In the last few years homosexuality maybe has become more visible than in the past, is people modesty fault or mass-media fault that is leading to a new fashion called homosexuality? Nowadays homosexuality seems to be considered as a trend as you can see from some music groups we can see on Tv, so it's possible that mass media contributed to this change. For example, Mtv puts its attention on music groups where the aesthetic traits of their components are crossed: boys look like girls and vice versa. For instance, Tokio Hotel’s singer, Bill Kaulitz wears make-up as a woman and sings as a woman! But why are they so famous? Maybe because female tastes have changed, girls don’t like muscles, beard and manliness anymore. It’s more common to see a girl who is more fascinated by a feminine boy than by a “masculine” boy.
Actually the question is: what is common now? Even if homosexuality is considered trendy, there’s still discrimination linked to this matter. Homosexuals have trouble in school and work integration: in many cases discrimination turns into worse behaviour like mobbing at work or bullying at school, for example in Queensland schools (Australia) 37% of homosexual students said they had attempted suicide in the last 12 months, with 82% of them saying they had experienced bullying based on their sexuality (source: www.abc.net.au). Due to facts like these, homosexuals are forced to hide their sexuality and they are scared of showing their feelings. They don’t even show them to their parents, thinking they wouldn’t understand and accept them; unluckily sometimes this happens. A friend of mine was denied by his father who discovered his homosexuality by chance and push him to move to another city with his behaviour: he left his son outside home or refused to cook for him. What would you do if your son was homosexual? On the other hand, what would you do if one of your parents, or both, were homosexual? The answer is not easy because people is often narrow-minded: homosexuality is seen as a sin by most of people or is considered as something that goes against the laws of nature. In this contest the situation seems to be worse in Italy than in many other western countries considering for instance the matter of homosexuals marriages. Homosexual marriages are legal in many states (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage). Italy is in particular one of the few members of European Comunity that doesn’t allow same sex marriages. Why? Is it right or wrong? Even if this is generally recognized as one of their rights, Italian politicians have a clear idea about it: neither they can get married nor they can adopt a child. What would you do if you were a politician and what would you suggest to change this situation? We are curious to know your opinions: the debate is open!! By Giulia Paolini & Francesco Cai
The Social Network Era: the next step of human evolution or a transient dangerous phenomenon?
To date, social networking sites (SNS) such as Friendster, Facebook, MySpace and Linkedin, have attracted millions of users. A social network is defined as a group of people linked by different kinds of social relationship, i.e. friendship, kinship or working relationships. An online social network uses a web platform to create and maintain these relationships, so the user can make connections with like-minded people that he may not have the opportunity to meet otherwise or to keep in touch with people he already knows, for instance relatives, friends and business contacts.
Nowadays there are a lot of SNS sites that satisfy the different needs of users and every day new ones are born (for a list of the major active SNS, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites). For example one of the most popular SNS in the USA and Europe is Facebook which has over 300 million users worldwide according to the Global Monitor report that tracks the international growth of the site (http://www.insidefacebook.com/facebook-global-market-monitor/).
In contrast to the benefits of SNS mentioned above, some scientific studies shows SNS could be injurious to the health and to real-life social relationships: Dr. Aric Sigman, a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, recently claimed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7898510.stm?lss) that SNS tend to isolate people and may even have biological effects and harm our health because – he says - “a lack of "real" social networking, involving personal interaction, ... could alter the way genes work, upset immune responses, hormone levels, the function of arteries, and influence mental performance”. On the other hand, a study conducted in the USA by the Pew Research Center (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/04/BUI11AEM99.DTL) comes to a different conclusion: people that use social networks, blogs or mobile phones have greater opportunities to create a broader network of people with whom to discuss important issues; moreover they are more likely to frequent public places like parks and coffee shops instead of withdrawing from society. However, the sample group of the research was made up of American internet users; can we conclude the same for us?
Do you think face-to-face human relationships tend to be replaced with virtual interactions, are enriched by them, or are not affected at all? In your opinion, what are the social implications of SNS on everyday life?
The use of a SNS has important privacy issues too. It is true that an online social network allows its users to come into contact with people who share the same interests and activities, or to explore interests and activities of others. However, in order to make this possible, a huge quantity of personal information, including digital pictures and videos, is not only published on the social network sites, but it is published at the initiative of the users and based on their consent. This huge availability of personal data can be used by third parties for various purposes, commercial or illegal, and expose people to dangerous risks such as identity theft, financial loss, loss of business or employment opportunities and physical harm. The “Report and Guidance on Privacy in Social Network Services”, a document produced by the International Working Group on Data Protection in Telecommunications, highlights and clearly explains 11 major risks for privacy and security, and provides guidelines for users, SNS providers and regulators; you can have a look at it (http://www.datenschutz-berlin.de/attachments/461/WP_social_network_services.pdf?1208438491) for further reference. Are you aware of the risks due to the spread of personal information on the Web? Do you think SNS users are aware of these risks, and why do they seem not to be worried about privacy? In conclusion, do you consider online social networks as a further step of human evolution or as a transient dangerous phenomenon?
In the last few years reality shows increased their presence in TV schedules, becoming a very popular kind of show. The Big Brother even reached 60% of the share. There are reality shows about sports, job searching, dating etc. We wonder why they're so successful, isn't there anything more interesting on TV? Maybe the reason for this success is that people like to go inside other people's lives or the fact they're attracted by the feelings emphasized by the producers. There are some issues about reality shows: 1) Is what we see really a simulation of reality or is it affected by the producers to attract the attention of the public? Many critics argue that the participants act out a script written by editors. Ray Richmond, a tv critic, has been trying to have the term "reality television" switched to "partially scripted television". 2) What drives the partecipants to live 24/7 under the gaze of millions of people? Reality shows have the potential to turn the participants into national celebrities so maybe they dream to start a career in the show business. Or maybe they're just exhibitionists. Another possible reason is the prize. For instance this year the prize for the winner of Big Brother in italy is 250.000 euro. In conclusion what we want to know about you is: do you watch them? would you participate? and why?
Hi everyone! I'm Sonia and I'd like to show you my opinion about SNS because I've read Grazia and Roberto's post and I've fount it really interesting. I'll try to be as clear as possible with my English. I don't think that highly of SNS because I look at them as at the window-shopping of a "supermarket of friends"..
But SNS are a powerful instrument for communicating purposes , especially if you need to reach people you cannot see regurarly due to distance, or if you want to take advantages of networking in business, but in my opinion there are many people who don't use it for this kind of purposes. I mean that there are many people who have created an account only to follow a trend and maybe they don't relly need it... And I know many peple that have an account but they don't use it...they say they have created it to experiment with it. And maybe, SNS are only a trend (maybe a lasting trend) that might disappear in few decades.
