By Samuel Pimping
Why do we crave physical connection with other people? How is attraction among genders so diverse? And, considering the various identities and sexual orientations that seem to keep popping up, what is deemed as normal nowadays?
Despite the modernization of society, most of the habits, standards, and customs we practice today are deeply rooted in tradition. That tradition goes as far as millions of years ago—when humans first became human.
The answer to this biological drive can be traced back to the beginning when food was no luxury, populations were undeveloped, and socialization was the key to survival as a species. It is high time to do away with taboo as we look back to when our primal need for survival had been in its basest form.
The original desire
Why go back to prehistoric times? Because the explanation may lie in what had always been “natural” for us. Natural, in this sense, refers to whatever is typical, inherent, or spontaneous in nature.
Take eating, for example. Ever wondered why we need to have three meals everyday: breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Some probably think “well, it’s always been that way, and it ensures that we have adequate energy and nutrition throughout the entire day.”
However, for hundreds of thousands of years, we were hunters and gatherers. This means that back then, we never had the three-meal-a-day concept. The norm was either feast or famine. It was common to eat only anytime when food had become available after the hunt, which was usually at least once a day (if lucky).
Having three meals a day was, therefore, only an artificial concept that arose during the industrial age when mass-produced food became the go-to. Clearly, it had been more “natural” to fast for extended periods back when we were nomadic hunter-gatherers. This is one of the main justifications behind intermittent fasting, a diet in which proponents commonly go through 16 to 24 hours of fasting.
Now, let us try to view sex through the same lens. The purpose of intercourse is well-known to be reproduction and the promotion of genetic diversity. This is especially true when populations had been scarcer in the past. To increase the continuity of a species, it would be ideal to produce more of those with the best traits in accordance with Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.
That said, sex is not only for reproduction; it can also simply be for enjoyment. Putting it another way, intercourse is not just an evolutionary process as it is also an emotional experience for humans. Most people engage in some form of sexual activity regardless of gender or preference, further demonstrating that the act is not strictly for reproducing.
Moreover, forms of self-pleasure and masturbation using adult toys had also been a practice in prehistoric times. One Neolithic clay figurine unearthed in Malta depicts a woman masturbating while laying on her back. Also, a 30,000-year-old phallic object (shown below), as archaeologist Timothy Taylor described, had most likely been used for both self-pleasure and even as a crude hammer!
Lastly, sex is a shared experience. It allows us to intimately connect with other humans and potentially find a mate who we can depend on. Practically speaking, this gives greater chances of survivability for both partners should they decide to settle down permanently. A shared bond promises not only fulfillment but also safety, care, and stability.
Darwin’s paradox
If the Theory of Evolution posits that sex is primarily for reproduction, then why do other sexualities (such as homosexuality and bisexuality) exist? This is known as the Darwinian paradox, a phenomenon that had stumped evolutionary researchers in the past as it contradicts one of the most basic principles behind the discipline.
The paradox is made even more perplexing by the fact that same-sex behavior is common among other animals. Such behavior, which includes co-parenting and intercourse, has been observed in over a thousand species. This indicates that such sexuality is not only a human construct and is better characterized by nature over nurture.
Observation of other species is crucial to exclude human culture from the study of same sex behavior. Animal homosexuality and bisexuality research findings had been observed and published as early as 200 years ago, but given its extremely taboo impression at the time, it had not been given much thought by society.
Case studies of various species such as penguins, spider monkeys, gorillas, bats, scarab beetles, snakes, and many others have established that both male and female homosexuality are widespread not only among humans but also among other creatures. Therefore, based on its prevalence in the animal kingdom, same-sex behavior can be deemed to be a natural phenomenon.
Specifically, the 2018 case study of two male Gentoo penguins (shown below) displayed co-parenting behavior when they were given an egg to foster. These love birds, named Sphen and Magic, were described as a penguin power couple and are still together as of 2023. They have been advocated by Australian gay rights movements in the past and have been recently set to be featured in a school syllabus.
The “new” normal
It is no secret that for many centuries, sexualities other than heterosexuality have been condemned socially, morally, religiously, and legally in majority of communities. Despite the recurrence of same-sex attraction and behavior throughout history, it has been deemed unnatural and even abnormal by society at large for most of the past.
Fortunately, much progress has been made in the acknowledgment of other sexualities and the abolishment of highly discriminatory rules and policies. Gender concepts are more openly accepted today, but full acceptance by the public of all ideologies as “normal” has yet to be realized. While some have described the celebration of pride as a trend, it is more accurately as a process, movement, or undertaking that strives to extinguish systemic oppression and claim equitable treatment.
Confusion in deciding what is socially acceptable is reasonable given that conflicting views are held by both those within and outside the LGBTQIA+ community. From permitting minors to acquire hormone therapy to determining whether separate spaces are even a sound administrative act, much debate and controversy are still in progress—all of which are outside the scope of this article.
What is clear, however, is the affront to human rights that has been committed in the past. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders II (DSM-II), a handbook used as a guide in diagnosing mental illness, had previously listed homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1968. Aversion therapy had been deemed the “cure” to homosexuality during the fifties and sixties.
The procedure inflicts extreme distress upon patients via electric shocks and vomit inducing drugs while they are shown photos of naked men. The thinking behind such a vile form of therapy was to “teach” or “reform” the mind to associate same-sex attraction with great anguish—forcing the subject to avert one’s thoughts away from being attracted to other men. Needless to say, it was ineffective.
It was only in 1987 when homosexuality was completely taken out of the DSM as an affliction. While worldwide acceptance is much more developed now, it has unfortunately been met with extreme resistance from some groups or even countries such as Uganda. The nation approved the Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023, which imposes life imprisonment for gay sex and the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality.
Regardless of such a regressive policy, pride continues to be celebrated as a form of protest in many nations across the globe.
It is evident that attraction to the same gender, or any other one, for that matter, is natural. Anything can be empirically proven in the grand scheme of things. While the diverse themes of sexuality have yet to become fully accepted in the cultural aspect, the science behind it has always checked out from the very beginning—even millions of years ago, when animals had always been animals, and humans first became human.
Sources:
Bawagan, J. (May 02, 2019). Scientists explore the evolution of animal homosexuality. https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/190987/scientists-explore-evolution-animal homosexuality/
Burton, N. (September 18, 2015). When homosexuality stopped being a mental disorder.https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/hide-and-seek/201509/when-homosexuality stopped-being-mental-disorder
De Innocentis, I. (April 05, 2020). Why do we eat three times a day? https://www.lacucinaitaliana.com/trends/news/why-do-we-eat-three-times-a-day
Gunnars, K. (June 16, 2022). Intermittent fasting 101—the ultimate beginner’s guide. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-guide
Perry, K. (September 01, 2022). 8 facts about prehistoric sex that show the ways we have—and haven’t—evolved. https://www.ranker.com/list/prehistoric-intimacy-facts/kellen-perry
Rampton, M. (October 13, 2021). The sex lives of cave dwellers. https://getmaude.com/blogs/themaudern/the-sex-lives-of-cave-dwellers
