WaPo: 'Brain Study Shows Differences Between Gays, Straights'

Just read this really interesting article in the Washington Post which discusses brain differences between gay people and straight people. The main finding of the researchers found that:

"Gay men tended to have brains that were more like those of straight women than of straight men -- the right and left sides were about the same size, the researchers found. Gay women's brains tended to be more like those of straight men than of straight women -- the right side tended to be slightly larger than the left.

Next, the researchers used positron emission tomography (PET) scans to examine how a part of the brain involved in processing emotions -- the amygdala -- was connected to other brain regions. Again they found that gay men tended to be more like straight women, with a stronger link between the amygdala and regions involved in emotions. Gay women tended to be more like straight men, with stronger connections to motor functions."

It got me thinking about a sociology class I took freshman year at Georgetown called 'The Social Construction of Sexuality.' The premise of the class was that differences in sexual orientation, as well as people's perceptions about those differences, are solely determined by social factors, ie: environment and behavior, not biology. I totally understood the theory that since we are inundated by so many heterosexual images and pressures throughout our lives, then that would account for why most people in the world are heterosexual -- they are conditioned to be that way. If you grow up thinking that Barbie and Ken go together and not Ken and Ken, then you're more likely to follow that livestyle yourself. But the part I never understood was, if we are constantly presented with all these heterosexual images, then what societal factors will determine whether a homosexual person is homosexual. The fact that I didn't understand probably explains why I got my worst grade ever at Georgetown (a B - gasp!) in that class.... but really, I don't think she ever fully explained it. She always completely dismissed even the notion that biology could play a role, and was downright offended when someone brought up the fact that in nature it takes a male and a female of the species to reproduce, and might that influence why heterosexuality is perceived as predominant in society.

ps- I'm still bitter about the grade.