I don't have a personal page on any of the existing SNS and so I cannot speak about my personal experience but the more I hear people talking about them the less I want it! What's worring is my privacy. I can only hope my friends don't share any photo or any personal information they know about me on their personal pages because I cannot know if they are doing it and how many of their friends (that maybe are not friends of mine) can look at it. And I don't know the use that the Network can make of these information even. You can say that it would happen also without SNS but using this technology news is faster than light and can get over incredible distances in few minutes.
From my point of view SNS are also building up an obsession factor in people that use them. This idea comes to my mind when I hear people who say that they cannot avoid taking a look at their personal page several times a day just to satisfy their curiosity and see whether someone has written something new...just to know the latest about some of their friends. This makes me think that SNS are like gossip magazines where stars are people we know.
I'm answering about the post written by Giulia and Francesco. Homosexuality has always been a big ghost for human societies and now it is maybe more visible because homosexuals have started, already many years ago, to challenge all other people mentality and they are not afraid anymore to show their sexual preferences. Mass-media has its faults, with its style of communication it creates two opposite sides: on one hand homosexuality is proposed as a new fashion trend, like a new dress to wear, and on the other hand mass-media helps to reinforce homophobia. I think that what's really more visible nowadays is the growing force of both of these two trends. I agree with the thought that the particular case of music groups like Tokyo Hotel or this kind of feminine man is just a new style, a change of taste, maybe new generation of girls really likes feminine boys. This is related more with the society changes, female and male roles are having some transition and mass-media just plots this input. That has already happened in the past, just think about groups from 70 and the feminist movements. We can blame how mass-media raises this kind of information because we know how strong their power is on really young minds. In fact, sexuality is a sensitive argument and teens are really impressionable about what they listen or see, and they are in the phase of their life where they are exploring their sexuality, so some of them can be influenced; I think there is a part of them that express their homosexuality just because they feel they have to choose between homosexual or homophobic but they don't know what it really means, for them the resolution will come naturally; another part of them is showing some behaviors that we classify like homosexual but they just show the style we talked about before. In this case the question for me is: Do you like this kind of style? A feminine boy? I don't, but I come from another generation. In the end, I think that most teens are influenced in the sense that they now feel more free to ask themselves if they are homosexual or not when some years ago just thinking about homosexuality was denied. It is true that there is more freedom to show our sexual tendency but there are still serious integration problems, in particular in Italy I think we are too much influenced by the Church, we live in a Laic State but it is not! Personally I see the marriege as a contract between two persons, so why shouldn't a homosexual couple make a contract? And why cannot two honests persons adopt a child? This argument is uneasy even for straight couples. I think that a child needs love, care, affection and a stable family in the sense of parents, two guides, that can teach him how to develop his own personality, culture, feelings. Just think about couples adopting a child from a different country, they will have problems with him if they don't take into account the diversity between their culture and his culture and if they don't respect it, they must help the child to find his cultural identity. All this is unrelated to sexuality. Sexuality is something that a person explore naturally, so I don't think that it can be controlled or changed if those parents are homosexual, they just need to be "good" parents. In conclusion, homosexuality is a taboo and taboos have always been attractive. As long as prohibitions exist people want to show their disapproval, want to provoke. I'm sure that when we achieve integration homosexuality will become something normal or better, not anymore a fashion trend! It would be a reality, it wouldn't be so visible anymore!
I'm responding to Grazia and Roberto about the Social Network issue. I think it is fair to use the expression "Lack of "real" Social networkin[...]" to describe the consequences S.N. may cause to society. I agree to a certain extent that S.N. are useful tehnological means which have a lot of positive aspects.For example,they allow us to easily keep in touch with people who live abroad,secondly they are also used in the place of phones and mobiles in every day life, and then they also represent a sort of virtual hobby,just like videogames. However,even if they seem not to be a risk for anyone,I feel that we have to pay attention to what they could become.I mean that little by little S.N. are chamging the habits of people because the human brain is gonig to become more and more addicted to an alternative form of reality.The risk is to lose our natural behaviour as social animals who are not able to act in real life anymore.For this reason S.N. can easily turn from being a useful resource to becoming a danger for people. I say that because in my personal opinion we absolutely should not lose and neither to forget the beauty of "real reality".I think the scent and the voice of a girl I'd like to meet are always better than her photographs on the net or than her words that I can only read on a PC screen. To summarise,I believe that S.N. are a new and very useful means which we are obliged to control for our own safety.
Hi! I’m Isabella and I’d like to write my opinion concerning homosexuality. In the last months it has been often discussed about this topic. The number of homosexual people is continually increasing and some of them are having success in TV programmes as special guests or correspondents. Reality shows such as Big Brother enrol homosexuals and transsexuals as participants to enhance audience because “diversity” is now a trend. Personally, I’m not against homosexual people and I agree in same points with the post written by Giulia and Francesco.
It’s true that in Italy, however, there are lots of people who believe homosexuality is a sort of illness or a psychological trouble so this phenomenon is not completely accepted yet, as recent violence episodes against homosexuals in Rome have proved. It seems people have gone back to a prehistoric condition of incivility! Today we usually say that equality is a consolidate value in Western countries but I feel it’s actually a false belief.
If a man is a good person and keeps a correct behaviour respecting other individuals, what does it matter whether he’s hetero- or homosexual? One time some years ago I met a man who was a stylist: he created my sister’s wedding dress. He didn’t hide his homosexuality but at the same time he never exhibited it in excessive ways. I think he was very kind and particularly sensitive: he made everything to put my sister to her easy and to find a perfect dress for her. This pleasant stylist appeared sometimes in local newspapers and released interviews claiming same sex marriage. I can say I’m favourable to allow same sex marriages because I think homosexuals should have the same civil rights of other people. I know it will be impossible for them to get married in church because Catholics authorities don’t conceive a similar idea but certainly civil marriage for homosexuals would be already a great result. I only have a doubt about children adoption by same sex couples. I think this fact could create some integration problems for adopted children. It takes a long time before our society will be ready to accept such a big change. Besides this I ask myself if a child who grows up in a family with an only type of model (only masculine or female) will be really free to choose his sexual identity. However, I’m aware that even heterosexual parents can be good or bad, delightful or terrible, open- or narrow-minded so it’s impossible to make a generalization.
