Topics

16

Open Board / DIY Automatic Patio Sliding Door

« on: July 15, 2013, 07:33:36 PM »

17

Open Board / You’re Not Straight. You’re Not Gay. You’re Not Bisexual Either.

« on: July 15, 2013, 02:29:24 AM »

http://thoughtcatalog.com/2010/flextuality-nobody-is-straight-sexuality-gay/

Ever wonder if you are straight, gay, bi, or something else? The Flexuality Test assesses your attitudes, feelings, experiences, and desires. Your answers will be automatically analyzed to generate a sexual profile, with reference to a dozen sexual types.

18

Open Board / SPAM SPAM SPAM

« on: July 14, 2013, 11:21:34 PM »

Subject: Illegal Seduction Technique? - this video is not safe for work

Hey brother,

Want to know the biggest secret women
are hiding about what turns them ON?

Eh, not really.

19

Open Board / The Truth About George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin

« on: July 12, 2013, 09:17:15 PM »

20

Der Eigene (Blog + Video) / 0039: Not Straight, Not Gay (Or the Ambiguity of Male Affection)

« on: July 03, 2013, 11:01:34 PM »

Male Affection - A Photographic History Tour: http://www.artofmanliness.com/2012/07/29/bosom-buddies-a-photo-history-of-male-affection/

As you make your way through the photos below, many of you will undoubtedly feel a keen sense of surprise — some of you may even recoil a bit as you think, “Holy smokes! That’s so gay!”

The poses, facial expressions, and body language of the men below will strike the modern viewer as very gay indeed. But it is crucial to understand that you cannot view these photographs through the prism of our modern culture and current conception of homosexuality. The term “homosexuality” was in fact not coined until 1869, and before that time, the strict dichotomy between “gay” and “straight” did not yet exist. Attraction to, and sexual activity with other men was thought of as something you did, not something you were. It was a behavior — accepted by some cultures and considered sinful by others.

But at the turn of the 20th century, the idea of homosexuality shifted from a practice to a lifestyle and an identity. You did not have temptations towards a certain sin, you were a homosexual person. Thinking of men as either “homosexual” or “heterosexual” became common. And this new category of identity was at the same time pathologized — decried by psychiatrists as a mental illness, by ministers as a perversion, and by politicians as something to be legislated against. As this new conception of homosexuality as a stigmatized and onerous identifier took root in American culture, men began to be much more careful to not send messages to other men, and to women, that they were gay. And this is the reason why, it is theorized, men have become less comfortable with showing affection towards each other over the last century. At the same time, it also may explain why in countries with a more conservative, religious culture, such as in Africa or the Middle East, where men do engage in homosexual acts, but still consider homosexuality the “crime that cannot be spoken,” it remains common for men to be affectionate with one another and comfortable with things like holding hands as they walk.

Whether the men below were gay in the way our current culture understands that idea, or in the way that they themselves understood it, is unknowable. What we do know is that the men would not have thought their poses and body language had anything at all to do with that question. What you see in the photographs was common, not rare; the photos are not about sexuality, but intimacy.

Foucalt's quote from footnote 199: http://grero.com/#_ftn199

We must not forget that that the psychological, psychiatric, medical category of homosexuality was constituted from the moment it was characterized – Westphal's famous article of 1870 on "contrary sexual sensations" can stand as its date of birth – less by a type of sexual relations than by a certain quality of sexual sensibility, a certain way of inverting the masculine and the feminine in oneself. Homosexuality appeared as one of the forms of sexuality when it was transposed from the practice of sodomy onto a kind of interior androgyny, a hermaphroditism of the soul. The sodomite had been a temporary aberration; the homosexual was now a species.

Global Psyche: A Hands-on Approach: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200711/global-psyche-hands-approach

Sudanese-American psychiatrist Louai Bilal experienced a moment of culture shock when he returned to Sudan after a seven-year absence. A male friend greeted him warmly and then linked pinky fingers with him as they walked down the street in Khartoum. "He was completely at ease with it, but I was frozen," Bilal remembers, explaining that he's internalized American taboos against same-sex affection for men.

Lingering handshakes, handholding, embraces, and sometimes kisses between heterosexual men are the norm in much of the Muslim world. In Senegal, men walk with arms draped around each other's shoulders. In Saudi Arabia, greetings between men are almost always extended with kisses on the cheek. In Afghanistan, men write love poems to friends, and Taliban fighters give one another flowers. In Egypt, a man will punctuate a conversation by putting his hand on a buddy's thigh—and then keep it there.

Bilal sees the roots of this behavior in gender segregation, a tradition in Islamic cultures. "As boys, we grow up together," says Bilal, who teaches clinical psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco. "We're separated from girls at a very young age, so it becomes natural for boys to seek affection from other boys."

