Biblical Reference to Homosexuality

Homosexuality Wow! That is something I never thought I would be writing about. Well, I will be referring to several chapters in the King James Version of the Bible on homosexuality, and what it means to me.

In the book of Genesis 1:28, when God created man and woman, he wanted them to go out and multiply; therefore, he created them both with distinct sex organs, so that they would be sexually compatible to replenish the earth. His sole purpose was to have them procreate; thus, that is why it is a sin for man and man or woman and woman to be together sexually. Also mentioned in Genesis 19:5, the town of Sodom and Gomorrah is known for its ungodly acts (sin) one in particular is homosexual behavior. There was a situation centered on Lot’s house guess, which were two male angles (who were strangers to that town.) The soldiers demanded Lot to, “bring them out unto us, that we may know them.” I believe Lot knew what the soldier’s intentions were for the angels, so he said, “I pray you brethren, do not so wickedly;” therefore, he offered the soldiers his daughters. Apparently, the soldiers did not want his daughters, and were blinded, so they would not harm the angles. Homosexuality in Genesis is referred to as being wicked. Next is the book of Leviticus 18:22, which says, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it [is] abomination.” Abomination is referred to homosexuality, so in this chapter God is saying if a man or woman has sex with anything/one other than (each other) husband and wife it is an abomination. Another  book is Judge 19: 23-25, the town of Gibeah had one similar situation as Sodom and Gomorrah; a stranger in town was a guess in the home of a villager; during which time they were disturbed by soldiers saying, “Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him.” The master of the house said, “Nay, my brethren, [nay], I pray you, do not [so] wickedly, Behold, [here is] my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing.” In this chapter homosexually is referred to as being vile; I interpret vile as being something contemptible, despicable, or evil.  Furthermore, reference to homosexuality is in Romans, 1:26-32, which speaks of women and men giving up that which is natural for that which is against nature; I believe it is referring to homosexual acts as being against nature, which to me means participating in unnatural sexual behavior. Finally in I Corinthians 6:9-10, homosexuality is referred to as being effeminate. The definitions of effeminate in the Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary states it is a man having feminine qualities untypical of a man: not manly in appearance or manner.

In concluding, homosexuality in the Bible is considered a sin; as well as, any sexual act that is not between—husband and wife. All humans are sexual beings and sinners; even though they may not be homosexual. A sin is a sin so in order to enter the Kingdom of heaven—one must be repentant for their sins.

Women Are Restricted in Their Choices and Behavior

For centuries, men have and still hold the dominant role in society, which have allowed them to have the freedom to make choices and to behave in any manner they deemed acceptable. Because men have the power to control women, they have set limits on women’s choices and behaviors. By setting restrictions, it allows them to keep women suppressed and in their place. It is very unfortunate that even thou women have been emancipated for many, many years; they are still limited in their choices and behaviors, and men are not.

Given the fact that men have always had more freedom than women, and women’s liberation has allowed women to also enjoy some of the freedom men have been entailed to; women are still restricted in many areas such as education and in the workplace, even though it is not obvious, it does exist. For example, if a woman chooses to give birth, she is usually the responsible party in taking care of the baby, which may limit her ability to obtain a higher education. On the other hand, men don’t have that limit placed on them when obtaining a higher education. Also, if a woman chooses to enter the work force, she may be unaware that her pay may be restricted; for instance, a man and woman may be employed in the same position; unfortunately, her pay may be limited to her male adversary. I believe this is done because many companies still see men as being the bread winner of their families, and women are typically seen as the homemaker. Many companies are paying men more than women for the same position, and have been getting away with it until now.  According to an article written by Emily Freidman of ABC NEWS/money, “Novartis a drug company lauded for being one of the best places to work for mothers has been found guilty of discriminating against female employees, paying them less than their male counterparts and denying them promotions.” Another well known company is Wal-Mart, whom is currently being suited for similar bias behaviors.

