In this section we briefly review examples of a bias in favor of bio­logical explanations and identify key sociobiology terms and their appli­cations in “pop sociobiology,” as well as in more respectable formulations. In the following examples some flaws and contradictions are pointed out, while general flaws in sociobiology also are offered, and alternative analyses […]

It is also a popular assumption that only hormones influence sexual behavior, when in reality research has revealed that often the environment, both physical and social, affects the secretion and production of hormones. Often, only an environmental cue is necessary to initiate behavior that leads to nesting and reproduction in some species of birds. The […]

The popularized view is that hormones create and regulate an invar­iant sequence of biological reproduction characterized by the production of sperm and ova, followed by heterosexual mating behavior of two distinct sexes, followed by genetic cross fertilization, gestation or incubation. In fact, there are numerous exceptions to even the most fundamental as­sumptions about the basics […]

It would appear that popular culture wishes to attribute much of sex­ual behavior in humans to biology. These simplified views rely on a picture of human sexuality that allows for little variation, and concomitantly little variation in sexual and related gender relationships. These deterministic views of sexuality are often supported by reliance on a highly […]

On August 31, the day following the publication of LeVay (1991), Science News scooped the other large popular periodicals and reported: “A comparison of 41 autopsied brains has revealed a distinct difference be­tween homosexual and heterosexual men in the brain region that controls sexual behavior” (Ezzell, 1991, p. 134). Even though the article went on […]

The original outlet for LeVay’s study, Science, holds a premier repu­tation, but it clearly emphasizes the natural, life, and physical sciences with less emphasis on the social and behavioral sciences. The journal was no stranger to the debate concerning a biological basis for sex differences in the human brain. Science previously had published at least […]

LeVay’s (1991) study was roughly 2 1/2 published pages, and appeared in the back of the issue with other technical reports. In it, he reported findings from analyses of four separate interstitial nuclei of the anterior hypothalamus (INAH), thought to be associated with sexual behavior. A total of 41 tissue samples were taken from the […]

The connection of brain size, neuroanatomy, and physiology to per­sonal style, intellect, behavior, and complex features of sexuality has been popularly viewed as a well-established fact. In this section we challenge the process by which some findings are given superordinate attention be­yond scientific basis, and by which these are indirectly supported by virtue of frequent […]

DANNY S. MOORE AND CHERYL BROWN TRAVIS Distortions of sexuality couched in the language of neuroanatomy, hormones, and sociobiology seem to be reinvented every few years, despite numerous scholarly efforts to expose the conceptual bias, methodological limitations, and practical inadequacies of these models. From what should be thorough discrediting and debunking, they rise like a […]

We argue that to accept research findings as situated or contextual and as open to alternative interpretation and revision marks a psychology that is contextually aware. A focus on context removes some of the dangers of research that fosters individual blame for social problems. We addition­ally argue that deconstructions of sexuality do not have to […]