Gender Relations and Sexual Orientations: An Annotated Bibliography and Essay

This annotated bibliography and essay explore the issues of gender relations and sexual orientations. The annotated bibliography reviews literature on the effects of nature and nurturing on human sexual choices, the seduction community, the constructivist approach to identity, arranged marriages, and lesbian kinship. The essay connects these themes and discusses the importance of acceptance and understanding of sexual orientation, the relevance of the Triandis model of interpersonal behavior, and the impact of social beliefs on sexual behavior. The essay concludes that sexual choices and orientations should be left to the concerned individuals and emphasizes the importance of acceptance and understanding.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
Sociology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Section One: Annotated Bibliography.............................................................................................2
Literature One..............................................................................................................................2
Literature Two.............................................................................................................................3
Literature Three...........................................................................................................................4
Literature Four.............................................................................................................................5
Literature Five.............................................................................................................................6
Section 2: Essay...............................................................................................................................7
References and Bibliography.........................................................................................................10

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Section One: Annotated Bibliography
Literature One
Abramson, P. R., & Pinkerton, S. D. (1995). Reading one - Sexual Nature: What Can We Learn
from a Cross-Species Perspective? In Sexual nature, sexual culture (pp. 17–36). Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
This literature has been written by Paul Abramson and Steven Pinkerton. It was published
in the year 1995 (Abramson & Pinkerton, 1995). According to the authors, this literature on the
human anthropology is a multidisciplinary study. The authors have discussed on the effects of
the nature and nurturing of the human sexual choices. The biological courses are very crucial
matters of this section as well. In the words of the authors, the most important motivation factor
for the sexuality of human beings is definitely the sexual pleasure derived from the action of sex.
The gender implications are quite crucial in terms of the sexual choice and sexual preferences.
They have stressed on the fact that the reproduction is a mere by product or impact of sexual
pleasures.
In this book, the authors have given the explanation of sex from three parameters. These
are societal, individual and cultural (Abramson & Pinkerton, 1995). These perspectives are
definitely very much crucial from some points. The sexual preferences depend on several
perspectives from the viewpoints of both men and women. Men give the primary importance on
the physical attractiveness and beauty (Abramson & Pinkerton, 1995). The sexual interests of
male and female sexual behaviors depend on several factors. The hormones and genes of human
beings play a vital role in the selection of sexual partners. The sexual orientation of men and
women depend on these things in a big manner. In this piece of literature, the authors have

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described about the love lives of tribal people in the Brazilian rainforest and the adolescent
sexuality of people in India.
Literature Two
Almog, R., & Kaplan, D. (2017). The Nerd and His Discontent. Men and Masculinities, 20(1),
27–48. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X15613831
This is an article written and published by Ran Almog and Danny Kaplan. The year of
publication of this article was 2017 (Almog & Kaplan, 2017). In this article tha authors have
gone through the idea of the ‘seduction community’ precisely. This type of community exists in
the homosocial areas of Guyland in North America. In this article the authors have gone on to
describe the situation of the men categorized as nerds. The seduction workshops are arranged for
these nerd men within their communities. These men or nerds are generally located at the
complete bottom of the social-sexual hierarchy in their respective societies (Almog & Kaplan,
2017). However, they should have belonged to a better position in their workplaces after the
industrial developments.
The community has developed an idea of helping each other. However, the solution to the
problems of masculinity is definitely ‘geeky’ to some extent as per the authors have notified it.
The community has followed the pickup model that will help them to consider the gaming logic
in various ways (Almog & Kaplan, 2017). The process or custom of courtship is looked upon as
a social practice which is completely governed by the rules. This process is based on several
standard systems within their communities. The women are looked upon as objects in the
community and they are the commodities of the hyper consumerism in various ways. The
concept of the self-empowerment is very much present in this segment (Almog & Kaplan, 2017).

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The authors have focused the issue that the pickup artists will follow the various make-believe
techniques indeed. Thus this article engages in finding out the difficulties in the Guyland
community.
Literature Three
Brubaker, R., & Cooper, F. (2000). Beyond Identity. Theory and Society, 29(1), 1–47.
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007068714468
The authors of the above article are Rogers Brubaker and Frederick Cooper. This article
had been published in the year 2000 and it focuses on the different perceptions of the human
identity (Brubaker & Cooper, 2000). The authors have begun the article with the words of
George Orwell. The main argument of this article lies in the fact that the social sciences have
already gave in to the term ‘identity’. It is used for the explanation of different concepts related
to the identity of the human beings. Basically, the identity of human beings depends on their
gender choices and preferences (Brubaker & Cooper, 2000). Gender is regarded as one of the
most crucial and impactful matter when describing the identities of individuals.
In this article, the authors have taken the constructivist approach regarding the identity of
the human beings. This term ‘identity’ is concerned with the political and intellectual
connections. This is why the essentialist politics can be attributed when the construction of the
human identities goes on. Through the analysis of the ‘soft’ constructivism, the meaning of the
word ‘identity’ will not be just like the earlier times (Brubaker & Cooper, 2000). Therefore, this
term goes on to lose its original meaning and depth of analysis. The authors have pointed out the
fact that the identity might be looked as fluid but then the self-understanding of people will no

