So I was medically tested for my sexual orientation

I can't see how being tested by watching porn works ... I find porn does nothing for me, but maybe that just makes me odd >.>;;

 

Just a quick question about the porn. Do all people find porn exciting to watch? What if you don't, not as in you personally, but generally? would that give a wrong answer to the test if there is no physical response to it.

 

I find that this whole experience must have been first and foremost, humiliating.

Furthermore, to claim that there is a "medical procedure" that can verify whether or not one is aroused by pornographic images, gay or straight, and to then come to conclusions about one's sexual orientation is a dangerous pseudoscience.

There are countries in the Middle East and elsewhere with anti-homosexuality laws that are already trying to determine the sexual orientation of foreign visitors and immigrants by medical means (whatever that means) and I can foresee some of them trying the measures you describe above.

Let's be clear, these methods are unproven, and untested in any way, shape, or form that even resembles good science. Do not subscribe to this bullshit, you know yourself what you are and no one has the right to determine that for you.

 

Hi greatwhale,

I must step in here, because I partly disagree. Partly, because you are right that a machine is error-prone and by far not as significant as one's experience over time.

However this device scans for the slightest changes in blood flow (= arousal) in the genital area. Since arousal becomes visible first and foremost with an overall increased blood flow to the genital area it is indeed a strong indicator. On top of it all a psychiatrist also covered the psychological aspects that is beyond the scope of the machine's abilities. That being said I don't think that it's all that wrong.

---------- Post added 19th Apr 2014 at 06:56 PM ----------

Forgot to add that I indeed find it humiliating for you, SoftKitty, that your father insisted on having your sexuality "screened", but, as remarked on your wall, it is/was a common procedure in the former Czecho-Slovakia.

 

No doubt this machine will be accurate for detecting arousal, I have no qualms with that. But where are the randomized, controlled clinical trials? It's the validation of this procedure that I find wanting.

It's good, I suppose, that a psychiatrist also went further than the machine ever could, but I can see this device being used in far less ethical or scientifically careful ways. In other words, why bother with a psychological assessment? It is a very thin line between a test result and jumping to conclusions about orientation.

As for a psychological assessment, well, this in itself can be problematic: it is well-known that selecting the "right" psychiatrist or psychologist will also be a huge factor in the determination.

It's not for nothing that polygraphs (lie-detectors) are not admissible evidence in a court of law.

 

I get turned on mostly by lesbian porn, but I'm not really that into women....

 

@ greatwhale:

I agree with what you say.

What do you mean by selecting "the right" psychiatrist? I presume you mean the prejudge, e. g. a gay psychiatrist would rather tell the patient he/she is gay and vice versa the straight psychiatrist determines the patient to be straight/bisexual.

Well, as for the polygraphs... Self-control is the magic word. I believe that cold-blooded perpetrators are well capable of hiding their true emotions and therefore the polygraph will fail to reveal what's meant to be revealed.

 

If one believes a certain thing about someone's orientation, or one's own orientation, it is not a huge leap to find someone who will "tend" to agree with you. In other words, if you have a certain idea about something, you will have a bias and you will tend to agree with those whose assessments agree with yours or suffer cognitive dissonance with those who don't. I sense that the OP is undergoing just this struggle...

In the (unfortunately still) subjective world of psychological assessments, the variety of opinions is as multi-coloured as the rainbow flag. It's not just that polygraph results can be "gamed" by, for example, psychopaths, it's that the results are so complex and subject to human interpretation (and attack by defense attorneys!) as to render them meaningless when it comes to determining guilt or innocence.

 

I'm just confused about how this test works....If it was based off of arousal in porn, I would come up heterosexual. I rarely if ever, watch porn with women in it. The reason isn't because I'm more attracted to men, but because women in porn act fake and obnoxious and It's easier to find more realistic male stuff that you can visualize as something else.

Plus, It's kind of scary to determine sexual interests that way....there's proof that many women are turned on during a rape. But it doesn't equate to liking being raped IMO Just my two cents....If you took the test for relief, that's okay, but I can't believe the accuracies in such a thing.

 

@ SoftKitty:

Please don't get my postings the wrong way, I did stand up for you and not the other way round!

@ Fallingdown7:

It seems as though the human being is one of most complicated and diverse creatures ever to live on earth.

I'm not sure if porn can indicate one's true sexual orientation, but at least I think it gives a good hint as to what direction one might leap to. Of course it's not the one and only indicator. There is a lot of psychology that is still poorly understood I would say. What seems to be clear today may be obsolete tomorrow.

 

I was thinking the same thing about men. Sex is sex, and sex is going to cause arousal in a lot of people regardless of sexual orientation. I don't doubt that it's accurate in detecting arousal, but I highly doubt that the results are in any way reflective of sexual orientation.

 

@ IsThisAName:

But on the other hand what IS it then what indicates your true self if not exposure to certain sexual material?

 

My point is that anyone can be attracted to sex (assuming they experience sexual attraction/aren't asexual). I enjoy gay porn but am not attracted to guys. That doesn't make me bisexual. So porn is not indicative of sexual orientation. What determines sexual orientation is what you think you're attracted to. Only the person themselves can say what they're attracted to. That will be more accurate than any fancy medical test or some doctor telling you what you like.

 

I think It's based on a mental perception of who you would actually like to have sex with. It's almost impossible to tell what a woman's sexuality is based on arousal, because there is proof that women get aroused to anything sexual, including rape, child porn, porn involving human waste, etc.

 

Doesn't seem like a very accurate way to test it...

 

That is... weird to say the least XD Is that some sort of standard test at the doctor's in the Czech Republic? "Oh so you've grown two inches, you lost some weight and you're a homosexual, looks like you're healthy."

 

I promise I won't beat you! (*hug*), it's not you I am concerned about so much as so-called experts who feel they can come up with an answer that is, in reality, untestable with any reasonable degree of confidence. At least your therapist told you the right thing, which is that it was indicative but not the most valid (if it is not the most valid, I would argue that it is indicative of nothing).

It all comes back to the idea that labels are for soup cans, not people. Sexuality is so complex! To reduce it to a machine and some highly questionable psychological evaluations leaves me quite astonished that such things are done at all!

If you found value in the test and if it makes you more comfortable with yourself, then the mission was accomplished. Just be sure that when you tell others about this test that it is also very much in question if it would work for others as it has worked for you.

I wish you all the best on your own adventure of self-discovery!

 

Where do you even go for such testing??????

And if this is accurate, I guess I really am a gay male because I get totally turned on watching Gay Porn of guys sucking each other off.