In conclusion, I want repeat that violent acts against homosexuals are equal to every other form of racism. I think we shouldn’t judge people by their singular appearance or by their nonconformist sexual behaviour, especially if they don’t hurt anyone.
Hi everybody!I'd like to write to you my opinion about the S.N. discussion. I think that S.N. may be a great opportunity to expand everyone's communicative horizon: they are another means of communication as well as the traditional ones and have many real strenghts (for example speed, cheapness, informality, mutimodality) but, at the same time, there are communicative features you can't broadcast by them. I don't think it is totally fair to say that new means of communication are dangerous for our health: it always depends on the use you usually make of them. Instead, I completely agree with people that underline the danger of the broadcasting of personal information on the internet without limits: that might be a big risk for your privacy, money and safe. However, I also believe that now we are only in a sort of "transition age" of communication, because soon we will be able to use other media that will create new kinds of comminication: the digital revolution is only at the beginning. Many years ago men have already meditated upon the transition from the spoken language to the written language when writing was born (for example we can read what Plato says about it and discover that many people of the oral age weren't so sure about the "new" writing's efficiency for communicating purposes). We could say,in conclusion, that now we are simply doing the same, meditating upon this further communicative step...
Hello everybody, I'm Roxana and I'd like to write my opinion about''homosexuality''. I totally agree with the idea that nowadays homosexuality has become more and more trendy ,but this doesn't mean that it didn't exist before.It is a phenomenon that we find in every period and kind of people .It's enough to think of ancient Greece ,Rome or many historical figures like Socrates ,Lord byron ,Edward II so on ,where pederasty (the romantic relationship between old men and adolescent boys)was a very common phenomenon. I don't think it is fair to say that sexual orientation is innate and fixed ,I actually believe that sexual orientation develops throughout a person's lifetime.I think for some people it is continuous and fixed throughout their lives,indead ,for others ,sexual orientation may be fluid or change over time.However,there is no sound scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be changed. Efforts toward emancipation of homosexuality as it is currently understood began in the 1860s but since 1950s there has been an accelerating trend towards increased visibility ,acceptance and civil rights for gay people.I agree to a certain extent that a few members of the European Comunity don't allow same-sex marriages ,but research indicates that many lesbians and gay men want ,and succeed in having ,commited and durable relationships .Survey data also indicates that they have lived together ten or more years ,so maybe it is fair to give them the possibility of being safeguarded.Instead,I completely agree with the statement that in Italy ,as in many countries all over the world ,the adoption by same -sex couples is prohibited ,even though in many countries throughout the world it is currently legal .I think local courts shouldn't authorise it not only because there is the risk that the child will become homosexual too ,but because the child will lack a paternal/maternal role model. I wouldn't say that homosexuality really goes against the laws of nature because these days I've been reading a book by Schopenhauer where he said that pederasty is nothing but a diverted instinct.Nature has diverted the sexual instinct of individuals not able to reproduce(they are expected to generate only defective or of poor quality children ruining the type of species).So pederasty is a natural fact ,although it goes directly against the aims of nature.It is an abnormality caused by nature itself in order to avoid worse harms.Is nature sleeping?(we ask this question because of the increased number of pederasty cases ).So,speaking about it as a bad habit wasn't enough ,there was a deeper reason ,or rather,metaphysics. Finally ,I disagree with the idea that female tastes have changed ,I think women are still fascinated by ''macho'' men ,by men with muscles,by strong men who will protect them . I hope I wasn't very boring:)see you ...bye
Hello everybody! I'd like to give my opinion about SNS. I only use Facebook and i like it very much. I'm quite sure that it is a step forward for the mankind, giving us a lot of new possibilities. However they are a very powerful and as it is with powerful means, you have to handle it, being aware of how you can be victim of a scam; once you take the needed precautions, they can give you a lot of chances you had not in the past: my real social life has really liven up, since i am in touch with a very bigger number of friends. Every weekend i have the chance to go and visit one of this old frinds that i lost and found again on fb. Using fb, staying in touch with your friend is easier and most of all cheaper, if you are interested in how they are, you don't need to call them, but you can e-mail (for free) or just visit their profile. Of course you have to be able to act as user and not as victim, not becoming addicted to them, and being aware of the risks you are exposed to.
We want to respond to A&A's post about reality shows. We have to admit we don't like reality shows at all, so we can only guess to explain why they are so successful. First of all, in our opinion people love to nose about other people's lives; furthermore, what happens in reality shows becomes a matter of discussion, so a way to socialize. We believe the participants improvise on a script written by editors, then "partially scripted television" is a correct definition. In this way, a plot is constructed to catch attention and to involve public in it, creating a sort of addiction. We agree with the plausible reasons given by A&A about what drives the participants to live 24/7 under the gaze of millions of people, but they are not appealing to us and we wouldn't like to live in the spot-light. Grazia Maria Grazia Roberto
We'd like to thank everyone who answered to our post, your comments have been useful to widen our point of viev. We wish to respond to Roxana because some misunderstandings occurred. First of all, we're aware of the existance of homosexuality in the past but we wanted to focus on the current situation, however we appreciated your historical note about homosexuality. We agree with you about the development of sexual orietations but we don't think that homosexuality is a diverted instinct and it isn't typical of people who can't reproduce. Anyway, what did you mean with "worse harms" when you talked about "abnormality"? Don't you think that this word is too strong? In addition, we share your idea that behind homosexuality, as any other sexual orientation, there is a deep reason, but we don't understand why you wrote that nature is sleeping; if you explained your point of view, we would be very pleased. Finally, we esteem your participation that allowed us to animate this debate! Giulia, Francesco & Francesco
Hi everybody! I wish to discuss about the homosexuality and give my opinions. In my opinion, the diffusion of homosexuality is the same over the time, from the Ancient Greek to nowadays, passing through the Middle Age. But what does it change during the centuries? I think it is the idea about the homosexuality which is changed: there are periods where it was fully accepted and periods where it was completely refused and contrasted. Nowadays, in Italy there is a deep contrast between people and associations that defend the rights of homosexual people, like Partito Radicale or Arcigay, but unfortunately there are also bad episodes of bullying and racism against this minority; these are the extremes of a large range of Italian people's idea about homosexuality. This wide variety of thoughts results in a poor attention to the rights of homosexual minority, especially in terms of lack of laws. The main important example is marriage: i think it is a right which could be guaranteed to homosexual couples, above all in Italy, where there aren't other kind of relationship officially recognized; this results in a lot of problem in the everyday life, for example in situations where a member of a couple is in hospital and the other member couldn't visit it because he/she is totally a stranger in legal terms. On the other hand, I haven't a clear idea about the adoption; I am convinced it is a very complicated topic, since it concerns a lot of antropological and above all pedagogics aspects, and i think i haven't sufficient background knowledges to have a clear opinion about it. But I am also convinced in Italy, and specially in Italian Parliament, this topic hasn't been discussed enough. I wish to write more about this topic, but now it's time to go. Raffaele
