In academic terms, this taps into a long-standing debate between essentialists and social constructionists. Essentialists believe that sexuality is something that you fundamentally are, not something you can become. Essentialism is often tied in with the idea that people are born queer, that their sexuality cannot change, and that there is a true, authentic sexual self. In contrast, social constructionists believe that our sexuality is something that we create together with the world around us. They believe that how we perceive reality, and how we feel and behave sexually, are primarily
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