What is sexual identity?

We explain where this concept comes from and how it can help us define our personality.

Identity is a complex issue. It involves recognizing oneself as a unique and differentiated being, who remains who he or she is despite the changes that occur over time and with experience.

Identity also has an evident social nuance, and implies a certain degree of assimilation of the characteristics that define other groups, with which we feel identified. Moreover, it is a phenomenon composed of many dimensions, which make sense when united. Therefore, it cannot be understood only as character, orientation or behaviors; but as the more or less harmonious integration of all of them.

In this article we will discuss what sexual identity is and the affective correlates that derive from it.It is an essential element to understand the how and why of our most intimate relationships.

What is sexual identity?

Identity, in absolute terms, is the way in which the human being understands and thinks about himself/herselfIt involves a myriad of properties through which he defines his own individuality. It involves both the personal and the social; and contemplates aspects as diverse as the religion one professes, the ethnic group to which one belongs, the place where one lives and the relational aspects that arise when dealing with others (sexuality being erected as another communicative function).

Sexual identity is a key concept for self-definition. An adequate approach needs to contemplate the physiological, psychological and social aspects; aspects that can also be susceptible to change. The perception of what we are does not remain unchanged, despite the fact that the first years of life are the most relevant for building the foundations on which everything else will be erected.

In recent years we have witnessed a remarkable reinterpretation and revision of the traditional prism, breaking the dichotomy on which the understanding of the human being was built and unfolding very diverse nuances in which the uniqueness of each person can find a better space for representation.

Next, we will present concepts related to the concept of sexual identity, which are necessary to understand in a better way the concept of sexual identity.which are necessary to understand what it consists of.

Sexual identity: five related concepts

We will now define Biological sex, sexual orientation, sexual behavior, gender orientation and gender expression.

Although they are relatively independent concepts, all of them have some relationship with sexual identity, so their knowledge is very important.

Biological sex

Sex is a construct by which the phenotypic differences of an animal are categorized in terms of sexual dimorphism.. In human beings, the dichotomy "man" or "woman" has always been assumed, which generally refers to anatomical, hormonal and physiological differences between one and the other. Thus, it has been understood as a strictly biological variable, in which genetics attributed XX chromosomes for women and XY for men.

However, discrepancies in the basic chromosomal arrangement are currently recognized; distinguishing XXX, XXY, XYYY and even XO; as well as males with the XX pattern (Chapelle syndrome) and females with XY (Swyer syndrome). All this seems to suggest that sexual reality cannot be reduced to absolute and lapidary terms, but that there is a genotypic variety that makes it necessary to rethink the usefulness of this duality.

Not so long ago, the birth of a baby with undifferentiated sexual characteristics was a reason for almost immediate surgery, in order to choose any of the categories that society could accept (male or female). Today, this practice is much less widespread, as the risk of psychological damage is recognized. In addition, many social currents advocate the explicit recognition of the condition of intersexuality as a "third sex".

2. Sexual orientation

Sexual orientation is defined according to the sex of the persons to whom we are physically attracted and to the sex of the person to whom we are attracted.All this seems to suggest that sexual reality cannot be reduced to absolute and lapidary terms, but that there is a genotypic variety that makes it necessary to rethink the usefulness of this duality.Not so long ago, the birth of a baby with undifferentiated sexual characteristics was a reason for almost immediate surgery, in order to choose any of the categories that society could accept (male or female). Today, this practice is much less widespread, as the risk of psychological damage is recognized. In addition, many social currents advocate the explicit recognition of the condition of intersexuality as a "third sex".

2. Sexual orientation

Sexual orientation is defined in terms of the sex of the people to whom we are physically and/or romantically attracted.

. In this sense, the most commonly used concepts today are heterosexuality (attraction to people of the opposite sex), homosexuality (attraction to people of the same sex) and bisexuality (attraction to people of both sexes). Nevertheless, it is very important to remember that orientation is a dimensional phenomenon, and not a category into which one can inscribe oneself.

• Thus, orientation takes the form of a continuum or spectrum whose extremes would be homosexuality and heterosexuality, and in which each person would be located at some relative point. There is, therefore, no possibility of classifying this issue in absolute terms, but always from relativity and attending to questions of degree. For this reason, no homogeneity can be assumed for people based on their identification as homo, hetero or bisexual. There are also individuals who consider themselves asexual, in the sense that they perceive no interest in either men or women. Although this orientation has been considered in some cases as an "absence of orientation", in many classifications it is referred to as another form of sexuality, together with the classic ones already mentioned in this text.

Finally, queer people would feel attracted to others without any regard for the sex or gender to which they ascribe, considering that these dimensions imply an absurd reductionism. The rejection of these terms would also be accompanied by a certain social claim regarding the existence of patriarchal power structures that constrain the freedom to love and feel.

