The Straight Goods on Homosexuality

SEX - Do homosexuals have a choice?

1.

Some people think homosexuality is a disease, a mental illness, that they're born with it, social conditioning or whatever. I personally favour social conditioning, but it doesn't really matter. The topic at hand is whether gay people have a choice about being gay or not.

Which is completely false. Its not a choice. What they do have a choice about is whether they come out of the closet or not.

2.

Some people also like to compare homophobia to racism or sexism, and likewise the idea of choice comes into play. People don't have a choice about whether they are born female or male. People don't have a choice whether they are born European, African, Arab, Indian, Asian or whatever. So why do people think we have a choice about whether we're born straight, gay or bisexual?

The answer is we don't have a choice. We are the way we are, so why should we treat people differently based on their race, sex or sexuality?

3.

Some people think homosexuality is like a fetish, like people with a foot fetish or a fetish for cross-dressing. They also seem to think gays are "automatically" into things that are more feminine in nature, such as crossdressing, talking in a falsetto voice, art, painting, music, etc. "Oh, you're gay, so must be artsy." Or the reverse: "Oh, you're an artist so you must be gay."

Stereotypes. Utterly false stereotypes.

4.

People assume that lesbians likewise have a choice and will hop into bed with the first guy who manages to "straighten them out" sexually. That somehow a penis is the cure to a lesbianism. There's also a belief that bisexual women are sluts and more common than lesbians. That lesbians are somehow on a sliding scale along with bisexuals. That lesbianism is just a fad and they just need a "real man".

Stereotypes. Utterly false stereotypes.

5.

Will the United States ever have a gay or lesbian president? Its possible. In the next 50 years we could see a huge change in how homosexuality is treated in America. Homosexual marriages are becoming legal across the world (ie. South Africa, Canada), gay rights are growing and its in theory just a matter of time before homosexuality is considered at least accepted by the wide majority.

At which point people won't just have a choice, they'll have a vote.

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NOTES:

1. As a straight man I couldn't give a hoot whether people are gay or not. Don't give a damn one way or another. If they want to come out of the closet, their choice. If they want to get married, their choice. If they want to adopt, their choice. If they want to get a divorce, their choice again. Whatever makes them happy.

2. Some people out there like to control what other people do sexually. Trying to prevent them from getting married by passing laws against gay marriages is just a matter of trying to control other people's love/sex lives. Could you imagine if we lived in a country where the Catholic Church monitored our sex/love lives?

3. When one country or region allows more freedom to homosexuals nearby regions try to follow suit. If they DO NOT what you see is an exodus of gays towards the place with more freedom. Take cities and countryside for example. Gay communities don't exist in the countryside, but instead congregate in cities. The cities that are more welcoming to gays (ie. San Francisco, New York, Toronto) see a stronger influx.

Breast Implants at Work

SEX/HEALTH - When it comes to breast implants we have to stop and ponder why women get them. Reasons women provide are things like:

1. To give their confidence a boost.

2. To look younger and perkier.

3. To have a larger, fuller, rounder breast (some women are "cursed" with lumpy, deformed or tuberous breasts which are considered by many to be unattractive).

4. To increase their chances of attracting a man.

5. To boost their career (frankly I think that's a false assumption unless you work in the porn industry or adult entertainment).

Indeed many of the reasons will likely go hand-in-hand with the same reasons people provide when getting liposuction or their stomach stapled.

The breast implant industry these days puts more emphasis on the words "breast augmentation", meaning they're not always doing implants but simply they're just augmenting them to look better. Depending on the type of breasts and its problems implants will likely be part of the "solution". Its also better Public Relations because breast implants have developed a bad reputation over the years.

Feminists have often been opposed to breast implants and the idea of women bowing down to a patriarchal sense of beauty. Here's a number of articles on that topic:

The Beauty Myth

Beauty and the Breast

The History of the Bra and Breasts

So thats the female perspective in a nutshell. Don't get breast implants because you're beautiful and you shouldn't need them because you're beautiful anyway.

But from a male perspective I have TWO schools of thought on this situation.

