same sex
The adjective same-sex can have one of two similar meanings:
- On the one hand it means a being of the same sex oriented desire or behavior , so gay . The antonyms used here are mostly opposite sex , i.e. heterosexual . Mixed sex is rarely used to mean bisexual .
- On the other hand, it means according to gender . Mixed-sex or different- sexes are usually used as an antonym .
Same-sex , opposite- sex and mixed- sex exist as nouns . It is seldom used for people of the same sex and even less often of opposite sex . The words discussed here are mostly used as adjectives with a person designation. For example, "the same-sex lovers".
Consistent
Identical twins are almost always same-sex, in exceptional cases of opposite sex.
Animals are kept same-sex, mixed-sex or individually, depending on their nature and the aim of keeping them.
A same-sex class or school management that used to be segregated by race is called monoeducation or sea education. The antonym for mixed-sex or non-racial teaching is coeducation .
In contrast to mostly mixed-sex nudist areas, saunas are now both same-sex and mixed-sex. In more conservative cultures, such institutions are only same-sex and in some societies same-sex extends to very many areas of everyday life.
The relationship
Relationships, where same-sex is mostly used in the meaning of homosexual, are a middle thing. Both forms can be used here. From the point of view of those considered, the relationship is same-sex and a couple with a man and a woman of the opposite sex. From the outside observer, the relationship is also same-sex and a relationship between man and woman of opposite sex.
A polyamorous relationship can be mixed or same-sex or consist of several opposite and / or same-sex relationships. Polygamous relationships are only same-sex or opposite-sex, even if both can be present at the same time.
Attractive
Same-sex and opposite-sex are the German-language translations of the hybrid words homosexual and heterosexual, each composed of a Greek and a Latin part . In contrast to these, the semantic focus is shifted from the sexual (German: "gender") relationship between people to the gender of the people involved in the relationship. Furthermore, there is no longer any confusion with the Latin meaning of homo , the man. Same sex is very common and growing in importance. Among other things, through the more frequent use of same sex in English and the diverse translations of books, articles and news reports.
Background and Etymology
Overview: names for homosexualities
At the beginning of the 19th century, there were mostly very derogatory expressions for same-sex sex and same-sex attraction. Most were colloquial, a few were also used in science, in fiction it was rare and was mostly paraphrased. With Heinrich Hössli , efforts began in 1821 for the acceptance of same-sex lovers. He published his work under the title Die Männerliebe ... , which in principle can have a man and a woman, with the addition ... of the Greeks . In 1864, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs introduced the terms Uranism , Urning and Urninde , which apply to same-sex people , and the terms Dioning and Dioninge , which apply to people of the opposite sex . In 1868 Karl Maria Kertbeny coined the term triple "monosexual, homosexual and heterosexual". Richard von Krafft-Ebing's Psychopathia sexualis spread very widely from 1886 onwards . In 1870, Carl Friedrich Otto Westphal introduced the terms "contrary sexual sensation" and "contrary sexual". These became the "sexual inversion" and the "inverted" via the detour via Italian, French and back translation into German. The term “sexual madness” by Johann Ludwig Casper was also an attempt to “first find neutral terms”. In the following years the terms Ulrichs, Kertbenys and Westphals were about equally widespread.
In 1914, Magnus Hirschfeld noted that the term homosexuality had largely gained acceptance. But he also noted two major disadvantages of the term that still exist today and are noticeable. The most common meanings of the term homo in relation to humans are the Latin "man" or "human being" and not the Greek homós ("equal"). And the second part of the word comes from the Latin. As a result, “homo” is very often equated with man, homosexuality with male homosexuality and bizarre formulations such as “homosexuals and lesbians” are mostly used by heterosexual people. He finds even more disastrous the fact that under the impression of the ending "sexual" the word is often not captured and used in the sense of homosexual orientation or orientation , but in the sense of a sexual act .