In addition to women having more restrictions in their choices, then men, they also have more limits placed on their behavior. I believe these boundaries are set to keep women in their place, and not to allow their behavior to get out of control. Once a woman has crossed the boundaries in her behavior, she is no longer considered a lady.  In referring to the picture “keep within the compass,” the picture in the center is a depiction of a woman one may assume is consider a lady, and if one behave within her boundaries, she will have a prosperous life. The four pictures outside of the circle signify a difficult life a woman will have if she does not stay within her behavioral boundaries, so even though the picture represents a woman in the 18 or 19^th century, women are still faced with restrictions placed on their behavior, and it still holds true that if a woman is to be considered a lady and wants to be treated as one; she must be restricted in her behavior. Typically, if a man goes beyond what is expected of his behavior, it is just blown off, and he is said to be behaving just a classic man; a few examples are, swearing, promiscuous sex, poor hygiene, scratching private parts in public, and picking his noise. If a woman did any of those things she would be looked upon in repugnance, and may even be treated as an outcast among other woman.

A Woman's Role In the Mid 19th Century

During the mid 19^th century, women had no means of support and had to depend on the men in their families in order to sustain. Unfortunately, their dependency for financial support and shelter left them with no rights, thus they were considered property. A woman’s education was very limited, and only the upper class were able to be educated on such things as learning French, playing the piano, drawing, and sometimes Geography. Through this form of education, it prepared a woman for a role as mistress of a home or governess. A governess role did not provide a modest pay, which would leave her dependent on her master (yes, I did say master; that word makes me think of slavery) for pay; if he paid her at all. Due to the fact that she lived in his home and ate his food, I guess it was up to him to pay her or not, which would reinforce his control over her.

The book Jane Eyre is set in the mid 19^th century. When Jane was a student at Lowood School, her education was very limited; she was only taught the basic things (to keep her suppressed).  Because females had such minute roles, there was no need for them to be given the same education as males, so unfortunately, Jane’s education only consist of sewing, drawing, learning French, and Geography, which would make it difficult for her to become independent; thus, leaving her to remain in the role of a dependent woman. Regretfully, she did not have any male family members that offered her financial support. So upon her departure from Lowood School, she took the role of a governess, a common role in that era, under the watchful eyes of Mr. Rochester, whom owned Thornfield Manor. She would often refer to him as her—master. Due to the fact that Jane had never been a governess before, she was not aware that there would be other duties she would have to perform besides her position as Adela’s teacher. When her governess position exceeded beyond teaching, which some evenings it did, she would be summonsed to keep company with, her master, Mr. Rochester (when the word master is used it signifies the control he had over her). Even though there were times she did not want to socialize with him, Jane—had to obey, for submissiveness was yet another role of a women in the mid 19^th century. Although she was the governess, her position reigned over the other servants, and she had no authority of her own. Since Jane was an inexperience young woman of 19, she would fall prey to many of the antics the 40 year old Mr. Rochester performed, and she was compelled to submit to them without any questions (women in this era had no voice of their own). Given that Adela did not have a mother; Jane’s governess position eventually had to coincide with that of a surrogate mother, which was also common back then.

I believe that Charlotte Bronte, the author of Jane Eyre, wanted to convey to her readers that even though the setting of her book was in the mid 19^th century and women were subservient to man, Jane struggled to crossed that line; she knew how to underhandedly assert her mind and her beliefs, which clearly was not the role of a woman of that time. She had an independent nature, and did not want to be controlled. But as fate should have it, she became wealthy; Mr. Rochester needed her and depended on her. Fortunately, she did not have to live the social life of society, but lived the life she wanted to live far away at Ferndean finding happiness as a married woman free to express herself, as well as feeling equal to her husband.

