Sex and Identity
We have already stated that sex gives us the self awareness of who we are. Women identify themselves as women by their sexual make up (anatomy) and so do men. Gender identity is the subjective sense of belonging to a particular sex. It results in an array of sex-typed social behaviour called the gender role.
Ambiguity in the awareness of a person’s sex arises in cases where nature goes astray and an individual is born with both the male and female sex organs or where sex hormones get confused resulting in a person of one sex developing sexual characteristics of the opposite sex. Such people are said to be transgendered or transexual. Many people will recall the September 2009 case of South African female athlete Caster Semenya where doubts were raised of her gender. Some said she is a male while her family and nation insisted she is female. At the time of writing this article her gender was yet to be determined as the world athletics body ordered her to undergo a comprehensive gender test. I recall when I was in high school and we had this boy who had girlish breasts, a soprano voice and a very smooth face. We had to inspect the poor boy to determine he was actually a boy. Luckily for him his hormones sorted themselves up by the time he got to sixteen. The breasts disappeared, the voice broke and he started growing a beard. I would call that a case of temporary hormonal confusion because his situation resolved without any medical intervention. Women are also known to develop facial hair and break their voice due to high levels of the male hormone testosterone especially due to stress. So next time you see your female chief executive officer spotting a beard, you should suggest she slows down a bit by delegating responsibility.
Sexual orientation means whether an individual is predominantly attracted to persons of the same sex, the opposite sex or both sexes. Sexual orientation is often perceived as an aspect of identity. People who are attracted to the opposite sex are called heterosexual. They comprise the majority in the population and the practice is recognized and approved universally by the society. Homosexuals are people who are predominantly attracted to the same sex while bisexuals are attracted to both sexes. Homosexuals and bisexuals are not universally accepted by society. Majority of people do not approve their sexual orientation. Many Kenyans may recall the case of marriage of two gay Kenyans in London in October 2009 that kicked up a national storm back in Kenya. Most human societies do not even recognize homosexual and bisexual relationships. In Kenya and most African countries such relationships are illegal. Even in countries like the United States of America where homosexual relationships are recognized, they are frowned at by the majority of the population.
Homosexuals and bisexuals are therefore a minority in the human population and they tend to practice their sexual orientation from a point of disadvantage since they are the minority in the society and society disapproves their sexual practices. Such people therefore identify themselves as a sexual minority and reach out to each other to advocate for issues of their interest such as society’s recognition and approval, legalization and protection of their sexual identity.
There are other aspects of people’s sexuality that may encourage them to seek some form of identity. These include but are not limited to:
- People who prefer to defer sex until marriage
- People who choose to sacrifice their sexuality in favour of a lifelong religious vocation such as Catholic priests and sisters
- Parents. In Kenya for instance there is a National Parents Association
- People with sexually transmitted diseases (including HIV-AIDS)
- People with medical conditions or disabilities that affect sexual expression
- People who have experienced sexual violence or childhood molestation
- Sex offenders
- Prostitutes and others whose work involves sex
- People who prefer sex partners of particular age brackets
- People who engage in sex outside of lasting relationships
- People who have group sexual relationships (polyamorists)
- People who engage in sadomasochistic practices
People falling in any of the above categories may have some sense of identity and wish to commune with others like them. They may form groups and have newsletters, news groups, organizations and political goals, meeting places and even a shared outlook not only on sexuality but even other issues of their interest. Some of the groups could be illegal based on the laws on sexuality and they will operate illegally albeit the legal consequences of exposure.
It is therefore interesting that our sexual feelings, behaviours, and experiences help establish our place in society. Those feelings make us sympathize with those who share our traits while we are less sympathetic to those who do not. In some cases, the relationship with those who do not share our sexual feelings may even be out rightly hostile. A good example is the case of heterosexuals and homosexuals in Christianity. While the homosexuals crave for Christian recognition and approval, the majority of heterosexual Christians would want nothing to do with homosexuality in the religion.