sexual orientation are controversial, and research in this area is ongoing. ... Homosexuality refers to sexual interaction and / or romantic attraction between individuals of the same sex. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Sex steroids, also known as gonadal steroids, are steroid hormones which interact with vertebrate androgen or estrogen receptors. ... In epidemiology, environmental factors are those determinants of disease that are not transmitted genetically. ...

Pre-natal factors: The fetus is nurtured within the mother's womb, and the condition of the mother has significant influence on the health and development of that fetus. If, for instance, a tumor in the mother's body leads to an abnormally high level of testosterone in her blood stream, the testosterone level in the fetus can be raised and that change can significantly influence its development. For instance, an XX fetus can develop into a baby with a strong resemblance to a normally developed XY boy. Tumor or tumour literally means swelling, and is sometimes still used with that meaning. ... Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group. ... Human blood smear: a - erythrocytes; b - neutrophil; c - eosinophil; d - lymphocyte. ...

Post-natal factors: Some groups maintain that the socialization of an infant begins almost at birth, and that sexual identity problems may trace back to difficulties in ascertaining whether an intersex infant is a male, a female, or actually has both male and female genitalia, and, probably more importantly, whether that infant's brain has developed as would a male's or a female's. It appears that, in general, the later on in life the sex of an infant is reassigned from male to female or vice-versa, the greater the confusion and turmoil that child will suffer. Much criticism has been raised against surgical reassignment until the individual is able to make an autonomous decision because the gender identity of the individual is generally more important to the individual than the technicalities of chromosomal sex, and even genitalia. This is important in considering the case involving John Money's theory about the gender socialization of children, in which he argued that there was a specific timeframe in a child's development where a boy could be brought up as a girl, and vice versa. This theory was applied to a boy named Bruce, known to the public as David Reimer: his penis was severely damaged due to a botched circumcision, and the decision was made for Bruce to undergo sexual reassignment surgery (SRS) and be brought up as a girl, "Brenda". However, the end result was far from successful -- Brenda never acted like a girl, eventually underwent SRS again to return to a male physiology, and ultimately committed suicide. Money began to downplay the success of Bruce's case, and argued that this failure was due to the change being done too late, past the aforementioned timeframe (See the Colapinto item in the Bibliography for further details). Money's theories in regard to gender identity plasticity are no longer regarded as favorably due to this concrete experience. This does not cite any references or sources. ... David Reimer David Reimer (August 22, 1965 – May 5, 2004) was a Canadian man who was born as a mentally and biologically healthy boy, but was sexually reassigned and raised as a girl in an attempt to improve his life after his penis was inadvertently destroyed during circumcision. ... Sex reassignment surgery (SRS) includes the surgical procedures by which a persons physical appearance and function of their existing sexual characteristics are changed to that of the other sex. ... Mayor of Leipzig, Germany, committed suicide along with his wife and daughter on April 20, 1945. ...

When considering the cases of transgender and transsexual individuals and their sexual identity, many specialists now agree that the greatest importance ought to be placed upon coming to terms with one's internal gender identity. Many non-operative transgender and transsexual people live happily as members of their chosen gender, and yet do not obtain SRS for a multitude of reasons. The causes of transgender and transsexuality are not well known, but preliminary evidence suggests biological causes. A transgendered person in New York Citys Gay Pride Parade Transgender (IPA: , from trans (Latin) and gender (English) ) is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies that diverge from the normative gender role (woman or man) commonly, but not always, assigned at... A transsexual (sometimes transexual) person establishes a permanent identity with the opposite gender to their assigned (usually at birth) sex. ... A transgendered person in New York Citys Gay Pride Parade Transgender (IPA: , from trans (Latin) and gender (English) ) is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies that diverge from the normative gender role (woman or man) commonly, but not always, assigned at... A transsexual (sometimes transexual) person establishes a permanent identity with the opposite gender to their assigned (usually at birth) sex. ...

The understanding that a person has of his or her own sexual identity is perhaps never complete because that person may continue to grow and change psychologically -- and learning involves physical changes in the brain. On the other hand, as learning and experience increase, more of the original picture is filled out to show what that person is and can become. If a young person's education has gone against the grain somehow, it may happen that a conflict breaks through to the surface and realignment follows, or that a person discovers things about himself or herself that may have previously been hidden.

Criticism of "sexual identity" as based on sexual characteristics

It is unclear how this concept is different from gender identity, or how it relates to it. The usage of gender instead of sex when speaking about social or psychological characteristics dates back to 1955 when John Money first used the term gender role: This does not cite any references or sources. ... A bagpiper in Scottish military clan-uniform. ...

"The term gender role is used to signify all those things that a person says or does to disclose himself or herself as having the status of boy or man, girl or woman, respectively. It includes, but is not restricted to, sexuality in the sense of eroticism." (Hermaphroditism, gender and precocity in hyperadrenocorticism: Psychologic findings (Money, 1955))

From there, gender identity was coined analogously. Gender identity is usually seen as independent from sexual characteristics; while it matches them in most cases, it does not do so in both many intersexual and all transgender people. However, when it does not match, there usually is no "sexual identity" different from "gender identity"; the whole point of the concept of gender identity as independent from sexual characteristics being that the former is not (necessarily) related to the latter. Eroticism is an aesthetic focus on sexual desire, especially the feelings of anticipation of sexual activity. ... The 1st-century BC sculpture The Reclining Hermaphrodite, in the Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Massimo Alle Terme in Rome A hermaphrodite is an organism that possesses both male and female sex organs during its life. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... An intersexual or intersex person (or animal of any unisexual species) is one who is born with genitalia and/or secondary sexual characteristics of indeterminate sex, or which combine features of both sexes. ... A transgendered person in New York Citys Gay Pride Parade Transgender (IPA: , from trans (Latin) and gender (English) ) is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies that diverge from the normative gender role (woman or man) commonly, but not always, assigned at...

References

• John Colapinto As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised As A Girl; Harper Collins; ISBN 0-06-019211-9
• Anne Fausto-Sterling; Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and The Construction of Sexuality; Basic Books; ISBN 0-465-07713-7
• Clellan S. Ford and Frank A. Beach; Patterns of Sexual Behavior; Ace Books, 1951
• Francis Mark Mondimore; A Natural History of Homosexuality; Johns Hopkins University Press; ISBN 0-8018-5440-7
• John Money; Gay, Straight, and In-between: The Sexology of Erotic Orientation; Oxford University Press, 1988; ISBN 0-19-506331-7
• Haig, D. (2004). "The inexorable rise of gender and the decline of sex: social change in academic titles, 1945-2001." Archives of Sexual Behavior 33: 87-96. PDF document

John Colapinto (Toronto 1958) is an award-winning journalist for Vanity Fair, and The New York Times Magazine, Esquire. ... Anne Fausto-Sterling, Ph. ...

See also

• Gender identity
• Gender role
• List of transgender-related topics
• Top and bottom in sex and BDSM