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more be hardened. So, it is better to consider the fact that the identity is both everywhere and
nowhere at the same time. It might be a bit confusing but it is the only way to describe the term.
Literature Four
Hart, K. (2007). Love by arrangement: the ambiguity of ?spousal choice? in a Turkish village.
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 13(2), 345–362.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9655.2007.00438.x
The above article has been written by Kimberley hart and it has been published in the
year 2007. In this article, the author has talked about the psychological aspects of love and
arrangement for marriage. The courtship between the couple can derive from arrangements and
this is the main talking point of this article. The example the author has given is regarding a
couple in a village that lived in Western Turkey. This couple met each other through an
arrangement (Hart, 2007). After that, they formed a relationship of romance and later on they got
to marry each other. This article is mainly an ethnographic research and it is a kind of literature
review as well. The literature review has been done by the author on the relationship between the
courtship between two people and modernity concepts (Hart, 2007).
Throughout the modern generation, the parents have rejected the notion of the arrange
marriages and they believe this system is completely outdated. However, this system has lost its
potential because of the fact that parents are not agreed to make provide arrange marriages for
their children (Hart, 2007). This is against the enlightenment of modernity indeed. The
ideologies in the modern times have claimed that the arrange marriages are very common things
in the modern society. This literature review has come to the conclusion that the arranged
marriages will work as a bridge between the love-matches and the arrangement of marriages.

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Therefore, it is a good thing for the society (Hart, 2007). The individual needs and sexual
preferences should be considered in these kinds of arrangements as well.
Literature Five
Hayden, C. P. (1995). Gender, Genetics, and Generation: Reformulating Biology in Lesbian
Kinship. Cultural Anthropology, 10(1), 41–63.
https://doi.org/10.1525/can.1995.10.1.02a00020
The chosen article in this annotated bibliography is written by Corinne P. Hayden. The
year of publishing of this article is 1995 (Hayden, 1995). This article talks about the lesbian
relationship and its effects in the genetic formulation of the human beings. The concept of
homosexuality and the existence of the family has been crucial as well as the clash between the
two has been going on for generations now. This is the plot from where the concept of the gay or
lesbian family has derived. This article is completely a literature review from all the aspects.
However, the gay men and lesbian females have faced the exclusion from their families
regarding the kinship (Hayden, 1995). It is very much true in the American culture in these days
as well. It has also been found in this literature review that the kinship has moved away from the
biological relations among the families.
On the other hand, choice of sexual orientation and love gets the upper hand in this
context. Through the research work, the author has found out that the lesbian mothers are no less
than the heterosexual mothers. They possess the similar kind of affection for their children. This
choice of sexual orientation is shaped by the hormonal factors. According to some other
researchers, it must be said that the gay and lesbian families cannot be regarded as alternate or
substitute options for the straight families from the biological point of views (Hayden, 1995).

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This literature review in the article has provided strong notions about the homosexual kinship in
families and its implications must be seriously thought.
Section 2: Essay
The purpose of this essay is to formulate the issues that are relevant to the above written
annotated bibliography. It is concerned with the gender relations and the sexual orientations of
the people. It has been outlined in the annotated bibliography section that the sexual orientations
of the human beings depend a lot on the hormones and genetic factors (Godwin, 2015). This
essay will look to connect the contents of the articles reviewed in the earlier sections. The
different gender theories will be overviewed in this paper as well.
As a part of the case study, the example of a college girl can be given. The name of the
college girl is Anna. Anna is a college going girl and she is not interested in males. She believes
she is more interested in the females. At first she thought this to be a very uncommon thing and
she got very afraid to share this with anyone in home or in college. Soon this grew with time.
She waa pretty so many boys came to her to ask her hand. However, she was not interested and
she fancied one of her girl classmates. This kind of sexual orientation might be seen as unnatural
to some people but this is not unnatural at all. This is completely due to the hormonal and genetic
issues within the human body. On the other hand, her kinship from the family had been rejected
as her parents came to know about it. Thus she got broken and she was very much depressed as
well. Soon she began to search for her original identity as most people within her boundary did
not support her for this reason. Life became a challenge for her from all angles.
This case study has many connections with the literature pieces that have been described
here. The inter relations between the literature pieces suggest that the sexual orientation is very