ONE: I agree with the feminists. I don't think women should get breast implants just to satisfy outrageous male standards of beauty. The back pains alone from will cause you to want to get them removed in your later years anyway.

TWO: There will be exceptions and they are as follows: People who have had breast cancer and want to look normal again; People who are seriously depressed about their looks and want to do something about it (no amount of exercise will change the shape of your breasts); Males who have had sex changes (I've noticed the males tend to go for the DD size and take breast implants to the extreme in an effort to over compensate).

Thus women who look normal, and have good looking/normal/fine breasts already shouldn't be rushing out just to make them BIGGER. That to me is morally wrong.

I also have to wonder if we place too much emphasis on breasts period. Some guys are more into ass or legs and don't give a damn about breast size or shape. There are those of us like Russ Meyer who are obsessed with breast size, but Russ Meyer is the exception rather than the norm.

"Its not the size of the breast that matters to men, its how a woman uses them."

Female Athletes, who takes them seriously?

ENTERTAINMENT - Is anyone taking female athletes seriously?

As a guy, I admit, we do tend to spend a great deal of time looking at a woman's assets. Pun intended.

So when female athletes get out oiled up and pose for Sports Illustrated/etc we men do tend to pay a lot of attention to whats on display.

But what about the athletes themselves? Don't they deserve to be taken seriously as athletes regardless of their sex?

"How good does a female athlete have to be before we just call her an athlete?" - Feminist Quote.

The following is a list of the 50 Hottest Female Athletes according to a magazine... you will notice almost all of them are white and that they're mostly golfers, tennis players or swimmers. In other words they're usually scantily clad (and thus we guys pay attention).

50. Daniela Hantuchová tennis

49. Jennie Finch softball

48. Flavia Delaroli swimmer

47. Sabrina Ferilli soccer

46. Christine Arron sprinter

45. Natalie Gulbis golfer

44. Lauren Jackson basketball

43. Mia St. John boxer/Tae Kwon Do

42. Kari Traa skier

41. Victoria Vanucci tennis

40. Danica Patrick Nascar

39. Tanith Belbin figure skater

38. Francesca Piccinini volleyball

37. Dara Torres swimmer

36. Amy Acuff high jump

35. Natalie Coughlin swimmer

34. Lokelani McMichael triathlon

33. Mary Sauer pole vaulter

32. Jamie Sale figure skater

31. Gretchen Bleiler snowboarder

30. Gabrielle Reece volleyball

29. Michelle Wie golfer

28. Victoria Adams Beckham, married to soccer star David Beckham which apparently got her onto this list.

27. Heather Mitts soccer

26. Misty May volleyball

25. Milene Domingues soccer

24. Laure Manaudou swimmer

23. Stacy Keibler wrestler/cheerleader

22. Ana Ivanovic tennis

21. Ashley Tappin swimming

20. Amy Taylor soccer

19. Kristi Leskinen skier

18. Anna Rawson golfer

17. Kristina Lum swimmer

16. Tatiana Grigorieva pole vault

15. Logan Tom volleyball

14. Elisabetta Canalis soccer

13. Ana Paula Mancino volleyball

12. Niki Gudex mountain biker

11. Malia Jones surfer

10. Romi Bean cheerleader (since when is that a sport?)

9. Amanda Beard swimmer

8. Maria Kirilenko tennis

7. Jenny Adams track and field

6. Daniela Cicarelli soccer

5. Maria Sharapova tennis

4. Haley Cope swimmer

3. Alisson Stokke pole vaulter

2. Bia e Branca swimming

1. Ana Kournikova tennis

The mere existence of this list is a testament to what men are interested in when it comes to women in sports: Sex.

And admittedly I have to agree sex does play a role in sports period. Look at football and all the cheerleaders. Look at all the sexual innuendos that revolve around baseball. Look at all the gay men into ultimate fighting.

And judging by the photos of the women on the list (almost all of them have posed for men's magazines, including Playboy and Sports Illustrated) there seems to be a culture amongst female athletes that in order to get attention media wise you have to show some skin and cater to the male crowd.

