The Social Context of Human Sexuality - Paper Example

Same-sex marriage is a contemporary issue that has raised heated controversies in different regions of the world. The union is also referred as gay marriage, and it involves the marriage between persons of the same sex. Also, such unions are done through secular civil ceremonies or under religious settings. In the United States, gay marriages are protected by the constitution and all federal states are obligated to provide marriage licenses to same-sex couples CITATION The15 \l 1033 (The Associated Press, 2015). Nevertheless, unlike in the United States, same-sex unions have not yet been widely accepted in numerous other global societies.

This research will provide a discussion of sex-same marriage from the standpoints of restrictive and permissive sexual ideologies. Further, the research will provide an analysis of the strength and weaknesses of each ideology with respect to the issue of gay marriage. Ultimately, the conclusion of the research will portray that there are equally weighty reasons as to why gay unions should be permitted or prohibited in different societies. As such, same-sex marriages as a primary issue of human sexuality will continue to remain a contemporary and controversial issue affecting numerous societies in the world.

Restrictive Ideologies On Gay Marriage

These are ideologies that explicitly disapprove the legalization or religious approval of same-sex associations. Today, most restrictive societies object the union of same-sex persons, and they even create rules that prevent such behaviors from occurring. In most cases, such restrictions are founded under religious or political provisions. Also, gay persons who go contrary to such restrictions are often eschewed from the restrictive societies through acts of social persecution, such as discrimination. There are four primary reasons, under the restrictive ideologies, why gay unions should not be permitted in the society.

Unnatural Order of Sexuality Perspective

This is the most fundamental argument that is presented by societies that reject gay associations. People who oppose gay unions consider the act to be a violation of the natural order of sexuality. Instead, they believe that sexual unions should only be permitted between persons of different sex, primarily for procreation purposes. Additionally, the unnaturalness of gay marriage by such societies is supported by religious books like the Bible and Holy Koran, which do not support such unions. Ultimately, this is considered to the primary ideology that is vastly employed by most societies that oppose same-sex unions.

Marriage is for Procreation Perspective

Persons that oppose gay marriages also use this ideology as a justification of why same-sex associations should not be condoned in the society. Based on this ideology, some societies believe that the essence of the marriage institution is for procreation purposes. In this case, two people of different gender come together and to assist each other in procreating and raising children. As such, based on the argument that two people of the same sex cannot procreate, they should not be permitted to marry.

Marriage as a Religious Institution

Most societies also oppose the concept of same-sex marriage based on a religious perspective. For instance, in the United States, Christianity-based arguments led the opposition to gay-marriage legalization. In most cases, references to the Bible were made quoting same-sex unions as sinful. Consequently, this theory provided the opponents of gay associations in the nation a foundation for supporting the discrimination of gay couples via religion. Traditionally, marriage is considered to be a social institution. As such, highly religious societies shun acts of homosexuality and lesbianism on the grounds that it is contrary their holy teachings.

Sanctity as an Aspect of Marriage

Under the foundations of religion, the sanctity theory of marriage postulates that marriage is a holy institution that should only be permitted for heterosexual couples. As such, permitting same-sex persons to marry would pose a threat to the traditional marriages since it will expose heterosexual couples to the risk of divorce. In such a situation, heterosexuals may divorce and then marry same-sex partners. Consequently, in the long term, this would eradicate the sanctity of marriage as a religious union for heterosexual couples.

Results to Increased Disease Transmission

Additionally, some societies view the legalization of same-sex unions to be the cause of the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in the society. In the United States, for instance, HIV/AIDs is highly prevalent among bisexual and gay men in the nation. According to the CDC report (2017), gay and bisexual African-American men have a high HIV transmission rate compared to any other demographic grouping in the nation CITATION CDC173 \l 1033 (CDC, 2017). Based on search findings, societies that oppose gay marriages validate their discrimination towards such persons by stating that same-sex unions will promote the development of sexually transmitted diseases among its population.

Permissive Ideologies of Gay Marriages

Contrary to restrictive ideologies of marriage, permissive ideologies advocate for the acceptance of gay unions as important aspects of human sexuality. Instead of socially discriminating against same-sex couples, permissive ideologies provide reasons to justify why such unions should be socially and legally recognized. Additionally, there are five key perspectives of permissive ideologies that society that supports same-sex associations use to validate why gay marriages should be legalized and supported in the society.