In this post I'll try to add some elements to the discussion introduced by Giulia. In particular I'll focus on the Italian situation from the political and social point of view. But as an introduction, I want to clarify the significant difference of prospective that you can take on thinking about homosexuality and gender identity in general. From one point of view, sexual identity is considered a natural aspect of the individual, determined once and for all from birth, from the other it's taken as a natural product that can change on changing the individual desires and the social and historical situations. It's clear that from the second point of view the campaigns of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender social movements have risen up against the social discrimination of gender minorities. The struggles of LGBT movements had played an important role in the transformation of western society during contemporary history. And in particular, as Giulia has already said, political activism and cultural activities of LGBT movements have created the conditions under which some governments have recognized the LGBT rights, as for example the possibility to perform a marriage or to have access to social insurance like the heterosexual families. But what about Italy? What are the results of LGBT movements in our country? In general our country is backward compared to the rest of European community in the matter of gender equality. In fact in our society cultural prejudices and fears against gender minorities still survives, and on the other hand the presence of Vatican holds out against any kind of legislative reform concerned about LGBT rights. I feel that prejudices in the Italian society related to gender minorities go hand in hand with the culture of sexism in general that strikes above all women. In Newsweek of November 9, 2009 the journalist Katie Baker speaks about Italy's culture of chauvinism that is perfectly reflected by the antics of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. I agree with Katie Baker when she says that the crass comments of our Prime Minister are the superficial manifestation of a deeper social and political problem. Beside this, the World Economic Forum's annual Gender Gap Report gives heft to those warnings: Italy is placed 79th out of 134 on the ranking of nations by gender equality, after Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan! Episodes of gender discrimination frequently happen in our cities, always related to a culture of fear that uses violence to avoid natural social transformations. I think that those episodes are the other face of the coin compared to the case of Tokyo Hotel reported by Giulia, and I agree with Emanuela when she states that both the homosexuality as a fashion trend and the homophobia are effects of a mass-media distortion of reality. But at the same time I don't think that gender equality in a country can be measured only by mass-media stereotypes. Following this way of thinking you can consider the transgender integration achieved only because there is a transsexual in the house of Big Bother. Isn't it true? The real challenge is to fight sexism within the walls of our houses promoting a culture of wide integration. But this challenge might be an illusion if our government doesn't take in the transformation of society.
... In the case of Italy one of the main problems is the Vatican, and in particular the tight relationship between the Vatican and politics. The Vatican has always harshly criticized the possibility to legalize homosexual marriage, defending the traditional idea of the heterosexual family. The Vatican opposition has blocked two possible reforms in matter of gay and lesbian rights: DICO at first, and PACS later on. Italian government, both the Left and the Right, can't disagree with the Vatican statement, because the Catholic Church is first of all a huge source of votes in our country. Maybe, when LGBT movements will become more powerful, in terms of number of votes in a poll, something will change. I know that this is a cynical point of view, but these are the trouble of representative democracy! Finally I want to be more precise on defining the idea of marriage among people of the same sex. What LGBT movements request isn't a marriage as a blessed sacrament, but they want a legal recognition, that includes social insurance for couples and the possibility to adopt a child. I think that in a lay state the Church must keep out of these topics that are related to civil rights. But the problem is not only what Vatican says, but also what the Vatican doesn't say. For example there are 91 countries in the world in which homosexuality is considered a crime, and in 7 of these homosexuality can be punished with the death sentence. But the biggest Church of the World doesn't say nothing. Is too busy with its crusade against the morning-after pill! In conclusion, besides my easy criticism against Vatican, I figure that we can globally interpret the process of attainment of gender equality as a conflict among two opposite forces: the movements, that from the bottom up are trying to gain rights and to trigger social transformations, and conservative forces that are afraid of change, because mind-changing means for them lack of control. Luckily I feel confident that in no case a wall can stop the flow of changing...
I think homosexuality exists since the beginning of time. Let's think for instance about Ancient Greece, with its culture of beauty or about all those literary men of the past who expressly declared their homosexuality, like Oscar Wilde. Even though nowadays homosexuality seems to be a trend, I'm sure there are many homosexual people who just would like to live their feelings like every man on earth. I have a close friend, he's homosexual and he's one of the kindest people I've ever met in my life. When he tells me about his stories, I feel he experiences the same feelings I do with my boyfriend. The first time he talked to me about this I was so surprised. Since I had had no opportunity to know homosexuality in this close way before, I didn't believe such a thing. But now I'm convinced that, as Roberto Benigni said on tv some months ago, we wouldn't care if the two people who experience love are both of the same gender or not. They just live such a wonderful feeling and that's enough. Is there a more beautiful thing than two people who are in love? But he also told me how difficult it is to show his feeling in a small town like ours. Even his parents didn't understand him and this made him suffer a lot. In conclusion I think that before trying to give explanations to all things, we should first of all have a deep respect for ideas and ways of being that seem not to belong to us at all. Marilena
Hi! I just wanna post my opinion about homosexuality. Nowadays we can see homosexuals in almost all tv shows. I wonder what has changed from the past since I remember that, till ten years ago, transgenders and co. were almost banned not only from television but from society too.I think we are the society of excesses....for years homosexuals are a taboo for everyone, it's forbidden talking about them on tv...now we are almost celebrating them as the most open minded men (or women) on the earth. My opinion is that both behaviours are wrong. I think homosexuals are just like everyone else, and it's so stupid to say they are all open minded and so special...expecially if it's said by somebody who stood for the contrary till the previous day. But we cannot do anything against the great hypocrisy of our society which is reflected on tv shows. My opinion, to tell the truth, is that it's absurd not to allow homosexuals to marry. On the other side I think they shouldn't adopt children, 'cause a child needs both a male and a female figure to grow up. It's too late to write something else! bye!
I have been working in tertiary education and foreign language teaching for over 16 years. My professional areas of interest are Language Awareness, Tandem learning, Learner Counselling, Cross Cultural communication and language learning in multimedia environnments including Second Life.
