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Ciel
I fully agree with you and the dancing rodent! There is no doubt that in this case, as in so many others, we deal with a continuum, although social practices tend towards polarization. And while I am resolutely hetero, I have often enjoyed being with gay men. I had one good friend in particular (sadly we've lost contact after he moved to Europe) with whom I shared many intellectual and other interests. And when we were together, in a restaurant for example, we would often play at being a really 'swishy' couple - huge fun...
posted by
Nautikos
on October 3, 2008 at 5:00 AM
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Re: Gender Preferences
We are on the same page here. I particularly like what you say about the continuum. Most things fit that model, I think--the continuum rather than sides of a coin.
posted by
Ciel
on October 2, 2008 at 8:25 PM
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Gender Preferences
What I've seen of the world agrees with what you said. People are attracted to other people, or they're not. I have a gay brother. Back in college, studying art, he posed nude for a friend, a woman, and also painted her nude. (This was at BYU. He could have been expelled for this, had he been caught.) He even slept naked with her in a sleeping bag. He had no desire to have sex with her, he told me later. But he was arounsed by good looking men. He was crushed to discover this, and kept it hidden for years.
I have another brother who has, at different times, fallen in love with women and a man. Gender preference, as we call it, is a continuum, not an either/or. I believe it is mostly genetic, as you say, but it can be affected by hormone changes during development. Behaviors can be affected by all kinds of things, including trauma during childhood. That's what my friends (and relatives) who have struggled with these things have taught me.
posted by
mousehop
on October 2, 2008 at 3:40 PM
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