What is sexual identity? Definition and relevant aspects

Identity is a complex matter. It involves recognizing yourself as a unique and differentiated being, who remains who he is despite the changes that occur over time and with experience.

Identity also has an obvious social nuance, and implies a certain degree of assimilation of the characteristics that define other groups, with which we feel identified. In addition, it is a phenomenon composed of many dimensions, which make sense when joined. Therefore it cannot be understood solely as the character, orientation or behaviors; but as the more or less harmonious integration of all of them.

In this article we will address what is sexual identity and the affective correlates that emerge from it, being an essential element to understand the how and why of our most intimate relationships.

What is sexual identity

Identity, in absolute terms, reflects the way in which the human being understands and thinks about himself, attributing a myriad of properties by which he defines his own individuality. It involves both the personal and the social; and contemplates aspects as diverse as the religion one professes, the ethnic group to which one belongs, the place where one is lives and the relational aspects that arise when dealing with others (establishing sexuality as a communicative function more).

Sexual identity is a key concept for self-definition. An adequate approach requires contemplating the physiological, the psychological and the social; aspects that may also be susceptible to change. The perception of who we are does not remain unchanged, despite the fact that the first years of life are the most relevant to build the foundations on which everything else will be built.

In recent years we have witnessed a remarkable reinterpretation and revision of the traditional prism, breaking the dichotomy on which it was built the understanding of the human being and unfolding very diverse nuances in which the uniqueness of each one can find a better space of representation.

Then we propose concepts related to sexual identity, which are necessary to understand what it consists of.

Sexual identity: five related concepts

Next we will define biological sex, sexual orientation, sexual behavior, gender orientation and gender expression.

Although they are relatively independent concepts, they all bear some relation to sexual identity, so their knowledge is very important.

1. Biological sex

Sex is a construct by which the phenotypic differences of an animal are categorized, in relation to their sexual dimorphism. In the human being, the dichotomy "man" or "woman" has always been assumed; which in general alludes to differential anatomical, hormonal and physiological issues between one and the other. Thus, it has been understood as a strictly biological variable, in which genetics attributed the XX chromosomes for women and XY for men.

However, discrepancies in the basic chromosome arrangement are now recognized; distinguishing the XXX, XXY, XYY and even the XO; as well as men with the XX pattern (La Chapelle syndrome) and women with the XY (Swyer syndrome). All of this seems to suggest that sexual reality cannot be reduced to absolute terms and lapidary, but there is a genotypic variety that forces us to rethink the usefulness of this duality.

A short time ago, the birth of a baby with undifferentiated sexual characteristics was the reason for surgery almost immediately, in order to choose any of the categories that society could accept (male or woman). Today it is a much less widespread practice, since the risk that it involves psychological damage is recognized. In addition, many social currents advocate the explicit recognition of the condition of intersex as a "third sex".

2. Sexual orientation

Sexual orientation is defined based on the sex of the people for whom we feel physical and / or romantic attraction. In this sense, the concepts most used today are heterosexuality (attraction to sex opposite) homosexuality (attraction to people of the same sex) and bisexuality (attraction to people of both sexes). Despite this, it is very important to remember that orientation is a dimensional phenomenon, and not a category one can fit into.

Thus, the orientation takes the form of a continuum or spectrum whose extremes would be homosexuality and heterosexuality, and in which each person would be located at some relative point. Therefore, there is no possibility of classifying this question in absolute terms, but always from relativity and attending to questions of degree. For this reason, no homogeneity can be assumed for people based on their identification as homo, hetero or bisexual.

There are also individuals who are considered asexual, in the sense that they do not perceive interest in either men or women. Although this orientation has been considered in some cases as an "absence of orientation", in many cases classifications is referred to as one more form of sexuality, along with the classics that have already been cited in this same text.

Lastly, queer people would be attracted to others with no regard for sex at all. or the gender to which they are ascribed, considering that these dimensions imply a reductionism absurd. The rejection of these terms would also be accompanied by a certain social claim regarding the existence of patriarchal power structures that constrain the freedom to love and feel.

• Related article: "The 10 main types of sexual orientation"

3. Sexual conduct

Sexual behavior describes the free choice of other people with whom they have intimate encounters, depending on the interests and specific circumstances of each one at each moment of her life. Thus, there are people who consider themselves heterosexual but have relationships with men occasionally, and vice versa. The same can be said in the opposite direction, that is, when someone who considers himself homosexual decides to sleep with an individual of the opposite sex.