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ReplyDeleteIn the last few years homosexuality maybe has become more visible than in the past, is people modesty fault or mass-media fault that is leading to a new fashion called homosexuality? Nowadays homosexuality seems to be considered as a trend as you can see from some music groups we can see on Tv, so it's possible that mass media contributed to this change. For example, Mtv puts its attention on music groups where the aesthetic traits of their components are crossed: boys look like girls and vice versa. For instance, Tokio Hotel’s singer, Bill Kaulitz wears make-up as a woman and sings as a woman! But why are they so famous? Maybe because female tastes have changed, girls don’t like muscles, beard and manliness anymore. It’s more common to see a girl who is more fascinated by a feminine boy than by a “masculine” boy.
ReplyDeleteActually the question is: what is common now? Even if homosexuality is considered trendy, there’s still discrimination linked to this matter. Homosexuals have trouble in school and work integration: in many cases discrimination turns into worse behaviour like mobbing at work or bullying at school, for example in Queensland schools (Australia) 37% of homosexual students said they had attempted suicide in the last 12 months, with 82% of them saying they had experienced bullying based on their sexuality (source: www.abc.net.au).
Due to facts like these, homosexuals are forced to hide their sexuality and they are scared of showing their feelings. They don’t even show them to their parents, thinking they wouldn’t understand and accept them; unluckily sometimes this happens. A friend of mine was denied by his father who discovered his homosexuality by chance and push him to move to another city with his behaviour: he left his son outside home or refused to cook for him. What would you do if your son was homosexual? On the other hand, what would you do if one of your parents, or both, were homosexual? The answer is not easy because people is often narrow-minded: homosexuality is seen as a sin by most of people or is considered as something that goes against the laws of nature. In this contest the situation seems to be worse in Italy than in many other western countries considering for instance the matter of homosexuals marriages.
Homosexual marriages are legal in many states (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage). Italy is in particular one of the few members of European Comunity that doesn’t allow same sex marriages. Why? Is it right or wrong? Even if this is generally recognized as one of their rights, Italian politicians have a clear idea about it: neither they can get married nor they can adopt a child. What would you do if you were a politician and what would you suggest to change this situation?
We are curious to know your opinions: the debate is open!!
By Giulia Paolini & Francesco Cai
The Social Network Era: the next step of human evolution or a transient dangerous phenomenon?
ReplyDeleteTo date, social networking sites (SNS) such as Friendster, Facebook, MySpace and Linkedin, have attracted millions of users. A social network is defined as a group of people linked by different kinds of social relationship, i.e. friendship, kinship or working relationships. An online social network uses a web platform to create and maintain these relationships, so the user can make connections with like-minded people that he may not have the opportunity to meet otherwise or to keep in touch with people he already knows, for instance relatives, friends and business contacts.
Nowadays there are a lot of SNS sites that satisfy the different needs of users and every day new ones are born (for a list of the major active SNS, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites). For example one of the most popular SNS in the USA and Europe is Facebook which has over 300 million users worldwide according to the Global Monitor report that tracks the international growth of the site (http://www.insidefacebook.com/facebook-global-market-monitor/).
In contrast to the benefits of SNS mentioned above, some scientific studies shows SNS could be injurious to the health and to real-life social relationships: Dr. Aric Sigman, a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, recently claimed (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7898510.stm?lss) that SNS tend to isolate people and may even have biological effects and harm our health because – he says - “a lack of "real" social networking, involving personal interaction, ... could alter the way genes work, upset immune responses, hormone levels, the function of arteries, and influence mental performance”.
On the other hand, a study conducted in the USA by the Pew Research Center (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/04/BUI11AEM99.DTL) comes to a different conclusion: people that use social networks, blogs or mobile phones have greater opportunities to create a broader network of people with whom to discuss important issues; moreover they are more likely to frequent public places like parks and coffee shops instead of withdrawing from society. However, the sample group of the research was made up of American internet users; can we conclude the same for us?
Do you think face-to-face human relationships tend to be replaced with virtual interactions, are enriched by them, or are not affected at all? In your opinion, what are the social implications of SNS on everyday life?
(to be continued)
The use of a SNS has important privacy issues too. It is true that an online social network allows its users to come into contact with people who share the same interests and activities, or to explore interests and activities of others. However, in order to make this possible, a huge quantity of personal information, including digital pictures and videos, is not only published on the social network sites, but it is published at the initiative of the users and based on their consent. This huge availability of personal data can be used by third parties for various purposes, commercial or illegal, and expose people to dangerous risks such as identity theft, financial loss, loss of business or employment opportunities and physical harm. The “Report and Guidance on Privacy in Social Network Services”, a document produced by the International Working Group on Data Protection in Telecommunications, highlights and clearly explains 11 major risks for privacy and security, and provides guidelines for users, SNS providers and regulators; you can have a look at it (http://www.datenschutz-berlin.de/attachments/461/WP_social_network_services.pdf?1208438491) for further reference.
ReplyDeleteAre you aware of the risks due to the spread of personal information on the Web? Do you think SNS users are aware of these risks, and why do they seem not to be worried about privacy? In conclusion, do you consider online social networks as a further step of human evolution or as a transient dangerous phenomenon?
Grazia
Roberto
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn the last few years reality shows increased their presence in TV schedules, becoming a very popular kind of show. The Big Brother even
ReplyDeletereached 60% of the share. There are reality shows about sports, job searching, dating etc.
We wonder why they're so successful, isn't there anything more interesting on TV?
Maybe the reason for this success is that people like to go inside other people's lives or the fact they're attracted by the feelings emphasized by the producers. There are some
issues about reality shows:
1) Is what we see really a simulation of reality or is it affected by the producers to attract the attention of the public?
Many critics argue that the participants act out a script written by editors. Ray Richmond,
a tv critic, has been trying to have the term "reality television" switched to "partially scripted television".
2) What drives the partecipants to live 24/7 under the gaze of millions of people?
Reality shows have the potential to turn the participants into national celebrities so maybe they dream to start a career in the show business. Or maybe they're just exhibitionists.
Another possible reason is the prize. For instance this year the prize for the winner of Big Brother in italy is 250.000 euro.
In conclusion what we want to know about you is: do you watch them? would you participate? and why?
A&A
Hi everyone!
ReplyDeleteI'm Sonia and I'd like to show you my opinion about SNS because I've read Grazia and Roberto's post and I've fount it really interesting. I'll try to be as clear as possible with my English.
I don't think that highly of SNS because I look at them as at the window-shopping of a "supermarket of friends"..
But SNS are a powerful instrument for communicating purposes , especially if you need to reach people you cannot see regurarly due to distance, or if you want to take advantages of networking in business, but in my opinion there are many people who don't use it for this kind of purposes. I mean that there are many people who have created an account only to follow a trend and maybe they don't relly need it... And I know many peple that have an account but they don't use it...they say they have created it to experiment with it. And maybe, SNS are only a trend (maybe a lasting trend) that might disappear in few decades.