The Right to Decide

Who has the right to decide which gender an inter-sex child should be? One may argue that a parent has the right to make that decision, or the right should be left up to that individual. Because the responsibility of a child is its parent, a parent may argue that it is solely their right to make the decision of the gender for their inter-sex child. On what basis, I would ask, “would it be for its health or well being?” Since the gender of an inter-sex child has not been proven to be perilous to its health, a parent may argue that changing the gender of their child to either male of female is necessary for its psychological well being; to prevent psychological trauma a child—might endure being teased upon reaching the age of puberty by fellow classmates when undressing for gym. According to Guinet and Decourt, by far the most frequent form of true hermaphrodite they have encountered—55 percent appear to have more masculine physique, and during puberty will start to develop breasts. But that is not a good argument because kids gets teased all the time in the locker rooms; it has happened to me, and I was not an inter-sex child. An inter-sex child may experience perplexities about its body—haven’t we all? Since I cannot come up with a valid reason why a parent should have the right to determine the gender of their inter-sex child, they should not be given that right. Unfortunately, some children experiences teasing, sexual confusion, and alienation while growing up, and as parents we teach them how to handle it. I feel the true nature of a parent is to—love, protect and provide for our children. Many parents neglect to realize that children are also sexual beings, and upon reaching maturity it is within their nature to seek sexual gratification. Therefore, if a parent is given the right to decide the gender of their inter-sex child, they may indeed be doing more damage to the child then they realize, thus leaving their child with mental and physical scares. Through education and possibly counseling, the child upon reaching maturity can then objectively make their own decision. Consequently, the inter-sex adult will have the freedom to explore and choose what is best for him/her. Studies have been done proving that people who are inter-sex gender can live and have lived a normal healthy life. As mentioned in the article, “The Five Sexes” by Anne Fausto-Sterling, there are reports describing children who grew up knowing that they were intersexual (though they did not advertise it) adjusted to their usual status. Likewise in the video “Multiple Genders” Georgina and Arthur are hermaphrodites, due to his/her chromosomes Georgina biologically looks like a woman but has male genitals and appeared to be content with him/herself, and Arthur who is happily married enjoys the best of both worlds. These two people were given—the right to decided what was best for them (as it should be) because in the end they are the ones, inter-sex, who will live the life that makes them happy.

Analyzing My Gender Role

I have decided to write on Devor’s text, “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender.” Because I feel my family is a society, it is a collective community of—all my relatives; I will begin analyzing my gender role, which happens to be female. I would say that a lot of the feminine responsibilities, mannerisms, and thinking that I have been participating in have been taught to me by my mother, grandmother, aunts, and other females in my family, while I was growing up. I felt no pressure to conform to the role I was expected to portray; I was too eager to learn because it made me feel close to them, and it also felt natural to me. As mentioned in the article I read, I became part of my generalized order by doing the conventional female roles like helping my mother take care of the house, washing the dishes, cooking, cleaning, washing the clothes, and taking care of my younger siblings. Even though I had a sister who was three years older than me, she did take an interest in the things that I was doing, so my mother entrusted me with the majority of the so call female responsibilities. Performing these tasks made me feel girly; since, I had never seen any of the men or boys in my family partake in any of these duties. While growing up, television really reinforced my role; only girls were shown helping their mothers around the house. I believed this role was to prepare me to become—first-class wife material. I know longer believe in gender roles in the home thanks to woman’s emancipation, and this ever so changing society. I believe shared roles will strengthen a relationship, and it also teaches children (who always watch and emulate their parents) that gender roles in a home do not exist.


When it came to practicing my role of being sexy, I turned to the television, magazines, and watched other women; I did this because I was not taught how to be sexy, or how to attract the opposite sex, so duplicating what I saw and what society wants females to believe is attractive and sexy did not last too long because I was not white, with long hair and a size 2. Hence, I started copying people who I could relate to that I found beautiful. Because this society is so diverse with beautiful women, and has so many translations of how a female should portray sexy and attractiveness, I enjoy and have the liberty to pick and choose what feels right for me, and have changed it periodically. According to Devor, female role attributes are commonly seen as mirror images of one another.

Watching my mother incorporate stronger roles, such as mowing the yard, painting the house, going to work, paying bills, has had a profound effect in shaping my identity; She showed me that a woman can be beautiful, soft, and still do roles that typically done by a man. There are other significant females such as my teachers and other famous women I read about that have also helped to contour my identity; because through them it has been proven that there is not a gender role that is—only male or female, and the roles that I can choose to identify with are unrestricted.

Watching my mother incorporate stronger roles, such as mowing the lawn, painting the house, going to work, paying bills, has had a profound effect in shaping my identity; she has shown me that a female does not have to be trapped in the role society deem as female, and it is tolerable to do roles that have been stereotyped as males. Because of my mother and other strong women like her, I was able to believe and openly accept that I too am not limited to the role society insists are meant for only females.