Is Homosexuality On The Increase?

[Yithian]

It is only two bodies business who I have consenting sex with...by the by, what is 'allo'?

Allo means other in Greek.



You may also know it from such catchy words as:

alloglottography​

A direct translation of an utterance from one language to another such that the original utterance can be unambiguously and correctly recovered.

Source:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/alloglottography#English

This term is used most commonly for situations in which the translation sounds odd or nonsensical in the target language, such as the literal translation of an idiom that does not exist in the target language.

 

[Delightful]

Yes, exactly that, Frideswide. Allosexual is the opposite of asexual.

 

[Frideswide]

It was a bit of a guess really I'm used to al- as a prefix in words such as allistic - meaning everyone who isn't autistic!

 

[bugmum]

My sweet lesbian friend, in her mid-20s, said that when she was at school, lots of the girls declared themselves to be lesbians. Half of them are now in heterosexual marriages. My friend suggested that the current 'trend' for declaring one's self trans/non-binary/whatever would end up the same way, with the majority of people in what could be considered 'traditional' relationships. Certainly the Teenager has a proportion of friends who are non-binary or trans - she sometimes struggles to remember who's declared themselves as what.

 

[Mungoman]

It's the opposite of asexual. So people who experience sexual attraction (whatever they are attracted to).

Now it'll be something different and I'll look even more like a numptie that usual.

Thank you Possum.

So do I use cis, or other, when I refer to straights...Or will the word straights be frowned upon too?

There are so many things that offend, it seems.

 

[McAvennie]

...was believed to be so rife in the early 1930s Nazi Party, it was called 'a brotherhood of poofs'...

They had an outside chance with "Speichern Sie Ihre Küsse für mich" before the 1939 Eurovision was cancelled.

 

[Delightful]

Thank you Possum.

So do I use cis, or other, when I refer to straights...Or will the word straights be frowned upon too?

There are so many things that offend, it seems.

Cis is the opposite of trans
Allo is the opposite of ace
Straight is the opposite of gay

Cis is a gender term, straight a sexuality term

Straight is fine, as is cishet (abbr cishetereosexual).

 

[escargot]

They had an outside chance with "Speichern Sie Ihre Küsse für mich" before the 1939 Eurovision was cancelled.

You git, I actually went to the trouble of Google-translating that!

 

[maximus otter]

My friend suggested that the current 'trend' for declaring one's self trans/non-binary/whatever would end up the same way, with the majority of people in what could be considered 'traditional' relationships.

Unless they’ve had their tackle surgically mutilated on the crest of the wave of current fashion.

Slice in haste, repent at leisure.

maximus otter

 

[maximus otter]

So do I use cis, or other, when I refer to straights...Or will the word straights be frowned upon too?

“Cis” is a meaningless construct, declared to be “necessary” by the current proponents of the “trans” notion.

Ignore it.

maximus otter

 

[Delightful]

“Cis” is a meaningless construct, declared to be “necessary” by the current proponents of the “trans” notion.

Ignore it.

maximus otter

I'm not sure why it's meaningless or what you mean by necessary. It's just a term that allows for greater specificity in relevant conversations. For example, if you were having a conversation about gender and wanted to distinguish cismen from transmen, or distinguish cis folk from trans folk and non-binary folk. Words are just tools.

However, I'm reticent to provoke a political side-track off the point of the the thread ... So back to the issue of the increasing number of non-straight folk Do you think there's fewer cishets these days?

 

[Delightful]

On a slight tangent, let's assume the proportion of non-straights is actually growing. Would it matter?

 

[escargot]

My sweet lesbian friend, in her mid-20s, said that when she was at school, lots of the girls declared themselves to be lesbians. Half of them are now in heterosexual marriages. My friend suggested that the current 'trend' for declaring one's self trans/non-binary/whatever would end up the same way, with the majority of people in what could be considered 'traditional' relationships. Certainly the Teenager has a proportion of friends who are non-binary or trans - she sometimes struggles to remember who's declared themselves as what.

Can remember women in the '70s declaring themselves lesbian as a way of ceasing to deal with men on any romantic or sexual basis.
This was back in days of towering sexual double standards, e,g. (to put it very simply) a man might not want to use condoms so he'd hope the woman was already on the Pill, which meant she was not only not a virgin, she was knowledgeable about sex and therefore a slag.