Public displays of affection between men also have deep historical roots in Muslim culture. "Islam brought unity and fraternity to the Arab world," says Osman Ali, a psychiatrist at Bellevue Hospital, in New York City. Touch is a very public declaration of membership in the Umma, or the community of Muslim believers.

In much of the Middle East and Africa, homosexuality is taboo and rarely acknowledged, so straight men feel free to show affection in part because no one will assume they're gay. Michael Luongo, the author of Gay Travels in the Muslim World, still has trouble reading the overtures of men he meets in the Middle East. He was particularly perplexed when a young man in Afghanistan wanted to hold hands and chat for hours, and then invited him home to spend the night. "If this was the West, everything he said and did would mean that he wanted to sleep with me," Luongo says. "But he was just happy to meet an American."

Holding Hands: http://www.stuffindianslike.com/2008/04/170-holding-hands.html

In many places throughout Asia, holding hands amongst men is considered a common demonstration of hetero friendship. While crossing chaotic streets or sauntering down the sidewalk chewing paan, Indian men show no shame in interlocking fingers and pressing palms.

In America, though, hand holding between male friends is strictly prohibited by heteronormative social mores. Locking feet in a bhangra circle, however, is completely acceptable and straight. Lifting weights together in sleeveless tees and making eye contact in the full body mirror at the gym while executing synchronized bicep curls is also allowed. But hand holding between close friends? No, that'd be totally gay.

If you are an Indian male visiting family in India, do not be alarmed if upon first meeting you after several years of absence your cousin Anirrudah immediately grabs your hand and holds it next to his thigh for a long period of time. Also do not be alarmed if he is several years older than you, pushing 30, living with his parents and still single. This is the Indian custom of saying, "How have you been, brother? I'm not allowed to touch girls in my family's presence so this is as good as it gets."

Showing Some Love: http://www.postbourgie.com/2010/08/19/showing-some-love/

There’s no excuse for the homophobia that exists in many parts of both the developed and the developing world, but it really does seem like the US is unique in its inability to tolerate any of display of affection between men that goes beyond a handshake or a thump on the back. We even have words for it: “bro-hugs”, and the like, in order do distinguish it from what might be deemed unmanly displays.

Sex vs. emotions: http://www.glas.org/ahbab/Articles/arabia1.html

Many Arab men make a distinction between sex and emotional attachment. Bruce Dunne, author of an article titled Power and Sexuality in the Middle East, believes that sexual relations in the Middle East are about power. He writes: "Sexual relations in Middle Eastern societies have historically articulated social hierarchies, that is, dominant and subordinate social positions: adult men on top; women, boys and slaves below…Both dominant/subordinate and heterosexual/homosexual categorizations are structures of power."

Having pure, raw sex with another man and being the active partner doesn’t make a man gay. This notion of same-sex is also true in the West. It differs, however, with regard the application.

"Since the concept of same-sex relations does not exist in the Arab world, being ‘Gay’ is still considered to be a sexual behavior," says Outreach Director of the Gay and Lesbian Arab Society, Ramzi Zakharia, in an e-mail interview. But according to Western definition, "that limits it to 'homosexual' behavior, which does not mean that the person is Gay. Just because you sleep with a member of the same sex does not mean you are Gay... it just means that you are engaging in homosexual activity. Once a relationship develops beyond sex (i.e: love) this is when the term gay applies," adds akharia.

He believes that gays in the Arab world, unlike those in Western societies, "limit their activities to sex and rarely explore feelings beyond that," experience.

Eroticism Among Kabul’s Warriors: http://gaycitynews.com/gcn_318/eroticismamong.html

To the best of my knowledge, no gay Westerner had infiltrated gay Afghan life. I decided I would be the one to do this. But every Afghan American I knew was worried about the prospect of my traveling to their country on such a mission, especially the members of the Afghan-American Peace Corps, formed by members of the Afghan Diaspora living in New York who wanted to aid their homeland in the wake of 9/11. As I planned my trip in consultation with AAPC members, they backed out of their mission to bring cows they would purchase in Pakistan to widows in rural Afghan regions for safety reasons. In the end somewhat reluctantly I traveled alone, relying on contacts given me by friends.

My fears, and those of my Afghan American friends, proved unfounded. By the fall of 2003, Kabul was relatively safe. I often wandered the streets alone, even after nightfall. Most Kabulites were happy to meet foreigners, especially Americans. The city was rapidly rebuilding with new shops sprouting next to piles of rubble. There was even a tourist district along Chicken Street where souvenir and rug vendors sought the attention of soldiers, foreign workers, diplomats, and the odd backpacker.

To be sure, all of this vitality was mixed with children begging, legless mine victims on crutches, and women who remained true to the tradition of wearing burqas. But, Kabul was undoubtedly undergoing a revolution of investment and modernization, post-Taliban.

