holymadness
Distinguished Member
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2008
- Messages
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Among other things, your mentioning of normalcy/abnormalcy in heterosexuality really advances the discussion, I think. It's something that admittedly I didn't even consider in my posts and is a critical component of seeing how the issues might work. So, though you may not be a ****, you are definitely seeing the issue.
Thanks. Lots of issues come to the fore when you tease at the strands like this. Admittedly, that makes it harder to come with an answer to the problem, whatever that might look like. Another thing worth considering is the effect of homosexual culture in its current form on heterosexual culture -- and again, I don't want to reify either. In many ways, characteristics and activities that are stereotypically associated with gays (shopping, decorating, general effeminacy) have really set the boundaries for what's permissible among straights. Many straights will also avoid gay areas, which is as much a limitation for them as it is for gays who feel uncomfortable leaving those areas. As per Foucault, power moves in both directions. I get **** from my friends all the time for dressing well, enjoying cooking, etc. Interestingly, the latter isn't even a gay thing so much as a female thing. Thus we have a situation where, in popular consciousness, homosexuality and femininity are equated (both being seen as inferior), and opposed to heterosexuality and masculinity. Hence the importance of gender as a category for addressing these issues. So I would agree with your earlier point, why, about the undermining effect of things like pride rallies and hedonism for general acceptance. But insofar as some gays are conducting themselves like women, the interesting questions to me are: why do some gays associate with femininity? What does this tell us about the relationships between men and women? Do we need to address female inequality first? Etc. etc. It's all very confusing and complicated.