Having lived through those times I can see where the ersatz lesbians were coming from. Taking a break from heterosexuality had its attractions.
If they later 'reverted', as many did, they'd be a little older and further on in their career, and crucially less tolerant of pushy men.

These days one might assume those women to be bisexual, or even sexually fluid.

I saw it as less to do with their sexuality and more like the mediaeval idea of entering a nunnery to solve such worldly problems as an unwanted marriage. An unwilling bride taking the veil was a honourable way out for everyone in that situation.
Perhaps our novice nun could quietly slip back home once her erstwhile would-be bridegroom had married someone else.

 

[Delightful]

Can remember women in the '70s declaring themselves lesbian as a way of ceasing to deal with men on any romantic or sexual basis.
This was back in days of towering sexual double standards, e,g. (to put it very simply) a man might not want to use condoms so he'd hope the woman was already on the Pill, which meant she was not only not a virgin, she was knowledgeable about sex and therefore a slag.


Having lived through those times I can see where the ersatz lesbians were coming from. Taking a break from heterosexuality had its attractions.
If they later 'reverted', as many did, they'd be a little older and further on in their career, and crucially less tolerant of pushy men.

These days one might assume those women to be bisexual, or even sexually fluid.

I saw it as less to do with their sexuality and more like the mediaeval idea of entering a nunnery to solve such worldly problems as an unwanted marriage. An unwilling bride taking the veil was a honourable way out for everyone in that situation.
Perhaps our novice nun could quietly slip back home once her erstwhile would-be bridegroom had married someone else.

I think political lesbianism would be a different phenomena from bisexuality and/or sexual fluidity, unless it was accompanied by attraction.

People can choose to have all kinds of relationships and sex without any attraction or desire (gay for pay is common in porn, for example). Whereas I think sexuality terms are best reserved for discussions of desire /attraction (a celibate virgin can still be homo-/hetero- sexual regardless of a lack of sexual behaviours, an important distinction when discussing forms of asexuality etc).

 

[Dick Turpin]

A very interesting topic this. Only last month did Mrs DT “come out” and admit that she is an active member of the G&T community.

I’m supportive of her, except that costing me a fortune in the local pub!!.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

“Cis” is a meaningless construct, declared to be “necessary” by the current proponents of the “trans” notion.

Ignore it.

maximus otter

Cisjordan is a slightly archaic term (in English anyway - the French still use the term Cisjordanie) meaning the West Bank territories, annexed by Jordan, whereas Transjordan means the land to the East of the river Jordan, usually now simply referred to as Jordan. Not sure the Jordanians would appreciate being the "Trans" ones!

 

[pandacracker]

Things have certainly changed over the years. For me, seeing same-sex couples on T.V. quiz shows is a huge development and, to some, this may give the impression that homosexuality is on the increase. It isn't. Western society (for want of a better phrase) is just getting more used to it.

This thread is about sexuality and not gender, although there are connections (in my opinion everything is connected) we shouldn't get sidetracked.

However... in response to

“Cis” is a meaningless construct, declared to be “necessary” by the current proponents of the “trans” notion.

Ignore it.

Ignoring being asked to consider things from a viewpoint opposite to one's own (maybe like a thought experiment?) seems decidedly un-fortean.

 

[eburacum]

I used 'cis' and 'trans' in a science-fiction novel about twenty years ago, when the terms were just coming in. I must admit I didn't use it in quite the same way it is generally used today but the language surrounding these things is rapidly evolving.

In the far future, thanks to advanced biotechnology and somatic gengineering, people can change their sex and body-morph type more-or-less at will (a process known as re-embodiment or resleeving), and anyone who has changed sex once include the word 'trans' in their full name. People who have changed then changed back again include the term 'cis' in their name, and people who haven't changed at all are known as 'naturals'. The options for resleeving include changing into entirely artificial bodies that may or may not be human and may or may not have any gender (or both at once). Most people live for hundreds, or thousands of years, and most have changed at least once; an increasing number of people use virtual bodies, with entirely arbitrary genders.

I really don't know if this is an accurate description of the future of humanity; it seems unlikely, but the reality may be far stranger than we can currently imagine. What seems even more unlikely to me is the relatively vanilla future of Star Trek, with Jim Kirk wandering around shagging aliens.

 

[Delightful]

I used 'cis' and 'trans' in a science-fiction novel about twenty years ago, when the terms were just coming in. I must admit I didn't use it in quite the same way it is generally used today but the language surrounding these things is rapidly evolving.

