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Battlestar Webisodes Start Today with a Bang - and a Kiss
San Francisco, 12:51 AM
Mon Nov 9
12 posts in the last 24 hours
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Battlestar Webisodes Start Today with a Bang - and a Kiss |
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12/12/08
12/12/08
This show has at times made much ado about nothing regarding homosexuality and bisexuality when all we end up getting is a friendly quick half hearted peck, a hand on a shoulder or someone waking up sitting on the edge of a bed with two other people sleeping.
Meanwhile in terms of heterosexuality it's no holds barred with a woman straddling a man who's orgasming or a man humping a woman with her legs up in the air.
12/12/08
I have to admit, the lack of free flying spit disappointed me.
12/12/08
I am a gay man. I've done a lot of research on bisexuality. I believe in bisexual behavior, but I do not believe in true bisexuality. For many anecdotal reasons, from personal experience (I once considered myself bi on the road to accepting my sexuality), and from scientific studies.
The best article I've found, which compiles a lot of research statistics on self-identified bisexuality, can be found here. [www.nytimes.com]
In case you don't want to read a whole article on the subject, here are a few details from the article.
"In the new study [by Northwestern University researchers], a team of psychologists directly measured genital arousal patterns in response to images of men and women. The psychologists found that men who identified themselves as bisexual were in fact exclusively aroused by either one sex or the other, usually by other men.
"The study is the largest of several small reports suggesting that the estimated 1.7 percent of men who identify themselves as bisexual show physical attraction patterns that differ substantially from their professed desires."
"Using a sensor to monitor sexual arousal, the researchers found what they expected: gay men showed arousal to images of men and little arousal to images of women, and heterosexual men showed arousal to women but not to men.
"But the men in the study who described themselves as bisexual did not have patterns of arousal that were consistent with their stated attraction to men and to women. Instead, about three-quarters of the group had arousal patterns identical to those of gay men; the rest were indistinguishable from heterosexuals."
"A 1979 study of 30 men found that those who identified themselves as bisexuals were indistinguishable from homosexuals on measures of arousal. Studies of gay and bisexual men in the 1990's showed that the two groups reported similar numbers of male sexual partners and risky sexual encounters. And a 1994 survey by The Advocate, the gay-oriented newsmagazine, found that, before identifying themselves as gay, 40 percent of gay men had described themselves as bisexual."
For these reasons, unless Gaeta's story is about coming to terms with his homosexuality (or the writers are making a comment on the falacy of bisexuality), the series will become even more science-fantasy than ever.
And before I'm attacked, I do not deny bisexual behavior - or even fulfilling bisexual relationships. There are many other social/psychological components to sexuality than genetic, baseline sexual orientation. But as an orientation, the research points to a nonexistence of baseline bisexual orientation.
12/12/08
What is the point of arguing this? Honestly, I call bullshit on this "research" mainly because it's limited to gay men in the closet and completely excludes women. I guess they can't be bisexual either. Other than that, what are you trying to argue here? The writers should make Gaeta affirm his homosexuality? Deny it? Why? What does it matter what he identifies with? He's in a relationship with a man, we know that, but no one had thrown around any labels on the show. So I ask, what does it matter how he identifies? Is it relevant to the show that he wear a rainbow uniform in every episode?
And once more, what is bisexuality anyways? A mere sexual attraction, or is it emotional too? Your research implies that it means getting a hard on when you see a naked man. Is that all being gay/bisexual is?
I think not, sir. Leave lame (biased) comments and research on the third page to die next time.
12/12/08
1. The research presented only claims (explicitly, in fact) to deal with men.
2. Sexuality is important to the world. It's important to me. I have an opinion on it. I am expressing my opinion in the commentary section. In a commentary section of a website, I feel like I have the right to express commentary, especially commentary backed up by more than just feeling or invective.
3. I would like to see real-world depictions of sexuality, not fantasized make believe. I feel that's a perfectly viable stance.
4. Bisexuality is defined as a sexual response to both sexes. Sexual response is judged by physical arousal. An erection. That is what the primary research study judges. To me, yes, that is all that being gay/straight/bisexual is.
5. I see no bias in this research. The goal was not to disprove bisexuality. It was to question its existence. When the existence of something is so flimsy under questioning, it's not biased to make that observation. Especially when the evidence is so overwhelming, and confirmed repeatedly by different studies.
I find conversations on sexuality interesting. Thus the desire to have a conversation about sexuality, since I wasn't able to participate in the other one.
