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89-516: [REDACTED] Look up straight in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Straight may refer to: Slang [ edit ] Straight, slang for heterosexual Straight-acting , an LGBT person who does not exhibit the appearance or mannerisms of the gay stereotype Straight, a member of the straight edge subculture Sport and games [ edit ] Straight, an alternative name for

178-582: A prefix meaning "different"; and the Latin word for sex (that is, characteristic sex or sexual differentiation ). The current use of the term heterosexual has its roots in the broader 19th century tradition of personality taxonomy. The term heterosexual was coined alongside the word homosexual by Karl Maria Kertbeny in 1869. The terms were not in current use during the late nineteenth century, but were reintroduced by Richard von Krafft-Ebing and Albert Moll around 1890. The noun came into wider use from

267-858: A verse narrative . The word was originally an adverb of Latin origin, "romanicus", meaning "of the Roman style". European medieval vernacular tales, epics , and ballads generally dealt with chivalric adventure , not bringing in the concept of love until late into the seventeenth century. The word romance developed other meanings, such as the early nineteenth century Spanish and Italian definitions of "adventurous" and "passionate", which could intimate both "love affair" and "idealistic quality". Anthropologists such as Claude Lévi-Strauss show that there were complex forms of courtship in ancient as well as contemporary primitive societies. There may not be evidence, however, that members of such societies formed loving relationships distinct from their established customs in

356-400: A "complement" or completing of themselves in a partner, as in the cliché that "opposites attract", but with the added consideration that both partners manifest this attraction for the sake of the species: But what ultimately draws two individuals of different sex exclusively to each other with such power is the will-to-live which manifests itself in the whole species, and here anticipates, in

445-612: A 2015 YouGov survey of 1,000 adults of the United States, 89% of the sample identified as heterosexual, 4% as homosexual (2% as homosexual male and 2% as homosexual female) and 4% as bisexual (of either sex). Bailey et al. , in their 2016 review, stated that in recent Western surveys, about 93% of men and 87% of women identify as completely heterosexual, and about 4% of men and 10% of women as mostly heterosexual. No simple and singular determinant for sexual orientation has been conclusively demonstrated, but scientists believe that

534-572: A Bollywood film starring Vinay Pathak and Gul Panag "Straight", a song by T-Pain on the 2017 Oblivion (T-Pain album) "Straight", a song by A Place to Bury Strangers on the 2015 album Transfixiation Straight Records , a record label formed in 1969 The Georgia Straight (straight.com), a Canadian weekly newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia Straight , the second autobiography by British artist Boy George Other [ edit ] Straight, Inc. , former name of

623-414: A US drug rehabilitation program for adolescents Straight whiskey , pure whiskey distilled at no higher than 80% alcohol content that has been aged at least two years Straightedge , a drawing or cutting tool Straight (racing) , a section of a race track Straight (surname) Straight man , a stock character Straight line , having zero curvature See also [ edit ] Strait ,

712-453: A body of water Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Straight . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Straight&oldid=1256081142 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

801-453: A combination of genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors determine sexual orientation. They favor biological theories for explaining the causes of sexual orientation, as there is considerably more evidence supporting nonsocial, biological causes than social ones, especially for males. Factors related to the development of a heterosexual orientation include genes , prenatal hormones , and brain structure, and their interaction with

890-500: A complexity that was steeped in a framework of tradition, which stemmed from theories of etiquette derived out of chivalry as a moral code of conduct. Courtly love and the notion of domnei were often the subjects of troubadours , and could be typically found in artistic endeavors such as lyrical narratives and poetic prose of the time. Since marriage was commonly a formal arrangement, courtly love sometimes permitted expressions of emotional closeness that may have been lacking from

979-426: A cynical view, it does emphasize the mechanical in love relations. In that sense, it does resonate with capitalism and cynicism native to post-modernity. Romance in this context leans more on fashion and irony, though these were important for it in less emancipated times. Sexual revolutions have brought change to these areas. Wit or irony therefore encompass an instability of romance that is not entirely new but has