I also found that homosexuality easily came up in conversation, even with some government officials. An Afghan national who worked in a Western embassy but only wanted to be identified by his first name, Mohammed, gave me historical background on the topic. Certain Afghan tribes, he explained, especially the Uzbeks and Pashtuns, were known for male sexual behavior. The city with the greatest reputation for active homosexuality was Kandahar, the headquarters of the Taliban. According to Mohammed, male couples “were even holding wedding ceremonies after the Taliban arrived.” The Taliban tried to control it, he explained, but “it was so common in Kandahar, they were able to embrace it.”

Apparently, traditions of homoerotic behavior have come down from ancient times in Afghanistan. These customs carry on to this day, according to Mohammed, at rural weddings where dancer-boys entertain male crowds, wearing anklets that make music as they move. Sometimes, he explained, they “dress him like a woman.” Many of the boys are available for sex.

“It has two parts––the dancing part and the sexual part,” Mohammed said. “The sexual part, no one will confess.”

These relationships seem to be widely known, even acknowledged implicitly, but they are far less often discussed openly and they are illegal.

“The sexual part, it’s a problem,” Mohammed said. “The man and the boy can go to jail.”

I wanted to go to Kandahar because its homosexual reputation seemed most pronounced, and Mohammed’s stories about the city involved relationships between grown men, rather than a man with a youth, as seemed more common elsewhere.

Kandahar’s reputation for homosexuality also came up in discussions with some young men I photographed in Kabul’s Babur Gardens pool. The comfort Afghan men have with their bodies surprised me. Some willingly posed semi-nude in front of a foreigner’s camera. The fall of the Taliban appears to have unleashed a cult of working out. Some of these men proudly asked me to photograph them at their pools, saunas, and gyms. Several of the gyms sported pictures of Arnold Schwarzenegger, still more famous there for his muscles than his politics. At the pool, when I questioned the swimmers through my translator about the Taliban’s notions about body image, several made a joke of the question, claiming that the old regime was made up of gay men––Kandahar “playboys” as they called them––who loved to see naked men.

Yet, even as Afghan men joked about the Taliban being gay, they did not seem terribly put off by the subject of homosexuality. In front of a mosque, I came across a group of construction workers on break, one in traditional clothing, which made for an ideal picture. His friends joined in as I photographed and one very handsome worker essentially took over the shoot. In any Western country, he’d have been a model.

Perhaps 20 men in all gathered and quickly realized I was gay, based on my interest in the handsomest man. It proved to be no problem at all; some of the older men pushed us together, asking, “You like homosex?” They were so open, I was the one who was shocked.

As I spoke to Mohammed about my hopes to visit Kandahar, he warned me that a foreigner faced the risk of assault for prying into local life there. Add to that the choice between the $900 cost of the 30-minute flight from Kabul––more than my freelance budget allowed––or a bus ride along a road where workers were killed just before my visit, and I reluctantly decided to forgo the trip.

My most interesting peek into gay life happened much the way that it would in the West. On the street, a handsome young man held my stare, throwing glances back as he passed. He was a 21-year-old English teacher who I will call Munir, to protect his privacy.

Half an hour flew by as we conversed, with men in uniform and women in burqas parading by. Munir wore a neat, though dusty black suit. In spite of its post-war ruin, Kabul is a cosmopolitan city and Munir tried hard to maintain decorum, even a sense of style.

Sex had really not been on my mind when I embarked for Afghanistan, but I was attracted to Munir. His response to my interest struck me as very sophisticated.

“I knew what you wanted when you told me I was attractive. I am from Kabul, I know these things,” he said, before adding that at 35 I was too old for him, Afghanistan being a society where few men live through their 40s. He suggested that I meet his 26-year-old friend, who I’ll call Syed, who already had a 35-year-old boyfriend.

“This is Kabul,” Munir said in an urbane manner. “Anything can be arranged.”

I returned to my hotel, the Mustafa, full of journalists and odd characters, to prepare for a visit to Munir’s home. The owner Wais, an Afghan American from New Jersey now back in his homeland, knew I was investigating Kabul’s gay side, but I was not out to his staff. I told them simply that I was doing interviews. Abadullah, the protective assistant manager, always insisted on knowing my whereabouts and expressed fears I would run across Al-Qaeda insurgents. When it was time for me to head to Munir’s, Abadullah told me my trip was not a good idea, but then gave instructions to a cabdriver.

Abdullah’s warnings rang louder in my head the further the driver went. Munir said he was only five minutes from my hotel, but the ride seemed to last forever. We were slipping from the Kabul I recognized into places where electricity no longer worked. The crowded streets of Kabul gave way to suburbia, then patches of nothing interspersed with little low-rise communities. I called Munir on my rented mobile, but he sounded drunk, and I could hear people laughing in the background. He’d invited friends to meet me, which made me wary.

When we arrived, Munir was on the street with a few friends, including Syed, who was bearded and traditionally clothed. Munir led us up the street to what he called his “special room for men.” A red light shone from the house’s second floor window. Had I happened on a gay brothel?

