• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Homosexuality and neuro-association

Which of these scenarios comes to mind [i]first[/i]?

  • Effeminate men/crossdressers

    Votes: 7 29.2%
  • Men holding hands

    Votes: 6 25.0%
  • Men kissing

    Votes: 3 12.5%
  • Men fondling each other

    Votes: 1 4.2%
  • Men performing oral sex

    Votes: 2 8.3%
  • Men performing anal sex

    Votes: 4 16.7%
  • Masculine women

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Women kissing

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Women fondling each other

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Women performing oral sex

    Votes: 1 4.2%

  • Total voters
    24

Radio Frequency X

World Leader Pretend
Quoth The Raven said:
I said my immediate association ISN'T my sister...she's about 40,000 other things before she's gay, as has been every other homosexual person I've ever known.

What was the first thing?
 

Ðanisty

Well-Known Member
MaddLlama said:
I picked that option, but I'm not uncomfortable seeing it at all, and I to me it isn't a negative image. I think it's just my gut reaction because I went to a theater school for "behind the scenes" theater things. A made friends with a lot of the costume designers, most of which happened to be gay, and either effeminate, or drag queens.
With women, for me, it's a little bit different. From what I have experienced, gay men are more often than not feminine in their dress and mannerisms, while I personally see more lesbians that look like "normal" women (as in, they don't dress or act like men).
I'm not uncomfortable with effeminate men/crossdressers either. I didn't mean to imply that anyone who voted that was uncomfortable...just that many people are uncomfortable with it. Personally, I'm not uncomfortable with anything on the poll.
 

Mercy Not Sacrifice

Well-Known Member
Ðanisty said:
There is nothing wrong with your answer not being on the poll. It wasn't designed to include an option for everyone. I just wanted to see the outcome for those who do have an immediate association for the things I listed. It's not that your opinion doesn't matter. It just doesn't address any of the questions I have.

The fact that there is only one vote for lesbians kind of confirms what I thought...that most people don't really think of lesbians first when confronted with the word homosexual. Most people tend to think of gay men. I noticed a lot of people voted for effeminate men/crossdressers. I have to thank Victor for suggesting that option for the poll. Honestly, I chose men kissing. I'm sure I associate homosexuality with men kissing because it's something I like to see.

Wow. I had honestly not even considered this. Sigh, heterosexual priviledge. :(

I'm curious how many people first associated the word homosexuality with something they are comfortable with (like the image of men kissing for me) and how many people associated homosexuality with a scenario they are uncomfortable with.

So far:
We've got 5 votes for effeminate/men crossdressers. I wonder how many of the people who voted for that are uncomfortable with that image? It's nice to see so many people voting holding hands and kissing. I'm willing to bet that most of the people who voted that way are probably pretty comfortable with homosexuals...just a guess.

We've got a total of 6 people who first thought of sexual acts...things you wouldn't see in public.

The effiminate-male, loving-anal-sex, cross-dressing stereotypes of homosexual men drives me nuts, because these are over-generalizations that are largely untrue. Such are the short-hair, men-hating, fetish-loving stereotypes of gay women as well.

We really have to be objective when learning about people that are different than us, for if we are not careful, "different" becomes "bad." It's one of the unfortunate aspects of human nature, yet this is no excuse for choosing to do something about it, for we have the ability of rising up and understanding the truth as well.

*gets off soapbox
 

Ðanisty

Well-Known Member
Mercy Not Sacrifice said:
The effiminate-male, loving-anal-sex, cross-dressing stereotypes of homosexual men drives me nuts, because these are over-generalizations that are largely untrue. Such are the short-hair, men-hating, fetish-loving stereotypes of gay women as well.
I think it's a stereotype that drives a lot of people nuts. It also seems to be the first thing that comes to mind for a lot of people. Now imagine that most people when confronted with the word homosexual think immediately of things that make them uncomfortable. I think that's a big problem. I think a lot of people when confronted with the word homosexual immediately think of things like anal sex and since they are put off by anal sex, they then automatically feel put off by homosexuality. It also makes it hard for them to think of homosexuals without thinking of sex. I figure that must be why so many people think that you can't talk about homosexuality without talking about sex. :shrug: That's my guess anyway.
 

Mercy Not Sacrifice

Well-Known Member
Ðanisty said:
I think it's a stereotype that drives a lot of people nuts. It also seems to be the first thing that comes to mind for a lot of people. Now imagine that most people when confronted with the word homosexual think immediately of things that make them uncomfortable. I think that's a big problem. I think a lot of people when confronted with the word homosexual immediately think of things like anal sex and since they are put off by anal sex, they then automatically feel put off by homosexuality. It also makes it hard for them to think of homosexuals without thinking of sex. I figure that must be why so many people think that you can't talk about homosexuality without talking about sex. :shrug: That's my guess anyway.

You're probably right. Some of the stereotypes, such as the ones you mentioned, are just plain ludicrous; others, such as that homosexuals cannot be safely trusted anywhere near children, are instances of pure ignorance and are simply inexcusable.
 

Bastet

Vile Stove-Toucher
Ðanisty said:
I think it's a stereotype that drives a lot of people nuts. It also seems to be the first thing that comes to mind for a lot of people. Now imagine that most people when confronted with the word homosexual think immediately of things that make them uncomfortable. I think that's a big problem. I think a lot of people when confronted with the word homosexual immediately think of things like anal sex and since they are put off by anal sex, they then automatically feel put off by homosexuality. It also makes it hard for them to think of homosexuals without thinking of sex. I figure that must be why so many people think that you can't talk about homosexuality without talking about sex. :shrug: That's my guess anyway.
So does that mean those of us who don't automatically think of something physical or a sex act when confronted with the word 'homosexual' aren't being dishonest as someone would like to suggest, but are in fact just more comfortable with homosexuality?

Funny, that.
 

Quoth The Raven

Half Arsed Muse
Bastet said:
So does that mean those of us who don't automatically think of something physical or a sex act when confronted with the word 'homosexual' aren't being dishonest as someone would like to suggest, but are in fact just more comfortable with homosexuality?

Funny, that.
I put it to you, that we're just more comfortable with trout.:yes:
 

Ðanisty

Well-Known Member
Bastet said:
So does that mean those of us who don't automatically think of something physical or a sex act when confronted with the word 'homosexual' aren't being dishonest as someone would like to suggest, but are in fact just more comfortable with homosexuality?

Funny, that.
Pretty much. That's my hypothesis anyway. Of course, I think the people who voted for holding hands and kissing are pretty comfortable with homosexuality as well as people who said they couldn't vote. I'm most concerned with people who picked a blatantly sexual choice. That's why the poll included those things, but not things like going to the grocery store.

I do tend to think that everyone thinks of something even if it's pointless. For example, I asked a friend last night what came to mind and she said "just the word homosexuality in a blue beveled font that was backlit." What she thought of really didn't mean anything, but she did think of something.
 

Mercy Not Sacrifice

Well-Known Member
Ðanisty said:
Pretty much. That's my hypothesis anyway. Of course, I think the people who voted for holding hands and kissing are pretty comfortable with homosexuality as well as people who said they couldn't vote. I'm most concerned with people who picked a blatantly sexual choice. That's why the poll included those things, but not things like going to the grocery store.

I do tend to think that everyone thinks of something even if it's pointless. For example, I asked a friend last night what came to mind and she said "just the word homosexuality in a blue beveled font that was backlit." What she thought of really didn't mean anything, but she did think of something.

Now I kinda wish you had an option that said "gay agenda," so that I could have picked it and made one of those "Breakfast at 7, work at 8, lunch at 12" etc. spoof lists.
 
Top