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1068-543: A framework of concern for the reproduction of bloodlines according to financial, professional, and sometimes political interests." Anthony Giddens , in The Transformation of Intimacy: Sexuality, Love and Eroticism in Modern Society , states that romantic love introduced the idea of a narrative to an individual's life, and telling a story is a root meaning of the term romance . According to Giddens,

1157-467: A heterosexual orientation, since sexual orientation typically refers to a long-term enduring pattern of sexual and emotional attraction leading often to long-term social bonding, while reproduction requires as little as a single act of copulation to fertilize the ovum by sperm . Often, sexual orientation and sexual orientation identity are not distinguished, which can impact accurately assessing sexual identity and whether or not sexual orientation

1246-430: A knight's devotion to her, coupled with an obligatory respect for all women, factored prominently in the identity of medieval knighthood. Members of the aristocracy were schooled in the principles of chivalry, which facilitated important changes in attitudes regarding the value of women. Modern historians such as D. W. Robertson Jr. , John C. Moore, and E. Talbot Donaldson consider the concept of courtly love to be

1335-621: A lack mainly to Sigmund Freud , and Deleuze often criticized it. Victor C. De Munck and David B. Kronenfeld conducted a study named "Romantic Love in the United States: Applying Cultural Models Theory and Methods". This study was conducted through an investigation of two cultural model cases. It states that in America, "we have a rather and dynamic cultural model that is falsifiable and predictive of successful love relationships" Which supports that

1424-499: A lack of being, namely, the being or form of beauty . Though there are many theories of romantic love—such as that of Robert Sternberg , in which it is merely a mean combining liking and sexual desire —the major theories involve far more insight. For most of the 20th century, Freud's theory of the family drama dominated theories of romance and sexual relationships. This gave rise to a few counter-theories. Theorists like Deleuze counter Freud and Jacques Lacan by attempting to return to

1513-536: A man and a woman within marriage is allowed, but there are a few that believe that it is a sin, such as The Shakers , The Harmony Society , and The Ephrata Cloister . These religions tend to view all sexual relations as sinful , and promote celibacy . Some religions require celibacy for certain roles, such as Catholic priests ; however, the Catholic Church also views heterosexual marriage as sacred and necessary. Heteronormativity denotes or relates to

1602-417: A man and woman in an intimate relationship , form the core of a nuclear family . Many societies throughout history have insisted that a marriage take place before the couple settle down, but enforcement of this rule or compliance with it has varied considerably. Heterosexual symbolism dates back to the earliest artifacts of humanity, with gender symbols , ritual fertility carvings, and primitive art. This

1691-545: A meeting is asked for with the avowed intention of sexual gratification. If the invitation is accepted, the satisfaction of the boy's desire eliminates the romantic frame of mind, the craving for the unattainable and mysterious." "an important point is that the pair's community of interest is limited to the sexual relation only. The couple share a bed and nothing else. ... there are no services to be mutually rendered, they have no obligation to help each other in any way..." The aborigines of Mangaia island of Polynesia, who mastered

1780-563: A modern invention. Donaldson called it "The Myth of Courtly Love," on the basis that it is not supported in medieval texts. Other scholars consider courtly love to have been purely a literary convention. Examples of allegorical use of the concept can be found in the Middle Ages, but there are no historical records that offer evidence of its presence in reality. Historian John Benton found no documentary evidence in law codes, court cases, chronicles or other historical documents. Romantic love

1869-448: A more central social role, fine-tuned to certain modern peculiarities and subversion originating in various social revolutions, culminating mostly in the 1960s. The process of courtship also contributed to Arthur Schopenhauer 's pessimism, despite his own romantic success, and he argued that to be rid of the challenge of courtship would drive people to suicide with boredom. Schopenhauer theorized that individuals seek partners looking for

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1958-437: A more naturalistic philosophy: René Girard argues that romantic attraction is a product of jealousy and rivalry—particularly in a triangular form . Girard, in any case, downplays romance's individuality in favor of jealousy and the love triangle , arguing that romantic attraction arises primarily in the observed attraction between two others. A natural objection is that this is circular reasoning , but Girard means that