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much dependent on the hormonal and genetic formations of the individual. There is nothing to be
ashamed of or worried about. Everything is natural and that person has to live accordingly. The
factor of lesbian kinship has also been discussed in the literature pieces as well. The families
should not reject the individuals getting involved in rejecting the kinship. On the other hand, it
has also been said that parents must be more concerned about the happiness and well being of
their children. This is why they must be more lenient and give their children much space.
This rejection of the arrange marriages is due to the enlightenment of their minds through
modern thinking process. It is a matter of concern that there are several problems in the
homosexual relationships. In terms of the studies regarding modern sexuality, it has been seen
that many sexually transmitted diseases occur in the bodies of men and women. Psychological
factors are quite prevalent in this context as well because they have been suffering from
depression and they have committed the suicides as well. The theory that can be attributed in this
context is Triandis model of interpersonal behavior (TIB) (Rainwater, 2017).
On the other hand, it must be mentioned in this context that the social beliefs are quite
integral in measuring the sexual behavior of the students and adolescents as well (Twenge,
Sherman & Wells, 2015). The strain theories are surely very evident in this matter. The sexual
behaviors and sexual choices are quite critical in the modern times. In the articles, it has been
disclosed that the people consider sex as a simple process for getting the sexual pleasure through
lust. It has also been mentioned that reproduction is just a byproduct of sexual activity and
nothing else (Halley, 2017).
The inclusion of romance in the arranged marriages is also a huge deal in the for the
marriage purpose (Richardson, 2014). The theory of interpersonal behavior is very crucial in this

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segment since the children are allowed some space so they can grow a romantic relationship after
their engagement. Therefore, it is a very commendable thing for the parents indeed. This is how
they will be able to know each other and be understandable as well (Reilly, 2015). The critics
have also pointed out the relevance of the sexual orientation in providing the kinship. In some
American families, gay and lesbian couples are deprived of the family kinship. On the other
hand, it has been seen that the lesbian mothers can be lovable, affectionate and efficient like the
heterosexual mothers (Reilly, 2015). So, it is completely hormonal or genetic and there is
nothing intentional in this.
In the concluding section, it can be said that men and women should engage in the sexual
relationships since it is not at all an uncommon thing. The sexual choices and orientations can be
left out to the concerned people only. It is commendable at the end of the parents that they
support the inclusion of romance after the engagement. The differences between heterosexual
and homosexual orientations are completely genetic and hormonal. No inequality should be done
on the basis of this.

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References and Bibliography
Abramson, P. R., & Pinkerton, S. D. (1995). Reading one - Sexual Nature: What Can We Learn
from a Cross-Species Perspective? In Sexual nature, sexual culture (pp. 17–36). Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Almog, R., & Kaplan, D. (2017). The Nerd and His Discontent. Men and Masculinities, 20(1),
27–48. https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184X15613831
Bailey, J. M., Vasey, P. L., Diamond, L. M., Breedlove, S. M., Vilain, E., & Epprecht, M.
(2016). Sexual orientation, controversy, and science. Psychological Science in the Public
Interest, 17(2), 45-101.
Brubaker, R., & Cooper, F. (2000). Beyond Identity. Theory and Society, 29(1), 1–47.
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007068714468
Cass, V. C. (2014). Homosexual identity: A concept in need of definition. In Origins of sexuality
and homosexuality (pp. 105-126). Routledge.
Godwin, G. (2015). Sexuality: A Feminist Perspective. Females, Males, and Sexuality: Theories
and Research, 175.
Halley, J. E. (2017). Sexual orientation and the politics of biology: A critique of the argument
from immutability. In Sexual orientation and rights (pp. 3-68). Routledge.
Hart, K. (2007). Love by arrangement: the ambiguity of ?spousal choice? in a Turkish village.
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 13(2), 345–362.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9655.2007.00438.x

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Hayden, C. P. (1995). Gender, Genetics, and Generation: Reformulating Biology in Lesbian
Kinship. Cultural Anthropology, 10(1), 41–63.
https://doi.org/10.1525/can.1995.10.1.02a00020
Houck, C. D., Barker, D., Rizzo, C., Hancock, E., Norton, A., & Brown, L. K. (2014). Sexting
and sexual behavior in at-risk adolescents. Pediatrics, 133(2), e276-e282.
LeVay, S. (2016). Gay, straight, and the reason why: The science of sexual orientation. Oxford
University Press.
Rainwater, L. (2017). Some aspects of lower class sexual behavior. In Class and Personality in
Society (pp. 118-135). Routledge.
Reilly, R. R. (2015). Making gay okay: How rationalizing homosexual behavior is changing
everything. Ignatius Press.
Richardson, D. (2014). The dilemma of essentiality in homosexual theory. In Origins of sexuality
and homosexuality (pp. 79-90). Routledge.
Twenge, J. M., Sherman, R. A., & Wells, B. E. (2015). Changes in American adults’ sexual
behavior and attitudes, 1972–2012. Archives of sexual behavior, 44(8), 2273-2285.
Vasey, P. L. (2016). Homosexual behavior. The international encyclopedia of primatology, 1-4.