debenedi@yale-com.UUCP (Robert DeBenedictis) (10/14/83)
Recently (Oct 11 18:40:00 1983), Michael Turner (ucbvax!ucbesvax.turner)
asked:
Just what proportion of of people out
there (in netland) are gay or lesbian?
I think a more appropriate question would be:
What proportion of people on the net are out
enough to tell net.motss that they are gay?
Also, since there aren't any reliable statistics on the number of people
who read/participate in USENET, it will be difficult to determine what
proportion of NETters are gay.
Coming Out, Homoeroticism, & Statistics:
1) What's the best (you define best) way to come out?
Who should one come out to? close friends? hallmates? the milkman?
People who've come out: Why? and are you glad you did?
People who haven't come out: Why?
2) Are decvax!wivax!dyer and decvax!bbncca!sdyer the same person?
I know they both go by the name "Steve Dyer," but I just want to
make sure that they are indeed the same person.
3) Occasionally I hear song lyrics that I am SURE have a gay theme.
Examples:
"Coming out" by Diana Ross
"Ain't Even Done With the Night (?)" by John Cougar (his FIRST hit)
"Rough Boys" by Pete Townshend
"Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix
(ONLY inasmuch as "'Scuse Me While I Kiss The Sky" sounds
just like "'Scuse Me While I Kiss This Guy")
"The Right Profile" by The Clash (talks about Montgomery Cliff)
"Behind Blue Eyes" by The Who
etc. (PLEASE add to this list if you can!)
Granted, many of the conflicts gay people go through are just acute
versions of what people in general go through, e.g., self-disclosure.
Even more generally, I'd like to discuss homoeroticism (NOT homo-
sexuality, per se) in Popular Culture. For example, the relation-
ship between Kirk and Spock in STARTREK; particularly the episode
in which Spock MUST return to Vulcan. STARTREK is only one example,
others include BATMAN & ROBIN, SUPERMAN (a guy who occasionally
dresses up in a costume and is "not like mortal men"), MY FAVORITE
MARTIAN (Bill Bixby hides this guy in his house, none of the neighbors
must find out!), and THE INCREDIBLE HULK (an incredibly guilt-ridden
man who occasionally gets so frustrated that his gruesome, but gentle,
side emerges).
3) STATISTICS:
Since late August, gay related issues have been discussed on USENET.
Here are some statistics.
Newsgroup # of gay-related articles # of blocks generated
--------- ------------------------- ---------------------
news.group 60 139
singles 48 104
flame 15 39
news 15 23
religion 3 17
women 3 7
general 2 2
TOTAL: 146 articles 331 blocks
Over 75 different people submitted articles.
If you can think of any other interesting statistics that could
be generated, let me know. Myself, I'm gonna write a 7 - 10 page
paper called "Censorship and the Electronic Press" for my POPULAR
CULTURE AND MASS COMMUNICATIONS IN AMERICA (American Studies 212a)
course. If anyone knows of any books which discuss censorship as
it relates to the "Communications Revolution," tell me.
Well, that's it folks.
I welcome your comments (publicy and privately).
Robert DeBenedictis (decvax!yale-comix!debenedi)
P.O. Box 1889
Yale Station
New Haven, CT 06520
REMEMBER: You are what keeps this group alive -- Participate.