2047-426: A person's life). A 2012 study found that 2% of a sample of 2,560 adult participants reported a change of sexual orientation identity after a 10-year period. For men, a change occurred in 0.78% of those who had identified as heterosexual, 9.52% of homosexuals, and 47% of bisexuals. For women, a change occurred in 1.36% of heterosexuals, 63.6% of lesbians, and 64.7% of bisexuals. A 2-year study by Lisa M. Diamond on

2136-458: A person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in a community of others who share those attractions." Someone who is heterosexual is commonly referred to as straight. Along with bisexuality and homosexuality , heterosexuality is one of the three main categories of sexual orientation within the heterosexual–homosexual continuum . Across cultures, most people are heterosexual, and heterosexual activity

2225-536: A real part of marriage. The marriages that did arise outside of arranged marriage were most often spontaneous relationships. In Ladies of the Leisure Class , Rutgers University professor Bonnie G. Smith depicts courtship and marriage rituals that may be viewed as oppressive to modern people. She writes, "When the young women of the Nord married, they did so without illusions of love and romance. They acted within

2314-515: A sample of 80 non-heterosexual female adolescents (age 16–23) reported that half of the participants had changed sexual-minority identities more than once, one third of them during the 2-year follow-up. Diamond concluded that "although sexual attractions appear fairly stable, sexual identities and behaviors are more fluid." Heteroflexibility is a form of sexual orientation or situational sexual behavior characterized by minimal homosexual activity in an otherwise primarily heterosexual orientation that

2403-452: A small measure of attraction reaches a critical point insofar as it is caught up in mimesis . Shakespeare's plays A Midsummer Night's Dream , As You Like It , and The Winter's Tale are the best known examples of competitive-induced romance. Girard's theory of mimetic desire is controversial because of its alleged sexism . This view has to some extent supplanted its predecessor, Freudian Oedipal theory. It may find some spurious support in

2492-418: A speech praising the deity Eros . When his turn comes, Aristophanes says in his mythical speech that sexual partners seek each other because they are descended from beings with spherical torsos, two sets of human limbs, genitalia on each side, and two faces back to back. Their three forms included the three permutations of pairs of gender (i.e. one masculine and masculine, another feminine and feminine, and

2581-503: A very general idea termed "the passions", and this general interest was distinct from the contemporary idea of "passionate" now equated with "romantic". Love was a central topic again in the subsequent movement of Romanticism , which focused on such things as absorption in nature and the absolute , as well as platonic and unrequited love in German philosophy and literature. French philosopher Gilles Deleuze linked this concept of love as

2670-500: A way that would parallel modern romance. Marriages were often arranged, but the wishes of those to be wed were considered, as affection was important to primitive tribes. In the majority of primitive societies studied by the anthropologists, the extramarital and premarital relations between men and women were completely free. The members of the temporary couples were sexually attracted to each other more than to anyone else, but in all other respects their relationships had not demonstrated

2759-403: A world view that promotes heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation for people to have. It can assign strict gender roles to males and females. The term was popularized by Michael Warner in 1991. Feminist Adrienne Rich argues that compulsory heterosexuality , a continual and repeating reassertion of heterosexual norms, is a facet of heterosexism. Compulsory heterosexuality

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2848-457: Is a phenomenon unique to Western cultures and first expressed by the troubadours of the Middle Ages." The word "romance" is derived from the Latin adverb Romanice , meaning "in the vernacular," in reference to the languages Old French and Old Occitan . These languages were descendants of Latin , the language of the Romans . Evolutions of the word Romanice were used to refer first to

2937-497: Is a natural drive as powerful as hunger. Psychologist Karen Horney in her article "The Problem of the Monogamous Ideal", indicates that the overestimation of love leads to disillusionment; the desire to possess the partner results in the partner wanting to escape; and the friction against sex result in non-fulfillment. Disillusionment plus the desire to escape plus non-fulfillment result in a secret hostility, which causes