Reduction of Divorces Perspective

Societies that support gay marriages such as the United States argue that legalizing such associations would aid in reducing the level of divorces recorded in the nation. For instance, the United States is considered to have the highest divorce rate than any other nation in the world CITATION Rob131 \l 1033 (Emery, 2013). This is because over 50 percent of all married couples in the nation get divorced CITATION Tho07 \l 1033 (Holman, 2007). As such, through allowing gay marriages, supporters of same-sex relationships believe that it would aid in reducing the number of divorces recorded in the nation, due to infertility or incompatibility.

No Effect on the Heterosexual Community

Additionally, supporters of gay marriages believe that the acceptance of same-sex associations on a social and legal capacity will not affect the heterosexual couples in the nation. This argument is validated by reference to the racial integration that occurred in the 1960s, which did not affect the white community CITATION Kev17 \l 1033 (Schultz, 2017). As such, supporting gay unions would eventually be accepted and recognized as a human right that should be accorded to people whose preference is to have same-sex partners.

Provision of Equal Rights

Supporters of gay marriages have also justified their support for same-sex associations by claiming that prohibiting such associations denies some people their equal rights. Additionally, with the improved democracies of the United States and other nations around the world, the provisions of equal rights have also been amended. Today, the choice of person to marry another irrespective of their sexual orientation is viewed to be a key aspect that should be permitted in the provisions of equal rights to all persons. As such, societies that support gay marriages believe that same-sex couples should be accorded the same equality rights as heterosexual couples.

Reality Perspective

Other supporters of gay marriages believe that legalizing same-sex marriages and socially approving their unions should be viewed as an acceptance of the reality that gay associations already exists. For instance, in New York, thousands of same-sex couples have already legalized their associations. Also, Manhattan collected millions of dollars as revenue during the first years of legalizing gay marriages. This indication illustrates that millions of persons in the nation already practice same-sex monogamous associations. As such, supporters of gay unions believe that gay marriages are already being practiced in most homes in the society, though not legally protected.

Reduce Teen Suicide

Supporters of same-sex associations believe that legalizing and socially approving gay marriages will aid in reducing the rate of teenage suicides in the society. This is because one of the fundamental reasons why adolescents commit suicide is being bullied in school due to their sexual orientation CITATION Jes13 \l 1033 (Rosenberg & Rosenberg, 2013). The same acceptance that will be attained by legalizing same-sex marriages can show teenagers that homosexuality or lesbianism is an acceptable and respected aspect of human sexuality. Moreover, same-sex supporters believe that this would also show the younger generations that being different in regards to sexual orientation is not a social disability.

Discussion of Strengths and Weaknesses of Each Ideology

Restrictive Ideology

The key strengths of restrictive ideologies, in relation to gay marriages, are that they are founded on the natural biological order of things and religious perspectives. Biologically, just like in all other living organisms, procreation can only take place between two heterosexual couples. As such, from a biological perspective, gay associations should not be recognized because they cannot support procreation. On the other hand, religious is globally recognized social phenomena that have practiced for centuries.

Additionally, there are no religious beliefs that have been recorded as supporting same-sex associations. Consequently, this offers the restrictive ideology a strong foundation for refuting the support for the gay legislation. Nevertheless, the is a single primary weakness with restrictive ideology. This is that it is not mandatory to procreate and as such, people can choose to get married for other reasons.

Permissive Ideologies

There is a single strength that can be stated to be a key factor supporting societies that promote and legally approve the existence of same-sex marriage associations. This reason is that it is based on a rationality perspective. That is whereby it advocates for all persons to recognize that even though such associations may not be legally approved, in reality, they exist in the society. As such, by socially and legally recognizing gay persons in the society, it will just be a formal recognition that same-sex couples exist.

Nevertheless, two primary challenges can be associated with gay unions under the permissive ideologies. First, permissive ideologies fail to acknowledge that there adverse negative effects that have been associated with homosexuality and lesbian, such as an increase in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. This is a key consideration that should be considered because, over the years, the CDC among other human health associations have indicated that gay unions have the highest recorded rates of HIV/AIDs transmissions.

Moreover, permissive ideologies on gay associations tend to be dismissive to the religious reservations against same-sex unions. This can be considered to be a key weakness because even though the religious view on gay unions may not be supportive, religion has always been a key aspect of human civilization. As such, the legalization of same-sex unions can infringe the religious teachings of millions of religious persons that are situated in different parts of the world. Moreover, supporting the same-sex unions can discredit the teachings of the religious publications such as the Bible and...