There were eight men, most in their 20s and 30s, sprawled on cushions. Self consciously, I sat under a large window. Through a wall, I could hear women in the house, but I never saw them. I felt on display with so many men around me. Soon, more entered. If I were here to meet Syed, who were they?

The conversation was stilted, and perhaps they needed to be put at ease as much as I did. Munir at times translated as I asked about life under the Taliban. This broke the tension, and several men brought out photo albums.

The men who had gathered together were a masculine bunch. Munir’s brother, who I’ll call Abdul, was a military martial arts teacher, Syed an auto mechanic, and several were bodybuilders. Virtually all of them had fought against the Taliban. They proudly showed me photos from the army, including one showing Abdul parachuting out of a helicopter. Each man waited expectantly as they showed me pictures, searching intensely for my reaction. It was as if each wanted to prove his bravery, and with each photo, I felt as if I were being wooed. Courage against the Taliban seemed to be their erotic calling card.

They were also clearly interested in talking about sex. One young man asked about English slang words, and offered the tip that the Afghan word “milk” also means masturbation. He then talked about prostitutes, mentioning a Chinese restaurant that fronts for a brothel, clueing me in to the open secret that Kabul is rampant with prostitution, tailored to the needs of foreign workers.

This man was 20, married with children. I asked him how in a traditionally Islamic country he knew such things. He responded by challenging me to tell him about my wife or girlfriend.

Finally, the young man said, “When we meet a man who does not have a wife, and does not have a girlfriend, we call him a sissy. What is another word for that in English?” One of the men, I’ll call Ali, a brutally handsome man with wildly wavy hair, then put his arm around me and nudged closer. He played with the muscles on my arms, comparing them to his own, his other hand rubbing his crotch.

That was when the 20-year-old man simply blurted out, “Munir said you like to do homosexual things.”

I refused to answer. I felt vulnerable, even if the mood was jovial.

I asked once again how they could be open about such things in Afghanistan when it seemed so conservative, at least to outsiders. One young man chimed in, “Not under the Taliban, but Afghanistan is a democracy now, we can talk about anything we want.”

I couldn’t figure out where all this talking was leading, and worried that maybe my curiosity, a travel writer’s virtue, had finally gotten the best of me. We danced around topics until I understood that nobody meant me any harm. Several men insisted I sleep there, Munir’s brother being the most persistent, letting me know how happy he would be if I lay beside him.

“If you stay here, you are sure to have a ball,” he said.

Still, I decided I should go. Munir and Abdul drove me back into town. As we proceeded through the darkness, Abdul said his brother was an Al-Qaeda member. Afghans commonly say this as a joke, but alone with the two men, I worried until central Kabul came into view.

Two days later, confident that my doubts during my first visit were merely the jitters, I returned to Munir’s house to a smaller gathering––just him, his brother Abdul, Ali, Syed, and a fifth man. The men had planned a massage party, with Ali and Abdul vying for me. Munir continually dared me to kiss his brother, but each time Abdul pulled away at the last minute, laughing. To make me look Afghan, they put a wrap on my head and we all danced. They wanted us to dance with their guns, but in spite of what interesting photos that would have produced, I declined.

The neighborhood was full of parties that day, so we wandered music-filled streets, and I was welcomed by several families they introduced me to. As the night progressed, I was comfortable enough to stay over, and Ali and I slept in each other’s arms, after caressing each other for hours.

I don’t think I’ll forget those nights in Munir’s house, but it provided I think only a hint at what homosocial and homosexual behavior means in Afghanistan. Afghan men have lived through hardship, killed for their country to free it from the Taliban, and treat guns like fashion accessories, but strict Islamic rule means they’ve probably never seen a woman naked. Homosexual behavior might simply be a replacement for physical intimacy they can not get otherwise in their lives––a workaround.

Still, I seemed to have encountered a society that accepts affection between men as a wonderful thing. I am eager for my return to the country, and my chance to experience Kandahar too. I can only wonder for now what I’ll find.

21

Der Eigene (Blog + Video) / 0038: Honest and Voluntary Relationships

« on: July 03, 2013, 12:15:29 AM »

Hi! i must say i find you're work inspiring and and i admire you so much for it.

I wanted to share my dilemma with you hoping you could shed some light.

