What it Means to Be Gay: A Look at Attitudes and Practices of Homosexuality in Three Different Cultures

What it means to be Gay: a Look at Attitudes and Practices of Homosexuality in Three Different Cultures

The word homosexuality initiates a different set of schemas in virtually very culture. Sex and gender; what it means to be male or female, heterosexual or homosexual cannot be understood in the perspective of any one culture as applicable to all other cultures. The fact is, it is one of the most culturally-bound issues that exists. "I am convinced that 'sex' is invariably tied in to understandings of gender and that what is considered appropriate sexual behavior for male bodies and female bodies is dependent, in most part, upon cultural constructions of 'masculinity' and 'femininity' which vary widely over time and across cultures" (Jnanavira 2006).

This paper will discuss male homosexuality in three different cultures: The United States, Latin America, and Japan. It will discuss the unique histories of each culture and how they pertain to modern views on homosexuality, the cultural lens which allows the best window into the cultural feelings about homosexuality, and the unique aspects of each culture in which homosexual attitudes manifest themselves. This paper will discuss largely male homosexuality, because it is the more well-researched of the two types.

In the United States, homosexuality is an unaccepted way of life. American culture, in its highly Judeo-Christian-centered system of beliefs, associates homosexuality with the sexual acts that go along with it. The reason for this lies in the interpretation of Biblical prescriptions for appropriate sexual behavior. In this way, the way that American culture feels about homosexuality can be observed very readily in the formal societal regulations which are put on sexuality.