definition?

[BizzleLuvin]

so, I was casting my vote on the bisexuality poll, and i realized something.

people often refer to homosexuals of EITHER gender as being GAY. Ive heard homosexual women refer to themselves as being gay, and men too.
But when people refer to a homosexual woman, they label her a LESBIAN or gay.
But what about a homosexual man? Is he simply gay, or is there a double standard here? I mean, women can be both gay and lesbian, but men are simply known as gay. (i'm excluding offensive terms such as faggot here, but would the word refer to just a homosexual male? could you call a lesbian a faggot?)
the issue of homosexuality is a new thing to the mainstream, so nothing is certain yet and humans are still trying to solidify it.
p.s. im proctor of the gay-staraight alliance at my unitarian church adn we discussed this, no answer was proposed.

BizzleLuvin Reviewed by BizzleLuvin on 08-12-2005. definition? so, I was casting my vote on the bisexuality poll, and i realized something. people often refer to homosexuals of EITHER gender as being GAY. Ive heard homosexual women refer to themselves as being gay, and men too. But when people refer to a homosexual woman, they label her a LESBIAN or gay. But what about a homosexual man? Is he simply gay, or is there a double standard here? I mean, women can be both gay and lesbian, but men are simply known as gay. (i'm excluding offensive terms such Rating: 5

[DonnieDarko]

I think the world would be a better place if they were given the label of "people". Don't get me wrong, I'm not against adjectives that describe people: tall, short, blond, or homosexual. We shouldn't be afraid to use adjectives to describe people's attributes. But we are all "people" first.

[mellow mood]

i dont get what u mean. u have different synonyms for something. so an homosexual can be called gay too. and a lesbian can be called gay too. i dont understand wut u mean.

and homosexuality is not well seen compared to lesbians. i think "faggot" is more prejoprative and so it must refer to an homosexual, and not a lesbian.

[BizzleLuvin]

I mean, we can call a gay woman a lesbain, but what do we call a gay man?

[90civicracer]

Queer? Obviously its not offensive if they have a tv show (Queer eye for the straight guy)

[WeekenD TokeR]

Queer just means strange. I always take queer as an illogical and "fad-like" label. Homosexual men are commonly named "gay", homosexual women are commonly named lesbians, ALTHOUGH the label gay is occasionally applied to both. Men have no oth er label, that I know of anyway.

[beachguy in thongs]

Looked up in the dictionary: Queer also means homosexual and spoil (as in queer a pitcher's pitch)

[DonnieDarko]

Gay doesn't mean gay anymore. Gay doesn't mean "happy" or "homosexual". It means "stupid" or "uncool" . Like "This thread is gay".

[F L E S H]

Lesbian comes from ancient Greek. There's an island off the coast of Turkey that's called Lesbos (today pronounced 'Lesvos') that supposedly used to be inhabited only by women, who had sex with each other. They were Lesbians in the geographical sense of the word, and the definition was later extended to include all homosexual women.

[Mojavpa]

I dont think its so much a double standard as women wanting to have their own term that described the uniqueness of lesbian culture. Flesh pointed out the origins of the word lesbian, but I'm not sure if it was coined by lesbians thmsellves or applied to gay women by the straight population.

Homosexuality is the scientific definition to describe a same sex attraction, sex, ec. Being a gay man myself, gay also includes a culture and style unique to Ameriican Homosexual men and also implies behavior, habits and a certain sense of pride, which is now being adopted by other cultures as well. However, many men in India, for example will admit being attracted to men of the same sex but refused to be called "gay" because the term carries with it a connotation of being effeminite, and also the implication that you will seek same sex relationships. Men in India who admit they are only attracted to men will still marry women and have families, because they see it as a duty too.

Lesbians, recognizing the nuanced meaning of "gay", may wanted to have differentiate themselves from gay culture and so use the term lesbian. However, to show solidarity with gay men and the "gay" cause, they will also gladly be called gay.

I hope this answers your question! I recommend reading A History of sexuality by Michael Focault for more information on the history of how we interpret homosexuality.