Being a gay man, i have encountered several problems not only with other people but in the personal. People around me are very religious and heterosexual, although they do not discriminate, i do feel this overwhelming tension on my sexuality, where it is always being put to the test by them and ultimately myself. Thing is, sometimes acting effeminate alleviates the toll on me because people cannot visualize an effeminate guy with a woman. I understand you're book in essence refutes the idea that it has to be man and woman, and it has been helpful in so many ways to me.
The purpose of this email is to first thank you because we need more people as yourself, which brings my second reason: i feel there is much scarcity of intelligent deep thought about being an homosexual, the subjective of it, perhaps the philosophical i you will. The problem is that when there is a predominating way of thinking, people tend to give in to it. I believe that when there is a philosophy behind ones actions and motives, people stand against all hardships no matter what. I understand much effort is devoted on the civil rights and the fight for same-sex unions, yet i think this fight is blind without no philosophy behind its arguments. More than pride, we need intelligent thought and intellectual advocates to make the way steeping into the subjective, so all those people who live in repression of their sexuality might feel identified and eager to join the cause, to revolutionize and change the paradigm we have been subjugated in.

I may have been not looking in the right places, so i ask you if there are people like this and yourself to point me in the right direction...

sorry if i was confusing in my message, i tried to be as concise and clear as i could be but English is not my first language.

• Number Rule of Fight Club is to never take advice from andkon
• Good, close relationships must be honest. You can't be close to someone you cannot be honest with.
• Relationships are voluntary. If a relationship is not honest to your satisfaction, you don't need to keep it.

22

Der Eigene (Blog + Video) / 0037: Why Do Bigots Deny Their Bigotry? (Or: Obama Visits Senegal)

« on: July 03, 2013, 12:09:20 AM »

Obama and President of Senegal offer very different visions of gay rights in African meeting: http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/06/27/obama-and-president-of-senegal-offer-very-different-visions-of-gay-rights-in-african-meeting/

DAKAR, Senegal — President Barack Obama on Thursday praised the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage as a “victory for American democracy” but clashed with his African host over gay rights in a sign of how far the movement has to go internationally.

Obama said recognition of gay unions in the United States should cross state lines and that equal rights should be recognized universally. It was his first chance to expand on his thoughts about the ruling, which was issued Wednesday as he flew to Senegal, one of many African countries that outlaw homosexuality.

Senegalese President Macky Sall rebuffed Obama’s call for Africans to give gays equal rights under the law.

“We are still not ready to decriminalize homosexuality,” Sall said, while insisting that the country is “very tolerant” and needs more time to digest the issue without pressure. “This does not mean we are homophobic.”

Sall sought to reassure Obama that gays are not persecuted in Senegal. But under Senegalese law, “an improper or unnatural act with a person of the same sex” can be punished by up to five years in prison.

23

Der Eigene (Blog + Video) / 0036: DOMA and the Cult of the Supreme Court

« on: June 29, 2013, 10:24:09 PM »

Bill Clinton and DOMA, same-sex marriage in Grero, Chapter 13: http://grero.com/#_Toc347564564

DOMA text: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOMA#Text

Section 1. Short title
    This Act may be cited as the "Defense of Marriage Act".

Section 2. Powers reserved to the states
    No State, territory, or possession of the United States, or Indian tribe, shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other State, territory, possession, or tribe, or a right or claim arising from such relationship.

Section 3. Definition of marriage (ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court)
    In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word 'marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.

DOMA ruling: http://www.popehat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Windsor.pdf

24

Der Eigene (Blog + Video) / 0035: Monkeys, Bananas, Ladders, and Culture

« on: June 29, 2013, 10:18:59 PM »

Was the experiment with five monkeys, a ladder, a banana and a water spray conducted? (includes illustration waved about in video)



Peace Among the Primates by Robert M. Sapolsky (a slightly longer version entitled A Natural History of Peace)

Two classic studies have shown that primates are somewhat independent from their “natures.” In the early 1970s, a highly respected primatologist named Hans Kummer was working in a region of Ethiopia containing two species of baboons with markedly different social systems. Savanna baboons live in large troops, with plenty of adult females and males. Hamadryas baboons, in contrast, have a more complex and quite different multilevel society. When confronted with a threatening male, the females of the two species react differently: A hamadryas baboon placates the male by approaching him, whereas a savanna baboon can only run away if she wants to avoid injury.

Kummer conducted a simple experiment, trapping an adult female savanna baboon and releasing her into a hamadryas troop and trapping an adult female hamadryas and releasing her into a savanna troop. The females who were dropped in among a different species initially carried out their species-typical behavior, a major faux pas in the new neighborhood. But gradually, they absorbed the new rules. How long did this learning take? About an hour. In other words, millennia of genetic differences separating the two species, a lifetime of experience with a crucial social rule for each female—and a miniscule amount of time to reverse course completely.

The second experiment was set up by Frans de Waal of Emory University and his student Denise Johanowicz in the early 1990s, working with two macaque monkey species. By any human standards, male rhesus macaques are unappealing animals. Their hierarchies are rigid, those at the top seize a disproportionate share of the spoils, they enforce this inequity with ferocious aggression, and they rarely reconcile after fights. In contrast, male stump tail macaques, which share almost all of their genes with their rhesus macaque cousins, display much less aggression, looser hierarchies, more egalitarianism, and more behaviors that promote group cohesion.

