Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The Sides

There are two distinct sides to the argument over the environmental effect on homosexuality, with a few compromising theories between them. Those on the pro side take the argument that homosexuality, and, indeed, any sexual orientation is determined by environmental factors, such as early childhood upbringing, morality, and societal impressions. Many who take this side even go so far as to call homosexuality a choice, something an individual has complete control over. More commonly, though, advocates of the 'nurture' argument cite certain family scenarios as the cause of homosexuality. On the con side of the debate are those who believe that sexual orientation is something directly caused by a person's internal brain chemistry. Those who support this idea of 'nature' feel that people have as much choice with regard to their sexuality as they do for their eye color; people are born as they are, and no amount of free will can change it. As for my stance on the matter at hand, I find myself wanting to provide a compormise. While I hardly believe homosexuality is a choice, I by no means think a gene can dictate so strongly a person's sexual orientation. Putting these beliefs together, then, I plan to argue the idea that homosexuality, or perhaps more specifically, self-accepted homosexual behavior, arises from a genetic predisposition which manifests itself in response to certain environmental conditions. In short, I believe there is no one factor that can 'cause' homosexuality; rather, it is the combination of many factors that results in this sexual orientation.

2 comments:

  1. Great position. I think this is even more engaging than taking a single position, since you're taking both sides, assessing the validity of each, and applying strong arguments from each side to your middleground stance. I agree that this is a complicated issue, and it seems like there's no definite answer to it at the moment, so the strength of your argument will make or break the essay.

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  2. You definetly seem to have a great position on the issue. It's objective and allows for the research to show itself for what it truly is. Therefore, you can accept everything that you find and apply it to the topic, not filtering things to suit your position. That makes for a great paper. I'm interested to see what actual research you uncover. Also, are you going to bring up homosexuality when it is not accepted by the person?

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