“What Accounts for Cross-Cultural Variation in the Expression of Homosexuality” By:Rebecca Kyle
Kyle, Rebecca. “What Accounts for Cross-Cultural Variation in the Expression of Homosexuality.” Chrestomathy: Annual Review of Undergraduate Research, vol. 8, 2009, pp. 99–114. College of Charleston.
In her academic essay, What Accounts for Cross-Cultural Variation in the Expression of Homosexuality, Rebecca Kyle states that population pressures have a very definite and positive correlation with the acceptance of homosexuality by a given culture. Population pressure is defined as adaptation to the environment prompted by unsustainable population growth. She goes on to elaborate upon this by emphasizing that homosexuality does not equate to an effort to control fertility rates, merely an overall correlation exists between an increase in population pressure and the likelihood homosexual expression will be accepted or even embraced. Her argument embodies the experimental definition of homosexuality as an alternative sexual expression that, from an evolutionary standpoint, allows a culture to regulate its population.
Kyle analyzes raw data on sexuality across hundreds of cultures to register a moderately positive relationship between increasing intensity of population pressures and open homosexual practices. She defines homosexuality as “erotic activity with another of the same sex” (Kyle, 100). She further explains that she focuses mainly on male homosexual expression since female homoerotic expression is rarely acknowledged, let alone documented, in traditionalist cultures. This data, as well as her theoretical argument, is backed by a plausible evolutionary history tailored to include homo-erotic expression. Homosexuality seems to undermine the traditional division of labor along gender lines, a fundamental and universal relationship between the sexes. Kyle references Judith Brown’s childcare compatibility theory that states women’s psychology of motherhood demonstrates that a mother's economic output can only be maximized if their childcare responsibilities are reduced, or their economic role can be filled while caring for a child. In other words, when women perform tasks incompatible with full-time child rearing, fertility rates drop. Conversely, the division of labor itself ensures fertility rates stay high. Since the division of labor seems to be focused on the tasks of motherhood and childrearing, a non-reproductive sexuality seems to counter this evolutionary fundamental concept. However, homosexuality, which correlates with lower fertility, and the traditional division of labor, which correlates with higher fertility rates, could exist as counterweights. Each balances the other based on the population pressures of each society.
Kyle further backs her thesis with contemporary examples. She demonstrates that her theorized correlation between high population pressure and increased acceptance of homosexual expression to hold true in the modern world. Industrialized countries do indeed tend to accept queerness much more openly. In addition, Kyle cites research that concludes that tolerance of non-reproductive sex depends highly on the cultural importance of high fertility. The United States is a modern example of a highly industrialized country that has a high acceptance of homosexuality and a low expectation of fertility, which is prioritized less than economic success. This both confirms the correlation between population pressure and homosexual expression and the correlation between an emphasis on motherhood-conducive female roles and lower fertility rates. Kyle also cites China as a second industrialized country that, at first, does not seem to follow her model by remaining intolerant to homosexuality even while population pressures exploded. However, upon further scrutiny, Kyle observes that although China did deal with population pressure mainly with their one-child policy by systematically attempting to control fertility, homosexuality is becoming more openly expressed and China is beginning to show signs of queer tolerance. This serves the author’s point that homosexuality is not the solution to population pressures, nor does it necessarily have to coincide with attempts to reduce fertility rates; there is simply a positive correlation between the two.
The reason I chose to include this article is not necessarily its pertinence to LGBTQ Latinx families per say, but its potential. It is a very informative, well-structured paper analyzing the correlation between homosexual expression and population constraints of a society, tying in cultural labor roles and technological advancements as further tells. What it lacks, however, is anything more than a surface acknowledgment of a family structure outside that of biological parentage. Kyle does include the idea of inclusive fitness in her biological argument for homosexual expression. Inclusive fitness states that an individual can facilitate the passing on of their genes through their own reproducing, or by offering additional support to offspring of their closely related kin, therefore justifying same sex, non-reproductive relationships from an evolutionary standpoint. She mentions family ties between childless elders and their siblings’ children have been proven to be stronger, and ends the conversation there. However, I believe that a much more extensive exploration of community support of a child is in order. Western thought often ignores any family structure outside that of the nuclear family, but there is an undeniable correlation between a freer expression of sexuality and a looser interpretation of a family. I argue that blood relation does not define a family, and yet, Kyle seems to opt for a much more rigid family model. With homosexual expression being an actual possibility, LGBTQ people can look to starting their own families and raising their own young. An offshoot of this article extremely relevant to my research would be to narrow in on the cultural pressures of different Latinx communities, taking an in-depth look at the way culture and societal pressures affect the visibility, prevalence, and methods of queer parenting. With a more lenient viewpoint on family, as well as a lens narrowed on the Latinx population, this article could be a jumping off point for my own research.