Working with captive primates, de Waal and Johanowicz created a mixed-sex social group of juvenile macaques, combining rhesus and stump tails together. Remarkably, instead of the rhesus macaques bullying the stump tails, over the course of a few months the rhesus males adopted the stump tails’ social style, eventually even matching the stump tails’ high rates of reconciliatory behavior. It so happens, moreover, that stump tails and rhesus macaques use different gestures when reconciling. The rhesus macaques in the study did not start using the stump tails’ reconciliatory gestures, but rather increased the incidence of their own species-typical gestures. In other words, they were not merely imitating the stump tails’ behavior; they were incorporating the concept of frequent reconciliation into their own social practices. Finally, when the newly warm-and-fuzzy rhesus macaques were returned to a larger, all-rhesus group, their new behavioral style persisted.

The Baboon Troop that Mellowed Out After the Alpha Males Died: more on the garbage eating baboons with the alpha males.

25

Der Eigene (Blog + Video) / 0034: Link Roundup

« on: June 25, 2013, 06:51:32 PM »

Adolf Brand and early 20th century Germany review in video 0027: http://grero.com/forum/index.php?topic=55.0

Shaping The Homosexual Image: the Effects Of The Eulenburg Affair On The Early German Homosexual Rights Movements by Jessica Bulter: http://academia.edu/903465/Shaping_the_Homosexual_Image_The_Effects_of_the_Eulenburg_Affair_on_the_Early_German_Homosexual_Rights_Movement (or see attachment doc below)

Third Sex or Self-Owners?: The political use of biological vs. cultural models of homosexuality by Rowan Savage: http://academia.edu/1332664/Third_Sex_or_Self-Owners_The_political_use_of_biological_vs._cultural_models_of_homosexuality (or see attachment doc below)

The invisible bisexual man by Tracy Clark-Flory: http://www.salon.com/2011/08/28/bisexuality_2/

Simon, a 26-year-old living in Brooklyn, N.Y., tells me, “Whenever, say, some prominent heterosexually married male public figure has a same-sex affair, literally everyone rolls their eyes at the ‘closeted homosexual,’” he says. “I’m not sure I remember ever hearing someone seriously entertain the possibility that the philanderer was bisexual.” Bisexuals are more visible than ever, but our cultural default, the shortcut we take to understand a person, is still: gay or straight?

Even without any genuine questions about their identity, many bisexual men end up choosing a different label, depending on the circumstances. “I am either gay or heterosexual dependent upon the company I keep,” says 49-year-old Ed. Some men identify as gay when they’re dating a man and straight when they’re dating a woman — it’s easier to go along with people’s assumptions than it is to detail the subtle nuances of one’s attractions.

... but several men in their 20s said that straight women were turned off by it. “I encounter lots of women who totally rule out relationships with men who’ve slept with men,” says Simon. “It seems like straight women attach an ‘ick’ factor to bisexual men that straight men don’t attach to bisexual women.”

Russian anti-gay bill passes, protesters detained: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57588738/russian-anti-gay-bill-passes-protesters-detained/

A bill that stigmatizes Russia's gay community and bans the distribution of information about homosexuality to children was overwhelmingly approved by the lower house of parliament Tuesday.

More than two dozen protesters were attacked by anti-gay activists and then detained by police, hours before the State Duma approved the Kremlin-backed legislation in a 436-0 vote.

The bill banning "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" still needs to be passed by the appointed upper house and signed into law by President Vladimir Putin, but neither step is in doubt.

Dustin Zito context, denying porno past (or see Grero the book): http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/04/27/the-real-worlds-dustin-zito-on-his-gay-porn-past.html

Dustin Zito full video referenced in above video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHQvJP_X-H4

26

Der Eigene (Blog + Video) / 0033: Born Eunuchs Review, Universal Bisexuality, Conflation of Homosexualities

« on: June 25, 2013, 03:00:39 PM »

"Born Eunuchs" Home Page and Library: http://www.well.com/user/aquarius/

Almost all people are bisexual by nature, although most people choose, or are conditioned, to limit themselves to the opposite sex. Thus, for almost all so-called "straight" people, their sexual identity is defined by their behavior, and is subject to influence or change. In fact, in the ancient world, most people were actively bisexual in their behavior at different times in their lives.

However, as a minority, gays differ by nature from the majority -- not in our attraction to the same sex, but only in our physical lack of response to the opposite sex. Being naturally impotent for procreative sex, innately gay men were referred to in the ancient world as "born eunuchs" or just "eunuchs." Meanwhile, women who innately lacked response to men were seen as a particular kind of "virgins."

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Der Eigene (Blog + Video) / 0031: Monogamy/Polygamy, Traditional Masculinity, New Sexual Orientation, etc

« on: June 25, 2013, 02:41:57 PM »

(Some video lag and sound issues but otherwise okay.)

