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Society has gotten more and more accepting, of both gays and lesbians. But are lesbians more socially acceptable than gay males, or is it the other way around? Your thoughts and opinions on this issue, are welcome.
Society has gotten more and more accepting, of both gays and lesbians. But are lesbians more socially acceptable than gay males, or is it the other way around? Your thoughts and opinions on this issue, are welcome.
You should be specific; Are lesbians, or gay men more accepted in American society?
No. Neither are accepted in American society. They are barely tolerated - that means lesbians and gay men will not always get beaten up by patriotic Americans. That could be a charge of assault and battery.
To be clear, what I meant was, are lesbians more accepted by society than gay men are, or are gay men more accepted by society, than lesbians are. I think our country is more tolerant of gays and lesbians in general, than you seem to believe.
Society has gotten more and more accepting, of both gays and lesbians. But are lesbians more socially acceptable than gay males, or is it the other way around? Your thoughts and opinions on this issue, are welcome.
Lesbians, because for the most part, they still appear normal to the general public, they do not put on the mock persona, or caricature of the opposite sex, like so many gay men appear to do.
Lesbians, by far, are more accepted. in this male dominated world, girl-on-girl action is considered hot. "I Kissed a Girl" became a hit song; a song by a male pop star called "I Kissed a Boy" would draw outrage. I won't go into the fact that many girls who kiss other girls aren't even lesbians...
of course, I'm mostly talking about "lipstick lesbians" here. Butch lesbians are likely just as ostracized as effeminate gay males (but then again, tomboys are common and more excepted than the reverse, so a woman who likes cars, sports, and appears "manly" is likely to be more accepted than a man who likes feminine stuff)
Lesbians by far. There's a stereotype that gay men are feminine and lesbians are masculine which helps explain why. (The stereotype is somewhat reflected in reality, but nowhere near to the extent social conservatives would have you believe. Most gay men are overwhelmingly masculine, and most lesbians are overwhelmingly feminine)
We've come to the point in our culture where it's somewhat okay for women to be masculine (whether lesbian or not). Women can wear men's clothing, they can play on the football or wrestling team at school. Little girls are still encouraged to be feminine, but generally parents don't care if they do boy things (play in the mud, play war, camp, go fishing). Hell, outside of parenting her babies, by 2.5 year old niece's favorite toy is her plastic power tool set.
On the other hand, in our culture it is NOT generally okay for men to be feminine (whether gay or not). A man who wears a dress is scorned and ridiculed (unless he's Scottish and it's a kilt). Men who become homemakers while their wifes work are looked down upon. Every heard of a manny (male nanny) - and did you just laugh when your read "manny"? A boy who wants to take up knitting or ballet usually won't be allowed to. Hell, the parent might even take such a boy for counseling.
This double standard makes it much easier for our society to accept lesbians than gay men.
edit: see Wapasha's post (2 above this one) for a wonderful example of this double standard.
And also some other smaller reasons. I've actually argued with people who say lesbianism is okay but gay homosexuality is not because God said men should not lie with men but nowhere did he say women should not lie with women.
Also, a lot of people relate the concept of family, and in particular the raising of children, to their acceptance of homosexuality. A lot of people find it much easier to accept two women raising a kid than two men.
What about holding hands in public? Do you think they shouldn't?
I answered the question.
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