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- From: ricko@ee.uts.edu.au (Rick Jelliffe)
- Newsgroups: soc.men,soc.women
- Subject: Re: Sexual victimization of 13 year old boy
- Date: 16 Nov 92 04:26:27 GMT
- Organization: University of Technology, Sydney
- Lines: 44
- Message-ID: <ricko.721887987@ee.uts.EDU.AU>
- References: <1992Nov09.030950.7977@merk.com> <carol.721348412@ee.uts.EDU.AU> <ricko.721382208@ee.uts.EDU.AU> <1992Nov10.161354.8456@midway.uchicago.edu>
- NNTP-Posting-Host: schutz.ee.uts.edu.au
-
- mec6@quads.uchicago.edu (rini) writes:
-
- >ricko@ee.uts.edu.au (Rick Jelliffe) writes:
- >>carol@ee.uts.edu.au (Carol Gibson) writes:
- >
- >>> I believe sexual abuse of boys to be far more common than
- >>>is realised because of the massive stigmas attatched to it. A boy who
- >>>has been abused by men or boys will be seen as gay in the homophobic,
- >>>patriachal society.
- >
- >>I just don't agree. Or at least, certainly not by adults. Do you actually
- >>know anyone who would think a boy was gay just because he'd been
- >>molested? I don't.
-
- >A good friend of mine works with young boys who have been, among other
- >things, sexually molested by men in their family. By whatever
- >mechanism, these boys *do* tend to internalize the idea that they are
- >"gay" because of what happened to them. Indeed, one of the most
- >common therapy themes is "just because you've been involved in an
- >[involuntary] homosexual sex act does not imply you're homosexual."
-
- I mustn't be able to write comprehensible English. I did NOT say
- "Do you actually think a boy would think he was gay because...",
- I said "Do you actually know anyone who would think a boy was gay because...".
- meaning third parties. To make it clearer in the sentence
- before I specifically mention adults, and I explicitly say kids
- might wear the guilt themselves later in the posting. Either there
- is a great difference in idiom, or the three people who have
- written to me should learn to read more less emotionally.
-
- I actually think that the first sexual experiences someone has can go a long
- way in habituating them. However, this is nowhere near the same thing
- as being seen as gay because of a molestation. Someone who has had a bad
- sexual experience needs to face it and positively put it behind them. This
- goes for adults too, though perhaps we are more prone to fall into hate
- and loathing than children.
-
- Standing up for rights can easily become an excuse for hatred and intolerance
- in people who are hurt but as yet unhealed. As such, in some cases it can
- paradoxically be a terribly destructive approach: failing to convince
- the intended targets and keeping mental wounds open. (Illiterates please
- note I said CAN and IN SOME CASES.)
-
- -ricko
-