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I have always found the double standard of male/male homosexuality vs female/female homosexuality strange. Two beautiful women lip locked in passion is "erotic" to straight men. Two handsome men lip locked in passion is "disgusting" to straight men. Does anyone else find this strange?
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by downtownnola
We live in a macho society. Just look at advertising trends (think, beer commercials). As much as we have progressed, we still don't live in a society that is completely comfortable with homosexuality (especially male homosexuality). I believe that many people associate being gay with somehow being lesser.
As a gay man, it has been my experience that the majority of straight guys are pretty open minded and accepting (granted, I live in a liberal area but when I lived in more conservative areas, this wasn't as much the case). I have found that most straight men that are comfortable with themselves and their sexuality don't feel as much of a need to act macho or to "prove" that they're not gay. The ones that try to act all macho are typically way over-compensating and you have to wonder what they're hiding.
On a side note, in my experience, very attractive men are hardly ever homophobic, while less attractive men are more likely to be homophobic (I know I'm generalizing here). Perhaps, homophobia and insecurity go hand in hand?
Interesting, because I'd expect the attractive men to have been actually hit on a lot more by gay men. I'm not that great looking but I've been hit on by gay men or men before.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,544 posts, read 56,112,318 times
Reputation: 11862
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcainlas
I have always found the double standard of male/male homosexuality vs female/female homosexuality strange. Two beautiful women lip locked in passion is "erotic" to straight men. Two handsome men lip locked in passion is "disgusting" to straight men. Does anyone else find this strange?
Yep, it's our male-dominated worldview. Women are seeing it that way too as they see the world through the 'male gaze'.
Two beautiful women lip locked in passion is "erotic" to straight men. Two handsome men lip locked in passion is "disgusting" to straight men. Does anyone else find this strange?
Ummm, all of us dont find this to be erotic. Its more of a headshaker. Especially if one of the women is hot.
Actually, none of its looks right. To the OP, its not as widely accepted as you think. If Im not mistaken there is still only a handful of states that allow gay marriage. SOme people like myself wont be outright rude to gays but in private conversations are definately not comofortable with it
"Society" isn't everyone. Gay men still get beaten, dragged by pickup trucks, and generally abused and harassed by a lot of men who are threatened by someone else's sexuality. And sadly, it's often the closeted gay men in denial who are the worst (see: several GOP politicians and their anti-gay politics). If I were gay, I would probably be careful about revealing it unless I lived in an area where I knew my sexual orientation wouldn't be an issue.
We live in a macho society. Just look at advertising trends (think, beer commercials). As much as we have progressed, we still don't live in a society that is completely comfortable with homosexuality (especially male homosexuality). I believe that many people associate being gay with somehow being lesser.
As a gay man, it has been my experience that the majority of straight guys are pretty open minded and accepting (granted, I live in a liberal area but when I lived in more conservative areas, this wasn't as much the case). I have found that most straight men that are comfortable with themselves and their sexuality don't feel as much of a need to act macho or to "prove" that they're not gay. The ones that try to act all macho are typically way over-compensating and you have to wonder what they're hiding.
On a side note, in my experience, very attractive men are hardly ever homophobic, while less attractive men are more likely to be homophobic (I know I'm generalizing here). Perhaps, homophobia and insecurity go hand in hand?
I tend to agree with your statement about homophobia and insecurity. The men I know who are very secure in their social interactions and their own identity tend to be less homophobic. I tend to date "hypermasculine" men who are very secure in their masculinity, and none of them has ever expressed a shred of homophobia or had a problem with gay men. Most of them have had close friends who were gay. (And they have been openly appreciative of lesbians, which is a whole other thread.)
"Society" isn't everyone. Gay men still get beaten, dragged by pickup trucks, and generally abused and harassed by a lot of men who are threatened by someone else's sexuality. And sadly, it's often the closeted gay men in denial who are the worst (see: several GOP politicians and their anti-gay politics). If I were gay, I would probably be careful about revealing it unless I lived in an area where I knew my sexual orientation wouldn't be an issue.
I have often wondered what I would have done had I been born in a area that was homophobic. Would I move and leave my family or stay and deal with the homophobia. Fortunately where I live its small, the Pueblo MSA is only 160,000 people, but kind of cosmopolitan and being gay is not a issue at all.
Because I don't know what "society" you are referring to but homosexuality is still not widely accepted everywhere. Or have you not read the news lately? Sure, there are a lot of people for it but still a lot of people against.
There are still large groups in certain areas where this is not accepted at all.
Hell, just visit the Politics & Other Controversies forum and you'd see why its still tough being gay.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Examiner
Gallup released a new poll Monday morning which showed that the majority of the American people support marriage equality for the third year in a row. At 53 percent, a record high in the United States, the American people show that they are "evolving" on the issue of gay marriage as the country becomes more progressive when it comes to social issues. In 1996, only 27 percent of Americans were in favor of same-sex marriage and less than 20 years later, the number has nearly doubled.
Can't speak for where you live but a NATIONAL POLL disputes your opinion. The poll shows that the majority of Americans support marriage equality.
Now, there are always going to be the haters and the retrogrades among us, but the issue of gay equality is settled, except in the minds of those on the extreme. And they are dying off.
I think it's more than that. Everything is construed as gay. It seems straight society has this inordinate obsession with homosexuality.
No, not an inordinate obsession with homosexuality but with homosexuality constantly being thrown in one's face, say, for instance, here at City-Data. Go ahead and search and see how many threads, even if they were made to look like something else in the beginning, end up being about homosexuality. I think you will find that the whole masculine thing has a lot to do with just the normal male makeup since we are animals and I have heard that still, in the back of normal functioning males/females, they are choosing a healthy and productive mate. Also, homophobic, fear of homosexuals? I don't believe that men fear homosexuals, well, except where they might be raped by one, just as women might fear being raped. And, sorry, but those posting saying that homosexuality is not that accepted are correct. I know on the internet that there is a smokescreen but on the street, especially in traditional America, tolerance is the best you'll ever get there. A lot of women are attracted to a "softer" man and a lot of men to a more "tom-boyish" woman. Seriously, who would want to be thought of as homosexual if they were not. The homosexuals hitting on same sex are more "recruiting" than making a statement about the possible sexuality of the person they are hitting on. With the small percentage of homosexuals in the population, choices are limited.
I think it's more than that. Everything is construed as gay. It seems straight society has this inordinate obsession with homosexuality.
What are you talking about, "everything"?
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