The terms “same-sex / same-sex / same-sex” appear for the first time in the early days of sexology around the turn of the century. They appear more frequently from 1910 onwards, after the impression arose that they were helplessly exposed to the many “foreign words for same-sex”. There is therefore a possibility that Kertbeny's hybrid words have been back-translated in order to get rid of the technical, medical coloring. The opposite word opposite sex is also documented from this time. In the yearbooks around the turn of the century there is also “(the) same-sex predisposed”. Döblin's novel Berlin Alexanderplatz from 1926 also mentions same-sex people .
From around 1900 to the 1960s there were repeated attempts in the movement to find suitable and positive terms, some of which became more widely known. For some, the compulsion to keep a low profile and to use something that is not immediately recognizable to everyone, such as variations of boyfriend and girlfriend, also plays a role. In an article published in 1946 on the question of how to name oneself, Kurt Hiller also considers the designation of same-sex as possible, but points out that he does not think it is nice. And linguistically it is not entirely correct for him, since the attraction finds no expression. Even homosexuality sounds for him "bad and unclear". Despite Hiller's criticism, the word same-sex is used in some dictionaries, including current ones. The term same-sex is rarely used.
Hirschfeld's objections to the term homosexuality still exist, even if it is slowly declining. In 1981, Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg pointed out that even the well-willed does not know a more value-neutral term, but that this greatly reduces the homosexual individual to one aspect, sexuality, and thereby narrows it down. Even within the lesbian and gay movement there were discussions, confrontations and, as a result, work disabilities because there was no value-neutral term. In the six-volume edition of the Großer Duden (1976–1981) the editors add the comment “bes. from man to man ”. This reference is missing in the eight-volume edition (1993–1995). In 1990 Ernest Borneman points to public surveys where the majority of Germans believe that homosexuality means “sexual intercourse between men”. In the same year, the Correct Wording Dictionary indicates two different uses: “H. is related to men and women in (medical) terminology, but only to men in everyday language. ”This is particularly true of the noun homosexual.
In German-language legal texts, the gender of the person and the sexual act were always in the foreground. Sexual orientation was never of interest and the term homosexuality was never used there. In a draft law of the FRG from 1962 there was talk of "same-sex fornication" and Austria put this formulation into action in 1971. From 1767 to 1971, the Austrian prohibitions were always gender-neutral, as it was a criminal offense for women and men. After that, two paragraphs for gays and lesbians were valid until 1997.
In Austria, the activists of the movement were therefore constantly confronted with the term same-sex and it was also actively used in other contexts. Today it is widespread throughout the German-speaking area. The term same-sex lifestyles is often used for the many different life concepts of the heterogeneous group of homosexuals, bisexuals, but also the inclined heterosexuals . Also for functions ("Representative for ..."), departments, advisory services and much more. It is also often used in historical history and sociology, as the concept of today's homosexual has only existed since Ulrichs, even if similar identities had existed before that.
swell
- ↑ a b c Jody Daniel Skinner: Designations for the homosexual in German - Volume II, A dictionary , Die Blaue Eule, Essen 1999, ISBN 3-89206-903-4 ; Dissertation at the University of Koblenz-Landau in 1998
- ↑ Yearbook for Sexual Intermediate Levels XXIII, p. 19
- ↑ Christian Mücke: Designation of behavior deviating from norms using the example of homosexuality (masch.-schr.) Master's thesis, Würzburg 1992, p. 124
- ↑ Kurt Hiller : On the question of the designation , in: Der Kreis XIV No. 8 (August 1946), pp. 2-6
- ↑ Gisela Bleibtreu-Ehrenberg: Homosexuality. The story of a prejudice , Frankfurt am Main, 1981
- ↑ Ernest Bornemann: Ullstein Enzyklopädie der Sexualität , Frankfurt am Main / Berlin, 1990
- ↑ Wolfgang Müller (Ed.): Correct choice of words. A comparative dictionary of related expressions . Mannheim - Vienna - Zurich, 1977, 1990
