Marlene Alcantar Sexuality

Marlene Alcantar, 590 words

From the "Race, Religion, and Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage" article, the methods in which they used the data from are from the General Social Surveys, regression models, and equation models with key factors. From these surveys and models it showed that whites are more likely to agree with same-sex marriages and that African Americans are more likely to oppose on same-sex marriages. Some reasons as to why that is, is due to the independent variables such as, race, religion, political views, gender, residence, age,  income, and church attendance. The result of those variables, which are the dependent variables, are opposition to same-sex marriage or for same-sex marriage. Some important factors that weren't covered as independent variables are family relations with homosexuals, occupation, prejudice against gays or lesbians, and whether they themselves are gay or lesbian. The results from this was that religion and race are the big factors in which why African Americans don't support same-sex marriages as much as whites do. It showed that African American females have a high attendance rate in protestant Baptists churches, which are conservative churches. This high attendance rate overcame their political beliefs of either democrat or liberal.  Many whites go to liberal churches were there is support for same-sex marriages while African Americans go to conservative churches where there is no support at all for same-sex marriages. For African Americans, religion overcame politics and for whites, politics overcame religion. According to the regression analysis, income and education had no effect on African Americans, but had a big effect on whites. The only reasonable explanation as to why African Americans stay the same was simply due to gender and church attendance.                                                                    

In the article, "Teacher Perspectives on Abstinence and Safe Sex Education in South Africa", the methods that they used were structured interviews with open-ended questions. They interviewed 25 teachers who teach grade 10 and 11 life orientation curriculum. They had an interview guide containing broad open-ending questions for teachers to speak freely about what, how, and why they taught sex education. The questions that they used included whether teachers supported sex education in schools, whether they should teach abstinence only, comprehensive sex education or both, and what teachers included in their lessons. The interviews were in English, however English was most of the teachers' second language so they would switch to Sesotho or Afrikaans. The interviews were coded and analyzed using the qualitative software program NVivo 9. Data was analyzed using an open-coding methodology. The independent variables that they used were race, age, gender, and learner population. The dependent variables were teaching abstinence only or safe sex practices or teach both. As a result from the research, the findings were that all of the 25 supported for abstinence, however 24 of them recognized that some learners were already sexually active. There were 2 different viewpoints. One was teachers who supported teaching abstinence alongside safe sex practices and letting the learners choose freely. The other is teachers who refused to discuss with learners about any sexual practice except abstinence. In the end, most of these teachers fell somewhere in the middle of these two viewpoints. The teachers who would teach both said they would promote both AO (abstinence only) and CSE (comprehensive sex education) without isolating young people through their morals. As for the teachers with the opposition views, they would emphasize on abstinence only curriculum with a core understanding that sex and HIV education leads to an increase in sexual behavior. The main argument here is that both AO and CSE curriculums are based on the ability of right knowledge to wanted results.

Sergio Cortez

Sergio Cortez, 500
Articles: "Race, Religion, and Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage" &
"Multiracial Church Attendance and Support for Same-Sex Romantic and Family Relationships"

After having read both articles I have come to be more aware that the main reason we the people do not really see much of a support for same-sex marriage, or even gay/lesbians coming from the African American community is due to the fact that we see just how much more African Americans attend church which is the main cause for the problem we see present in society. There has been many studies that are able to show just how much both the African American, as well as the white racial groups, attend church, and we see a 2:3 ratio for African Americans being involved while for whites it is only a 1:3 ratio. Which is honestly quite interesting, and shocking to see. The thoughts, and attitudes that African American individuals have acquired from attending church has obviously caused them to create their own beliefs towards these topics. We are able to see that these individuals basically continue to attend church from a young age, and into adulthood which is why they are more then likely to follow the beliefs of whatever church they may attend, and that is what is reason behind the issue with African Americans not accepting such behavior in society. The way they look at these topics have nothing to do with wealth, or the amount of education one may accomplish in life. It all happens inside of churches. The main reason why they may feel the way they do about same sex marriage is because of the way that churches discuss families. The reason this is important is due to the fact that they portray a family as traditionally having a husband, wife, and children so it is quite horrendous to these people when they hear of men marrying men, or women marrying other women and they begin their own families from then on. This could explain why they are quite uneasy around discussions or even individuals that have to do with same sex marriage, gays, and lesbians. This clash between liberals, and conservatives and the way they see certain issues is quite a big thing actually. It is the same reason people are the way they are. They have either been brought up to stick with what have been knowing all their lives or they are flexible enough to accept these issues as fine. Racial segregation is also a really big thing mentioned in the articles. We have those who are not okay at all with both having, and seeing interracial relationships due to the beliefs they have still attached to them. It just has to do with the church these people may attend. If there is a church which has a lot more people of opposite races them we can clearly see that there will be more flexible minded people who believe that it is quite okay to see that, and have it happening. However, when we see only a single race attending then that is a completely different story.

