Markim Felix

Professor Lago
Experiences In Literature
April 6, 2013

No Cure for the Way Your Born

Weve alway been told that relations between men and a woman is the norm. Strict religious people
always love to throw out the saying God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. In reality
meanings change overtime and we as open minded people should not paraphrase a book written 3500
years ago. There are those people that say homosexuality is a life-style choice and not something you
are born with. With the lack of studies and knowledge how can someone talk for someone else if them
themselves are not homosexual? Conversion therapies, like electroshock therapy, religious therapies,
exorcisms and even surgeries have been proven not to work and also proven theres no cure for being a
homosexual. As it was mentioned in Ha Jins The Bridegroom, conversion therapies simply do not
work. Baowen went through many forms of conversion therapies before it was proven that there is no
cure. Scientist are even starting to believe that birth order determines sexuality. Its time we look into
sexual orientation because it looks like its a lot more than just a life style choice.
Ha Jins The Bridegroom goes through the struggle of being a homosexual in China, where it is
believed that homosexuality is a mental disease. Its a social disease, like gambling, or prostitution, or
syphilis is how Miao compares homosexuality too. Prostitution is having sex interactions with people to
make a living, which homosexuals do not do and gambling cannot even be compared to homosexuality
because it just simply has nothing to do with sexual preference. Baowen has to go through a bunch of
different therapies to convert from being homosexual to heterosexual. Electro-conclusive therapy,
also known as electroshock therapy is a psychiatric treatment that electrically induces seizures in
patients to relieve psychiatric illnesses. Electroshock therapy is commonly used for schizophrenia, major
depression, as well as other illnesses but was once and still used on homosexuals. Science has proven
that electroshock therapy indeed does not work. Other forms of treatment that were used were
religious treatments, like a pastor praying, going to church meetings and even exorcisms! Exorcisms
were used because some religions actually believed there were demons inside homosexuals! At the end
of The Bridegroom Baowen engages in sexual activity with his own doctor after all of the treatments,
in a way showing that even the doctor know conversion therapy is a bunch of bull because he is a
homosexual himself. We are told in The Bridegroom that there is no cure for Baowens so called
disease. Doctor Nai explained to Cheng that his son-in-law Baowen will not be cured, simply because
there is no cure. Homosexuality isnt an illness, so how can it have a cure Doctor Nai stated to Old
Cheng. Its not a disease, its just a sexual preference; it may be congenital, like being left handed
Doctor Nai explained to Old Cheng, just like some people are born left handed, some people are born
with a different sexual preference.
For hundreds of years the lesbian, gay, and bisexual community have gone through a variety of
treatments to help transition them to heterosexual. Usually pressured by families or social pressure, but
sometimes by choice. Some even went through therapy because of law to avoid jail terms like in The
Bridegroom. Aversion behavior therapy was one form of conversion therapy used on gay men. In
aversion therapy gay men are shown pictures of naked males then given a serious of drugs or electro-
shock to cause them to throw up, when they can no longer stand the pain or the vomit they would then
me shown pictures of females as a kind of relief from pain. Same would be for Lesbian women, but of
course with pictures of women to make them vomit. Of course aversion therapy was later looked into
and proven not to work.
Puritans will argue that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice and a real sin, some countries see it as just
a mental disease, while homosexuals of course believe you are born that way and felt that way ever
since they knew the difference between sexes. All younger siblings should of course thank there
younger siblings. Older siblings make life so much easier for there younger siblings, the younger ones
know what to do and what not to do, like when to steal moms car. Point is the older sibling determines
the younger siblings life, but what about sexual orientation? Scientist have proven that the more male
babies a female gives birth to, the greater chance the subsequent sons will be gay, this is known as the
Big Brother Effect. What about lesbians though? The big brother effect does not apply to lesbians but
scientist believe just like the mother plays a role in the son being gay, they father plays a role in the
female child being lesbian. Studies in twins show that being gay is not really all about genes, but there is
a genetic component. More identical twins than fraternal twins share the same sexual orientation and
Dean Harmer from the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland claimed she has found a
region on the X chromosome where a male gay gene may reside. Here in the United States,
homosexuality is becoming more and more accepted and more studies are proving that one is born that
way. In China however, homosexuality was not so long ago considered a mental disease as mentioned in
The Bridegroom
In 1991 in San Diego at the Stalk Institute, Simon LeVay, a neuroscientist posted his evidence that
part of the brain known to vary in size between both men and women is usually small in gay men. Simon
argued that gay men are born instead of made Its much more than a lifestyle or family processes said
Simon. The researched looked more into the hypothalamus region of the brain, the hypothalamus is
know to control sexual behavior and that area is relatively closer in structure in gay men.
Middle East countries execute people who perform homosexual acts when in reality why would
someone falsely consider themselves a homosexual knowing they can be incarcerated and even
executed. We are told that its very rare for people who come from the middle East to be homosexual
because its not in their nature, however the most in tolerate countries mainly Eastern, Northern African
countries and the Middle East have the highest gay porn searches on Google than any other country. So
how straight are they? This proves that homosexuals come from all backgrounds and religions, Western
Hemisphere, Europe, Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and even Asia like in The Bridegroom Its all over the
human race, as a matter of fact its throughout the entire animal kingdom! Even animals are known to
perform homosexual acts, its just how nature is.
Treating homosexuality is completely unethical. The best approach is to help homosexuals adjust to
their situation, value gays like the human beings that they are and that there is nothing pathological
about their sexual orientation. It is best to raise awareness of discrimination and prejudice against the
LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) community. Just like denying homosexuals the right to
marry is a human rights violation; conversion therapy and professionals who attempt to convert
homosexuals is in a way committing human rights violations, its no difference. Being gay is not a mental
disorder, pathological or deviant behavior, being gay is more of an identity and an expression of sexual
behavior just like being heterosexual is.
As time goes on, homosexuality is becoming more and more accepted. Conversion therapies are
becoming illegal all around the globe. Simply because of the fact that it falls in the area of human rights
violation, because your trying to keep someone from loving who they actually love. No matter how
much therapy a person goes through, they will always be homosexual, even if they try not to practice
there sexual orientation, they will still have that urge because its simply who they are. Just like you
cannot change your race, you cannot change your sexual orientation. Although we may not know for
sure what the main cause of homosexuality is, we are getting fairly close, starting with the big brother
effect and the study on identical twins. The big brother effect is proven for gay males, but what about
lesbian women, we yet to find the cause of lesbianism. My point I am trying to make is the same point
Ha Jin is trying to make, just leave the gay society alone because they simply are who they are and thats
what they will remain to be.

















Jin, Ha. "The Bridegroom." Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan. 10th ed. Boston:
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Jin, Ha. "The Bridegroom." Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan. 10th ed. Boston:
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Jin, Ha. "The Bridegroom." Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan. 10th ed. Boston:
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