Homosexuality and the Rainbow

At the outset, let me confess I don’t understand the psychology of homosexuality quite well, although I’ve been friends with men who many thought didn’t represent the conventional ‘straight’ sexual orientation clan. Those who were subject to some level of explicit or implicit ridicule by their friends, never asserted their sexual preferences to me. It wasn’t deemed necessary; it’s pretty much a private zone.

I agree, it’s unusual for a guy to indulge in a discussion with his female friends about what colors and shades of lipsticks have come up in the market, or why a particular brand of high heels was cooler than the other. What is saddening is that these guys get picked on such interactions by their friends and they often become a reason for an unwanted laugh. There are girls who from an early age of their life have had a liking for all things considered guyish, like not growing their hair, not wearing ethnic women’s wear, preferring to ride a motorcycle to a scooty and so on. While some get away with a ‘tom boy’ tag, some others fall prey to the conventional prism of their friends’ analysis.

As an onlooker, this stereotyping and subtle bullying by the heavier side of the same coin has disturbed me for long. Our minds – and brains in some instances – are pre-conditioned with definitions and concepts that are conveniently acceptable by the majority. The world has historically been harsh on the minority, on the lesser-privileged bracket in all walks of our life. It’s perceived as ‘one way, majority way!’ We often undermine the importance of a more inclusive societal structure that accommodates the conventional as well as the rebellious, the usual as well as the off-beat, the predictable as well as the unpredictable, the old and the new. Only a compassionate society can foster a progressive growth for all.

While our film industries have highlighted some realistic issues faced by the homosexual community, they have also unfairly popularized a stereotype of them being sexual predators and perpetually hungry. You look at any popular film that casts a gay person, and he’d be seen drooling over other guys all the time! While most of these are comedy movies, they perhaps should exercise a bit of sensitivity not to show a particular type of orientation in poor light. As is true of a person of conventional sexual preferences, I’m sure it is equally true that a person who has a different taste of preferences isn’t always looking for a physical outlet to stream his or her sexual identity.

There are learned men and women who have denounced this identity, and have called it unnatural and a disease that needs to be cured. I don’t know if this claim of theirs is or isn’t disputable, for I’ve not studied this psychology well enough to know if it’s a born attribute or an acquired trait. I therefore believe more than the bullying, what appears to be a wiser thing to do is to learn about this orientation with a pinch of science, history, and economics. 

The rainbow looks its best when all the seven colors are equally visible!