Miguel penate sociology sexuality

"Miguel Penate" 599 words

For my sexuality quiz I chose Race, Religion, and Opposition to Same‐Sex Marriage as the first topic and Racial Differences in Age at First Sexual Intercourse: Residential Racial Segregation and the Black-White Disparity among U.S. Adolescents as the second topic. The first topic compares statistics between white and black people on how they view same-sex marriage and what caused those views to be so different.  For their data research they used general surveys to compare statistics on (GSS) for results on questions regarding same-sex marriage. For their survey they looked into factors such as the support the subjects felt for same-sex marriage with answers like agree or disagree. The next factor was religion and how frequently they attended services whether it be Baptist, Christian, catholic, or in between. The third factor was political beliefs and the question was whether the subjects thought of themselves as liberals or conservatives, unfortunately this was unreliable due to limited number of African American republican subjects. The fourth factor was age variation which they assessed by comparing subjects that were born before 1940 and born in 1965 or after. The last factor used was sociodemographic variables which were conducted by the subject being male or female, how high their education level is, ethnicity, and whether they lived in rural areas or lived in the south at 16 and if so do they still reside there. The results of these findings were that in 1988 the statistics showed that there was hardly any difference among the races opinion on same-sex marriage, but as timed progressed they started to see change in race opinion as whites being less opposing to the idea of same-sex marriage while blacks stayed the same on opposition towards the idea. Why? Statistics showed that black women held a strong view based on their religion and were not willing to accept this idea. While white subjects were shown to be less in church and more easily to accept the idea of same sex marriage.

 The second topic was focused on comparing the age of whites and blacks when they were most likely to become sexually active based on age and other variables.  This particular study was conducted by using general surveys to compare research to previous studies. The data consist of various variables the first being age at baseline and the question was based on the age the subject first began to be sexually active from twelve to twenty-one. The second was primary person-level exposure. This was the comparison on race and ethnicity in the study as black and white. The third was person-level covariates which included the individuals, their family, and geographic attributes. The fourth was racial segregation and if the subjects were heavily segregated or not segregated at all. The last variable was the statistical analysis which consisted of the missing data. This had to do with single-parent household, maternal education, and gross house-hold income. The results were that blacks were at a more socioeconomic disadvantage, and usually had only one biological parent present in their household unlike the white subjects at baseline.  The other grate find was subjects with higher segregation rates were more likely to have sexual intercourse in adolescence mostly black subjects.  After examining both topics I've come to relies both studies had good observations but could have included much more factors to have better results. For instance topic one could have mentioned if any of the subjects had known any same-sex individuals. For topic two study could have included were adolescence unsupervised most of the time when they were home. Overall both topics were good surveys.

Carmen Esq.

Race, Religion and Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage

The data within this research was done to determine who among the blacks and whites are actually against same-sex marriage.  In doing so, surveys were given to different sample groups within the black and white communities in various situations such as: religious beliefs, certain age group, political views, married versus not married and financial status, and a number of other variables.  All of which can change over time to be pro same-sex marriage that is except religious people.  The research determined that predominantly blacks attend church religiously therefore; they are strong in their beliefs against same-sex marriage.  However, those that do not identify with a religion are more likely to be in support of same-sex marriage.  It is odd that among those test that regardless of a black person identifying as a being liberal their opinions did not cause a huge decline within the data rates.  They are still against same-sex marriage.  As for the whites, if they are conservative and identify with a religion their views did not change either.    

