Debunking Freudian theories on sexual orientation
Sigmund Freud considered a person is not born with a particular sexual orientation. As the most common cause of homosexuality, Freud names long and intense fixation on the mother regarded the Oedipus complex. Freud’s theory still has little empirical evidence. If the approach is correct, most people would have a memory of becoming heterosexual. Instead, heterosexuals believe they have always been that way. Then why is this statement not true for homosexual people? Swaab et al. (2021) published another study that casts doubt on Freud’s theory. He states that there is no evidence of the decisive role of the social environment in the development of sexual orientation. It can be concluded that psychology has little in common with sexual orientation.
W.E.B. Du Bois’ Dual Consciousness
The dual consciousness theory of W.E.B Dubois can be explained as the feeling of one’s identity split into parts. A person feels like an American and black and lives in different cultural, social, and ideological realities. It is complicated to combine these roles to fight stereotypical thinking. Moreover, according to Dubois, the presence of two conflicting positions leads to the fact that both consciousnesses are incomplete. A person who appears white on the outside can enjoy all the privileges but experiences even more depressing signs of dual consciousness. A person moves away from the racial community to which he belongs and is forced to prove to himself that he is part of a “white” society.
References
Swaab, D. F., Wolff, S. E., & Bao, A. M. (2021). Sexual differentiation of the human hypothalamus: Relationship to gender identity and sexual orientation. Handbook of Clinical Neurology, 181, 427-443.