Adaptive Value Of Homosexual Behavior Sociology Essay

Adaptive Value Of Homosexual Behavior Sociology Essay Studies into the evolution of humans and essentially any organism in the world clearly prove that the concepts and tenets of Evolutionary Theory are much more complicated than the common, simple idea of survival of the fittest. The subject of homosexuality is no different in this distinction; even into modern society, human behavior has been in heated debate to uncover whether it is more a result of heredity or environmental factors. Homosexuality as a biological concept and the definition I will be using refers to same-sex sexual behavior between members of the same gender. Understanding Evolution, and natural selection as an extension of it, will help to clarify and comprehend how homosexuality fits into this framework of ideas. Modern evolutionary theory incorporates both Charles Darwins observation that there is heritable variability in traits and that variants best suited to an environment are more likely to be passes on (natural selection) as well as Gregor Mendels work on how that variation is inherited to further generations. Most importantly natural selection acts on phenotypes which are observable and often measurable expressions of a trait (Stinson, Bogin and ORourke 824). Phenotypes are not purely a result of genes; they also include (most importantly) the influence and interaction with the environment. When individuals have a phenotype that is advantageous in an environment, often this results in an adaptation where their genes are most likely to survive and they are able to reproduce to contribute alleles to the next generation (Stinson, Bogin and ORourke 7). Behaviors, as we are seeing with the increasingly developing field of Sociobiology, are often a result of both biological and social components. As clinical psychologist Frank Muscarella points out when behaviors commonly exhibited by humans can be expected to have contributed to survival and reproduction in the evolutionary past those genes that influence the behavior will spread (Muscarella , Fink and Grammer 394). In regards to homosexuality, and male homosexuality specifically, this behavior fits well into this model because there is increasing evidence that there are both genetic and social aspects that predispose individuals to homosexual behavior. A common misconception about homosexual behavior is that it is both a rare occurrence and it is inherently deleterious because same-sex sexual acts do not result in offspring; yet the commonality of homosexual behavior in itself indicates that there is an evolutionary factor selecting for it. In reality homosexual behavior is and can be seen in countless species in the world. Biologist Bruce Bagemihl in his compilation of studies on animal homosexuality shows that homosexual behavior occurs in more than 450 different kinds of animals worldwide, and is found in every major geographic region and every major animal group (Bagemihl 12). Similarly biodiversity specialist R.C. Kirkpatrick in his research cataloged the geographical distribution of forms of homosexual behavior in a variety of human populations around the world (Kirkpatrick 387). So it is safe to presume that there are other factors that play into the adaptation of homosexual behavior, some may have more of a physical evolutionary basis, while others more related to social evolutionary mechanisms but many theories have become potential explanations of this seemingly paradox of evolution that occurs quite often within and between species. The important distinction is that homosexuality, like many traits, isnt attributed to one model or theory. Multiple theories attempt to help to explain how a behavior attributed to something as seemingly ironic as nonreproductive sex contributes to an adaptive advantage in human evolution. One of the first and oldest hypotheses revolves around the theory of kin selection where selection is made for increasing inclusive fitness by increasing the reproductive fitness of kin (since parents and siblings share fifty percent of their genetic material). Another similar theory revolves around the ideas of reciprocal altruism and an adaptive advantage of homosocial behavior. Lastly, a more recent theory proposes a more physical genetic basis revolving around sexual antagonism, the theory being that the same genes that promote homosocial behavior in males is beneficial to the reproductive potential of relatives. II) Kin selection Theory Kin selection theory operates on the assumption that there is some genetic basis for homosexuality and genes for it are maintained in a population by homosexuals increasing their inclusive fitness by contributing to the reproductive success of relatives, in theory these kin would then have a better chance of reproducing and of carrying foreword genes common to both the homosexual and his kin (McKnight 129). Unfortunately I believe lack of data has led to this hypothesis being prematurely discredited by many researchers. On the other hand inconsistencies and the lack of data as Ive seen is more due to the types on environments the studies are being done in. A study on the role of homosexuality in males using data from London residents found that there were no significant differences between heterosexual and homosexual men in general familial affinity, generous feelings (willingness to provide financial and emotional resources), and benevolent tendencies (Rahman and Hull 462). However modern western and industrial societies are vastly different than the historical environments where much of human evolution has taken place. Taking into account the length of time we can track homosexual behavior has persisted, its most likely that this adaptation is a result of a specific type of environment and cultures that are more representative of ancestral environments will likely give us a better case study. A great case study by evolutionary psychologists Paul Vasey and Doug VanderLaan also tested this theory Samoan Pacific Islanders; within Samoan culture there is a gender category of men called faafafine that tend to be exclusively attracted to other adult men, an excellent parallel to exclusive homosexual behavior (Association for Psychological Science). They found that the faafafine are much more altruistically inclined toward their nieces and nephews than either Samoan women or heterosexual men (Association for