sex on the brain.

[jukeboxhound_backup]

It seems that without actual work to do, I'm on LJ more than is really healthy.  Whoops.  Sorry if I'm taking up f-lists.

Article: "Gay Brains Structured Like Those of the Opposite Sex"

I'm a stickler for science, but I'm a little afraid of the ramifications of these findings.  If the biological similarities between straight female/gay male brains are indeed true, I'm scared that one day doctors and politicians will find a way to eradicate homosexuality in fetuses, like those 'designer babies' that people are always talking about as the future of disease control.  And the stigma that gets attached when it's thought that biology supports it...

Let's be honest.  People with little understanding of neuroscience are going to take this as Undeniable Fact and twist it beyond what's realistic - homophobes but also gay supporters both.

Oftentimes neurological differences are overemphasized, and I hope to god that this is the case here or that it gets disproven altogether.  Normally I don't even think about gender differences, but on the occasion that I can't help but rant about it I've had people ask, Well then, how would you fix it, wiseass?  And my answer is the dissolution of gender differences.  'Sex' is something we're born with, but 'gender' is ultimately defined by societal construction.  I think if we were to somehow stress the similarities rather than the differences, that alone would go a long way in resolving the issues of inequality.  But I'm not so idealistic as to believe that in American mainstream society, this would actually work.  It would require some measure of a cultural revolution, and we don't exactly have a great track record for that.

...As a sudden thought, perhaps one or two of you might be interested in the book The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory.  I don't remember the author's name, sorry, and I'm too lazy to get up and look.  But it discusses the idea of a prehistorical matriarchal society, the flaws in the theory, and how it can actually be damaging for modern feminism - which I have little patience for anyway.

(I don't really have a sexual preference and sometimes I even find it difficult to relate to popular conceptions of what it is to be female, but I'm damn well not going to sit here and allow myself to be labeled by something I can't control.  If you're going to hate me, do so because I'm an arrogant, self-righteous, and controlling bitch.)

Comments

[blondeshadow.livejournal.com]

To a point, I'm afraid of the same thing happening. Someone is going to start treating homosexuality as a disease and try to cure it and then everything is going to go to hell.

And I see little hope for the dissolution of gender differences, this is, as you said, America and most of us are pretty set in our ways of straight supremacy. I just hope that a few generations down the line, we'll have rammed enough morals into our kid's heads that being gay will be mainstream enough for it to be socially accepted.

[creators-sigh.livejournal.com]

I agree with you on all concepts.

And I'll admit, I hate the title of that article: 'Gay Brains Structured Like Those of the Opposite Sex'. Because obviously, gay people are like sheep to dogs - so much different, we need to fear and wonder, and while we're at it LABEL and segregate humanity even more based on values and give these poor people an identity so THEY AREN'T LOST and BY THEMSELVES.

Ugh. Fuck. It. All. No one is beside themselves, we are human - we are living creatures with every right to breath, live, and feel everything and anything. The last thing we need is people "fixing" what doesn't even need fixing in the first place - there's nothing to fix! It's natural! Sexuality is natural! 'Non-sexuality' is natural! Just like we need to eat, sleep, burp, fart, urinate and crap! Menstruating is also natural, so pardon me, I don't quite agree with all those injections to stop our Moon cycle completely - we females bleed and ovulate because its what our bodies do, and it does it on its own time.

Most people in power will attempt to dissect something just so that they can have a tangible enough concept that they can and will grasp, that can solve a few "mysteries" of the world that are better left alone, because really, what they're discussing is a human being, what makes us us. So, I suppose nowadays it's horrible to be who we are, to feel what we want?

What makes a man a man, what makes a woman a woman? Nothing, but preconceived perceptions of what a general society thinks as the norm.

I'm a female, yeah - but do I act like it? Not really. I found that I had a much harder time connecting with my female friends, because they would take everything so damn emotionally, that I thought to myself, 'Wow, these three are seriously overblowing this.' To them it was 'girl world' (wtf does that mean?) and I guess, it meant, "we backstab and manipulate, as females," and I was like what? I don't even know where they got that, at all. I can't think bad, unnecessary thoughts about those that have never done a thing to me. I can't back-talk a child who was antagonizing a friend, because she was a child, and compared to her we were adults so we should act like it - things like that, my friends just did not understand about me either, and it was fine.

I'm pretty tough, emotionally and mentally - I took a soccer ball, a baseball, elbows and hands to the face a lot growing up, and did I cry? No. Sure, my eyes watered from the pain, but I didn't blubber and shriek over it and cause a huge commotion.

(Continued)

[creators-sigh.livejournal.com]

On the same token - my brother, he has a girlfriend, and he's more sensitive than I am. I mean, yes, I'll cry my eyes out to sad movies, but generally? That boy will take everything to heart and be like a kicked puppy. It's role reversal in this house. My sister and I are physically weaker but mentally stronger than either of my two brothers.

