Since someone’s already mentioned Dobson’s advice that boys shower with their dads to keep them straight, I’ll fire at this one…
This already happened at least once. Someone sent in a letter to Abby about her insensitive, bowling-loving husband buying her a bowling ball for her birthday. Out of spite, she decided to use “her” present and go bowling. She fell in love with a handsome bowling instructor. Now what should she do? Abby’s advice: admit your misdoing to your husband. To win you back, he may be willing to change back to the man who bowled you over in the first place. (Her bad pun, not mine.) However, very few (if any) papers ran this column- Universal Press Syndicate pulled it after someone there realized the story sounded suspiciously like an old Simpsons episode.
Guin was spot-on. I know there’s nothing that will influence a person’s sexuality; they are what they are.
My point was that, to the extent that anything does influence sexuality, it would seem counterintuitive to expose a boy to male genitalia, especially to the exclusion of female genitalia.
I think we should make it bogus Simpsons Dear Abby letters. With 375 episodes or so, there’s got to be enough in there to eventually get one past Universal Press Syndicate. We’ll just pull it from one of the recent seasons that nobody likes.
Wow!! Checked out the link. The guy is a real case. Interesting and scary the way he weaves his crap in there as if it’s all scientifically researched and factual.
I’m not sure I agree with this. I had a friend years ago who lived much of his adult life being rejected by woman and eventually sought comfort and companionship in the gay community.
What about Anne Heche?
In the messed up society we have it’s hard to tell how much environment and societal pressures play a role but I think that someone who might otherwise be straight can be emotionally wounded by the opposite gender to such an extent that they seek comfort, emotional support and sex from the same gender.
I think the two extremes of “being gay is a choice and something you can be cured of” and “all gay people are born gay” are incorrect.
I don’t. She’s not a hard-hitting reporter, nor a major radical social reformer, nor a gay-rights activist. She’s the most well-established white bread flavorless advice columnist alive(?) today. It’s her job to dispense sound if bland advice that does not seriously offend Middle America.