the homosextualty

[scott]

is the homosexuality considered as an attitude ?

 

[roamer]

A preference....something like I prefer to be a gay ?

 

[roamer]

Well maybe you're right.

 

[jw4833]

I don't see homosexuality as a preference..I mean, in today's society with all the gay bashing and disrespect to gay people who would choose homosexuality as a preference?..in that case, then why are there soo many people still in the closet?..I believe homosexuality is a way of life that you are born with..I know for myself personally, its not something that I woke up one day and said "I think I will be GAY today"

 

[diklik]

is the homosexuality considered as an attitude ?

Homosexuality is a word derived from the early study of genetics by the Russian, Mendel. Homo is a prefix generally used to denote something of the same gender, homo means 'the same'. The opposite of course is heterosexuality - hetero meaning other or different.

Homosexuality cannot be an attitude, of itself. We can exhibit attitudes toward people who are homosexual or of any sexuality, but being gay (homosexual) is simply what we are (presumption of the readers being gay). The jury is still out as to whether homosexuality is nature or nurture. A person cannot prefer to be of any given sexuality, any more than he can prefer to choose his birthplace or his race or colour. A gay man might choose to practice sex with other men or not, but as nilstreet explained that is a choice of action, not preference.

 

[gb2000ie]

Homosexuality is a word derived from the early study of genetics by the Russian, Mendel. Homo is a prefix generally used to denote something of the same gender, homo means 'the same'. The opposite of course is heterosexuality - hetero meaning other or different.

Homosexuality cannot be an attitude, of itself. We can exhibit attitudes toward people who are homosexual or of any sexuality, but being gay (homosexual) is simply what we are (presumption of the readers being gay). The jury is still out as to whether homosexuality is nature or nurture. A person cannot prefer to be of any given sexuality, any more than he can prefer to choose his birthplace or his race or colour. A gay man might choose to practice sex with other men or not, but as nilstreet explained that is a choice of action, not preference.

Well said!

On the whole nature/nurture thing my money is on it being a little of both. Almost everything about us is a little of both.

One thing's for sure though - none of us got up one morning and made a concious decision to become gay. Many of us had to make a concious decision to accept the reality of our sexuality, but we didn't make that reality. I'm gay and I'm very hairy, and I have as much control over each of those things.

B.

 

[jw4833]

You don't seem to understand the meaning of the word "preference". You don't choose your preferences. You can choose your actions, not your preferences. You prefer them as they come to you. Are we born with them? Maybe. It is a possibility. But that's another story. I like to eat pears. Did I choose to like them? Not the least bit. I saw them and liked what I saw, smelled them and liked what I smelled, tasted them and liked how it tasted. If I had the possibility to choose what I prefer, whould I have chosen to like pears? If I had to choose to like pears, it wouldn't be a preference, it would be conditioning.

You know, at first, I wasn't going to even bother responding to your comment to my post because I feel just like I can express my opinion, so can you whether I understand or relate to what you are trying to say. However, the analogy that you used with the pear????.....what you fail to see with that analogy is that say for instance if the pear was on your kitchen table and you were trying to decide if you want to eat it or not.well you have choices to either eat it or walk away or choose something else. However with homosexuality, its not a preference, as far as I'm concerned or a matter of choice ..you can't walk away from it or choose not to be because with sexual orientation, I believe when you struggle with it..you are just fooling yourself to not accept what is deep within you. Therefore, and this is just my opinion..try to come up with a better explanation to what you are trying to ridicule my opinion with instead of a "pear"??????

 

[diklik]

On the whole nature/nurture thing my money is on it being a little of both. Almost everything about us is a little of both.

Could very well be. I've read some off-the-cuff drafts of psych papers (Doctoral theses) that propose an interesting meld of nature/nurture. The pre-supposition is that one's sexual orientation is formed in nature, and subconsciously a person naturally draws toward that orientation in subtle ways during formative youth, and his upbringing and lifestyle (nurture) simply follows suit - one reinforcing the other.

A bit Freudian in subconscious motivation, and certainly a bit Skinnerian in the hidden suggestion of operant conditioning. Not certain I buy into the theory, but it's an interesting one to contemplate, when one compares this theory to his own life and upbringing. Who knows?

 

[turkeyman]

Attitude?

I think it means defferent things to many people. Sure it can be preference, a way of life, just as gay can mean diffeerent things to many people. If we could get to a point in life were all of these words are used not to hurt peoples feeling but to be a basis for a safe, loving community where anyone can live as they choose, marry or not have kids and not be afraid that a term might be used against them and maybe we would have less deaths and more understanding in this world.

 

[diklik]

If we could get to a point in life were all of these words are used not to hurt peoples feeling but to be a basis for a safe, loving community .........................

Ay, there's the rub!

 

[AceShyGuy]

A little of both

It's nice to hear some open minded discussion of this topic. I never decided to like men and I'm still attracted to women, but I tend to think that my preference is something I unwittingly built up over time. I didn't date in high school so my sexuality was something that was expressed primarily through what porn I watched. I think a lack of practical experience is what led me to expand my horizons.

:cheers:

I try not to offend, but I've always been bothered by the "Born this way" argument and the defensiveness that almost always seems to accompany it.

 

[gb2000ie]

I try not to offend, but I've always been bothered by the "Born this way" argument and the defensiveness that almost always seems to accompany it.

Well - I can remember being attracted to boys when I was very young, like 5 or 6, and I promise you I was not watching porn back then! I can't prove I was born gay, but I can remember being gay for as long back as I can remember being!

Just like your experience tells you you were not born gay, mine tells me I almost certainly was.

As for the defensiveness - that's a reflex to the kind of hate-filled BS that normally follows the assertion that being gay is a choice. It's a hard reflex not to develop when you listen to things the far right say. I'm not saying it's a good thing, but it is understandable.

B.

 

[tuneart]

I don't think it's an attitude...

 

[topdog]

I'll go ahead and throw my ideas about "the homosexuality" into the discussion. I think that it's good that we use our personal experience to test whether someone's idea of homosexuality (or anything, really) actually works.

But if we define homosexuality soley by our own experience, we can miss the bigger picture. Homosexuality is part of something much bigger and really a universal part of the experience of being human: sexual orientation.

Sexual orientation is what pulls us to form a sexual and romantic bond with other people. It's a part of everyone's personality. The majority of people are drawn to physical intimacy and affection for the opposite sex (heterosexuality). Some are not and form these feelings for the same sex (homosexuality).

Sexual orientation is involuntary. Whether it is genetic or learned later doesn't affect the fact that these are responses that come from deep within ourselves - they are not choices. You can choose to have sex with someone, and you can choose to pursue someone romantically; you can choose to ignore your feelings and attractions completely. But even someone who has never had sex in their life, experiences their sexual orientation (if they are past puberty).

But there is another way that the term "homosexual" is used (and this often confuses discussions). That is the idea of sexual identity - which is how one identifies oneself. This is tied up in the ideas of who we think we are and what community we claim to be a part of. You can experience homosexual attractions, and even have homosexual experiences, but still identify yourself as part of the heterosexual mainstream. This is important to understand especially when looking at figures in the past. For example, Alexander the Great may have had a romantic and sexual relationship with another man. But would he identify himself as homosexual? No - he would not have understood the concept.

I noticed that my doctor navigated neatly around this identity issue when I went in for a checkup, and as part of the exam he asked me "Do you have sex with men? Do you have sex with women?" He could have asked "Are you straight or gay?", but he knew that asking that question would get bogged down in identity and possibly not give him the data to know which direction to go in discussing my sexual health.

The two key things here are:

• Everyone experiences sexual orientation, of which homosexuality is just a part.
• Orientation is involuntary, but sexual identity is a conclusion we draw about ourselves based on our experience and other social factors.

 

[Askani]

I'd rather just say it's a state of spirit... a PERMANENT state of spirit xD

 

[serlud]

for me is a way of being.

 

[sweetburry]

"is the homosexuality considered as an attitude ? "

> No, it's just a way of loving