3026-453: Is a suite of adaptations and by-products that arose sometime during the recent evolutionary history of humans. Anthropologist Charles Lindholm defined love as "any intense attraction that involves the idealization of the other, within an erotic context, with expectation of enduring sometime into the future". The word "romance" comes from the French vernacular where initially it indicated

3115-584: Is able to change; sexual orientation identity can change throughout an individual's life, and may or may not align with biological sex, sexual behavior or actual sexual orientation. Sexual orientation is stable and unlikely to change for the vast majority of people, but some research indicates that some people may experience change in their sexual orientation, and this is more likely for women than for men. The American Psychological Association distinguishes between sexual orientation (an innate attraction) and sexual orientation identity (which may change at any point in

3204-422: Is by far the most common type of sexual activity. Scientists do not know the exact cause of sexual orientation, but they theorize that it is caused by a complex interplay of genetic , hormonal , and environmental influences , and do not view it as a choice. Although no single theory on the cause of sexual orientation has yet gained widespread support, scientists favor biologically based theories . There

3293-546: Is combined with strong character and emotions. Unrequited love is typical of the period of romanticism , but the term is distinct from any romance that might arise within it. Romantic love may also be classified according to two categories, "popular romance" and "divine or spiritual" romance: Greek philosophers and authors have had many theories of love. Some of these theories are presented in Plato 's Symposium . Six Athenian friends, including Socrates , drink wine and each give

3382-508: Is considerably more evidence supporting nonsocial, biological causes of sexual orientation than social ones, especially for males. The term heterosexual or heterosexuality is usually applied to humans , but heterosexual behavior is observed in all other mammals and in other animals, as it is necessary for sexual reproduction . Hetero- comes from the Greek word ἕτερος [héteros], meaning "other party" or "another", used in science as

3471-510: Is considered to distinguish it from bisexuality. It has been characterized as "mostly straight". Sexual orientation change efforts are methods that aim to change sexual orientation, used to try to convert homosexual and bisexual people to heterosexuality. Scientists and mental health professionals generally do not believe that sexual orientation is a choice. There are no studies of adequate scientific rigor that conclude that sexual orientation change efforts are effective. A heterosexual couple,

3560-422: Is contrasted with platonic love , which in all usages precludes sexual relations, yet only in the modern usage does it take on a fully nonsexual sense, rather than the classical sense, in which sexual drives are sublimated. Unrequited love can be romantic in different ways: comic, tragic, or in the sense that sublimation itself is comparable to romance, where the spirituality of both art and egalitarian ideals

3649-420: Is defined as a "manifestation of sexual passion for one of the opposite sex; normal sexuality". Hyponyms of heterosexual include heteroflexible . The word can be informally shortened to "hetero". The term straight originated as a mid-20th century gay slang term for heterosexuals, ultimately coming from the phrase "to go straight" (as in "straight and narrow"), or stop engaging in homosexual sex. One of

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3738-429: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Heterosexuality Heterosexuality is romantic attraction , sexual attraction or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender . As a sexual orientation , heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to people of the opposite sex. It "also refers to

3827-440: Is heterosexual and may involve various kinds of discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals, asexuals, heteroflexible people, or transgender or non-binary individuals. Straight pride is a slogan that arose in the late 1980s and early 1990s and has been used primarily by social conservative groups as a political stance and strategy. The term is described as a response to gay pride adopted by various LGBT groups in

3916-677: Is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him,", and that "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" For the most part, religious traditions in the world reserve marriage to heterosexual unions, but there are exceptions including certain Buddhist and Hindu traditions, Unitarian Universalists , Metropolitan Community Church , some Anglican dioceses, and some Quaker , United Church of Canada , and Reform and Conservative Jewish congregations. Almost all religions believe that sex between

4005-502: Is popular for American people to successfully share feelings of romanticism with each other's partners. It describes American culture by stating: "The model is unique in that it combines passion with comfort and friendship as properties of romantic love." One of its main contributions is advising the reader that "For successful romantic love relations, a person would feel excited about meeting their beloved; make passionate and intimate love as opposed to only physical love; feel comfortable with