3. Sexual behavior

Sexual behavior describes the free choice of other people with whom to have intimate encounters, based on specific interests and circumstances.

The sexual behavior describes the free choice of other people with whom one has intimate encounters, according to interests and concrete circumstances of each one in each moment of his life. Thus, there are people who consider themselves heterosexual but have relationships with men on an occasional basis, and vice versa. The same can be said in the opposite direction, that is, when someone who considers himself or herself homosexual decides to sleep with an individual of the opposite sex.

Sexual behavior can take on enormous diversity, and does not always relate to the orientation that each individual perceives for himself or herself. Beyond the complexity of desire as a fundamental stage of the human sexual response, and the infinite forms in which it can be expressed, a series of extraordinary conditions that precipitate discrepant sexual behavior with respect to the orientation of those involved have been noted in the literature on the issue.

Thus, in physical contexts of great segregation by sex and/or involving a situation of prolonged isolation (prisons, for example), it is relatively common for encounters of this nature to occur between people of the same sex (without any of them being described as homosexual). However, it is not necessary for this fact to be deployed in restricted contexts, but it is one more expression of the freedom with which human beings live their sexuality.4. Gender identity

Gender is a reality conditioned by the historical and social moment, and therefore cannot be assigned a set of defining and immovable characteristics. It refers to the roles that the environment attributes to people depending on whether they are men or women, and which correspond to the conceptualization of masculinity and femininity. Traditionally, men have been assigned a masculine role and women a feminine one, limiting their unique natural qualities that are not linked to their biological sex.

It is now recognized that sex and gender are independent, so that each person may describe himself or herself as either male or female only, or refer to a combination of both to some degree.

It is now recognized that sex and gender are independent, so each person may describe himself or herself as male or female only, or refer to a combination of both to some degree. There are even people who flow within the spectrum, assuming an intermediate position or placing themselves in one of its extremes at different times in their lives. All this regardless of the sex assigned at birth. If there is a coincidence between the sex assigned at birth (based on the recognition of the external genitalia) and the gender with which the person identifies, it would be said that the person falls into the cisgender category. In the opposite case, the term that tends to be used is transgender..

However, there are studies that underline that the sex with which one is born has a fundamental impact on attitudes and interests. Thus, it has been indicated that boys and girls show different attentional orientations from the moment of birth (girls focus more on human faces and boys on moving stimuli), and soon after, they choose toys differently (dolls for girls and vehicles or construction devices for boys).

Studies at later stages of development also show that girls, when presented with free drawing instruction, tend to represent natural motifs (such as flowers, landscapes, people, animals, etc.), while boys doodle war scenes or means of transportation (also using a less varied chromatic palette). Although the authors postulate a differential effect of testosterone in the gestation process to explain it,

from a certain age onwards, there may be social conditioning that influences habits and behaviors.On the other hand, it must be said that gender roles, existing beyond each of the individuals that make up society and transmitted as one more element of human cultures, also influence gender identity. It is not simply a phenomenon with purely biological causes, or expressed from the genes, but also has to do with the interaction with the social environment.

5. Gender expression

Gender expression describes the behavioral aspects that a person adopts as an element of his or her way of being.

. In the world there are countries where divergence between sex and gender is criminalized, so many may choose to behave in a socially accepted way to the detriment of their natural desires or tendencies.

Thus, men who feel identified with the female gender may decide to adopt attitudes and habits socially attributed to the male (and vice versa). This would avoid situations of conflict or even some risk to physical integrity or life. In other cases, social pressure or "what people will say" is a sufficient reason to inhibit what one feels, without the need to do so could pose an objective danger. In any case, it is known that in all human cultures there are concepts of "male" and "female" as distinct realities, so that these kinds of social pressures are present in all of them to a greater or lesser extent.

Impact of discrimination on the basis of sexual identitySocial pressure can mean that many people face a moment of difficulty when they wish to express their sexual or gender orientation, for fear that it may lead to conflict for third parties or even involve rejection by people they consider significant. For this reason, it is relatively common that this is a process that requires time, and that is far from the moment in which they became aware of how they felt.

The literature on this subject is abundant, and studies can be found that highlight a higher prevalence of various related disorders: depression, anxiety problems, post-traumatic stress, etc. However, these findings do not suggest greater vulnerability, but are the result of losses that may occur during the process of "coming out". The integration of all sexual and gender orientation as a form of human expression that deserves recognition is absolutely necessary. This is one of the bastions of freedom over one's own body. Only in this way can love be expressed in a constructive way in the purpose that unites us all: the pursuit of happiness.

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• Bibliographical references:
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• Castellanos, L. and Swaab, D. (2017). Sexual Identity and Sexual Orientation. Hormones, Brain and Behavior, 5, 279-290.
• Francis, B. (2000) Is gender a social construct or a biological imperative? Family Futures : Issues in Research and Policy 7th Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference.