I like "variation" now...
Submitted by Chris on November 01 1999 at 17:49:20
In reply to Paradigms Submitted by Mark on October 31 1999 at 21:55:56
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Hi Mark, Quite a compelling discussion my friend. Of all the examples you have given, I believe I like "variation" the best. It dosen't put a negative OR a posative slant on things and it accurately describes what's going on. I didn't believe this way for most of my life, however. When I was 12 or so, and just realising that my sexual feelings were quite different from what society considers "normal", I dug out the only adult book about sex my parents had. "What You Always Wanted To Know About Sex* ....*but were afraid to ask" was the name of this volume. I looked up homosexual, but it didn't apply because I liked boys, not men. Then I found out the "scientific" term for what I was...pedophile. But whenI looked that one up, my heart didn't just sink, it broke! The book said something to the affect that we are mentally ill and in extreme need of psychological treatment. This frightened the crap out of me and I spent the rest of my life (until now) in self-hatred and depression...almost leading to suicide a few times. It just never occured to challenge that view, simply because it was about THE only view I ever encountered about this. Mark, this is an eror of our society. In the sixties the hippies all thought they were having a true "sexual revolution". But was it really? I don't think so, as I see society just as sexually repressed (perhaps even more so) than ever. The only real difference today is that Gays and Lesbians are fairly accepted by society, although it still depends on where you live. A small town in the middle of the "Bible Belt" would probably be much less accepting than San Fransisco. This is about as far as our society has gone to date. "Demon posession" sounds more like the publicly acceptable description than just about any of them. When will society learn that sexual variation has almost no berring on whether a person is "good" or "bad". When will they finaly understand that a person CANNOT change his or her orrientation? When will we be able to "come out" to our families, friends, and church without fear of retribution? We can only hope and pray that it MIGHT be possable someday....when? Who knows? Love, Chris |