I don't have a personal page on any of the existing SNS and so I cannot speak about my personal experience but the more I hear people talking about them the less I want it! What's worring is my privacy. I can only hope my friends don't share any photo or any personal information they know about me on their personal pages because I cannot know if they are doing it and how many of their friends (that maybe are not friends of mine) can look at it. And I don't know the use that the Network can make of these information even. You can say that it would happen also without SNS but using this technology news is faster than light and can get over incredible distances in few minutes.
From my point of view SNS are also building up an obsession factor in people that use them. This idea comes to my mind when I hear people who say that they cannot avoid taking a look at their personal page several times a day just to satisfy their curiosity and see whether someone has written something new...just to know the latest about some of their friends. This makes me think that SNS are like gossip magazines where stars are people we know.
I'd like to write more but now I've to go.
Bye-bye
I'm answering about the post written by Giulia and Francesco.
ReplyDeleteHomosexuality has always been a big ghost for human societies and now it is maybe more visible because homosexuals have started, already many years ago, to challenge all other people mentality and they are not afraid anymore to show their sexual preferences.
Mass-media has its faults, with its style of communication it creates two opposite sides: on one hand homosexuality is proposed as a new fashion trend, like a new dress to wear, and on the other hand mass-media helps to reinforce homophobia.
I think that what's really more visible nowadays is the growing force of both of these two trends.
I agree with the thought that the particular case of music groups like Tokyo Hotel or this kind of feminine man is just a new style, a change of taste, maybe new generation of girls really likes feminine boys. This is related more with the society changes, female and male roles are having some transition and mass-media just plots this input. That has already happened in the past, just think about groups from 70 and the feminist movements.
We can blame how mass-media raises this kind of information because we know how strong their power is on really young minds.
In fact, sexuality is a sensitive argument and teens are really impressionable about what they listen or see, and they are in the phase of their life where they are exploring their sexuality, so some of them can be influenced; I think there is a part of them that express their homosexuality just because they feel they have to choose between homosexual or homophobic but they don't know what it really means, for them the resolution will come naturally; another part of them is showing some behaviors that we classify like homosexual but they just show the style we talked about before. In this case the question for me is: Do you like this kind of style? A feminine boy? I don't, but I come from another generation. In the end, I think that most teens are influenced in the sense that they now feel more free to ask themselves if they are homosexual or not when some years ago just thinking about homosexuality was denied.
It is true that there is more freedom to show our sexual tendency but there are still serious integration problems, in particular in Italy I think we are too much influenced by the Church, we live in a Laic State but it is not!
Personally I see the marriege as a contract between two persons, so why shouldn't a homosexual couple make a contract?
And why cannot two honests persons adopt a child? This argument is uneasy even for straight couples.
I think that a child needs love, care, affection and a stable family in the sense of parents, two guides, that can teach him how to develop his own personality, culture, feelings.
Just think about couples adopting a child from a different country, they will have problems with him if they don't take into account the diversity between their culture and his culture and if they don't respect it, they must help the child to find his cultural identity.
All this is unrelated to sexuality. Sexuality is something that a person explore naturally, so I don't think that it can be controlled or changed if those parents are homosexual, they just need to be "good" parents.
In conclusion, homosexuality is a taboo and taboos have always been attractive. As long as prohibitions exist people want to show their disapproval, want to provoke. I'm sure that when we achieve integration homosexuality will become something normal or better, not anymore a fashion trend! It would be a reality, it wouldn't be so visible anymore!
I'm responding to Grazia and Roberto about the Social Network issue.
ReplyDeleteI think it is fair to use the expression "Lack of "real" Social networkin[...]" to describe the consequences S.N. may cause to society.
I agree to a certain extent that S.N. are useful tehnological means which have a lot of positive aspects.For example,they allow us to easily keep in touch with people who live abroad,secondly they are also used in the place of phones and mobiles in every day life, and then they also represent a sort of virtual hobby,just like videogames.
However,even if they seem not to be a risk for anyone,I feel that we have to pay attention to what they could become.I mean that little by little S.N. are chamging the habits of people because the human brain is gonig to become more and more addicted to an alternative form of reality.The risk is to lose our natural behaviour as social animals who are not able to act in real life anymore.For this reason S.N. can easily turn from being a useful resource to becoming a danger for people.
I say that because in my personal opinion we absolutely should not lose and neither to forget the beauty of "real reality".I think the scent and the voice of a girl I'd like to meet are always better than her photographs on the net or than her words that I can only read on a PC screen.
To summarise,I believe that S.N. are a new and very useful means which we are obliged to control for our own safety.
Hi! I’m Isabella and I’d like to write my opinion concerning homosexuality.
ReplyDeleteIn the last months it has been often discussed about this topic. The number of homosexual people is continually increasing and some of them are having success in TV programmes as special guests or correspondents. Reality shows such as Big Brother enrol homosexuals and transsexuals as participants to enhance audience because “diversity” is now a trend.
Personally, I’m not against homosexual people and I agree in same points with the post written by Giulia and Francesco.
It’s true that in Italy, however, there are lots of people who believe homosexuality is a sort of illness or a psychological trouble so this phenomenon is not completely accepted yet, as recent violence episodes against homosexuals in Rome have proved. It seems people have gone back to a prehistoric condition of incivility! Today we usually say that equality is a consolidate value in Western countries but I feel it’s actually a false belief.
If a man is a good person and keeps a correct behaviour respecting other individuals, what does it matter whether he’s hetero- or homosexual? One time some years ago I met a man who was a stylist: he created my sister’s wedding dress. He didn’t hide his homosexuality but at the same time he never exhibited it in excessive ways. I think he was very kind and particularly sensitive: he made everything to put my sister to her easy and to find a perfect dress for her.
This pleasant stylist appeared sometimes in local newspapers and released interviews claiming same sex marriage. I can say I’m favourable to allow same sex marriages because I think homosexuals should have the same civil rights of other people. I know it will be impossible for them to get married in church because Catholics authorities don’t conceive a similar idea but certainly civil marriage for homosexuals would be already a great result.
I only have a doubt about children adoption by same sex couples. I think this fact could create some integration problems for adopted children. It takes a long time before our society will be ready to accept such a big change. Besides this I ask myself if a child who grows up in a family with an only type of model (only masculine or female) will be really free to choose his sexual identity. However, I’m aware that even heterosexual parents can be good or bad, delightful or terrible, open- or narrow-minded so it’s impossible to make a generalization.
