ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the current state of sex, sexuality, and gender in the United States. It addresses the psychology of human sexuality. Building on social constructionism's recognition that societal pressures and constructs influence how individuals present or perform gender, queer theory recognizes that gender and sexuality are two layers of identity that societies and institutions associate with power. Attitudes, mood, and behaviors are just a few of the psychological influences that contribute to how and why people engage in sex. Society and culture develop normative behaviors and binaries that impact how concepts such as sex and sexuality are experienced and perceived. In the United States, norms have long focused on heterosexual, monogamous relationships. Modernist perspectives on gender bring a distinct separation between biological sex and psychological gender. The chapter explains that the identity movement has become more inclusive, expanding from lesbian and gay identities to the lesbian,gay,bisexual, andtransgender (LGBT)QIA identities.
