Have been searching on LexisNexis for stuff relating to an essay proposal I'm doing on gay representations in the media. You know, I'm going to be mining that whole "Queer Eye; What does it mean?" malarkey, hopefully without coming off like a wanker of either the "Ooh, how trivial [sniff]" or "Ooh, humanity has arrived!" variety. It's a fine line. Could I just say, "Ooh, I just really like them"? Anyway, I have to examine the way gaydom as a 'cultural phenomennon' is constructed in the media. So I LexisNexised my afternoon away. And typing in the word "homosexuality" found me all manner of articles and opinions and Letters to the Editor [ESPECIALLY the latter] that are really quite sick and disturbing. Too much talk of "deviance", "sexual perversion" etc. And boy, are those Christian letter-writers a crazy bunch! Quote the Bible much? Anyway, one member of our great public wrote in to express her anti-PDA position, wondering;
"why others do not speak out against such public displays. Homosexuality is immoral and quite frankly disgusting. I for one do not want my child to grow up in a society that not only supports this kind of lifestyle but promotes it as well. Are we just going to sit back and let it happen?"

I get a very chilling feeling from the implied threat here. Social organisation against 'immoral' people 'exhibiting' their immorality, "have you no shame" type chills. Ew. It makes me quite concerned, actually. Mean people suck. And they have no cause.

And then there are 'consumer-sensitive' bollocks, that, despite being bollocks, still reveal a tendency to acquiesce to crazy wrong ideas. For example;
"An iconic Kiwi outdoor clothing brand has changed its name to cater to the sensitivities of the insecure Australian male.
Fairydown clothing has changed its name to 'Zone' because Aussie blokes do not like the homosexual connotations associated with 'Fairy'."

Although this is serious, I found it funny that Edmand Hilary defended the Fairydown label and thought that people who had a problem with it were silly [too right, Edmund], on the basis that he had slept in a Fairydown sleeping bag as he 'camped' his way up Everest. And then mounted it. Haahaahhaah! I'm a loser.

And then there are the government officials [numerous, including our own] who talk some horrible talk. John Howard cast the gay marriage question in doomy terms, considering that "You're talking here about the survival of the species." Ooooh. Riiiight. You, sir, are a cunt.

And PNG's Deputy Prime Minister said that the gay and feminist movements had a "demonic agenda" to create division and hatred between the sexes;
"Blinded by their feminist ideology and perverted lust for those who are members of their own sex, feminists and homosexuals think that they are fighting for their 'rights', whatever they may be, but in actual fact they are playing into the trap of the Master deceiver," Dr Marat said.

Hee hee, the 'Master deceiver'. Whatever whatever. In this search I also found out that there's all this pseudo-science going on, studies and so forth, about homosexuality. Which is strange, cos I just finished an essay on pseudo-science in racial theories, and how it was used to rationalise inequality, in like, the 19th century! Here's more crazy;
"A survey of students in Chongqing uncovered what government experts see as a high incidence of homosexuality, and some say pollution is to blame."

Quite.

Anyway, this is the one that got me most hysterically crazed/amused. It's the official statement of the Catholic Medical Association's findings on homosexuality. Ahem;

"Healthy psycho-sexual development leads naturally to attraction in persons of each sex for the other sex. Trauma, erroneous education, and sin can cause a deviation from this pattern. Persons should not be identified with their emotional or developmental conflicts as though this were the essence of their identity.

In the debate between essentialism and social constructionism, the believer in natural law would hold that human beings have an essential nature - either male or female - and that sinful inclinations (such as the desire to engage in homosexual acts) are constructed and can, therefore, be deconstructed.

It is, therefore, probably wise to avoid wherever possible using the words "homosexual" and "heterosexual" as nouns since such usage implies a fixed state and an equivalence between the natural state of man and woman as created by God and persons experiencing same sex attractions or behaviors.

Same-sex attraction as a symptom. Individuals experience same-sex attractions for different reasons. While there are similarities in the patterns of development, each individual has a unique, personal history. In the histories of persons who experience same-sex attraction, one frequently finds one or more of the following:
* alienation from the father in early childhood because the father was perceived as hostile or distant, violent or alcoholic,
* mother was overprotective (boys),
* mother was needy and demanding (boys),
* mother emotionally unavailable (girls),
* parents failed to encourage same-sex identification,
* lack of rough and tumble play (boys),
* failure to identify with same-sex peers,
* dislike of team sports (boys),
* lack of hand/eye coordination and resultant teasing by peers (boys),
* sexual abuse or rape,
* social phobia or extreme shyness,
* parental loss through death or divorce.
* separation from parent during critical developmental stages.

In some cases, same-sex attraction or activity occurs in a patient with other psychological diagnosis, such as:
* major depression
* suicidal ideation
* generalized anxiety disorder
* substance abuse
* conduct disorder in adolescents
* borderline personality disorder
* schizophrenia
* pathological narcissism

In a few cases, homosexual behavior appears later in life as a response to a trauma such as abortion or profound loneliness.

Same-sex attraction is preventable. If the emotional and developmental needs of each child are properly met by both family and peers, the development of same-sex attraction is very unlikely."

I don't quite know what to say. Is it "oh fuck off, you right crazy fuckers!" or is it more "ha-ha. You guys are right crazy fuckers"? Hmmm, I'm sorry to be earnest and stuff, but all this crap is just WRONG and it hurts people. I don't like it. And I don't see the point in trying to understand their position. Blah blah, I'm as bad as they are, whatever. But fuck them, they're wrong.