Psychological Science). On the surface it doesnt seem like kin selection alone is enough to offset the costs of forgoing direct reproduction, yet more and more data is becoming evident that a combination of biological and social mechanisms may contribute to offset these costs. Again specialist Kirkpatrick helps us understand the forces that may be at work; kin selection operates on three basic assumptions (1) that homosexual behavior reduces individual reproductive success, (2) that lineages with homosexuals have greater reproductive success than lineages without, and (3) that homosexual behavior is typically seen in individuals of low reproductive potential (Kirkpatrick 391). The third observation that this behavior is seen in individuals with low reproductive potential is an important aspect of our next theory. III) Reciprocal Altruism and Homosocial Behavior Altruistic behavior is essentially any behavior of an individual that benefits another unrelated individual at a cost to its own reproductive fitness. As an extension of this, reciprocal altruism assumes that this cost is offset by the likelihood of the return benefit (Trivers 35). Applied with research on homosexual behavior there is strong evidence that this type of behavior is an evolutionary benefit for social relationships and is closely linked with survival. This theory has become known as the Alliance Theory and supposes that same-sex sexual behavior may have reinforced same-sex alliances, which contributed directly to survival and indirectly to reproduction (Muscarella, Cevallos and Siler-Knogl 771). An important and vital aspect of this theory is to recognize that homosexual behavior does not discount the occurrence of heterosexual behavior. In fact as Muscarella points out individuals in many species including humans both heteroerotic and homoerotic behavior have been impor tant social aspects for most of our evolutionary history (Muscarella, The Evolution of Homoerotic Behavior in Humans 53). Same-sex sexual behavior in humans likely contributed to survival by reinforcing social alliances; by forming social ties, overall survival of members would be directly increased as well as lower status individuals increasing their reproductive fitness by gaining access to mates through a higher ranked member. Average reproductive success increases by adapting to include a moderate level of homosexual behavior (Kirkpatrick 389). This type of relationship can be seen in both chimpanzees and gorillas where lower status males that form same-sex alliances with higher status males both increase their survival potential and in many cases increase reproductive potential due to the higher status male allowing reproduction with female members ( (Muscarella, The Evolution of Homoerotic Behavior in Humans 61); (Kirkpatrick 397)). Its likely that genes predisposing behaviors for altruistic behavior, which are a clear adaptive advantage especially in complex social species, are at least to a certain extent the same genes that influence homosexual behavior. IV) Antagonistic Pleiotropy Genetics in particular are a complicated study because in many cases genes have multiple effects, these can be based on stages of life and even have separate effects regarding different sexes of the same species. Regarding antagonistic pleiotropy, being the concept that a beneficial effect to one group can have detrimental effects in another, there are two situations that revolve around the same concept. In the first theory it assumes that there is some reproductive advantage to having homosexual alleles in heterosexual or bisexual men, while at some point this becomes a disadvantage as reproductive potential passes the peak level. Likely this advantage relates to an immediate reproductive advantage by directly enhancing sex drive or some other aspect of sexual performance (McKnight 76). This creates a great environment for case studies and twin studies in particular are excellent to examine whether this is a plausible explanation. In a twin study carried out on a large number of par ticipants heterosexuals with a non-heterosexual twin tended to have more opposite-sex partners than do heterosexual twin pairs indicating that genes responsible for homosexual predispositions likely have a reproductive benefit in heterosexuals (Zietsch, Morley and Shekar 424). Similarly, the next situation proposes that the same genes responsible for homosexual behavior in men are also responsible for higher fecundity in female relatives. Using pedigree demographics comparing both the maternal and paternal line of 98 homosexual and 100 heterosexual men and their relatives, evolutionary psychologist Andrea Camperio-Ciani found that female maternal relatives of homosexuals have higher fecundity than female maternal relatives of heterosexuals and that this difference is not found in female paternal relatives (Ciani, Francesca and Capiluppi, Evidence for Maternally Inherited Factors Favouring Male Homosexuality and Promoting Female Fecundity 2217). This along with a second study that fo und this trend in even first time mothers supports the theory of homosexuality as antagonistic selection where the same genes selected for higher fecundity in females promote homosexual behavior in males (Iemmola and Camperio-Ciani 393). V) Conclusions Its obvious that the evolution of male homosexuality as an adaptation has many facets, understandably its just as complicated as any human social behavior, but we are gaining ground on understanding the genetic and social implications of behavior and how evolution has shaped these in humans. Overall however its becoming more a more evident that the survival of a human predisposition for homosexuality can be explained by sexual orientation being a trait that is influenced by a number of pleitropic genes (Miller 45). For this reason a singular theory is highly unlikely to be sufficient to explain something as complex as homosexuality; multiple theories then likely contribute to the overall model. A gene for altruism, and as an extension homosexuality, likely plays a very important role in Kin selection theory; and it is also probable that sexual antagonism helps offset the cost of non reproductive behavior. No one theory will be sufficient, but with the combined perspectives and resear ch of genetics, sociobiology, psychology and other disciplines the adaptive benefit of this behavior will become more understandable.