To Live Freely in This World: Sex Worker Activism in Africa

It seems blacks are strong with their beliefs and standards within their community because the same goes on in Africa, but with a different issue.  Prostitutes in Africa whether it is a woman or a cisgender they want to be open about what they do.  Unfortunately, the black women affiliated with positive organizations do not support other black women that choose to have sex for money.  Methods are taken to hold those people in contempt and shut down anyone that is connected with sex workers or in support of it.  The black women in Africa hold other African women to high standards, so having legal prostitution puts a dark cloud around Africa's values and principles.  Having such a touchy topic forces the African people to deal with the bold truth of men wanting to live as a woman selling themselves for money and women wanting to be openly sexual for money as well. 

            Overall, both of the articles bring light to the views of African people about human rights in regards to gender, and sexuality.  Either they accept gender challenged people, and the women for certain choices they make to live their life however they may choose.    

                

Santa Nolasco

Santa Nolasco, 311 words

(Same Sex Marriage) (Beyond the Binaries: Depolarizing the Categories of Sex, Sexuality, and Gender)  

  

In the article, Same Sex Marriage has been a question to many studies out there. This article uses methods like data social surveys. It has been stated that the issue of same sex marriage has been seeking rights for gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender. In the article, they mention studies that show members who disbelieve in homosexuality, they believe it's truly wrong. They mention African Americans who are very religious. Due to them being very religious they view homosexuality extremely wrong. Also, evidence demonstrates that religious points play a strong role in Africans attitudes towards gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender rights. In the article, they show questions asked if homosexual couples have the right to marry one another. Being said that religious people do not agree with it, but some did agree. It varied throughout the years like demonstrated in the data shown in the article. They have statistics like graphs and charts in the findings of who is against and for it.  

In beyond the Binaries, they discuss about research in sociology. They imply that a person has one gender, sexuality, and one sex. Which,  as stated all three are the same to each other. They describe that sex can be viewed as sexuality and even biology. One finding about the article is that bisexuals, third genders will miss composite mixes of status and identity. They express the idea that sexuality is socially built by sociologist and feminist theorist. Sexual situation is composed in four, which is heterosexual women and men, gays and lesbians. Some of the four disturb some familiar opposites, In regards to gender categories, it split into three clear categories. For example, one method is sex that can be either biology or physiology. Sexuality is either desire, sexual preference or sexual orientation. Overall, bodies and sexuality are gendered like stated in the article biology, physiology and sexuality.

Marco Gomez

Marco Gomez

600 Words

Race, Religion, and Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage

This article is taking a look at the racial and religion differences in supporting same-sex marriages. The study uses whites, blacks and others as the races. The study also shows how religion, political beliefs, Cohorts, Education and Sociodemographic all can play a role in the opposition in supporting same-sex marriage.

The methods used in this data were general social surveys from 1988, 2004 through 2008. They analyzed information that included questions asked if they supported same sex marriage. They also analyzed religious factors, using Catholics, Protestants and those with no beliefs and looked into the frequency of people attending religious gatherings. They used Political beliefs which surveyed whether they were liberals or conservative. The Ages used were people born before and after 1940-1965 and some in between. Education was also analyzed seeing if school degrees have any effect on the views on same sex marriage. Finally, sociodemographic analyzed, to name a few females/males, family income, divorced or non-divorced and weather they had children or not.

Results showed that in 1988 all three races whites, African Americans and other were almost all equal in the upper 60 percentiles in the opposition of same sex marriage. In 2004- 2006 things change where you start to see a decline in whites and other being more in favor of same sex marriage with African Americans decreasing slightly. The last year analyzed in this study both white and other race decrease under 46% and African Americans decrease to high 50's. In the end, the data shown in this article determines that the reason African Americans are more opposed to same sex marriage is because of their religion and their church attendance. African Americans have deep beliefs in their religions and go to church often making them more opposed against same sex marriage. 

