Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond industry

[monarch64]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Again, I just want to point out that a general consensus emerging from this thread is that it is okay for straight people to tell someone to "get over being gay"? AYKM?

Dude, NO ONE CARES IF HE IS GAY.

ur readin' it rong.

I really don't think that I am. I, of course, respect yours or anyone's right to disagree. I totally believe that no one cares who any PS sleeps with, including Kenny. I also wholeheartedly agree that he misconstrued Holly's comment and took it in a misguided direction. I also don't think he always frames his questions in ways that get to what he wants to discuss (see my original post).

However, for people dittoing Holly's comment to "get over being gay" because sexuality is not a part of her everyday straight life is so seeping in privilege that I have trouble with it. I don't think anyone here cares if Kenny (or anyone) is gay or straight. I do, though, think people have problems accepting that being gay brings differential experiences and opportunity than does being straight.

Kenny, my apologies for talking about you in 3rd person in your thread.

Katamari, I'm with you on the fact that different strokes mean different treatment for folks...I can't speak to some of the comments (Holly's in particular since you pointed it out), but my take on what's going on collectively is that some feel that the OP was not only baiting the PS population by asking this question, but also using what he saw as opposing opinions to justify or back up his own perception that homosexuals a. aren't accepted here and b. possibly are detrimental to the profitability of the diamond industry. Look, I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, my degree is in Textiles/Apparel/Merchandising and I've spent the majority of my career thus far in fashion and retail...but that is beside the point I'm trying to make. WHY, if this is a serious question, couldn't the OP just put forth a thread stating his opinion that he feels discriminated against? Or, that in his experience he finds that heterosexual men think that wearing diamonds=feminine or something? I don't understand why someone who is so articulate and cares so much about certain issues feels the need to present his own issues disguised as questions in Hangout? Just say what you mean, be REAL about it, and maybe we can have an actual, meaningful discussion!

Absolutely I feel that discrimination still happens in the world. It is NOT happening here, though. And if it IS, then start a thread about what is actually happening and let us all have your back, Kenny. Because chances are, we all actually would.

 

[Dancing Fire]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

hey...maybe Kenny isn't gay after all...

 

[monarch64]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Katamari, also, I wasn't able to read more than the first few lines of the link from MIT that you posted...when I opened it my IE booted me but it did look very interesting and I would really like it if you could direct me to where you found it. I think if I read that article I'll better understand where you're coming from.


Edited.

 

[katamari]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Again, I just want to point out that a general consensus emerging from this thread is that it is okay for straight people to tell someone to "get over being gay"? AYKM?

Dude, NO ONE CARES IF HE IS GAY.

ur readin' it rong.

I really don't think that I am. I, of course, respect yours or anyone's right to disagree. I totally believe that no one cares who any PS sleeps with, including Kenny. I also wholeheartedly agree that he misconstrued Holly's comment and took it in a misguided direction. I also don't think he always frames his questions in ways that get to what he wants to discuss (see my original post).

However, for people dittoing Holly's comment to "get over being gay" because sexuality is not a part of her everyday straight life is so seeping in privilege that I have trouble with it. I don't think anyone here cares if Kenny (or anyone) is gay or straight. I do, though, think people have problems accepting that being gay brings differential experiences and opportunity than does being straight.

Kenny, my apologies for talking about you in 3rd person in your thread.

Katamari, I'm with you on the fact that different strokes mean different treatment for folks...I can't speak to some of the comments (Holly's in particular since you pointed it out), but my take on what's going on collectively is that some feel that the OP was not only baiting the PS population by asking this question, but also using what he saw as opposing opinions to justify or back up his own perception that homosexuals a. aren't accepted here and b. possibly are detrimental to the profitability of the diamond industry. Look, I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, my degree is in Textiles/Apparel/Merchandising and I've spent the majority of my career thus far in fashion and retail...but that is beside the point I'm trying to make. WHY, if this is a serious question, couldn't the OP just put forth a thread stating his opinion that he feels discriminated against? Or, that in his experience he finds that heterosexual men think that wearing diamonds=feminine or something? I don't understand why someone who is so articulate and cares so much about certain issues feels the need to present his own issues disguised as questions in Hangout? Just say what you mean, be REAL about it, and maybe we can have an actual, meaningful discussion!

