Does environment effect sexuality

[Dudette]

This might be a strange question, but just now (couple months ago) I fully came out of the closet. However, I still think that I am gray-asexual through some subconsciouses mental gymnastics which I did because of the environment (Christian background).

What do you think? Does anyone of you have similar feeling? :(

[Sally]

Environment can affect how you feel about your sexuality. It doesn't affect sexual orientation.

[Tarfeather]

Honestly, we don't know.

[One Winged Angel]

I believe that although environment can alter our perception of things, it can not change the underlying orientation. For example, somebody may feel negatively towards their sexuality due to earlier conditioning in their upbringing, but the actual orientation remains.

Sometimes, even if we leave the environment in later life, small strands of it remain in our minds and can lead us to depression or rejection of how we feel, which is not really healthy. So environment and upbringing can most certainly supress our identities, but I do not believe they can extinguish or truly change them, for deep inside we still have that knowing.

[Éadweard]

Affect...

[Whispearl]

It can, definitely, but I think the more common thing that it affects is how you feel about actual sexual behaviors. Like, I feel like I'd probably still be asexual regardless of environment, personally. But I think something like my sex repulsion would be the thing that would change had I been raised differently or exposed to different things. And like other people said, that could kind of change how you perceive your sexuality; in the situation I gave, it's very possible that I could, depending on some variables, perceive myself as more grey-A side of the spectrum. So I wouldn't say that orientation absolutely cannot be affected by the environment, because for some people it probably did and that's 100% fine, but I'd say that it's more common for environment to affect your perceptions of sexual behaviors, and by extension, perhaps your perception of your own orientation, depending on how connected the individual feels their behaviors are to their orientation.

[Ms.Frankenstein]

I think your perception of your orientation can be influenced heavily by your environment. Asexuals especially seem to experience this, because asexuality isn't widely known and most of us were brought up without knowledge of the concept. Just look at how many asexuals assumed they were straight because they weren't gay, or thought they were bisexual, or thought that they were just really picky, or that there was something wrong with them. (I'm in the "assumed I was straight because I knew I wasn't gay" camp and later I let an ex convince me that I was bi because I experience strong aesthetic attraction towards women in particular.) Had I had awareness of asexuality at the same time that I had awareness of homo- and bisexuality, life would have been a lot different, most likely.

So, I don't think your environment can make you feel attraction that isn't there, or vice versa. But it can and does influence the way in which you identify and present yourself, whether you realize it or not.

[mikeman7918]

I read some studies on the topic and they show that genetics, the prenatal environment, and possibly some early experiences determine one's sexual orientation, although there is some controversy about that.

I also assumed I was heterosexual because I am not atracted to guys, but there was a time when I suspected that I am bisexual because I noticed that I am equally (dis)interested in guys and girls.

[ambivalent4422]

i'm trying to figure this out too. i haven't met anyone i was remotely attracted to in years, and i think it's because of where i live and what i'm doing with my life. i'm horny as fuck tho and for whatever reason romantically obsessed with various comedians either historical or not. whenever i get asked out i think of all the other things i'd rather be doing with my time, like eating cake, and come up with some dumb excuse to make them go away.

seems that everyone my age is shacked up tbh and i missed the boat somehow. i'd be bothered by this but i'm honestly too miserable with my life to commit to anything.

[R_1]

I read some studies on the topic and they show that genetics, the prenatal environment, and possibly some early experiences determine one's sexual orientation, although there is some controversy about that.

They determine primary sexual orientation, but brain changes bypasses those, and sexuality can shift via brain changes. Anything mentally attributable is not immune to brain changes. So, there can a secondary orientation, or even a third.

[Blondbeard]

I was watching yesterday a documentary on TV about evolution and they had an evolutionist psychologist talking about how illness and starvation usually can shut down sexual attraction, libido and in the case of women even menstruation. It was really shocking, they said that reproduction was inmensily energy and time taxing so humans evolved that way.

[WhenSummersGone]

I personally think someone would know if they want to have sex or not. I know I didn't growing up and had to get close to others before figuring it out.

[ShiniTheGami]

I read some studies on the topic and they show that genetics, the prenatal environment, and possibly some early experiences determine one's sexual orientation, although there is some controversy about that.

They determine primary sexual orientation, but brain changes bypasses those, and sexuality can shift via brain changes. Anything mentally attributable is not immune to brain changes. So, there can a secondary orientation, or even a third.

Really?! Do you know where to find these studies? This sounds really really interesting?

Back on topic though. I agree with what others are saying that it probably affects the way you perceive your sexuality but it doesn't determine what it is. If environment did determine what your sexuality is then I would be sexual just like my sisters. Yet they are sexual and I am (most likely) not (still kind of figuring it out :P). All three of us were raised in a near identical environment. If anything, I should be closer in sexuallity to my older sister than my younger sister. My parents became a lot more lenient and less tightly wound when she was born (she's the favorite, I swear) since it was around my little sister's early childhood that they started getting their issues with Depression sorted out. However my younger and older sisters are much more alike to each other, both in personality and sexuality, than they are to me. Either something different happened with me than with my sisters or environment probably doesn't have that big, if any, effect.