In conclusion, I want repeat that violent acts against homosexuals are equal to every other form of racism. I think we shouldn’t judge people by their singular appearance or by their nonconformist sexual behaviour, especially if they don’t hurt anyone.
Isabella
Hi everybody!I'd like to write to you my opinion about the S.N. discussion.
ReplyDeleteI think that S.N. may be a great opportunity to expand everyone's communicative horizon: they are another means of communication as well as the traditional ones and have many real strenghts (for example speed, cheapness, informality, mutimodality) but, at the same time, there are communicative features you can't broadcast by them. I don't think it is totally fair to say that new means of communication are dangerous for our health: it always depends on the use you usually make of them. Instead, I completely agree with people that underline the danger of the broadcasting of personal information on the internet without limits: that might be a big risk for your privacy, money and safe. However, I also believe that now we are only in a sort of "transition age" of communication, because soon we will be able to use other media that will create new kinds of comminication: the digital revolution is only at the beginning. Many years ago men have already meditated upon the transition from the spoken language to the written language when writing was born (for example we can read what Plato says about it and discover that many people of the oral age weren't so sure about the "new" writing's efficiency for communicating purposes). We could say,in conclusion, that now we are simply doing the same, meditating upon this further communicative step...
Hello everybody,
ReplyDeleteI'm Roxana and I'd like to write my opinion about''homosexuality''.
I totally agree with the idea that nowadays homosexuality has become more and more trendy ,but this doesn't mean that it didn't exist before.It is a phenomenon that we find in every period and kind of people .It's enough to think of ancient Greece ,Rome or many historical figures like Socrates ,Lord byron ,Edward II so on ,where pederasty (the romantic relationship between old men and adolescent boys)was a very common phenomenon.
I don't think it is fair to say that sexual orientation is innate and fixed ,I actually believe that sexual orientation develops throughout a person's lifetime.I think for some people it is continuous and fixed throughout their lives,indead ,for others ,sexual orientation may be fluid or change over time.However,there is no sound scientific evidence that sexual orientation can be changed.
Efforts toward emancipation of homosexuality as it is currently understood began in the 1860s but since 1950s there has been an accelerating trend towards increased visibility ,acceptance and civil rights for gay people.I agree to a certain extent that a few members of the European Comunity don't allow same-sex marriages ,but research indicates that many lesbians and gay men want ,and succeed in having ,commited and durable relationships .Survey data also indicates that they have lived together ten or more years ,so maybe it is fair to give them the possibility of being safeguarded.Instead,I completely agree with the statement that in Italy ,as in many countries all over the world ,the adoption by same -sex couples is prohibited ,even though in many countries throughout the world it is currently legal .I think local courts shouldn't authorise it not only because there is the risk that the child will become homosexual too ,but because the child will lack a paternal/maternal role model.
I wouldn't say that homosexuality really goes against the laws of nature because these days I've been reading a book by Schopenhauer where he said that pederasty is nothing but a diverted instinct.Nature has diverted the sexual instinct of individuals not able to reproduce(they are expected to generate only defective or of poor quality children ruining the type of species).So pederasty is a natural fact ,although it goes directly against the aims of nature.It is an abnormality caused by nature itself in order to avoid worse harms.Is nature sleeping?(we ask this question because of the increased number of pederasty cases ).So,speaking about it as a bad habit wasn't enough ,there was a deeper reason ,or rather,metaphysics.
Finally ,I disagree with the idea that female tastes have changed ,I think women are still fascinated by ''macho'' men ,by men with muscles,by strong men who will protect them .
I hope I wasn't very boring:)see you ...bye
Hello everybody! I'd like to give my opinion about SNS. I only use Facebook and i like it very much. I'm quite sure that it is a step forward for the mankind, giving us a lot of new possibilities. However they are a very powerful and as it is with powerful means, you have to handle it, being aware of how you can be victim of a scam; once you take the needed precautions, they can give you a lot of chances you had not in the past: my real social life has really liven up, since i am in touch with a very bigger number of friends. Every weekend i have the chance to go and visit one of this old frinds that i lost and found again on fb. Using fb, staying in touch with your friend is easier and most of all cheaper, if you are interested in how they are, you don't need to call them, but you can e-mail (for free) or just visit their profile.
ReplyDeleteOf course you have to be able to act as user and not as victim, not becoming addicted to them, and being aware of the risks you are exposed to.
We want to respond to A&A's post about reality shows. We have to admit we don't like reality shows at all, so we can only guess to explain why they are so successful. First of all, in our opinion people love to nose about other people's lives; furthermore, what happens in reality shows becomes a matter of discussion, so a way to socialize. We believe the participants improvise on a script written by editors, then "partially scripted television" is a correct definition. In this way, a plot is constructed to catch attention and to involve public in it, creating a sort of addiction. We agree with the plausible reasons given by A&A about what drives the participants to live 24/7 under the gaze of millions of people, but they are not appealing to us and we wouldn't like to live in the spot-light.
ReplyDeleteGrazia
Maria Grazia
Roberto
We'd like to thank everyone who answered to our post, your comments have been useful to widen our point of viev.
ReplyDeleteWe wish to respond to Roxana because some misunderstandings occurred. First of all, we're aware of the existance of homosexuality in the past but we wanted to focus on the current situation, however we appreciated your historical note about homosexuality.
We agree with you about the development of sexual orietations but we don't think that homosexuality is a diverted instinct and it isn't typical of people who can't reproduce.
Anyway, what did you mean with "worse harms" when you talked about "abnormality"? Don't you think that this word is too strong? In addition, we share your idea that behind homosexuality, as any other sexual orientation, there is a deep reason, but we don't understand why you wrote that nature is sleeping; if you explained your point of view, we would be very pleased.
Finally, we esteem your participation that allowed us to animate this debate!
Giulia, Francesco & Francesco
Hi everybody! I wish to discuss about the homosexuality and give my opinions.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the diffusion of homosexuality is the same over the time, from the Ancient Greek to nowadays, passing through the Middle Age. But what does it change during the centuries? I think it is the idea about the homosexuality which is changed: there are periods where it was fully accepted and periods where it was completely refused and contrasted.
Nowadays, in Italy there is a deep contrast between people and associations that defend the rights of homosexual people, like Partito Radicale or Arcigay, but unfortunately there are also bad episodes of bullying and racism against this minority; these are the extremes of a large range of Italian people's idea about homosexuality.
This wide variety of thoughts results in a poor attention to the rights of homosexual minority, especially in terms of lack of laws.