Sexual behavior can assume enormous diversity, and is not always related to the orientation that each individual perceives for himself. Beyond the complexity of desire as a fundamental stage of the human sexual response, and the infinite ways in which it can be expressed, it has been noted in the literature on the issue a series of extraordinary conditions that precipitate a discrepant sexual behavior with respect to the orientation of the involved.

In this way, in physical contexts of great segregation by sex and / or that imply a situation of prolonged isolation (prisons, for example), it is relatively common for encounters of this nature to occur between people of the same sex (without any being described as homosexual). However, it is not necessary for this fact to unfold in restricted contexts, but rather it is one more expression of the freedom with which the human being lives his sexuality.

4. Gender identity

Gender is a reality conditioned by the historical and social moment, and for this reason it cannot be assigned a set of defining and immovable characteristics. These are the roles that the environment attributes to people depending on whether they are men or women, and which correspond to the conceptualization of masculinity and femininity. Traditionally, the male was assigned a male role and the female a female, limiting their natural unique qualities not linked to biological sex.

It is now recognized that sex and gender are independent, so that each person can describe himself as masculine or feminine only, or refer to a combination of both to some degree. There are even people who flow within the spectrum, assuming an intermediate position or placing themselves at one of its extremes at different times in their lives. All this regardless of the sex that was assigned at the time of birth.

In the event that there is a coincidence between the sex attributed at birth (based on the recognition of the external genitalia) and the gender with which the person identifies, it would seem that it is located in the category cisgender. In the opposite case, the term that tends to be used is transgender.

However, there are studies that highlight that the sex with which one is born has a fundamental impact on attitudes and interests. Thus, it has been indicated that boys and girls show different attentional orientations from the moment of birth (they pay more attention to human faces and them on moving stimuli), and soon after they choose toys differently (dolls for themselves and vehicles or construction devices for they).

Studies in later stages of development also show that girls, when free drawing instruction is presented, tend to represent natural motifs (such as flowers, landscapes, people, animals, etc.), while the children scribble war scenes or means of transport (also using a color palette less varied). Despite the fact that the authors postulate a differential effect of testosterone on the gestation process to explain it, from a certain age there may be a social conditioning that influences habits and behaviors.

On the other hand, it can be said that gender roles, existing beyond each of the individuals that make up society and transmitted as one more element of human cultures, also influence gender identity. It is not simply a phenomenon with purely biological causes, or expressed from the genes, but it also has to do with the interaction with the social environment.

5. Gender expression

Gender expression describes the behavioral aspects that the person champions as one more element of their way of being. There are countries in the world where the divergence between sex and gender is penalized, so many they may choose to behave in a socially accepted way to the detriment of their desires or tendencies natural.

Thus, men who feel identified with the female gender may decide to adopt attitudes and habits socially attributed to the male (and vice versa). This would avoid conflict situations or even some risk to physical integrity or life. In other cases, social pressure or "what will they say" is a sufficient reason to inhibit what is felt, without the need for doing so could pose an objective danger. In any case, it is known that in all human cultures there are concepts of "male" and "female" as different realities, so this kind of social pressures are present in all of them to a lesser or greater degree. measure.

Impact of discrimination based on sexual identity

Social pressure can mean that many people face a difficult moment when they want to express their orientation sexual or gender, for fear that it may lead to a conflict for third parties or even imply the rejection of people who consider as significant. For this reason, it is relatively common that it is a process that requires time, and that you took a long time from the moment in which you became aware of how they felt.

The literature on this subject is abundant, and studies can be found in which a greater prevalence of various related disorders: depression, anxiety problems, post-traumatic stress, etc. However, these findings do not suggest greater vulnerability, but rather are the result of losses that could occur during the "coming out of the closet" process.

The integration of all sexual and gender orientation as a form of human expression that deserves recognition is absolutely necessary., since it is one of the bastions of freedom over one's own body. Only in this way can love be expressed in a constructive way in the purpose that unites us all: the search for happiness.

Bibliographic references:

• Castellanos, L. and Swaab, D. (2017). Sexual Identity and Sexual Orientation. Hormones, Brain and Behavior, 5, 279-290.
• Francis, B. (2000) Is gender a social construct or a biological imperative? Family Futures: Issues in Research and Policy 7th Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference.
• Jayme, M.; Sau, V. (1996). Differential Psychology of Sex and Gender: Fundamentals. Barcelona: Icaria Editorial.
• Moleiro, C. and Pinto, N. (2015). Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity: Review of concepts, controversies and their relation to psychopathology classification systems. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, e1511.
• Schnabel, L. (2018). Sexual Orientation and Social Attitudes. Socius: Sociological Research for a Dinamic World, 4, 1-18.