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Feb. 23rd, 2013 10:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormdogI'm up and off to school to do more homework! But first, more meme commentary. It says:
"Myth: Being gay is a phase. If being gay is a phase, maybe being straight is a phase too."
This is something I've thought about, as a bisexual person. Maybe being gay *can* be a phase, in the sense that a person's sexuality can shift through time. Perhaps there's a genetic component to whether someone has the capacity for sexual attraction to particular genders or not, and perhaps there is some choice to the matter as well. It's a structure vs. agency debate, and I don't know which one has primacy.
In fact, there's an argument that I like that the very existence of the reified categories 'gay' and 'straight' are exclusionary and have the effect of privileging false dichotomies of gender and sex. (I still need to write more about my current thoughts on gender when I have time.)
But in the end, it doesn't matter. Not one bit. Whether it's genetic predetermination or conscious choice, it shouldn't be anybody's business but your own. If we argue that being gay is ok because it's not a choice, we imply that for people for whom it *is* a choice it is not okay. If we state that being gay is not a 'phase', how does that affect people whose sexual preference is somewhat fluid and changing?
"Myth: Being gay is a phase. If being gay is a phase, maybe being straight is a phase too."
This is something I've thought about, as a bisexual person. Maybe being gay *can* be a phase, in the sense that a person's sexuality can shift through time. Perhaps there's a genetic component to whether someone has the capacity for sexual attraction to particular genders or not, and perhaps there is some choice to the matter as well. It's a structure vs. agency debate, and I don't know which one has primacy.
In fact, there's an argument that I like that the very existence of the reified categories 'gay' and 'straight' are exclusionary and have the effect of privileging false dichotomies of gender and sex. (I still need to write more about my current thoughts on gender when I have time.)
But in the end, it doesn't matter. Not one bit. Whether it's genetic predetermination or conscious choice, it shouldn't be anybody's business but your own. If we argue that being gay is ok because it's not a choice, we imply that for people for whom it *is* a choice it is not okay. If we state that being gay is not a 'phase', how does that affect people whose sexual preference is somewhat fluid and changing?
