Gender Identity- Not What It Used To Be!

[Lucky]

Until today, I had never heard of Aaron Swartz, the computer whiz who took his life at the age of 26. A lot is being written since the young man was clearly a genius, and his death a particular loss of a wonderful mind. He had ideas that went against the mainstream, and in fact was under indictment at the time of his death. He had a quite liberal attitude about file sharing, and he knew how to get the files he wanted to share. So, a young rebel with a promising future is dead.

But one thing that interested me is his 2007 article on why he isn't gay. I quote via towleroad.com:

"Also, some have wondered whether Mr. Swartz was gay. In fact, he was not. Not by his definition. While he did hook-up with men, Swartz refused to identify by a label he found to be completely fabricated. His sexual thinking was very much in line with his generation's.

From a piece he wrote in 2009; it's called "Why I Am Not Gay":

Having sex with other people of your gender isn't an identity, it's an act. And, like sex in general among consenting adults, people should be able to do it if they want to. Having sex with someone shouldn't require an identity crisis. (Nobody sees having-sex-with-white-people as part of their identity, even if that’s primarily who they’re attracted to.)

People shouldn't be forced to categorize themselves as "gay," "straight," or "bi." People are just people. Maybe you're mostly attracted to men. Maybe you're mostly attracted to women. Maybe you're attracted to everyone. These are historical claims — not future predictions.

If we truly want to expand the scope of human freedom, we should encourage people to date who they want; not just provide more categorical boxes for them to slot themselves into. A man who has mostly dated men should be just as welcome to date women as a woman who's mostly dated men.

So that's why I'm not gay. I hook up with people. I enjoy it. Sometimes they're men, sometimes they're women. I don't see why it needs to be any more complicated than that."

Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/2013/01/in-his-short-life-aaron-swartz-did-not-endorse-sexual-labels.html#ixzz2HupR7FWD

Then I return home to find a lengthy NY Times article titled Generation LGBTQIA. It's about youth today and their resistance to having their sexual identity so narrowly defined. It's almost as if today's youth has taken our youthful march to acceptance of our sexuality and turned it around. It's a long article, but worth some time: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/fashion/generation-lgbtqia.html?pagewanted=all

The article begins by quoting Stephen Ira, a young student at Sarah Lawrence College. His video on identity went viral. "With its adrenalized, freewheeling eloquence, the video seemed like a battle cry for a new generation of post-gay gender activists, for whom Stephen represents a rare public face.

Armed with the millennial generation’s defining traits — Web savvy, boundless confidence and social networks that extend online and off — Stephen and his peers are forging a political identity all their own, often at odds with mainstream gay culture.

If the gay-rights movement today seems to revolve around same-sex marriage, this generation is seeking something more radical: an upending of gender roles beyond the binary of male/female. The core question isn’t whom they love, but who they are — that is, identity as distinct from sexual orientation."

One reason his video went viral is because he was born 21 years ago as Kathlyn, and his parents are Warren Beatty and Annette Bening. That tends to open doors. But his ideas are shared by many of his generation.

Last week in New York I met, for the first time, a 21 year old relative who likes to wear heels and makeup. For him, it is more of a gender fuck kick than any idea that he might be other than gay. But it did seem to fit the tempo of the times.

For me, there is no question. I have no desire to "hook up" with women. I am a man only kind of guy. Am I so out of date?

[Guest hitoallusa]

What a very refreshing idea!

[Guest EXPAT]

I knew a number of 20 somethings who think this way where sexuality is fluid. it's a refreshing concept. Although I have no interest in tuna any longer.

[BiBottomBoy]

In the young hipster community MFM threesomes are now really popular becuase hipster girls think it's cool to watch two "straight" guys blow each other, and the dudes are willing to do it as long as it gets them pussy.

And pegging has become super popular as well.

I think that a lot of these straight guys who have sex wtih other guys are doing it to impress girls - which would, to my mind, make them not gay.

[BigK]

Very interesting attitude. I feel that way sometimes when I'm unexpectedly attracted to the opposite sex.

[Guest hitoallusa]

I have never been attracted to the opposite sex....

[BiBottomBoy]

Give me enough vodka and I start thinking that mouths have no gender.

[caeron]

I've slept with women in my youth, but I never found them arousing. It was more a strange form of masturbation.

I'm glad that straight young men are opening up about sexuality, but I think that there are boxes for a reason. Most people fit in them.

[AdamSmith]

Give me enough vodka and I start thinking that mouths have no gender.

Something I once woke up to find posted on the web site of a favorite (straight) watering hole, by the barmaid/owner, reporting on the previous evening...

Big handsome construction worker: "AS, I may get drunk enough to go home with you, but I'll be thinking about our barmaid."

AS: "Do you think my asshole knows the difference?"

(Names changed to protect the guilty. )

[BiBottomBoy]

I think that young women telling dudes they think it's hot when dudes fuck each other is a big factor in getting guys who would otherwise stick to the tuna tunnel to try dick.