There's a First for Everything

First, a quick anecdote as to why I enjoy academia, then I'll get to the juicy/serious part of the post.

In class last night our professor was talking about the film version of Edith Warton's The House of Mirth. He gets all animated about the ending (he had to tell us what was different in the movie, because we only read the book) and he exclaims, "There's no crying in Wharton!"

Another student proclaims, "There's no crying in baseball!"

The image of Tom Hanks stayed in my brain for the rest of the night.

Now, on to the juicy/serious portion.

I went out with my girl friends last night and we pretty much got trashed (we had a DD, so don't worry). My friend Jay and I started out with our traditional citrus vodka cranberries, then moved on to another drink. The next drink was AWESOME, I think it was a shot of Crown, a shot of peach schnapps and cranberry juice. This was a mix I could drink like tea. Then, we switched bars and Jay and I shared a pitcher of Bud Light. When we switched bars we started playing pool, and ate nachoes, so the beer was going down faster and faster. And, drunkenness pretty much snuck up on us... so did the other stuff.

Now, some of my friends are, well, not bi-sexual per se, but more like gender-benders (some are bi-sexual, but most are gender-benders). For the first time in my life I was groped in the chest by another woman.

I laughed for like 5 minutes.

Why? I'm so comfortable in my sexuality and they all know that I'm 100% heterosexual. I was like, eh, bring it on, it doesn't bother me at all. But, it got me to thinking. How many people out there are so against any type of homoerotica that they would have freaked out?

Has our culture made us so afraid of sexuality that we are to be scared of people with different sexualities?

I know my friends were doing this for shits and giggles, and it's not like I was the only one groped, (and yes, I told my boyfriend about this). Plus, there was no erotica going on, it was just one of those laughing moments.

But, for the people who saw us--were they freaked out? Would they consider what we did heresy? sodomy? unorthodoxy? Would those people judge us for our actions even though they don't know us?

Yes, laugh at my choice of words there, but in past time periods, lesbians would be charged with those sins against God and the flesh. And, I know this because right now in my Medievil Lit course we're studying the societal and lesbian-like actions of women. And, I keep on thinking to myself that I don't know if a lot has changed.

It seems as if those with bi-sexual, lesbian or gay sexualities are being blamed for what is wrong in society. God forbid that we talk about how little time parents spend with their kids today, the ideolog of being the best at everything, corruption of money, or that 50% of marriages fail. Nope, we blame the people who, until recently, have had few ways to defend themselves, yet seem to be more in touch with their kids and significant others that many of us heterosexuals are.

I guess what it boils down to is, in the words of my friend...

Gay? Fine by me.