Queer Places:
Northwestern University, 633 Clark St, Evanston, IL 60208, Stati Uniti
Washington University in St. Louis, 1 Brookings Dr, St. Louis, MO 63130, Stati Uniti
University of Texas at Austin, 116 Inner Campus Drive, Austin, TX 78712, Stati Uniti
John Michael Bailey (born July 2, 1957) is an American psychologist and
professor at Northwestern University. He is best known among scientists for
his work on the etiology of sexual orientation, from which he concluded that
homosexuality is substantially inherited.[1][2][3]
He also wrote The Man Who Would Be Queen, which has elicited reactions
ranging from strong criticism to a nomination for an award, later retracted,[4]
from the Lambda Literary Foundation, an organization that promotes gay
literature. According to the Web of Science, Bailey's works have been cited
nearly 2200 times and he has an h-index of 25.[5]
Another line of Bailey's research has concerned the ways that homosexuals
are sex-atypical (or gender nonconforming) compared with heterosexuals, as
well as the ways that homosexuals are sex-typical and gender conforming. For
example, he published a meta-analysis showing that on average, homosexual men
and women recall being much more gender nonconforming children, compared with
heterosexual children.[13]
In contrast, he also showed that for many traits related to mating (such as
interest in casual sex, and emphasis on a partner's physical attractiveness),
homosexuals appear to be similar to heterosexuals of their own sex.[14]
Recently, he has researched the gaydar phenomenon.[15]
Bailey has been interested in the evolutionary paradox of the persistence
of homosexuality. "Male homosexuality is evolutionarily maladaptive," he told
The New York Times which also noted that Bailey intended "that the
phrase means only that genes favoring homosexuality cannot be favored by
evolution if fewer such genes reach the next generation."[16]
In an article coauthored with Aaron Greenberg, he suggested that allowing
parents to choose the sexual orientation of their children is morally
acceptable, provided the means used to accomplished that goal are themselves
morally acceptable.[17]
(For example, killing infants who will become homosexual would obviously be
wrong. The acceptability of aborting "gay fetuses" or "straight fetuses" would
depend on whether one believed that abortion, per se, is morally acceptable.)
Alice Dreger criticized Greenberg's and Bailey's argument[18]
and they responded.[19]
My published books:
BACK TO HOME PAGE
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Michael_Bailey