Quote:
Originally Posted by Aaron W.
My position is that "fear" isn't the only explanation for people's behaviors. My position is not that "fear" does not explain any of people's behaviors. In order for Lestat's position to be correct ("I don't know anyone from my childhood who was gay because they were all too afraid to come out") we must have "fear" as the primary driver for virtually all behaviors. I'm saying that the sociology is far more complex than that.
I don't disagree that "fear" can be understood in the way that t_d is saying. But by itself, that doesn't really advance Lestat's position unless he's taking it in the extreme form like when people make arguments that we do everything out of fear of death (or something like that).
First, I do happen to think that people in general are highly motivated by fear. It's my (very informal) hypothesis that almost every action we take stems from an attempt to either avoid some semblance of pain, or a desire to gain some semblance of pleasure. But that's off topic and a bit too involved for this discussion.
I'd be more inclined to agree with you if we were talking about a heterosexual married couple who swings, or a guy who derives arousal from being dominated by women, etc. There are all kinds of sexual kinks and pleasures that people seek (and would no doubt be considered sinful by biblical standards). In many of these cases, conforming to social norms (and not fear), might indeed be the main reason for discretion and not going public with their lifestyles. However, sexual orientation is an identity. It's who you are. It's not a sexual preference, activity, or fetish, that one either chooses to act or not act upon.
So unless your intention is to go back a couple of decades and use the oh so unsophisticated argument that being gay is a "choice", I'm not sure what you're trying to say. Homosexuality is not merely a lifestyle choice. And if you live in an intolerant society that doesn't accept you for who you are, and coming out has the very real consequence of being shun by family members, social groups, and even career opportunities, then fear by any definition, is a very reasonable word to use.