4094-438: Is the idea that female heterosexuality is both assumed and enforced by a patriarchal society. Heterosexuality is then viewed as the natural inclination or obligation by both sexes. Consequently, anyone who differs from the normalcy of heterosexuality is deemed deviant or abhorrent. Heterosexism is a form of bias or discrimination in favor of opposite-sex sexuality and relationships. It may include an assumption that everyone

4183-578: Is there at this point, any display of affection between Isabella and the Duke, if by affection we mean something concerned with sexual attraction. The two at the end of the play love each other as they love virtue." In Romeo and Juliet , in saying "all combined, save what thou must combine By holy marriage", Romeo implies that it is not marriage with Juliet that he seeks but simply to be joined with her romantically. Kierkegaard addressed these ideas in works such as Either/Or and Stages on Life's Way : In

4272-434: Is true both of individuals and of nations. In times in which there were no difficulties standing in the way of sexual satisfaction, such as perhaps during the decline of the ancient civilizations, love became worthless and life empty." Some believe that romantic love evolved independently in multiple cultures. For example, in an article presented by Henry Grunebaum, he argues " therapists mistakenly believe that romantic love

4361-510: The Victorian era , sex was seen as a means to achieve reproduction, and relations between the sexes were not believed to be overtly sexual. The body was thought of as a tool for procreation – "Human energy, thought of as a closed and severely limited system, was to be used in producing children and in work, not wasted in libidinous pleasures." Katz argues that modern ideas of sexuality and eroticism began to develop in America and Germany in

4450-471: The cross , a type of punch in boxing Straight, a hand ranking in the card game of poker Places [ edit ] Straight, Oklahoma , an unincorporated community in Texas County, Oklahoma Media [ edit ] Straight (Tobias Regner album) , the first album by German singer Tobias Regner Straight (2007 film) , a German film by Nicolas Flessa Straight (2009 film) ,

4539-434: The medieval ideal of chivalry as set out in the literature of chivalric romance . People who experience little to no romantic attraction are referred to as aromantic . Bode & Kushnick undertook a comprehensive review of romantic love from a biological perspective in 2021. They considered the psychology of romantic love, its mechanisms, development across the lifespan, functions, and evolutionary history. Based on

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4628-537: The English language, used the word "love" with a completely different meaning as compared to that which is usual for the person brought up in the European culture. Donald S. Marshall: "Mangaian informants and co-workers were quite interested in the European concept of "love". English-speaking Mangaians had previously used the term only in a physical sense of sexual desire; to say, "I love you" in English to another person

4717-457: The Roman goddess of love and beauty, as the definitive female symbol of femininity. The unicode character for this combined symbol is ⚤ (U+26A4). There was no need to coin a term such as heterosexual until terms emerged with which it could be compared and contrasted. Jonathan Ned Katz dates the definition of heterosexuality, as it is used today, to the late 19th century. According to Katz, in

4806-598: The Romance languages and eventually also to the works composed in them. The genre of chivalric romance initially focused on the heroic military deeds of knights, which led to the use of the word romantic in the sense of chivalrous . As the genre evolved, starting after the Renaissance and especially in the Romantic period , it focused increasingly on love in the modern sense. The general idea of "romantic love" in

4895-525: The Western tradition is believed to have originated in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, primarily from that of the French culture. This idea is what has spurred the connection between the words "romantic" and "lover", thus coining English phrases for romantic love such as "loving like the Romans do". The precise origins of such a connection are unknown, however. Although the word "romance" or

4984-479: The beloved, behaving in a companionable, friendly way with one's partner; listen to the other's concerns, offering to help out in various ways if necessary; and, all the while, keeping a mental ledger of the degree to which altruism and passion are mutual." Shakespeare and Søren Kierkegaard share a similar viewpoint that marriage and romance are not harmoniously in tune with each other. In Shakespeare's Measure for Measure , for example, "...there has not been, nor

