# A love of flowers is gay? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 22, 2005, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012 "2005-05-22T23:54:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![sleeepy2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@sleeepy2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeepy2)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012/41 "2005-05-23T21:24:25Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > Men who like flowers are gay? > > Gee, that will be news to my husband, the father of our two children, who does all the gardening at our place. For whom I just got a huge floral arrangement for his birthday, and he was most appreciative. > > Some folks is just ignorant. I’m a pretty avid gardener and love when the flowers come in, but if I ever got a huge floral arrangement from anyone, I’d probably get a boatload of crap from my friends. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012/42 "2005-05-23T22:20:04Z")
> [@Jonathan Woodall](#): > > How about liking show tunes? I like show tunes… and flowers… Dammit! I must be gay. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012/43 "2005-05-23T22:42:26Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I like show tunes… and flowers… Dammit! I must be gay. Wait…do you like Jeff Gordon? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012/44 "2005-05-23T22:43:49Z")
Not really, but I don’t know who he is anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012/45 "2005-05-23T22:55:10Z")
I never saw what other males\* saw in flowers until I got interested in photography\*\*. [sub] \*For females I took it for granted that since they come from a different planet there is no point trying to rationalize their likes and dislikes \*\*Or to be more accurate - Until I got rich enough to spend hundreds of pounds on a digital camera. A desire to capture images has always existed in my brain.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012/46 "2005-05-23T22:56:23Z")
In other words, flower, meh. _Picture_ of flower, wow! ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012/47 "2005-05-24T13:09:02Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Well, no not like that. That’s horrible methodology, and relies on exactly the same “Well, I’m a [fill-in-the-blank] and I think about half my collegues are gay!” reporting as we’ll find here on the message board. It’s not even that half of the respondents self-identified as gay, they identified “other dancers” as gay. What does that tell us? Nothing other than the stereotype (whether it’s true or not) of male dancers being gay is also accepted among dancers. Not to mention that it was a survey of only 136 dancers - hardly a significant sample size. > > Hard data would be a statistically significant and representative sample of a profession or hobby self-identifying as gay when questioned in a bias-free manner. Right, we’ll dig up all those studies they’ve done of how many homosexuals are in each job. In the meantime, you just go right on pretending that professional dancers, flower arrangers, and airline stewards possess the same percentage of heterosexuals as the general population. The rest of us will see ya when you get back to Earth. It’s a nice example of just how nuts it is. It’s not even an insult. It’s not a slander, a slur, a libel or anything. It’s a statement that certain hobbies and jobs have an over-representation of gay men. It means nothing except that. That doesn’t mean the flower girl should be calling out sexual preferences at the cash register, but let’s not be daft here either. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012/48 "2005-05-24T13:31:28Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > It’s not even an insult. It’s not a slander, a slur, a libel or anything. Oh, bullshit. Are you seriously trying to tell me that people saying “Nice flowers Dude - what are you? GAY?!” are not trying to be insulting, even in a joking manner? Of course it’s intended as an insult. > [@](#): > > It’s a statement that certain hobbies and jobs have an over-representation of gay men. But it’s a meaningless observation based on perhaps unfounded stereotypes. What’s the point of being ignorant, even in jest? I’m not saying that there is no truth to them, what I’m saying is that I refuse to accept popular belief as its only cite. > [@](#): > > It means nothing except that. It means my kids and their classmates, my brother-in-law and his neanderthal friends, my co-workers and public entertainment still use the word “GAY” as an insult. It means that there may be many talented young men still avoiding going into teaching, nursing, dance, or flower arranging because they are afraid to be called gay. > [@](#): > > That doesn’t mean the flower girl should be calling out sexual preferences at the cash register… We agree here. ---
