Anyone want to take this on?

[3rdragon]

So on the ride home from my grandparents' house tonight, my dad's girlfriend made this statement: We develop our sexualities before we are five years old.

This was not an assertion that I had heard made before, so I asked her where this was coming from.

Her argument mainly consisted of these points (none of which I disagree with):

- There is an incredible amount of information, both blatant and subtle, coded in the way society (specifically, our society), thinks about and reacts to ideas of sex, sexuality, gender, taboos, etc.

- Young children are incredibly good at picking up both verbal and nonverbal information.

-Young children are also very impressionable, and the signals they pick up in their early years have a huge effect on the people they grow into, often in ways that they don't remember and may not be able to articulate.

And we spent 45 minutes hashing over this, and examples thereof. She didn't say anything that I disagree with. She also didn't put together any of the information that I already believe into any form that I hadn't encountered before.

I'm not unwilling to believe this statement. But I'm not convinced, either.

So -- do any of you want to defend it/try to convince me? Do any of you disagree, and care to explain why?

Comments

Neither agreeing or disagreeing

[miriams-mom.livejournal.com]

The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear that statement is that some folks don't discover their sexuality until they are in their 30's or older. (Or perhaps a better word would be admit or recognize) I guess that is not inconsistent with sexuality developing before age 5.

Does anyone know any studies about adopted children that changed from one culture to another after age 5?

Re: Neither agreeing or disagreeing

[3rdragon]

That thought also occurred to me.