A whole lot of isms, but mostly heterosexism.
Given that this Sunday, May 17, is the International Day Against Homophobia, it's interesting that I was recently called out for being heterosexist. To my face, by a lesbian. I was pretty embarrassed. (Not that it would be any better to have this pointed out in another way, but I felt pretty careless.)
( Details and some discussion ahead... )
( Details and some discussion ahead... )
I see what you mean about it being a non-issue for you if it's a part of your everyday life, but I assume you don't go around and never mention it, right? That's the difference. It obviously comes up on it's own in casual reference, like mentioning someone's boyfriend, etc. That's different than the example of the poster, I think.
And yeah, mentioning it too much. I'm not sure about that side of it, but I suppose it could make people uncomfortable to make a big deal of it, but to me it's like feminism in that people feel the need to make a big deal about it until is actually a non-issue, and we're not quite there yet (society as a whole).
I don't see anything wrong with people choosing to populate their sim world however they want either. It's a great way to explore those things for themselves and to make it reflect their reality or a reality they would like to see.
I do feel a little uncomfortable about the tone of some of the portrayals of gay sims in legacies and stories at times (more legacies than stories), I must admit. I'm wary of insensitive portrayals, where it's obviously a novelty and the butt of a joke (I'm not too fond of the whole "lol buttsex" thing, for example). I'm not saying there's no room for humour here, but some of it does feel disrespectful to me (and that's a personal reaction).
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So am I, but let me rephrase then ?
The problem is when heterosexism, as in generalizing that everyone is straight, is automatically called out as an homophobic take. Some time generalizations are just 'that', and not bad indented, but can be taken wrongly very easily. (plus I'm sure, you could put a same sex couple on an adv/poster like that, and someone else will come out and criticize anyways, because the same sex couple is present. It's a delicate topic, unfortunately, people get offended one way or another)
And no, I didn't say I never mention it, just that I don't tend to consider a special kind of difference that needs to be constantly pointed out. I mean, for example, you say :"you get mixed results when you suggest that someone's baby might actually grow up to be gay" TRUE! Of course you do, but IMO you get mixed results if you suggest someone's baby might actually grow up to be all sorts of things (gay, straight, republican, democrat, theist, atheist, Jew, catholic, artist, scientist, you name it) depending on who are you referring to and/or talking with.
But yeah, I might just be missing the point of your discussion, sorry about that.
As for the way gay sims, generally speaking, are portrayed in stories and legacies, I guess again depends a bit on the point of view.
I've been hearing buttsex jokes way before reading sim stories, and learned the term from a gay friend actually, but yeah, I can agree with you about it in part, BUT the same can be said for heterosexuality and generally many other topics. Sim stories tend to be a bit biased IMO (traditional family= man/woman couple, husband cheating, 4 perfect kids) but again, you see the same in many other aspect of life too (books, tv, movies, etc).
I think you manage to find a good balance on that sense, btw, a bit of light humor, without being too over the top.
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