Is homosexuality hormonally determined?
This paper suggest there is insufficient evidence to conclude that homosexuality has endocrine bases. The search for hormonal correlates occurs within a model that views homosexuality as a medical problem requiring biological explanations and a program of treatment or prevention. This search is heavily rooted in popular conceptions of gender-appropriate behavior, as well as in naive concepts of the significance of hormonal changes. Two kinds of hormonal study are considered here. Researchers may either (a) investigate hormone levels in adult populations or (b) investigate hypotheses of behavioral determination by prenatal hormones. Much of the latter information derives from animal studies, commonly on the laboratory rat. This paper questions the validity of assumptions underlying these studies--assumptions about the behavior of the laboratory rat itself and, more importantly, about the legitimacy of this animal as a model for human behavior. It is suggested that, although such hypotheses are naive, their current popularity arises from their potential role in "controlling" homosexuality.
D000818:Animals; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D006716:Homosexuality; D006801:Humans; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D012733:Sex Differentiation; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood
D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones; D013739:Testosterone; D004958:Estradiol; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone