Can Straight Men Learn Anything From The LGBT Movement? *Will* They?

[Smarmie Doofus]

This ran on Thursday on Slate. I'm surprised no one posted it here.

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/01/new_study_says_heterosexual_men_are_more_depressed_than_gay_men_it_s_time.html?fb_ref=sm_fb_plugin_activity

Straight Men Should Come Out of the Closet


>>>.....Those who have never come out about anything as traditionally shameful as being queer remain silently burdened by responsibilities, roles, and a level of repression—often self-imposed—that add needless stress to their lives.

The dramatic leaps forward in LGBT equality over the past few years have not only been about legal equality but about replacing shame with dignity. In addition to the right to serve in uniform and marry in several states, gay people have enjoyed a new sense of liberation from needless emotional repression. If this movement is to amount to more than the simple assertion of one group’s right to be like everyone else, it must spread the lessons of liberation. And if straight men are to be free from the hoary notions that cause them their own undue stress, they should take a page from both the women’s and LGBT movements.>>>>>

Didn't know which "group" this belonged to ( LGBT? MEN?) So I'm putting it in GD.

Interesting analysis, imo.

[sibelian]

1. It rests on the assumption that straight men require "catharsis".

But about what? I really can't see the parallel.

Actually I think if I was straight I would find this incredibly patronising.

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. About this, I guess:

>>>>>>>Growing out of feminism, the movement acknowledged that men had disproportionate and unjust levels of power but insisted this was not the unalloyed advantage it might appear to be. Men suffered from gender inequality, too, and faced a whole added level of stress born of the internalized belief that they must adhere to certain roles, especially those of breadwinner and protector, which discouraged them from expressing vulnerabilities, fears, and emotional needs.>>>>>

Why "patronising", exactly? ( And how DARE you spell that w. an *S* ?! !)

[Smarmie Doofus]

3. BTW... I'm kidding about the "patronising" reference.

I hope you're not offended.

It is said that the British invented English but the Americans *perfected* it.

[Zorra]

4. American Beauty, YouTube, Frank & Ricky Fitts

[Smarmie Doofus]

5. Something like that. But Frank Fitts was suffering from some twisted, frustrated...

... erotic strivings of his own. A one way ticket to emotional "pahlookahville", if you will.

I believe *most* straight males are just.... well... straight males.

It's not exactly slavery but it's still not a 'walk in the park'. Check out the stats: life expectancy, suicides, stress-related disorders, substance abuse. Is it possible that male ( most of it , by definition, *straight* male)domination in all these categories is unrelated to the *burdens* of 'male privilege'?

I guess it's possible. Not very likely, though, imo.

But what to do.