Take for instance my uncle. He's dead and gone. But you know what? I didn't cry. I didn't really mourn his passing, because he was gone and in the grave. And what would crying do for it? I was glad that he passed on to the spirit world, at least there he wasn't in constant pain or his family had to watch him whither away from the strong person he was. I felt bad, don't get me wrong, for my relatives - how they felt and dealing with his death, but I wasn't much affected by it. Does it make me a cold-hearted bitch? No. It just means that I can handle a bit more things being thrown at me, head on, than if they were thrown at me from behind.

Although, I know I'm bisexual, I find that I'm not attracted to men or women that I meet in daily life. Sure, I'll look and think, 'She/he has nice eyes/voice/neck' but predominantly, will I feel sexually attracted? No. To be completely honest, I had believed for the better part of five years that I was asexual, because I just didn't feel anything, be it lust or fluttering attraction, for anyone. I just knew what I knew, and liked what I liked, but all in a very objective, non-judgemental point of view.

I feel more sexually active after reading a particularly erotic written piece of fiction, involving characters from anime, videogames or simply those from the Romance Section of my local bookstore - does it make me odd or strange? No. I know it doesn't - now anyway. Can't say I thought the same a couple years back. I'm sure I'll find whomever I find that I love and want later down the road, but it currently ain't the time for me, so I won't rush a goddamn thing, just because society or my family want me to, until I'm damn good and ready.

Sorry for the long little rant - I just hate it when people attempt to try to put places, people and things in little boxes when they really shouldn't. The Creator, Mother Earth, and the spirits made us who we are for a reason - how we feel and decide things is just another part of that - and people shouldn't try to explain away things that are as natural as breathing. If it isn't wrong to breath, than it shouldn't be wrong to feel and love who or what we will.

(P.S. I'll see if my bookstore has it, because it looks interesting.)

[electricsong.livejournal.com]

In the end, I don't understand why people get so flustered and up in arms over sexuality. We're all people, aren't we? Even if you disagree, it shouldn't make a difference in how you treat or regard others.

[creators-sigh.livejournal.com]

Yes, there we go! Treat others the way you would want to be treated! Exactly. My family's little rule to live by. Hence, why no one got offended or kicked my brother out for being homosexual. Only my mother and brother know about me, because I don't feel like people knowing my business, at least in my family, because then it'll be just like my big brother's situation.

They meant well, but I don't think having a whole variety of aunts and uncles scrappling for other people for my brother to date from the get-go was that necessary. It was really, really embarrassing for him, and its the reason I keep my trap shut. I'll find who I find, as stated before, when I'm darn good and ready.

(Btw: Your PotC Icon is totally win - I can just picture the scene. Of course, Johnny Depp makes anything pure pwnage, regardless, bwhahah! XD)

[aikonamika.livejournal.com]

My biggest problem with that concept in general is that, as far as I know, the study that said "Males and females have identifiably different brain shapes!" was proven, not only wrong, but a fraud. Again, I'm not up to date on the leading edge of science, but if male and female brains are not actually different than one another, then yes! Yes, gay men have brains that look like straight women! Because straight men have brains that look the same, and so do gay women! Because they're brains!

I hate the fact that people are looking at homosexuality like it's an actual disease that could maybe be corrected before birth. There's so many medical projects that could use all of the money spent on those useless studies. If you want to correct so-called "birth defects," then maybe you should spent money on correcting actual birth defects, like craniosynestosis, or an number of diseases and problems. Don't delude yourself into idiocy.

[(Anonymous)]

You cant really say :
Brain strukture A – homosexual males and staight females
Brain strukture B – homosexual females and staight males
Because Human sexuality has a lot of different Forms, e.g. this article doesnt explain bisexual, asexuel or transsexual people.

Furthermore today there are a lot of sexual devations, like S&M, diverse fetishism etc. Some people get only turned on by them regardless of other attributes their patner has. Some Pedophile dont care for the sex of the child, als long as it has the desired age.

This idea isnt new Allan and Barbara Pease wrote about it in one of their books 1998 Why men dont listen and woman cant read maps. But i am not sure how much research and facts they had to back it up, because it was a popular science book.

Goes back to lurking in the shadows.

[jukeboxhound.livejournal.com]

That book sounds an awful lot like Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, which I couldn't read more than a chapter of because the author is a misogynistic asshole.

You reminded me of something I read a while ago that claimed the same medication used for schizophrenics can also 'cure' exhibitionism. Why? I have no clue, and without the original source of that tidbit, I couldn't tell you how reliable it is or not.

[mapleflavored.livejournal.com]

Hi, I have been snooping around reading some of your fics, when I came across this. And I agree.
You might be interested in this find of mine:
An entry on my LJ (http://mapleflavored.livejournal.com/2697.html)
(hope the link works, I'm a bit new to this)

My parents are very anti-homosexuality in that the Bible says its wrong, while there only daughter (me) is pro-homosexuality and hopelessly addicted to yaoi. If only they knew...
Anyway, I am just waiting until someone makes the comment of "Homosexuality is unnatural". Because then I can tell them about all the naturally gay animals out there. I have heard of penguins, flamingos, and I think I heard mention of giraffes...

(unrelated: I love your wolfverse and kh/hp fics best. Even if I usually don't like the really sad stuff.)