Absolutely I feel that discrimination still happens in the world. It is NOT happening here, though. And if it IS, then start a thread about what is actually happening and let us all have your back, Kenny. Because chances are, we all actually would.

Monnie, I see what you are saying. I couldn't agree more with the bolded part. I wish the discussion would have stayed and started on that level. Heck, I didn't even open the women in the military thread because I was afraid that there might be some "baiting" in it. I just had problems with the fact that we were discussing whether or not Kenny was baiting in a way that, very most likely unintentionally, perpetuated straight privilege.

Again, my apologies for referring to Kenny's and Holly's posts rather than speaking directly to them.

 

[katamari]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Katamari, also, I wasn't able to read more than the first few lines of the link from MIT that you posted...when I opened it my IE booted me but it did look very interesting and I would really like it if you could direct me to where you found it. I think if I read that article I'll better understand where you're coming from.


Edited.

Sure. Here it is as a weblink instead of a pdf. I was just trying to make the point that different identities have different importance for different people.


Edited to fix link; committed to learning the PS2.0 way of linking soon enough

 

[monarch64]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Katamari, also, I wasn't able to read more than the first few lines of the link from MIT that you posted...when I opened it my IE booted me but it did look very interesting and I would really like it if you could direct me to where you found it. I think if I read that article I'll better understand where you're coming from.


Edited.

Sure. Here it is as a weblink instead of a pdf. I was just trying to make the point that different identities have different importance for different people.


Edited to fix link; committed to learning the PS2.0 way of linking soon enough

Thanks, and right on about the bolded sentence!

ETA: perfect--I am able to open the article and will read it right now. Thank you!

ETA: I read "Unpacking" and it is certainly making me examine my own perception of what it means to be hetero or homo. Tremendous food for thought, thanks again for posting that, Katamari. That sort of article is VERY helpful and meaningful towards the type of discussion I think the OP might wish to have. I am all for using articles such as that as a basis for discussion here.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Well if anyone was wondering why no one posts on PS anymore...here it is.

BIG.FAT.DITTO!!!!!!!

::runs back to Newborn to 12 month thread::

 

[iLander]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Well if anyone was wondering why no one posts on PS anymore...here it is.

BIG.FAT.DITTO!!!!!!!

::runs back to Newborn to 12 month thread::

I agree completely.

100%.

 

[risingsun]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Katamari~ I read the article to which you provided a link. I agree with it. I also could substitute other cultural references into the article and it would be just as true. We are not permitted to discuss religion on this site. I am in a religious minority. GLBT are not the only group of people who have been subjected to bigotry. I think what some posters are saying is to Kenny is to try to view your life through a broader lens. I am not only a religious minority. I have many aspects that make up who I am. I prefer to attempt to integrate these aspects into a coherent whole. That doesn't mean that the individual pieces become less important. They don't and are given a place in my life. I would like to think, however, that I have the capacity for a more integrated world view.

When I read Kenny's question, I thought it was not made to provoke thought, but rather to be provocative. My answer, had I given one, would have been that the more people who buy diamonds, the better for the industry. It is not dependent on sexual orientation.

 

[Deia]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Gotta love how the OP has been absent from the thread since page 3...

