The belief that sexuality
and/or gender are determined by essential features of an individual's
biology or psychology. Essentialist constructions of homosexuality
arose in the mid-1800s, especially in Karl
Ulrichs construction of Urnings,
men with an inborn attraction to other men. Ulrichs invented
Urnings to counter the popular conception of "pederasts"
as wicked debauchees. If Urningism is inborn, Ulrichs reasoned,
how can it be a crime for Urnings to do what comes naturally?
Later thinkers like Westphal
and Krafft-Ebing agreed that
inversion is inborn, but categorized it as a disease.
The dominant essentialist
position in the 20th Century came from Sigmund Freud who located the
essence of homosexuality in the mind and attributed its causes to the
vicissitudes of a child's upbringing. More recently, biologically
oriented researchers have claimed that homosexuality inheres in brain
differences or in genetic variations.
Social
Constructionists have rejected these essentialist projects on
grounds that the homo/hetero and male/female distinctions are themselves
cultural constructs subject to constant changes. Still, the
defensive argument that "I am homosexual because of my genes,"
or "I am homosexual because of my brain" has an appeal, and a
minority of contemporary sexuality and gender specialists still endorse
essentialist modes of thinking.
