I despise bigotry, in any form, for example I dislike bigotry from those who agree with my point of view perhaps even more than those who disagree with me - you do your cause no good if you are unable or unwilling to at least attempt to understand your opponents rhetoric and mindset.
While bigotry describes specifically a person’s propensity for being intolerant towards a person of a differing opinion, intolerance of a persons beliefs, way of life, race, religion, sexual orientation, choice of pets etc., is just as bad as being bigoted.
Unfortunately (and, *cough*, anecdotally), these two forms of intolerance are often found in tandem.
Let’s see: today someone made a joke, in poor taste, that girls are like Pokemon, you have to have balls to get them. Offensive? Yeah, it is - but probably something you don’t want to waste too much time waging a war over. Next thing you know, someone grabs their bigot horn (often found in estate sales of old white men) and loudly proclaims that women who like women only do so because they were abused by men.
When pressed for citations and peer reviewed evidence, the wild bigot states that his evidence is anecdotal (now you get my earlier *cough*). Bam, lawyered, I don’t know how he did it, but with an argument like that he must be right! (sarcasm added).
How does one come to a conclusion such as this? Is the Socratic method not taught anymore? Or is it that when talking about anything that may be taboo in the King James bible that logic ceases to exist? Let’s take Mr Bigot’s theory out for a ride, shall we?
It is reasonable well accepted that 1:3 women are sexually assaulted in their lifetime (this includes a broad range of types of assault, some which you may term sexual harassment). At the outset this statistic is horrifying. I have previously used it to rebut anti-sex work activists. Where, on asking, the question goes begging - why aren’t 1:3 women sex workers? The same can be asked - why aren’t 1:3 women lesbian then? (I actually don’t know the homo/hetero ratio though - mainly because either is ok with me)
Ok, that’s not entirely airtight but it’s a start… Next! Riddle me this: is the only reason I am a heterosexual male because I was bullied by males and not females in primary school? If I were beaten by my mother would I have turned out homosexual? Why, when i was beaten by my ex girl friend, am i still straight? If a hermaphrodite mugged me at a gay bar would I be asexual?
Oh, I wish I knew said bigot personally and could have this discussion! I would listen, though, patiently - try to understand his point of view, as to not be bigoted myself; but when your argument is built of straw covered in petrol, it doesn’t take much of a bright spark to turn it to ashes.
Despite all of the above, I would wager that a female who heard what this bigot said and or a female who is sexually abused by a male and who happens to be homosexual, is probably thanking their lucky stars that they are attracted to women instead. At times I fear for the future of my gender.
Sorry for the rant everyone! I hope I made sense, it is currently 3am… I was going to say more: Oreos, the Salvation Army etc. but we will leave that for the next instalment of Bear’s Bizarre Bigots.
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livingrosencrantz likes this
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thebearwritesdeath reblogged this from steampunkragdoll and added:
Yes, and Stephen Fry would interview Lady Gaga every few episodes… Also Ellen would dance in the closing credits.
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steampunkragdoll reblogged this from thebearwritesdeath and added:
If Bears Bizarre Bigots were a TV show, I would watch it. Would it, perhaps, guest star Hugh Laurie and Morgan Freeman...
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steampunkragdoll likes this
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thebearwritesdeath posted this