12/12/08
I find this research biased because it means to disprove (yes, when you take self labeled bisexual and set out to prove them otherwise, that's disproving) bisexuality by using one gender. It's silly. There are as many orientations as there are flavors of ice cream and cutting out a whole gender is really irresponsible and lazy research. You may define bisexuality with being a matter of sex, but not everyone does. And the evidence is NOT overwhelming based on the fact that NO ONE knows what it truly means to be gay/straight/bi. It's all a matter of perception and what your previous background is. For a lot of people you're not gay if you've never been with a member of the same sex. For others, you're not gay if you don't use a condom. I'm not saying I agree with any of those, but the definition of sexual orientation is broad, at best. As a gay man I would think that you of all people would be open minded in knowing that you're the only person who can identify you're sexuality accurately. Considering that there are some "learned" people in this country that have "research" to prove that you're not really gay, you should be more forgiving.
And a "real world" depiction of sexuality does not mean it's all cut and dry. Actually it would be more of a confusion. Gaeta may go back and forth between men and women his whole life only to end with a woman. It doesn't devalue the relationships he had with men, it just happens to be the relationship he stayed with.
I am sick of people discrediting bisexuals (in the straight and gay community) because they don't "get it." There's nothing to get. It happens and there's not really a reason for them to choose a side. If that person identifies as bi, then that's what they are. Again, I don't think the writers need to prove any sort of point with Gaeta being with a man. It's a relationship he's in and not any sort of political tool.
12/12/08
I think we've all come a bit farther than this in the world of sexology. My orientation is what I say it is, not what some guy who likes to measure boners says.
I wrote a hefty feature for Wired magazine a couple of years ago ([www.wired.com]) about scientists studying female arousal and orgasm, and something that all of them agreed on was that physical signs of desire and actual experiences of desire almost never match up in women. Probably not always for men either.
12/12/08
/applause
*goes off to read article*
12/12/08
Male sexuality and female sexuality is very very very different. Primarily because of the sudden, frequent, often violent hormonal fluxes in females, and the comparatively steady hormone activity in men. There have been studies done on female sexuality that say that a woman, because of those extreme hormonal shifts, can be powerfully attracted to men one day and then suddenly attracted to women months later. Male and female sexuality is too different to apply observations in one to observations in others.
I think where we differ is on the ability to define our sexuality. I don't believe it's possible to control the hormones that dictate what we're attracted to, and therefore I have no control over my sexual orientation. I am gay -- but if I went out and slept with a woman, it wouldn't make me bi. I'd still be gay because I am only physically attracted to men.
And I actually remember reading that Wired feature, and at the time finding it incredibly fascinating and insightful.
12/12/08
And midnighter: Feh. You are so wrong to limit orientation and attraction the way you do. The brain is a wondrous and varied thing and so is teh sex.
12/12/08
;-)
Kidding, obviously.
I have no control over any of that. :P
12/12/08
But my problem is that "research" you reference is incredibly limited on many levels. What does it mean if a man who identifies as gay is turned on by two women together? Or what about if a woman is aroused by two men together? Both happen and they don't remotely fit into the categories of gay and straight presented by that "research." Again, there's so many definitions of "gay/straight/bi" that it's impossible to ascertain that arousal from looking at males or females means gay or straight. It's entirely subjective.
It actually is your prerogative to limit your orientation and label it however you like. For some people, so called "gold star" homosexuals, you're considered bi. I wouldn't say that, but again, it's all a matter of how one identifies. There are plenty of women that don't reach orgasms with men easily (if at all) but they wholeheartedly define themselves as straight.
It's not just a matter of intercourse. I think you're short changing yourself (and your gender) by saying that.
12/13/08
Yeah, I dunno. I feel sexual desire pretty frequently over the course of a normal day, and generally manage not to have an erection most of the time.
12/12/08
12/12/08
Although I agree, I think I'll hold off my judgment until the plot picks up.
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12/12/08
Although. An emotionally vacant and uninteresting character doesn't make for good drama. If the webisodes are going to rely on him to carry the story...no thank you.
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12/12/08
oh Tigh is in charge because Adama growled... I don't get out of bed for a frakin webisode.
12/12/08
Oh, and HI! You have a funny new name.
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12/12/08
Pope John Peeps II, is that you?
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12/12/08
I'm glad SOMEBODY recognized what was wrong with this article :p
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