Where are the serious female athletes? The ones that take sports and athleticism seriously and aren't flashing their skin every chance someone waves some cash at them to do an ad for a sports bra or perfume.

Are male athletes showing off in women's magazines? No. So why is it "acceptable" for women?

Instead the focus is on the women who are the hottest, sexiest, etc. How about the highest paid female athletes? How about the strongest? Or the fastest? Or the gold medal winners?

I know there's a lot of people out there who think that if women weightlift or just plain exercise that they'll start looking masculine and ugly. That is bullshit nonsense. Women bodybuilders take steroids to look like that. Women's weightlifting is not going to make you look like a man.

Here's a prediction for the future: Female Mud Wrestling on public television. Its probably already here and I've missed it. Could sports get any more sexist?

Its no wonder most women don't watch sports or are interested in sports. Sports are so male dominated that even the female athletes are treated like sex objects.

Who's Nailin' Paylin?

SEX - "Who's Nailin' Paylin?" is a spoof on United States vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin... the trick is that its a spoof by Hustler, which means its going to be a lot of sexual puns, and of course sex scenes.

And its evident Hustler is concerned their spoof could spark lawsuits, and thus the deliberate misspelling of "Serra Paylin". Even the script misspells things as you can see below:





This script is actually a lot of fun to read aloud to a friend, using your best Sarah Palin accent. And even if you can't do a Palin accent, try a southern accent, its just as fun.

I am going to take this moment to openly question: Is anyone actually taking Sarah Palin seriously? I mean, asides from her religious "I believe in God, Adam and Eve, Earth was created 10,000 years ago and dinosaurs/evolution and anything scientific is a hoax" mentality (which no doubt is going to win her lots of votes from the religious right)... but for the rest of us who actually have some common sense, is there anyone who actually takes her seriously as a candidate?

Sarah Palin has been reduced to a joke. Pamela Anderson or Paris Hilton would make a better candidate.

Hillary Clinton, despite some of the mockery concerning her husband, at least had people's respect. She was intelligent and a seasoned veteran of the political scene... Obama had better live up to everyone's expectations.

Sarah Palin in contrast? She's twice as dumb as George W. Bush and just as likely to lead America into a deep recession.

High Heels and High Expectations

FASHION - Society expects women to wear makeup on a date. We men don't notice but women do it anyway.

But what about high heels? Do men want women to wear high heels? It is really an expectation on our part? Or do women wear high heels in an effort to look professional and get respect?

Does Hillary Clinton have to wear high heels all the time? I've never seen her feet without her ever-present-high-heels. So evidently she wants to make herself look taller and professional. The same can be said for men wearing ties. There's no rule saying businessmen have to wear ties, but many do in an effort to look professional. Its a societal expectation that politicians and business people try to look professional.

You will notice guys aren't hopping up and down to go shoe shopping. Very boring to us. We're not going out and buying high heels for women as gifts. Possibly because we have an inkling of how painful they must be to walk in, but also because we admittedly know crap-all about women's shoes, foot sizes and what will feel comfortable.

The price of high heels is also a deterrent. Men aren't about to spend $599 on a pair of high heels in an effort to get in bed with you. For that kind of money we could pay for an expensive hotel or even a short plane ride to Mexico with you.

For women high heels opens up some interesting feminist questions, like "Are High Heels a Detriment or a Benefit?"

But do men really notice if you're wearing high heels? I think it depends more on the dress. If you're showing a lot of leg, the high heels will help accentuate the leg and make it look longer. If you're wearing Levis we probably won't notice your feet because we will be checking out your ass instead.

To me wearing high heels is a choice. A choice women make in an effort to look taller, more professional... the same way men make a choice to wear a tie when they go to a job interview.

The tie isn't a necessity and neither is the high heels. Its a societal expectation.

A high expectation.

For myself, I could care less if women ever wore high heels again. They could all suddenly stop wearing them and I wouldn't care at all. Men are much more interested in lingerie, bras, corsets, etc. anyway.

For many men high heels are a bit of a joke. We don't understand how women even manage to walk in those things.