**Author:** ![Poonther](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Poonther](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poonther)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012/49 "2005-05-24T13:35:22Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Right, we’ll dig up all those studies they’ve done of how many homosexuals are in each job. > > In the meantime, you just go right on pretending that professional dancers, flower arrangers, and airline stewards possess the same percentage of heterosexuals as the general population. > > The rest of us will see ya when you get back to Earth. > > It’s a nice example of just how nuts it is. It’s not even an insult. It’s not a slander, a slur, a libel or anything. It’s a statement that certain hobbies and jobs have an over-representation of gay men. It means nothing except that. > > That doesn’t mean the flower girl should be calling out sexual preferences at the cash register, but let’s not be daft here either. Maybe Trunk you are correct here and maybe not. Maybe gays and women are attracted to these jobs innately or maybe it’s environmental conditions that are at work here. See these jobs have always been considered “women’s work.” And maybe Little Johnny the heterosexual wants to be a flight attendant or dancer at a young age, but by placing gender assignment to most task, Little Johnny is condition at a very young age to know that being a ballet dancer or being a flight attendant is “women/sissy work.” Therefore Little Johnny is forced by society’s conditions to give up the dream of dancing and just pick up that mitt in order to “be a man” and fit in. In your description above, you are looking at the results and not asking “why is this occurring?” While I’m not sure what is the right and wrong answers about this subject, on the subject of the flower girl, she was not calling out sexual preferences as you stated above. If she was doing that, she would have said that the OP liked to be chained up during sex, that he liked ice cubes shoved up his ass during sex, that he was a top guy etc etc that would be his sexual preference. When she inquired if he was gay, she was inquiring about his sexual orientation. Orientation= who you sleep with Preference=what you do with that person or animal in bed. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012/50 "2005-05-24T13:46:05Z")
> [@Poonther](#): > > And maybe Little Johnny the heterosexual wants to be a flight attendant I have to admit that when I was quite young I thought being a flight attendant would be a cool job, chiefly because of all the free travel. It wasn’t something I imagined as a lifelong career, but just something that could be done for a few years for the travel. Also, I couldn’t aspire to be a pilot because of my eye problems. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012/51 "2005-05-24T14:11:30Z")
> [@Poonther](#): > > And maybe Little Johnny the heterosexual wants to be a flight attendant or dancer at a young age, but by placing gender assignment to most task, Little Johnny is condition at a very young age to know that being a ballet dancer or being a flight attendant is “women/sissy work.” Therefore Little Johnny is forced by society’s conditions to give up the dream of dancing and just pick up that mitt in order to “be a man” and fit in. So are you saying gay boys don’t get this conditioning? Or that once they realize they are gay, all the conditioning goes out the window? I’ll buy it when I see some quntitative data. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012/52 "2005-05-24T21:39:52Z")
I’m straight, single, and have iris, day lily, really old “native” roses (not sure what they are, but they have small, tight blossoms as opposed to the neighbors big ol’ honkin roses) in both pink and yellow, and some lilac bushes, currant bushes, honeysuckle vines, some flowers that look sorta like the iris but are a lot shorter. All of these are flowers that come back every year and require no maintanence, so we get along just swell. I like my flowers, I can cut a few and give them away and come off as really kind and thoughtful while really hiding the fact that I was too lazy and cheap to buy something. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012/53 "2005-05-24T22:22:50Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > So are you saying gay boys don’t get this conditioning? Or that once they realize they are gay, all the conditioning goes out the window? Not all of it, but remember a big part of the conditioning is basically “don’t be gay.” When that goes out the window, the rest of it can also be called into question. Yes, a lot of these things are stereotypes, but they aren’t impossible and they align with a lot of people’s observations. Just like how I observed that my translation and linguistics classes ran about 95% female. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012/54 "2005-05-24T22:28:39Z")
> [@Duke of Rat](#): > > I’m straight, single, and have iris, day lily, really old “native” roses Perhaps you simply haven’t met the right guy yet… > [@](#): > > …they have small, tight blossoms… Yeah, it’s definitely that. [sub]OW! Just kidding[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012/55 "2005-05-24T23:41:41Z")
How YOU doin’? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bnuts40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@Bnuts40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bnuts40)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012/56 "2005-05-25T03:29:58Z")
Loving flowers makes one gay ??? WOW - I learn new things about myself all the time !! See for yourself . . . [My Thumbnail Page](http://b40.50megs.com/thumbs.htm) ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012/57 "2005-05-25T04:03:46Z")
- - - Sorry to say, yes: [flowers make you gay](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=flowers+make+you+gay&btnG=Google+Search) (2.3 million+ hits). ~ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-love-of-flowers-is-gay/305012.md?page=2)