Need book recommendations for the topic of homosexualism

[jocampo]

Can someone recommend me a nice ebook about homosexualism? But please, not one with religious focus ... not one with liberal point of view either ... need a medical or psychological point of view instead, impartial.

I would like to learn more about the topic.

Thanks ...

[FizzyWater]

I know I've seen a handful of books at my ebook library, but I can't remember if they were mostly political or religious. I'll see if I can find them again when I'm at home.

EDIT: 20 books came up on a search of "homosexuality". None from a scientific point of view. They were 1) political, 2) religious, or 3) self-help (e.g., for women whose husbands come out of the closet).

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Can someone recommend me a nice ebook about homosexualism? But please, not one with religious focus ... not one with liberal point of view either ... need a medical or psychological point of view instead, impartial.

I would like to learn more about the topic.

Thanks ...

Could you be a bit more specific? Maybe give some examples of books about heterosexualism that you'd consider equivalent, so people know what kind of books you're seeking?

Wikipedia has a list of nonfiction books about homosexuality that may be a good starting point; you could what people think of specific titles on that list.

One that I hear recommended often is Biological Exuberance, which covers homosexual behavior in animals.

Gay, Straight and the Reason Why has a neuroscience approach.

Homosexuality: The Psychology of the Creative Process is by Paul Rosenfels, M.D., the first American social scientist to defend homosexuality in print as a valid lifestyle; it's available free online (although not in ebook format).

[melancholia]

The suffix you're looking for is 'ity', not 'ism'. It's homosexuality.

[jocampo]

I know this is a sensitive topic, let me elaborate.

I would lie to read a book, that explains or, try to explain, homosexuality or its behavior, from a medical pint of view. For instance ... it is a psychological problem? Hormonal? You born that way?

The books I've found are biased toward religion side of view. I want a medical approach, and/or someone who read one and can recommend it.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by jocampo

I would lie to read a book, that explains or, try to explain, homosexuality or its behavior, from a medical pint of view. For instance ... it is a psychological problem? Hormonal? You born that way?

Why, if specifically seeking an unbiased source, are you requiring that it be from a "medical" point of view? Medicine is the study of diseases and disorders and their treatment. It seems to me that by asking for a medical point of view, you are presupposing that it is a disease or disorder.

I'm sure you can find books like that, but you'll need to look for books from around the middle of the last century and before, or from authors whose mindset is stuck in that era.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by jocampo

impartial.

No such animal.

The closest to what you are asking for, in a book I have read, is here:

http://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu...iley/book.html

[BenG]

Well, the classic book would be The Homosexual Matrix by C.A. Tripp published in 1975 with a second edition in the 80s. I'm not sure how out of date it is.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by jocampo

I would lie to read a book, that explains or, try to explain, homosexuality or its behavior, from a medical pint of view. For instance ... it is a psychological problem? Hormonal? You born that way?

I can tell you that the current medical world is strongly undecided. There are studies indicating everything from genetic to prenatal hormone exposure to young childhood psychological imprints to conscious choice to develop idle interest into something deeper. There is no definitive, provable answer.

There *might* be an ability to say, "X% of gays are from [cause 1]; y% are from [cause 2]," and so on. But we're not even at that point yet--in part, because in many areas, gay people would be risking their lives to be public. If we can't know how many people identify as gay, we can't sort out the cause/s.

The medical world doesn't even have a definition for "gay." Is it a person who has sex with members of the same sex, by choice? (What counts as "has sex?") Is it a person who *exclusively* has sex with members of the same sex? Is it a person whose strongest attractions and interests are to members of the same sex? (At what age can we identify "gay" as different from "straight?" Is an 8-year-old boy who has no interest in girls "gay?") If these three aren't all present, is the person gay or not? Does their self-identification as gay (or straight, bi, or other) matter?

We're still at the point of figuring out "what IS homosexuality;" there are no answers about "causes" yet. There are, if you're interested, dozens-to-hundreds of books exploring the possibilities, but there's not a nice small handful of them with neat, concise answers.

[kennyc]

speaking of climate change.....

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by kennyc

speaking of climate change.....

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by meeera

Why, if specifically seeking an unbiased source, are you requiring that it be from a "medical" point of view? Medicine is the study of diseases and disorders and their treatment. It seems to me that by asking for a medical point of view, you are presupposing that it is a disease or disorder.

I'm sure you can find books like that, but you'll need to look for books from around the middle of the last century and before, or from authors whose mindset is stuck in that era.

Correct, there is no other way to study or classify that.

Now, I am not saying it is a psychological disorder, but this can't be explained in a religious point of view.

The brain handles sexual preferences in humans, it's a fact, and brain and body it's studied by medicine.

I don't want to create polemic, I just wanted to know if someone read or knew a book about this topic, that's it.

I am not homophobic and just wanted to read about the topic and learn more. I like to read about almost anything that its non fiction, including self help books and medicine.

Anyway, thanks for the answers, I actually have a better idea of which book I should read or get.

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I can tell you that the current medical world is strongly undecided. There are studies indicating everything from genetic to prenatal hormone exposure to young childhood psychological imprints to conscious choice to develop idle interest into something deeper. There is no definitive, provable answer.

There *might* be an ability to say, "X% of gays are from [cause 1]; y% are from [cause 2]," and so on. But we're not even at that point yet--in part, because in many areas, gay people would be risking their lives to be public. If we can't know how many people identify as gay, we can't sort out the cause/s.

The medical world doesn't even have a definition for "gay." Is it a person who has sex with members of the same sex, by choice? (What counts as "has sex?") Is it a person who *exclusively* has sex with members of the same sex? Is it a person whose strongest attractions and interests are to members of the same sex? (At what age can we identify "gay" as different from "straight?" Is an 8-year-old boy who has no interest in girls "gay?") If these three aren't all present, is the person gay or not? Does their self-identification as gay (or straight, bi, or other) matter?

We're still at the point of figuring out "what IS homosexuality;" there are no answers about "causes" yet. There are, if you're interested, dozens-to-hundreds of books exploring the possibilities, but there's not a nice small handful of them with neat, concise answers.

Thanks for your dissertation about the topic. .

Any book or title that you actually read or can recommend? That was actually my question.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by jocampo

I am not homophobic

Can I suggest not using the term "homosexualism", then, which is a USAn far-right homophobic catchphrase.

[caleb72]

Actually it was a bit difficult to find something immediately. But I did stumble across this:

Science of Desire

I haven't read it at all, but it looks like it's an account from Dean Hamer about his research into the gay gene.

The Biology of Homosexuality

This one is also looking at "...embryonic endocrine and genetic phenomena..." in its explanation of homo/heterosexuality.

There were a few books about conversion therapy etc.. which might also cover some theories about homosexuality from a medical or psychological point of view, but I'm guessing their focus is more on conversion and possibly less interesting to you.

This was just a brief search I did in Amazon. The subject isn't terribly interesting to me so I don't have "in the know" recommendations to make.