Monogamy/Polygamy, Traditional Masculinity, New Sexual Orientation, Penis Drawings, Bromance:



Questions from a reader:

Firstly, what is your position on monogamy/polygamy? I assume you're pro polygamy, but I was particularly interested in what you think of 'traditional' monogamy.

I was also wondering what you think falls under the category of 'masculine'. I think if someone is willing to deconstruct sexuality to the point of removing societies goal posts (hetero/homo), surely something just as traditional (masculinity) would receive the same treatment? I don't really have an opinion on what masculine and feminine is or should be, but my instinct tells me it's largely a physical attribute, backed up by intellect, and sometimes 'being a gentleman' or what I call 'not being a colossal cunt'.

If society were to remove the two 'polar opposites' homo/hetero, what would you replace them with? It could just be my shocking memory, but you didn't seem to really put your foot down on this. You only described what you think it's not.

On a side note, that would explain why every high school in western civilization is plagued by drawings of penis' done by young boys. My high school science teacher always pointed out just how stupid it was, but never really put forward a theory, though that's no surprise.

On another side note, it explains the rise of the bromance bordering on the homosexual. In an episode of Scrubs, the bromance between JD and Turk when they 'low five' by bumping crotches in public. They also sing songs about their 'guy love'.

Once again, brilliant job!

Reading on innate gender:

The Essential Difference: Male And Female Brains And The Truth About Autism by Simon Baron-Cohen: http://www.amazon.com/The-Essential-Difference-Female-Brains/dp/046500556X

Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference by Cordelia Fine (rebuts the above book): http://www.amazon.com/Delusions-Gender-Society-Neurosexism-Difference/dp/0393340244

Baron-Cohen responds to Cordelia Fine: http://issuu.com/thepsychologist/docs/psy1110/15

Brain Gender by Melissa Hines (critical of innate gender): http://www.amazon.com/Brain-Gender-Melissa-Hines/dp/0195188365

Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow Into Troublesome Gaps by Lise Eliot (also critical of innate gender): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0618393110


My domestic abuse stat and an otherwise good video on the True Cycle of Violence:

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Der Eigene (Blog + Video) / 0032: Gay Effeminacy, Female Identification, Transgender-Lite, Conflation

« on: June 25, 2013, 02:39:53 PM »

Comment from Reddit:

Chapter 3 seems to suggest that, almost without exception, the mannerisms of gays are markedly feminine. And that most will self-identify, at least in some meaningful way, as a woman: 'ew no, that'd make me a lesbian'. Of course my experiences are only anecdotal in comparison, but I've rarely come across this. I know a great many gay guys who have no outwardly effeminate mannerisms, or at least not beyond a similar amount of mannerisms in straight men. I also don't know a single gay guy who identifies as more of a woman than a man, other than as a joke - they know they're gay men. As in they jokingly copy a feminine social cue - 'hey girlfriend', but if you asked them whether they'd be put in the male or female locker room, then they'd say male. Anything more than that I think is conflating transgendered with homosexuality.

This ties in with the comments in Chapter 3 of the sometimes hypocritical hatred of effeminacy by effeminate gays. But from what I understand and will continue to understand, the desire for same-sex relations may not be completely socially constructed, but effeminacy is. As an extreme example, a kid raised by wolves will not have a lisp and an effeminate walk (not that there's much wrong with those things), but they might still have same-sex tendencies.

EDIT: Further need to point out, the example of 'a Canadian show called "1 girl 5 gays"' is used. I don't know of this show, but would it be better to deduce from this that it is evidence of the media portrayal of gays, not necessarily gays themselves. In modern media, the feminine gay guy is often used as comedy relief - it's a niche that works, but it isn't necessarily reflective. I understand the book is discussing both gays themselves as well as their portrayal, but using modern media as an example of the substantive nature of homosexuals seems like it is a completely different discussion altogether. As a corollary example, I would use the pink/blue masculine/feminine example. It used to be that blue was the colour for girls, and pink (as a subset of red) was male. Society switched that, and it is now so prevalent in the public psyche that it would be difficult to switch back. But that doesn't mean that little girls have an inherent desire for pink, and little boys have an inherent desire for blue. They don't care, until society tells them they should. Same with how gays choose to act and are represented.

Anyway, interesting read, I will continue (had to make these comments while they were fresh in my mind.)

Context for "Ew, I'd feel like a lesbian." from Grero:

An effeminate ex-boyfriend of mine could flirt with women better than any other man I've seen. So I asked him why he didn't want to have sex with women. The response betrayed a feminine self-identity: "Ew, I'd feel like a lesbian." This explains the gay obsession with divas like Britney Spears, Cher, Madonna, and the like. Gay men identify with struggling women who overcome the odds because they often see themselves in a similar light. They often even use feminine pronouns amongst each other, and as much the same happened in the molly houses in the 1700's and during Ulrichs's time in 1864: "When Urnings get together, they mostly give themselves feminine nicknames; I suppose this is because they feel like women, even if only subconsciously: for example, 'Laura,' 'Georgina,' (instead of George), 'Mathilde,' 'Madonna,' 'Queen of the Night.' They also call each other 'sister,' for example, 'Sister dear.'"