5073-646: The characteristics of romantic love. In the book of Boris Shipov Theory of Romantic Love the corresponding evidences of anthropologists have been collected. Lewis H. Morgan : "the passion of love was unknown among the barbarians. They are below the sentiment, which is the offspring of civilization and super added refinement of love was unknown among the barbarians." Margaret Mead : "Romantic love as it occurs in our civilisation, inextricably bound up with ideas of monogamy, exclusiveness, jealousy and undeviating fidelity does not occur in Samoa." Bronislaw Malinowski : "Though

5162-491: The content of that review, they proposed a biological definition of romantic love: Romantic love is a motivational state typically associated with a desire for long-term mating with a particular individual. It occurs across the lifespan and is associated with distinctive cognitive, emotional, behavioral, social, genetic, neural, and endocrine activity in both sexes. Throughout much of the life course, it serves mate choice , courtship , sex , and pair-bonding functions. It

5251-480: The early 1920s, but did not enter common use until the 1960s. The colloquial shortening "hetero" is attested from 1933. The abstract noun "heterosexuality" is first recorded in 1900. The word "heterosexual" was listed in Merriam-Webster's New International Dictionary in 1923 as a medical term for "morbid sexual passion for one of the opposite sex"; however, in 1934 in their Second Edition Unabridged it

5340-429: The early 1970s or to the accommodations provided to gay pride initiatives. Romantic attraction The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Family Studies states that "Romantic love, based on the model of mutual attraction and on a connection between two people that bonds them as a couple, creates the conditions for overturning the model of family and marriage that it engenders." This indicates that romantic love can be

5429-540: The environment. The neurobiology of the masculinization of the brain is fairly well understood. Estradiol and testosterone , which is catalyzed by the enzyme 5α-reductase into dihydrotestosterone , act upon androgen receptors in the brain to masculinize it. If there are few androgen receptors (people with androgen insensitivity syndrome ) or too much androgen (females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia ), there can be physical and psychological effects. It has been suggested that both male and female heterosexuality are

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5518-614: The equivalents thereof may not have the same connotation in other cultures, the general idea of "romantic love" appears to have crossed cultures and been accepted as a concept at one point in time or another. The conception of romantic love was popularized in Western culture by the concept of courtly love . Knights of the Middle Ages were thought to have engaged in non-sexual relationships with women of nobility whom they served. These relations were highly elaborate and ritualized in

5607-558: The first place, I find it comical that all men are in love and want to be in love, and yet one never can get any illumination upon the question what the lovable, i.e., the proper object of love, really is. In his 2008 book How to Make Good Decisions and Be Right All the Time , British writer Iain King tried to establish rules for romance applicable across most cultures. He concluded on six rules, including: Many theorists attempt to analyze

5696-514: The first uses of the word in this way was in 1941 by author G. W. Henry. Henry's book concerned conversations with homosexual males and used this term in connection with people who are identified as ex-gays . It is now simply a colloquial term for "heterosexual", having changed in primary meaning over time. Some object to usage of the term straight because it implies that non-heterosexual people are crooked. In their 2016 literature review, Bailey et al. stated that they "expect that in all cultures

5785-418: The founding of attraction between two people. This term was primarily used by the "western countries after the 1800s were socialized into, love is the necessary prerequisite for starting an intimate relationship and represents the foundation on which to build the next steps in a family." Alternatively, Collins Dictionary describes romantic love as "an intensity and idealization of a love relationship, in which

5874-473: The hand of a maiden he loved. The Bemba were plainly bewildered, but remained silent. Finally an old chief spoke up, voicing the feelings of all present in the simplest of questions: "Why not take another girl?" he asked. The earliest recorded marriages in Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, and among Hebrews were used to secure alliances and produce offspring. It was not until the Middle Ages that love began to be

5963-460: The heterosexual population. Anthropologist and author Helen Fisher has argued that romantic love is a mammalian brain system evolved for selecting a preferred mating partner. Fisher's team has proposed that romantic love may have evolved around the time of bipedalism, when new mothers needed additional protection and provision while having to carry their young. A 2023 paper by Adam Bode has argued that while Fisher's evolutionary theory has been

