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

[relique.livejournal.com]

Some portion of gender and sexuality is inborn. People with two X chromosomes and female genitals usually turn into people who feel like women. And they usually are sexually attracted to men. And some of that is genes, and some of it is early societal stuff. Some people are not normal from the beginning. Some little boys always like pink and dresses, and some grow up to use female pronouns, and some turn out to be gay, but they were always queer.

But then LIFE happens. I had a friend who was bi, for some definition of bi. Then he was sexually assaulted by a guy. And rather than deal with that and process it, he shut off that part of his sexuality, and now identifies as straight.

I had what I now identify as a crush on Winnona Rider in the Little Women days... LW was released in 1994, but I would have seen it on VHS, so let's say 1995. I would have been 9ish. It took til freshman year of high school for me to figure that out.

But recently, observing my 6 year old ... second cousin? cousin once removed?? anyway, I'd put money on him being gay. Not flaming fairy gay, necessarily. And I could be wrong, I could just be seeing through my gay colored glasses.

Err, I started this last night, and i'm pretty sure I didn't have a thesis or anything, just rambles, but i'm going to post anyway.