on@hpda.UUCP (Owen Rowley) (08/13/85)
So..... here I am reading a really great article by "Jason" thats posted the same day I post my article which says I think his stuff lacks substance... So... I take it back.... Also I find that if I run readnews on net.motss all of a sudden I get a bunch of articles that I have never read from "notes". I notice that a lot of these articles are posted to multiple newsgroups ?? could it be that notes doesn't handle multiple group postings very well?? In any case I prefer notes to readnews but will obviously need to use both for the sake of completeness! I still think that I would like to see more dialogue and discussion here and that there are a lot more readers than writers .... For example in one of the Jason articles he mentions that he received mail from about thirty people! Also I have received several pieces of mail from "read onlys" so something I said caught their attention... Let me expand on what I am saying... Discussing things in a public place expands EVERYONES understanding. Non Gay readers can find a safe space to ask questions that are perplexing them about Gay life. Gay people need to deal with the issue of mis-information all the time and the scope of mis-informed attitudes prevelant out there is enormous. I might add that mis-information is as common amongst gays as non gays. As long as Gay people are seen as mysterious entitys whose behavior is outside of the experience of non-gays, then the non-gay population will continue to fear and persecute us as unknown quantities. But we are living Human beings, we must humanise our position in our culture We must bring our behavior out into the light of day and into the view of everyone. I suspect that this process will be painfull and more than a little provocative, but I am convinced that it is necesary if we are ever to progress beyond our current status. I believe that those who criticise the Sister boom booms and others like ter do us a diservice. They tell us that we will never achieve main stream recognition by flaunting our drag queens.. I say we will never recieve recognition thats worth anything until we show our true selves, and we better be able to accept our own selves as worthy of love and respect before we do that. Weneed to accept that we are the fringe of society and as such are by nature going to be creating new frontiers as fast as main stream culture accepts and adopts our old ones. I think that its no accident that there are so many Gay people at the forefront of the creative arts and sciences, and that our sexual preference reflects that creative impulse in our personal lives. Without pioneers pushing the bell curve of human experience into uncharted areas life would still be a static boring affair. The simple truth seems to be that some pioneers are predisposed to be pioneering with the area of human sexuality and some are not. Common sense when unfettered by moral dogma tells us that different is not bad its just different, cultural & social customs consist of arbitrary values . Sometimes these values are those of a select few who have gained a powerfull position of influence, these values then become the accepted standard by which others within the system are expected to conform. Democracy purports to elevate the values and wishes of the majority to the position of rule, though evidence of this actually happening is scant. In either case the pioneers are left out of the process, except in the rare occurance when an authority happens to be a fringe explorer instead of the usual mainstream type. Some cultures have made the connection that their pioneers are a vital force for necesary growth and change, and make a safe place within for them. Often the other aspects of life that are equally mysterious are all linked together as evidenced by the many shamanic traditions which incorporate homosexuality, cross dressing and other nonstandard practises in their system. American Indian tribes often reserved a place of great honor in their tribal stucture for the Berdache for example. well Thats enough for now, I know that my opinions expressed here are probably non standard even for this news-group and thats the way I like it. thanx for your attention. Owen Rowley hplabs!hpda!on ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ none of this reflects anything official from Hewlett Packard and I reserve the right to change my own mind as I choose. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~