6052-462: The idea of romantic love did not exist at all. Passionate individual attachments are evidently seen as threatening to tribal values and tribal authority." Dr. Audrey Richards, an anthropologist who lived among the Bemba of Northern Rhodesia in the 1930s, once related to a group of them an English folk-fable about a young prince who climbed glass mountains, crossed chasms, and fought dragons, all to obtain

6141-431: The individual that these two can produce, an objectification of its true nature corresponding to its aims. — World as Will and Representation , Volume 2, Chapter XLIV Later modern philosophers such as La Rochefoucauld , David Hume and Jean-Jacques Rousseau also focused on morality , but desire was central to French thought and Hume himself tended to adopt a French worldview and temperament. Desire in this milieu meant

6230-444: The later 19th century. The changing economy and the "transformation of the family from producer to consumer" resulted in shifting values. The Victorian work ethic had changed, pleasure became more highly valued and this allowed ideas of human sexuality to change. Consumer culture had created a market for the erotic, pleasure became commoditized . At the same time medical doctors began to acquire more power and influence. They developed

6319-476: The medical model of "normal love", in which healthy men and women enjoyed sex as part of a "new ideal of male-female relationships that included.. an essential, necessary, normal eroticism." This model also had a counterpart, "the Victorian Sex Pervert", anyone who failed to meet the norm . The basic oppositeness of the sexes was the basis for normal, healthy sexual attraction. "The attention paid

6408-472: The mutual love of the spouses. The whole nature of strict monogamian marriage under male domination ruled this out." Sigmund Freud stated, "It can easily be shown that the psychical value of erotic needs is reduced as soon as their satisfaction becomes easy. An obstacle is required in order to heighten libido; and where natural resistances to satisfaction have not been sufficient men have at all times erected conventional ones so as to be able to enjoy love. This

6497-522: The number was reported at 95.9%. According to a 2008 poll, 85% of Britons have only opposite-sex sexual contact while 94% of Britons identify themselves as heterosexual. Similarly, a survey by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) in 2010 found that 95% of Britons identified as heterosexual, 1.5% of Britons identified themselves as homosexual or bisexual, and the last 3.5% gave more vague answers such as "don't know", "other", or did not respond to

6586-434: The other is imbued with extraordinary virtue, beauty, etc., so that the relationship overrides all other considerations, including material ones." Although the emotions and sensations of romantic love are widely associated with sexual attraction , they could also exist without sexual attraction. In certain cases, romance could even be interpreted as a normal friendship. Historically , the term romance originates with

6675-410: The other of one's attractions, constitutes the ideals of what we consider to be true romantic love. Mimesis is always the desire to possess, in renouncing it we offer ourselves as a sacrificial gift to the other. Mimetic desire is often challenged by feminists , such as Toril Moi , who argue that it does not account for the woman as inherently desired. Though the centrality of rivalry is not itself

6764-615: The predominant one for 25 years, romantic love could be better explained by evolutionary co-option of the systems for mother-infant bonding. Fisher likens romantic love to mammalian courtship attraction, but Bode argues courtship attraction is separate. In F. Engels book, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State : "monogamy was the only known form of the family under which modern sex love could develop, it does not follow that this love developed, or even predominantly, within it as

6853-418: The process of romantic love. Anthropologist Helen Fisher , in her book Why We Love , uses brain scans to show that love is the product of a chemical reaction in the brain. Norepinephrine and dopamine , among other brain chemicals, are responsible for excitement and bliss in humans as well as non-human animals. Fisher uses MRI to study the brain activity of a person "in love" and she concludes that love

6942-490: The question. In the United States, according to a Williams Institute report in April 2011, 96% or approximately 250 million of the adult population are heterosexual. An October 2012 Gallup poll provided unprecedented demographic information about those who identify as heterosexual, arriving at the conclusion that 96.6%, with a margin of error of ±1%, of all U.S. adults identify as heterosexual. The Gallup results show: In