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Der Eigene (Blog + Video) / 0030: Response (#2) to Reclaiming Natural Manhood

« on: June 25, 2013, 02:06:17 PM »

A response to the author's comments on my review of 0029: Review of Reclaiming Natural Manhood:

I liked your review, but there are a few things:

- Although, you often mentioned my site as saying that most men want to have sex with other men -- that is not exactly what it says. Although, I often use the term 'sexual interest,' I am really talking about a much larger concept than just sex (sex is often the preoccupation with the gays). I'm talking about a need for intimacy (physical, sexual, romantic, etc.), love, eompanionship, etc.with another man.

In fact, this is often one point of difference between the gay's attraction for men and the straight male's attraction for men (I can't say about the greros). While the gay male's attraction for men is often shallow, superficial and promiscuous in nature, the straight male tends to bond one to one, deep and lifelong -- if they could, that is, something like the Brokeback mountains depicted. The core of what constitutes straight in your society, consists of such males, a large percentage of whom would readily have monogamous lifelong relationship with another man. Most of the rest would, under natural circumstances, tend to bond in a committed relationship with one man, while be promiscuous with women.

Those who tend to be promiscuous with men, but into deeper, committed relationships with women are the one's who are exactly similar to the gays, except that the gays often don't like women at all. This population really doesn't belong in the straight (i.e. manhood space) however, they're the ones that rule and control the western manhood space, now called 'straight' by the third genders that like men (gays).

In fact, there are two main points of difference between the gays and straights (the sexual orientation difference is not real, only imposed). In other words, there are two kinds of people that relate to a 'gay' identity, or to the entire idea of a separate identity at all. The first and foremost class of gays is those who are different on account of gender orientation, i.e., they're feminine gendered. The second class of those who insist on a gay (or any other identity) are those who maybe masculine gendered, however, their sexuality for men is promiscuous in nature, like that of the gays, especially, and this is my suspicion, that they have a promiscuous need for receptive anal sex, which makes them feel different from the straight population. They're also more open about their sexual need and don't care for down low, like the straight males.

It seems that the Greros are then part of the masculine gendered males, who are into multiple partner sex with men, rather than into deeper, especially, monogamous bonding (that involves sex) with one male. As such, they should properly be classified on the 'straight' side of the straight: lgbt divide (which is essentially, the manhood: third gender divide).

- It seems that your interpretation of the chapter on "mammalian male sexuality" is deeply influenced by what may be called as the 'heteronormative' mindset of the west. In the west, it is now widely believed that males are essentially and primarily into females (the mindset in a typical non-western society may seem similar on the facade, but as you go deeper into the men's spaces, you can feel that a different mindset prevails).

The way you said, something like, "in the wild, the alpha male who is the most powerful keeps the entire female harem to himself, forcing the other males out, who then have no option but to band together and fulfill their sexual needs with one another." It seems like 'situational homosexuality.'

The reality is quite different -- both, if you study male mammals in the wild, or if you observe human 'straight' male behaviour in non-heterosexualised men's spaces. At least, how the west explains this is based on half-truths.

The fact is that nearly all of the intense fights that we see in wild life documentaries for control of female harems, is amongst less than 20% of mammalian males. The ones who don't fight aren't meek -- they just don't care about females. But, if you assume that all males have sexuality towards females as their basic drive, then you'll need to explain the rest of the 75% or more as weaker males.

I also have problem with the manner in which western science defines the male that rules the female harem as the 'Alpha male.' This smacks of equating sexual desire for females with masculinity or machoness and is not totally true. The male that controls the male group may be much more powerful than the so-called 'Alpha male' that controls the female group. It doesn't take much power to control the females. But western science don't want to even look at that. How many documentaries can you talk of that show you how the male groups live? If they were to show that, the hollowness of the assumption that the majority of males need females will be knwon.

The fact is also that (as is clear in the case of red foxes), the males who fight for females, are not really heterosexual. They're merely looking for one night stands, enough to transfer their genes. They forget about the female after that, while their main life is spent in male spaces and in male bonds. However, the heterosexual red male fox -- who is the gay type, doesn't want to fight for females, instead, he has 'relationship' with them, for which he doesn't compete with the males at all. When the males who have fought for females have deposited their genes, this heterosexual male then quietly bonds with one of the females, and then starts a family with her, fathering over her offsprings, eventhough he is not their real father.

regards.

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Open Board / Spill a lot? NeverWet's ready to coat your gear

« on: June 21, 2013, 02:26:29 AM »

Awesome: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57590077-1/spill-a-lot-neverwets-ready-to-coat-your-gear/