Effects of Neighborhood and School Environments on Transitions to First Sexual Intercourse

This article is taking a look at how much affect or influence a Neighborhood and a School Environment has on a young person's first time having sexual intercourse. In this study they used neighborhoods as census tracts and interviewed students that resided out of Philadelphia.

The method used in this study was a cross-classified multilevel model. That method consists of gathering the information from students of multiple schools and neighborhoods and not just focusing on one area. The study used 214 tracts and 70 schools that consisted of parochial, vocational, private, general and comprehensive schools. There were a total of 1,213 youths used in this study. The researchers used 4 measures of behavior norms for this study. The first one measured was when it was socially acceptable in a neighborhood for a young person to have sexual intercourse. The second one was the same but when socially acceptable in school. The third was a measure of the ideal age of when a person should first have sexual intercourse. The fourth was what the youngest age you could imagine a young person having a baby.

Results showed that white schools had a higher rate of transitioning to first sexual intercourse than African American schools. The difference between them was about 1 year more in white schools. The researchers also found that an African American is less likely to transition to having sex for first time in an all African American school than attending an all-white school. Results also showed that public schools were 22% higher than private schools in the transition to sex intercourse. In conclusion, the results of this study showed that the neighborhoods where the students lived at played a small role and that the schools environment played more of a significant role on when the students initiated their first sexual intercourse.

essay

Karen Lopez Cornejo

533 words

Sociology (MW 3:30-4:45)

In, "Framing Strategies and Public Support for the Legalization of Marriage Between Two People of the Same Sex" those that ere against the legalization of same sex marriage use the term, "homosexual", and organizations are against saying, "same-sex couples" or using the term "civil rights" to describe the issue of homosexual marriage. There have been a few studies that research whether these different terminologies among supporters and opponents have any effects on support for the legalization of same sex marriage. One study focused on political sociology, psychology, political science, and social movements research. This study suggests that using a certain term to describe a group can influence the opinions of individuals in regards political and social issues. The second study looked upon how stable political preferences played a role, and this study shows how public opinion can be influenced by beliefs and values that are pre-existing, and how these beliefs and values in regards political and social issues are less manipulated by terminology strategies.

Terminology used to frame groups can affect the response in surveys. In this research two types of framing were focused on, equivalence frames and issue frames. Equivalence frames include descriptions in which are alternative but posses alike phenomenon. These type of frames are used to describe "homosexual couples" or "same sex couples." Issue frames focus on distinct that is qualitative and relevant. These include "civil rights activists," "gay activists," and "some people." Research has shown that that people who vote have already stable preferences in policy. Other evidence points out that preferences can be from additional education or rationalization and not driven from the effects of framing. According to the study in this article, the term "same sex couples" did not have a significant effect on the results of public opinion. Neither did the terms "civil rights activists" or "gay activists" had no significant effect as well. The results persisted after studying these terms in regrard of interest in politics, religiosity, region, education, income, marital status, gender, age, race, and party identification.

In "Talking about Sex: Religion and Patterns of Parent-Child Communication about Sex and Contraception," it is found that parents' religion has a high influence to avoid frequent conversations on sex, birth control, and sexual morality. Regardless, age, race, and gender are still constant influences for infrequent conversations of this matter. Seventy percent of adults in a study showed that sexual information that was inaccurate played a negative effect on physical and emotional well-being in their life. Young adults tend to misunderstand their parent's attitudes about sex when there is little communication with them about sex. Communication patterns vary by race and ethnicity but more highly seen in gender. In one gender study, only half of boys had a parent who said they communicated with them on sex, compared to eighty-five percent for girls. Interestingly enough daughters with elderly mothers have less communication about sex. It is preferred by the youth for them to communicate with a parent rather than a peer for a source of information.

There is higher amount of communication on contraception and postponement of sex in African American families. African American parents make sex communication with their children of adolescent age a priority. The greater religious conservatism the more frequency of morality-focused communication. Although religion is still seen to be of less influence in regards to sex education than other factors such as age, race/ethnicity.