John Holt Essay

â€Å"By Friday you need to have the first 350 pages read in the novel and a written summary.† Do you remember being told that all the time in school? Teachers expecting us to read large amounts in a short period of time, they don’t think it is too much because they love reading. Well John Holt wrote a really good article about his thoughts called â€Å"Making Children Hate Reading.† Making Children Hate Reading is a good article because he uses real life situations and compares his thoughts to others but using several different examples, such as Mark Twain’s work. John Holt was a fifth grade English teacher. He once felt that he needed to push reading on his students so they would grow up into a world of great vocabulary and knowledge. Vocabulary tests and quizzes on the stories. He also encouraged them to look up every word in the dictionary that they were not sure of the meaning. Once confronted by his sister, who had a rough situation with her sons seventh grade teacher, he began to see what he was doing. John saw that he was pushing these kids further from the desire to read than he thought. People cannot be forced to do something they do not want to do over and over again because they will grow to hate it. They might still do it anyways but just not put any effort into it. â€Å"My sister answered that until this class her boy had always loved reading, and had read a lot on his own; now he had stopped. (He was not really to start again for many years.)† (Holt) Holt also describes how people become almost â€Å"scared† of reading. He talks as though someone who is humiliated about something or does something wrong and gets punished for it in some manner will most likely never do it again. That goes for reading as well. Being pushed over and over to read excessive amounts or write long essays they will either A) love it or B) hate it. Once a young child hates something they will fear it for a very long time. Holt uses info from one of Mark Twain’s quotes; â€Å"Mark Twain once said that a cat that sat on a hot stove lid would never sit on one again, but it would never sit on a cold one either. As true of children as of cats. If they, so to speak, sit on a hot book a few times, if books cause them humiliation and pain, they are likely to decide that the safest thing to do is to leave all books alone.† I believe each teacher needs to come up with their own ways to make their class run for every student. Not every student will enjoy everything they do but at some point they should all be able to say â€Å"I really had fun today.† Or â€Å"What I just learned was very interesting.† Not every teacher is going to understand each student’s level of intelligence, but it helps to try. Each individual student comes from a different home, some where parents were strict making them read in their free time or study flash cards and others probably just didn’t care. Now if each teacher had their own unique way of teaching a subject then the student would remain on their toes and ready to see what is next. Imagine being in a class room and every day the teacher just lectured; hearing the same message every day, in the same tone, about the same topic. Even that sentence was boring. Its gets old and people begin to tune out, it may seem they are paying attention but in their head they are really thinking about how the Bulls finally won last night, or what they wanted to eat when they got home.