The main important example is marriage: i think it is a right which could be guaranteed to homosexual couples, above all in Italy, where there aren't other kind of relationship officially recognized; this results in a lot of problem in the everyday life, for example in situations where a member of a couple is in hospital and the other member couldn't visit it because he/she is totally a stranger in legal terms.
On the other hand, I haven't a clear idea about the adoption; I am convinced it is a very complicated topic, since it concerns a lot of antropological and above all pedagogics aspects, and i think i haven't sufficient background knowledges to have a clear opinion about it. But I am also convinced in Italy, and specially in Italian Parliament, this topic hasn't been discussed enough.
I wish to write more about this topic, but now it's time to go.
Raffaele
In this post I'll try to add some elements to the discussion introduced by Giulia. In particular I'll focus on the Italian situation from the political and social point of view.
ReplyDeleteBut as an introduction, I want to clarify the significant difference of prospective that you can take on thinking about homosexuality and gender identity in general. From one point of view, sexual identity is considered a natural aspect of the individual, determined once and for all from birth, from the other it's taken as a natural product that can change on changing the individual desires and the social and historical situations.
It's clear that from the second point of view the campaigns of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender social movements have risen up against the social discrimination of gender minorities.
The struggles of LGBT movements had played an important role in the transformation of western society during contemporary history. And in particular, as Giulia has already said, political activism and cultural activities of LGBT movements have created the conditions under which some governments have recognized the LGBT rights, as for example the possibility to perform a marriage or to have access to social insurance like the heterosexual families.
But what about Italy? What are the results of LGBT movements in our country?
In general our country is backward compared to the rest of European community in the matter of gender equality. In fact in our society cultural prejudices and fears against gender minorities still survives, and on the other hand the presence of Vatican holds out against any kind of legislative reform concerned about LGBT rights. I feel that prejudices in the Italian society related to gender minorities go hand in hand with the culture of sexism in general that strikes above all women.
In Newsweek of November 9, 2009 the journalist Katie Baker speaks about Italy's culture of chauvinism that is perfectly reflected by the antics of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
I agree with Katie Baker when she says that the crass comments of our Prime Minister are the superficial manifestation of a deeper social and political problem. Beside this, the World Economic Forum's annual Gender Gap Report gives heft to those warnings: Italy is placed 79th out of 134 on the ranking of nations by gender equality, after Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan!
Episodes of gender discrimination frequently happen in our cities, always related to a culture of fear that uses violence to avoid natural social transformations. I think that those episodes are the other face of the coin compared to the case of Tokyo Hotel reported by Giulia, and I agree with Emanuela when she states that both the homosexuality as a fashion trend and the homophobia are effects of a mass-media distortion of reality.
But at the same time I don't think that gender equality in a country can be measured only by mass-media stereotypes. Following this way of thinking you can consider the transgender integration achieved only because there is a transsexual in the house of Big Bother. Isn't it true?
The real challenge is to fight sexism within the walls of our houses promoting a culture of wide integration. But this challenge might be an illusion if our government doesn't take in the transformation of society.
...
ReplyDeleteIn the case of Italy one of the main problems is the Vatican, and in particular the tight relationship between the Vatican and politics. The Vatican has always harshly criticized the possibility to legalize homosexual marriage, defending the traditional idea of the heterosexual family. The Vatican opposition has blocked two possible reforms in matter of gay and lesbian rights: DICO at first, and PACS later on. Italian government, both the Left and the Right, can't disagree with the Vatican statement, because the Catholic Church is first of all a huge source of votes in our country. Maybe, when LGBT movements will become more powerful, in terms of number of votes in a poll, something will change. I know that this is a cynical point of view, but these are the trouble of representative democracy!
Finally I want to be more precise on defining the idea of marriage among people of the same sex. What LGBT movements request isn't a marriage as a blessed sacrament, but they want a legal recognition, that includes social insurance for couples and the possibility to adopt a child. I think that in a lay state the Church must keep out of these topics that are related to civil rights. But the problem is not only what Vatican says, but also what the Vatican doesn't say. For example there are 91 countries in the world in which homosexuality is considered a crime, and in 7 of these homosexuality can be punished with the death sentence. But the biggest Church of the World doesn't say nothing. Is too busy with its crusade against the morning-after pill!
In conclusion, besides my easy criticism against Vatican, I figure that we can globally interpret the process of attainment of gender equality as a conflict among two opposite forces: the movements, that from the bottom up are trying to gain rights and to trigger social transformations, and conservative forces that are afraid of change, because mind-changing means for them lack of control. Luckily I feel confident that in no case a wall can stop the flow of changing...
I think homosexuality exists since the beginning of time. Let's think for instance about Ancient Greece, with its culture of beauty or about all those literary men of the past who expressly declared their homosexuality, like Oscar Wilde.
ReplyDeleteEven though nowadays homosexuality seems to be a trend, I'm sure there are many homosexual people who just would like to live their feelings like every man on earth. I have a close friend, he's homosexual and he's one of the kindest people I've ever met in my life. When he tells me about his stories, I feel he experiences the same feelings I do with my boyfriend. The first time he talked to me about this I was so surprised. Since I had had no opportunity to know homosexuality in this close way before, I didn't believe such a thing. But now I'm convinced that, as Roberto Benigni said on tv some months ago, we wouldn't care if the two people who experience love are both of the same gender or not. They just live such a wonderful feeling and that's enough. Is there a more beautiful thing than two people who are in love? But he also told me how difficult it is to show his feeling in a small town like ours. Even his parents didn't understand him and this made him suffer a lot. In conclusion I think that before trying to give explanations to all things, we should first of all have a deep respect for ideas and ways of being that seem not to belong to us at all.
Marilena
Hi! I just wanna post my opinion about homosexuality. Nowadays we can see homosexuals in almost all tv shows. I wonder what has changed from the past since I remember that, till ten years ago, transgenders and co. were almost banned not only from television but from society too.I think we are the society of excesses....for years homosexuals are a taboo for everyone, it's forbidden talking about them on tv...now we are almost celebrating them as the most open minded men (or women) on the earth. My opinion is that both behaviours are wrong. I think homosexuals are just like everyone else, and it's so stupid to say they are all open minded and so special...expecially if it's said by somebody who stood for the contrary till the previous day. But we cannot do anything against the great hypocrisy of our society which is reflected on tv shows.
ReplyDeleteMy opinion, to tell the truth, is that it's absurd not to allow homosexuals to marry. On the other side I think they shouldn't adopt children, 'cause a child needs both a male and a female figure to grow up.
It's too late to write something else!
bye!