7031-543: The results of this process. In these studies heterosexuality in females is linked to a lower amount of masculinization than is found in lesbian females, though when dealing with male heterosexuality there are results supporting both higher and lower degrees of masculinization than homosexual males. Sexual reproduction in the animal world is facilitated through opposite-sex sexual activity, although there are also animals that reproduce asexually , including protozoa and lower invertebrates . Reproductive sex does not require

7120-425: The rise of romantic love more or less coincided with the emergence of the novel . It was then that romantic love, associated with freedom and therefore the ideals of romantic love, created the ties between freedom and self-realization . David R. Shumway states that "the discourse of intimacy" emerged in the last third of the 20th century, intended to explain how marriage and other relationships worked, and making

7209-466: The sexual abnormal created a need to name the sexual normal, the better to distinguish the average him and her from the deviant it." The creation of the term heterosexual consolidated the social existence of the pre-existing heterosexual experience and created a sense of ensured and validated normalcy within it. The Judeo-Christian tradition has several scriptures related to heterosexuality. The Book of Genesis states that God created women because "It

7298-490: The social code does not favour romance, romantic elements and imaginative personal attachments are not altogether absent in Trobriand courtship and marriage." The phenomenon which B. Malinowski calls love, actually has very little in common with the European love: "Thus there is nothing roundabout in a Trobriand wooing; nor do they seek full personal relations, with sexual possession only as a consequence. Simply and directly

7387-442: The specific case that emotional closeness is much more important than passion , with intimacy and romance coexisting. One example of the changes experienced in relationships in the early 21st century was explored by Giddens regarding homosexual relationships. According to Giddens, since homosexuals were not able to marry, they were forced to pioneer more open and negotiated relationships. These kinds of relationships then permeated

7476-430: The supposed attraction of women to aggressive men. As a technique of attraction, often combined with irony, it is sometimes advised that one feign toughness and disinterest, but it can be a trivial or crude idea to promulgate to men, and it is not given with much understanding of mimetic desire in mind. Instead, cultivating a spirit of self-sacrifice, coupled with an attitude of appreciation or contemplation, directed towards

7565-467: The third masculine and feminine) and they were split by the gods to thwart the creatures' assault on heaven, recapitulated, according to the comic playwright, in other myths such as the Aloadae . This story is relevant to modern romance partly because of the image of reciprocity it shows between the sexes. In the final speech before Alcibiades arrives, Socrates gives his encomium of love and desire as

7654-530: The union between husband and wife. Courtly love did not necessarily refer to those engaging in sexual acts. It may also have referred to caring and emotional intimacy. The bond between a knight and his Lady , or the woman of typically high stature of whom he served, may in some cases have been one such example. Religious meditations upon the Virgin Mary were partially responsible for the development of chivalry as an ethic and lifestyle. A lady's honor and

7743-792: The vast majority of individuals are sexually predisposed exclusively to the other sex (i.e., heterosexual)" and that there is no persuasive evidence that the demographics of sexual orientation have varied much across time or place. Heterosexual activity between only one male and one female is by far the most common type of sociosexual activity. According to several major studies, 89% to 98% of people have had only heterosexual contact within their lifetime; but this percentage falls to 79–84% when either or both same-sex attraction and behavior are reported. A 1992 study reported that 93.9% of males in Britain have only had heterosexual experience, while in France

7832-508: Was later expressed in the symbolism of fertility rites and polytheistic worship , which often included images of human reproductive organs , such as lingam in Hinduism . Modern symbols of heterosexuality in societies derived from European traditions still reference symbols used in these ancient beliefs. One such image is a combination of the symbol for Mars , the Roman god of war, as the definitive male symbol of masculinity, and Venus ,

7921-490: Was tantamount to saying, "I want to copulate with you." The components of affection and companionship, which may characterize the European use of the term, puzzled the Mangaians when we discussed the term." "The principal findings that one can draw from an analysis of emotional components of sexual relationship feelings on Mangaia are: Nathaniel Branden claims that by virtue of "the tribal mentality," "in primitive cultures

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