Gang Violence

Teen Gang Violence If I could change the world, I would definitely leave out the gang violence. I wonder why teens join gangs. I’ve seen some of my friends join gangs and I wonder why they joined. Did they think they were going to be famous? Did they think everyone was going to know them now and want to invite them to special events? Or did they want to sell drugs on their block and become hood rich? I grew up in the city of Blytheville, Arkansas, where a lot of kids find trouble. Gangs are becoming a growing problem in American society. More young people are turning to gangs to solve problems in their lives.When youth join gangs, they forget about their family, real friends, and even school. In Blytheville, gangs cause teenagers to act violently. When you are in a gang, you also have rival gangs that you constantly have to fight, just because you don’t want another gang in your territory. Some teens think that being in a gang will give them protection. I believe being in a gang increases your chances of being killed or hurt badly. Besides the violence that is involved in being in a gang, teens also get involved in illegal activities such as the use and selling of drugs.Gangs make you carry out illegal activities to make money. One of these activities is selling marijuana mainly. In my city, some members are big time dealers, while others just work the corners. It’s a part in my town that does a lot of killing and selling drugs. That is not good role modeling for the young people. In what shouldn't surprise anyone who has thought even the least bit about these sorts of issues, a lack of positive role models in their lives is  leading to gang membership. (ParentDish) Some children probably grew up where they saw people selling drugs and killing.They said, â€Å"When I get older I want to be just like that†. When you’re young you don’t really know the consequences of being in a gang. I never understood the meaning of ga ngs. You have to have tons of people who might have your back, but the key word was â€Å"might†. I know many people that don’t need to be in a gang. They’re in it just to fit in. That is just horrible in my book. I remember we had to read a book about gangs in high school. This book was called Gangs, Groups, Cults. It’s about a kid name Donte. He was a bright teenager who finished school and didn’t do anything after high school. So he oined a gang because he said, â€Å"Cool, but what do I do once I get out of school? You know? I did my daily deed to keep from getting thrown out of the house, but no I’m walking around the neighborhood and I don’t have anything to do† (Bradley 75). Since Donte had nothing better to do, he figured that it would be okay to join a gang. Boredom causes teenagers to join gangs, as well as wrecking havoc in the streets. Boredom can cause teens to join gangs, and so does bad parents. A lot of times wh en a kid’s family is messed up, they end up spending more time on the streets, and the gang becomes like their second family.Maybe they only have a mom and she has drug problems, or is never around or very strict on him/her. Maybe they have a dad that is never around, or is on drugs. Some kids suffer through home life with parents who are always drunk on alcohol and they don’t really know their parents. So they meet older gang members that give them money and make them feel like a little brother or even a son. According to The National Gang Center and The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, boys are more involved in gangs than girls; however you might be surprised to find out that the number of female gang members is rapidly increasing. Psychology Today) Many parents of teenage girls do not consider gang activity to be something they should worry about very much. Unfortunately, I’ve witness teenage girls getting more and more involved in gangs . Not only in Blytheville, this is occurring in the larger cities, and other smaller cities and towns as well. Gangs rely on their girl for many dangerous activities that can result in teen girls going to prison or worse. Maybe they believe she want get as much time for a crime as a male would. Teens that are in gangs are much more likely to suffer from gun violence, whether it's injury or death.As a gang member, you can look forward to at least one shooting. In some cities, many teens that were killed by guns are gang members. Most likely, they were shooting at other gang members, who will not hesitate to shoot back. According to the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, youth gangs have about 772,000 members nationwide, with half of them being teens under 18. (eHow) Teenagers love this life because they feel powerful, rich, and respected at a young age. They think they’re going to become rich and gang famous. The older guys that are or were in a gang are known as â€Å"OG’s†, know the opposite.I’m pretty sure they’re regretting everything like the choices they made getting into the gang in the first place back in the day. A lot of OG’s have spent their whole lives in and out of jail, and are out on the street asking for money, all because the gang life took away a lot of opportunities they could have had when they were younger. The world doesn’t need this kind of activity going on. We have bigger problems to deal with, other than killing and harming each other. Parents need to tell their children how much they love them each and every day.

The Most Important Event Of My Life - 883 Words

Flash back to this time last year. If you would’ve asked me what the most important event in my life has been I would’ve named a few in a second. The first would probably be the time I transferred schools in the sixth grade after going to the same one for most of my life. Second would maybe be the time an antique clock fell on my head and cracked it open. Heck, the last one would be the time I crawled up and then rolled down the stairs as a baby. That’s what I would have said. Now all those don’t seem that life changing. They’re small compared to my most life changing event. My most life changing event was when my best friend, Karina, and I had a falling out. Looking back, the situation taught me what heartbreak really was. I think losing her was my first heartbreak. Most people expect it to happen with a romantic relationship when it could happen with any kind of relationship. Going through this showed me just how much pain came out of losing someo ne you really cared for. When she decided to ignore me and completely shut me out I was devastated. She was my life for the past three years. Everything I had shared with her felt like it went down the drain. It was the most emotional pain I had ever felt. I completely shut down. I found it hard to keep up with my social life to the point where I only talked to two friends out of a group of almost twenty. I think I stopped functioning as well. I got to the point where I almost completely stopped eating and sleeping.Show MoreRelated The Most Important Event in My Life Essay example799 Words   |  4 Pages The Most Important Event in my Life nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The most important event in my life, didn’t even happen to myself, but happened to my older sister, Becky. The reason I am writing about her is because the things that have happened to her and the things she has done in the past have affected me tremendously as well as my family. 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