Impact the Development of Sexual and Gender Identity
Introduction

It is hard for me to pinpoint the beginning of my sexual awareness. Throughout my rearing, questions about sex were never brought to my parents. However, my parents, family, media, social/educational, past relationships and religious upbringing had an impacted on the development of my sexual and gender identity.

Looking back over my life, I realize my initial ideas and influences about my sexual and gender identity developed through childhood experiences with my family. Traditionally women were the caretakers and men were the providers.
There were many things that were done around our house that seem to be gender specific. Besides my mother taking care of my …show more content…

My father didn’t have a religious background; therefore, during the 1970’s until the early 1980’s my family and I would occasionally attend the Catholic Church in our neighborhood. I don’t recall religion being a major part of my childhood. I remember my family and me at church one Sunday afternoon. I overheard two ladies saying” people talk about sex without having any respect for God.” When I heard the ladies say that, for a long time as a child, I thought sex was bad. Subsequent to hearing the ladies saying that, anytime I heard anyone say anything about sex, I thought God was going to kill them. Up until I was 7 or 8 years old, I believed anyone who talk about sex would die. I don’t remember my parents ever talking to my siblings and me about sex. I believe my siblings and I just knew sex was a not to be spoken of.
1983 was a high point in my life. I turned 18 years old; I graduated from high school and moved out of my mother’s house into my own apartment. In 1984, I became a parent and began starting my own family. Shortly after starting my own family, I stopped attending my parents’ church. My child and I joined Antioch Baptist Church.
Initially I noticed two things about Antioch Baptist Church; Women are not allowed in the pulpit and pre-marital sex was wrong according to the church. The pastor of the church was a man. The second thing I noticed was that women were not allowed to preach, but they could teach Sunday school and Wednesday