The Origins & Causes of Misogyny

The following link is an excellent look into how men think about women, failed relationships and how men develop misogynistic outlooks towards women in general.

The Origins & Causes of Misogyny

I don't expect everyone to agree with the writer, but I do agree with his assessment of what goes wrong in the early years of a man's mental development, facing rejection and eventually becoming bitter about women and relationships.

Science proves that bikinis turn men into idiots

Sexy images rob male brain of ability to make wise decisions 

 SEX - You may have known this all along, but now it has been demonstrated scientifically: bikinis make men stupid. This month’s issue of the Journal of Consumer Research features a paper titled “Bikinis Instigate Generalized Impatience in Intertemporal Choice,” which is a neuroeconomist’s (definition in a moment) way of saying that men don’t make good decisions while checking out pretty girls in bikinis (or when they visit topless beaches).  

Hence automakers’ penchant for placing leggy models in front of absurdly priced cars at auto shows, and the casting of three scantily clad women on that “Republica Deportiva” show on Univision which I find myself watching though I don’t care whether Chivas defeated Rayados del Monterey. The poet Virgil wrote of the phenomenon 2,000 years ago when he created the epic poem “The Aeneid.” When Venus convinces Vulcan to make some special armor, she

…threw her snow-white arms around him As he held back, caressing him here and there, And suddenly he caught fire — the same old story, The flame he knew by heart went running through him, Melting him to the marrow of his bones… She knew her beauty’s power.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See more Greek Art at: The European Ideal Beauty and Achilles to Zephyr: An Alphabetical Listing of Greek & Roman Art. 

But though we might recognize this intuitively, there is some very important insight about sex and relationships, not to mention economics, to be gained from this latest research. In the “bikini” experiments, Belgian researchers conducted a series of tests on 358 young men. In one test, the men looked at images of women in bikinis or lingerie and at images of landscapes. 

In another, some men were given T-shirts to handle and assess while others were given bras. Another batch of men was assigned to watch a commercial featuring men running over landscapes while other guys watched a video of “hundreds of young women, dressed in bikinis running across hills, fields and beaches.” (No word on whether they used “Baywatch” slo-mo).  

In each test, the researchers offered the men the choice between being paid 15 euros immediately or bargaining for a larger sum that they'd be willing to wait a week or a month for. 

In all the tests, the men exposed to the sexy imagery or bras cited delayed reward amounts that were lower than the amounts cited by the men who saw sex-neutral imagery. For example, while a man who looked at landscapes might have demanded an extra payment of 10 euros a month later (totaling 25), the bikini-gazer might have been willing to settle for five extra (totaling 20). 

The sexy imagery did not work on all men all the time, but, as a group, men with sex on their brains settled for a less lucrative bargain, suggesting they were more impulsive and valued immediate gratification more than the controls. 

 “I observed in my studies that men are more likely to pick a smaller immediate reward over a larger later reward,” Bram van den Bergh, the study’s lead author, tells me. “Hence I do think that men might spend money on something they might otherwise not purchase. Men would become more impulsive in any domain after exposure to sexual cues.”

Trying to Understand Women and Makeup

FASHION - You know how women fuss and fuss about their makeup?

And most of the time us guys don't even notice because we're too busy ogling their other assets?

Ask almost any guy and they'll say they prefer women "all natural", without the makeup because frankly we're more interested in the cut of dress, how much neck, cleavage and skin is showing.

And to further make this point here's a video on how to make your breasts look bigger by using... of all things... makeup:




And therein lies the true key to using makeup to get a guy's attention.

The trick after first attracting his attention however is to maintain it with stimulating conversation, things you're both interested in such as politics, entertainment, maybe religion or atheism, cars or even technology in general.

For us guys we will never fully understand a woman's obsession with makeup. I can guess it has something to do with the fact women have realized their bodies are superficial and that men are attracted to superficial things about the female body (namely ass, legs and breasts), but for some strange reason women spend an inordinate amount of time trying to enhance their facial appearance when in reality guys really don't notice if you're wearing mascara or not (unless you've obviously wearing too much of it).