Unusual Theories about the Origin of Homosexuality

1.04.2011 | By: I. M.

Have you ever wondered where homosexuality stems from? This is your chance to discover some of the most bizarre theories...

Many psychoanalysts claim that homosexuality is the result of the Oedipus complex. (PhotoXpress)

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The meat of uncircumcised pigs

Probably the most unusual theory is the belief of a tribe in New Guinea which is convinced that homosexuality is caused by eating the meat of uncircumcised pigs. This is, of course, not true, but this belief is so strong that the members of the tribe are very careful about the source of the pork they’re eating.

Homosexuality is caused by childhood traumas

Many people believe that boys become gay if they’re sexually molested by an older homosexual in childhood. Seduction in childhood has no proven connection to later sexual orientation. Greater consequences are felt due to sexual abuse and sexual traumas, which inject the fear of any form of sexual intercourse into a person. Gay people strongly oppose to the aforementioned theory because they see it as a smoke screen which covers the fact that most child molestation is heterosexual in nature and that it most often happens inside families.

Gentle father

This theory says that boys become gay if their fathers are gentle, a bit softer and indecisive. This puts dubious and insufficient identification in the foreground, but it also neglects to mention marriages which end in divorce and where children grow up without the father.

Hatred towards women

Some say that homosexuals are supposedly afraid of women and that they hate their mothers and then transmit this hatred onto other women as well. Many friendships between homosexuals and women prove otherwise and this theory is also dismissed by the fact that many homsexuals have satisfying sexual experiences with women.

Biological theories about the source of homosexuality

The first to present the biological theory about the source of sexuality was Aristotle. He wondered why some men want to be taken from behind. According to him these men supposedly have an additional nerve which is stimulated during anal sexual intercourse. This theory is, naturally, not true and it was succeeded by an even more daring biological theory in the 19th century. A French doctor named Tardieu developed it. He claimed that ‘active’ gay men (the ones inserting the penis) have a narrow and undeveloped penis, which is as narrow as a dog’s, while ‘passive’ gay men (the ones that take it from behind) have a smooth rectum. The simplest biological theory in the twentieth century was this: homosexuality is inherited. This was followed by an attempt at an explanation, using the level of hormones, where they claimed that homosexuals have elevated levels of female hormones, while they are supposedly missing androgens.

Psychological theories

The first scientific explanation of where homosexuality stems from was given by a Persian doctor who wondered why so many Persians prefer anal intercourse with men than vaginal intercourse with women. He was convinced the reason is in the way a certain man teaches himself how to masturbate. He divided men into those who squeeze and those with a looser grip. The first type holds the penis tight during masturbation and prefers the tight bottom of a man, while those with a looser grip stimulate their penis lightly and enjoy the width of the vagina. Sounds fun, doesn’t it? The biggest authority in 20th century psychology, Sigmund Freud, also dealt with the question of the source of homosexuality, where he considers the Oedipus complex to play a big role. According to Freud, if a boy identifies with the mother and not the father, he should become homosexual. This theory is based on the conviction that everyone is born bisexual, which gave a lot of problems to psychoanalysts, so they decided to assign the blame for turning boys into gays on the mothers, women who seduce their sons. Even though Freud’s theories and the successors of these theories were not scientifically confirmed, this didn’t detract many scientists from attempting to cure homosexual patients.

Cruel ‘treatment’ of homosexuality

There have been many attempts to explain and treat homosexuality throughout history. Among the cures were castration, electric and chemical shocks, prison and social isolation.

Despite highly developed and progressive scientific research, it’s not necessary that we shall ever discover the sources of homosexuality. The latest anatomic research has already implicated at the differences between the male and female brain and the brain of homosexuals and heterosexuals. Only time will tell how the research develops further.