“You would think people would see that homophobia is not in their best interests. And because homophobia is a an expression of gender oppression it also reflects how marginalized women tend to be in that society and their inability to truly be independent and contribute their intellect, skills and talent to the economic pool; as well and how limited men are made to be as they must conform to rigid and oftentimes unhealthy macho pigeon-holes.”
– Random Huffington Post comment
Gay thoughts
As a casual Reddit and Imgur user I’ve noticed a weird trend over the past two years. Both sites have begun to have a lot of content related to gay rights. While I no problem with homosexuality and have a few gay bros, I do get a little tired of everyone acting like there’s some kind of Jihad against homosexuals. Between BuzzFeed, The Huffington Post, and Reddit you’d think that we lived in a society where gay people are being hunted to extinction. Murderous rednecks and religious types are, were you to believe any of these sources, constantly attacking and assaulting anyone who isn’t straight. This is stupid. I live a flyover state that legalized gay marriage way before California did. The myth that people who live in the Midwest are violent and intolerant apes is just stupid. While I’m sure there are some religious nuts and trashy rednecks who do hate others, the vast majority of people could care less about what you do.
The Midwest is not filled with zealots
According to numerous reports from the media anyone who leaves the cost is immediately murdered by Bible thumping yokels who “don’t take kindly to city folk.” In reality Iowa has a higher percentage of atheists than New York does. You can even have friendly debates about religion with people and they aren’t going to get upset. Assuming that you aren’t some whiny neckbeard no one is going to care or argue with you about religious beliefs. People in the state are pretty intelligent and we have some of the smartest cities in the nation. No one is jumping out of their turnip trucks to fight with strangers.
People are liberals
The Midwest loves socialism. Seriously, a lot of the area was settled by Scandinavians who brought their liberal ideas to the area. Floyd B. Olson is generally considered to be Minnesota’s greatest governor and there are a lot of various relics to socialism that can be found throughout the region. As some commenter on a Republican forum once said “Iowa is a lost cause.” There are numerous people from California who have vacation houses around here and get along fine with local residents.
You only live around people like you
No one goes on vacation to the ghettos of Detroit. When you travel or move somewhere you go to an area that has people like you. When I go out of the country I’m not staying in a place with a high crime rate and lots of poverty. I’m going to an area that meets or exceeds my normal standard of living. Why would I downgrade? I wouldn’t move to some rundown slum where the locals would be more than happy to cause trouble to their gringo visitors, I doubt any gays are itching to move next to the Westboro Baptist Church. There are plenty of places that I could go and get into trouble with the locals, more on that in a moment, so I simply avoid those areas. It’s pretty simple to do. The last time I was in Chicago I went for a walk during the dead of night. I didn’t run into any trouble and the only people I saw were all friendly. Why? Because I don’t stay in the bad part of town. While the city might be the murder capital all the bad stuff happens in one area. The part I’m not in. If I want to walk around or get a late night snack there’s nothing that’s going to happen to me.
Rednecks hate everyone
Last year I went to hang out with a friend from school. He lives in a pretty small town. We went out and I started talking to some girl there. Within about thirty seconds I was surrounded by about four big yokels who all wanted to know what I thought I was doing. If you’re a straight man and go to some tiny town you’ll run into trouble. A lot of country boys like to fight. I’ve heard several stories about dudes who visited or lived in small towns and ended up getting into fights over some girl. Rather than starting some sort of viral campaign to end heterophobia I just avoid going to those places. It’s common sense and I’d rather stick around people who I’m similar to anyway. If you go into some country bar in the middle of nowhere and try to get laid you’ll end up in trouble. It doesn’t matter if your gay or straight.
The “macho pigeon-hole” argument is stupid
While writing this post I ate a Noosa yogurt and listened to Queen of Disaster by Lana Del Rey. Those aren’t exactly macho activities. The whole argument that men are somehow oppressed by a crippling fear of being perceived as gay is just stupid. Most dudes are so soft that they never have to fear being pigeon-holed as macho anyway. As far as everyone else goes who really cares. If some dude calls me gay for wearing pink shoes or a flamboyant shirt why would I get upset? Pirates wore tight pants, bright shirts with ruffles, and gaudy accessories. No one mistook them for being effeminate. Some of the toughest men in history had unmanly hobbies like music, writing, painting, dance, and poetry. Instead of dropping by Buffalo Wild Wings for a beer they were revolutionizing our culture. If some guy in relaxed fit jeans and a shirt from Old Navy wants to say something it’s not like I’d be losing sleep anyway.
A few weeks ago I was listening to a podcast where the host was talking about violent activities being on the decline. He mentioned that in his grandfather’s youth two men who had a disagreement would physically fight each other. There would be blood, broken bones, and missing teeth. Now people who hate each other will just hold a grudge. Despite violence being at an all time low the media still acts like we live in the wild west. My dad and guys in his age range all have stories about massive bar fights erupting and people getting injured with bottles and pool sticks. Fighting used to be pretty common. It isn’t any more. I can go out and see people of every single background and they are all getting along. No one cares anymore.