In the far future, thanks to advanced biotechnology and somatic gengineering, people can change their sex and body-morph type more-or-less at will (a process known as re-embodiment or resleeving), and anyone who has changed sex once include the word 'trans' in their full name. People who have changed then changed back again include the term 'cis' in their name, and people who haven't changed at all are known as 'naturals'. The options for resleeving include changing into entirely artificial bodies that may or may not be human and may or may not have any gender (or both at once). Most people live for hundreds, or thousands of years, and most have changed at least once; an increasing number of people use virtual bodies, with entirely arbitrary genders.

I really don't know if this is an accurate description of the future of humanity; it seems unlikely, but the reality may be far stranger than we can currently imagine. What seems even more unlikely to me is the relatively vanilla future of Star Trek, with Jim Kirk wandering around shagging aliens.

Very cool. I'd love the option of changing my body as easily as I change a computer game avatar

 

[ramonmercado]

Very cool. I'd love the option of changing my body as easily as I change a computer game avatar

It does happen in Ian Banks' Culture novels, not quite that easily but just a matter of taking a "pill" and a process ensues.

 

[Frideswide]

So do I use cis, or other, when I refer to straights...Or will the word straights be frowned upon too?

Dunno! But I do call myself Cis Female becuase I like saying a word that reminds me of Cisalpine Gaul (rather than Transalpine Gaul). It's good to take pleasures when one can

 

[Mungoman]

It's good to take pleasures when one can

Indeed it is Frides!

 

[Mungoman]

Cis is the opposite of trans
Allo is the opposite of ace
Straight is the opposite of gay

Cis is a gender term, straight a sexuality term

Straight is fine, as is cishet (abbr cishetereosexual).

This is all getting so...tedious.

Is it necessary?

Am I to be defined by someone with a penchant for rifling through a thesaurus?

I am an Earthling...slowly descending into senesence, and that shall do me quite nicely, thank you...

 

[Delightful]

This is all getting so...tedious.

Is it necessary?

Am I to be defined by someone with a penchant for rifling through a thesaurus?

I am an Earthling...slowly descending into senesence, and that shall do me quite nicely, thank you...

There's lots of words in the English language. Most I never use, but I don't complain that the devopment of new specialist terms that allow greater precision is somehow tedious. I don't really understand what the problem is. Generally, I'm in favour of an ever expand vocabulary. Why would anyone want fewer potential words in a language?

 

[Floyd1]

We'd hear about Beatniks and occasionally spot a man with long hair - possible reaching past the tops of his ears! - or watch the male dancers on TV shows, and my father would grumble 'Poofs!'* and 'The Permissive Society steps at my front door!'

Dennis Hopper said that when they were filming Easy Rider they were originally going to film some shots in Texas, but even he- nuts as he was at the time- said no way.
Back then in some parts, if you were a male with long hair, you, at best, were probably going to get a good kicking.

 

[Delightful]

Dennis Hopper said that when they were filming Easy Rider they were originally going to film some shots in Texas, but even he- nuts as he was at the time- said no way.
Back then in some parts, if you were a male with long hair, you, at best, were probably going to get a good kicking.

How sad, but easily believable.
That's the kind of thing that makes it seem a really good thing that there's more lgbtq+ folk.

 

[Floyd1]

How sad, but easily believable.
That's the kind of thing that makes it seem a really good thing that there's more lgbtq+ folk.

Even in the 80's in England, older people would (usually light heartedly) say things like 'you want to get your hair cut you pouf''.
Funny thing is, for centuries, up until the First World War, having long hair was considered a sign of status and wealth.

 

[Delightful]

Even in the 80's in England, older people would (usually light heartedly) say things like 'you want to get your hair cut you pouf''.
Funny thing is, for centuries, up until the First World War, having long hair was considered a sign of status and wealth.

Indeed. The homophobia and sexism of even the very recent past was pretty grim. It seems to me that things have much improved, (in the developed world at least), and that the rate of change was staggering (though long overdue). It's crazy to think that gay marriage only became legal in NI, for example, 3 years ago.

It'd be nice to imagine an even more sexuality-tolerant world in the future, but I suspect that won't happen for a long time in many places.

 

[Kondoru]

Is Asexuality on the increase?

 

[Delightful]

Is Asexuality on the increase?

Good question. I'm not sure we have the statistics to determine. But it certainly seems so to me, but that's just a perception I have. It is still very rare, though. The recent UK census shows that only around 28, 000 people in the UK identify as asexual.