I don't post often, but sometimes feel inclined to, and when I do I usually get ignored lol so on that basis I'll be honest... who gives a crap that you are gay Kenny? Seriously? Why the need to scream it out at every opportunity? Why have to make every comment you don't accept become a sign of that person's "intolerance of diversity"?? I am not saying I understand what it's like to be different from the "norm" as far as your sexual orientation goes, but it's boring and a bit vomit inducing to keep seeing someone justify his whole existence and behaviour around being gay. Being gay does not define you. Being straight does not define you. Get over it (and no not get over being gay - good on you for acknowledging who you are, but get over the fact that most people (and by that I am only saying PS as that is who your original question was focused on) just don't care what sexual orientation you are...one thing some people do care about (me included as more of a reader of these forums) is that you keep rubbing it and its associated intentional knee jerk reaction inducing questions in everyone's face for no apparent reason...). No one cares. All this makes me think you aren't comfortable in your own skin - which if I am wrong I apologise. Just embrace who you are because others already have. I also apologise if I am out of line - I am at work and don't have time to make this sound softer than it does at the moment - I have no intention of hurting anyones feelings.

And that's all folks!

 

[HollyS]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Again, I just want to point out that a general consensus emerging from this thread is that it is okay for straight people to tell someone to "get over being gay"? AYKM?

If THAT is what you took away from this thread, you don't read very well, do you?

To Kenny it IS all about him being gay. Every thread. To us, it is redundant and immaterial. Hence the 'get over it',

Taking comments out of context is simply a method of attempting to provoke.

 

[princesss]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Honestly, I think it's not "Get over being gay" - it's "Get over yourself." No one person on PS is so important that every post is about them in some way, shape, or form. And yet, somehow, Kenny finds ways to bring all subjects back around to himself. And when he can't find an even semi-legitimate way to do it, he posts "clever" duplicates of their posts ("What to do with my HAT" after a "What to do with my cat" post, for example). However, when invited to a REAL discussion - where ideas are shared and possibly never agreed on - posed in one of his own threads (that he claims he started to have an actual discussion in), he refuses. I think that is what many posters are getting frustrated with - at least, from *my* reading of this thread.

 

[AGBF]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Honestly, I think it's not "Get over being gay" - it's "Get over yourself."

Beautifully articulated, princess! I think that that is really what Holly meant, but she was frustrated. I do not see her as homophobic. I recognize katamari's sensitivity to the difficulties of being homosexual in a heterosexual world. I think she is on target about them. I do not think any of the insights in her article-no matter how useful they may be to us as individuals, helping to raise our consciousness-were germane to this thread, however. In this thread the issue was never that someone was tellng Kenny that being gay was a small matter ( although it sounded that way). Holly was telling him that he was a small matter! (Sorry if that doesn't sound very nice.)

Deb


Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

 

[Lauren8211]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Honestly, I think it's not "Get over being gay" - it's "Get over yourself." No one person on PS is so important that every post is about them in some way, shape, or form. And yet, somehow, Kenny finds ways to bring all subjects back around to himself. And when he can't find an even semi-legitimate way to do it, he posts "clever" duplicates of their posts ("What to do with my HAT" after a "What to do with my cat" post, for example). However, when invited to a REAL discussion - where ideas are shared and possibly never agreed on - posed in one of his own threads (that he claims he started to have an actual discussion in), he refuses. I think that is what many posters are getting frustrated with - at least, from *my* reading of this thread.

Sing it, sister!

 

[HollyS]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

Honestly, I think it's not "Get over being gay" - it's "Get over yourself."

Beautifully articulated, princess! I think that that is really what Holly meant, but she was frustrated. I do not see her as homophobic. I recognize katamari's sensitivity to the difficulties of being homosexual in a heterosexual world. I think she is on target about them. I do not think any of the insights in her article-no matter how useful they may be to us as individuals, helping to raise our consciousness-were germane to this thread, however. In this thread the issue was never that someone was tellng Kenny that being gay was a small matter ( although it sounded that way). Holly was telling him that he was a small matter! (Sorry if that doesn't sound very nice.)

Deb


Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

Well, I have to disagree about my intent. I never suggested that Kenny was a small matter, or that he was unimportant, or that what he thinks is unimportant. I do not dislike Kenny. I just roll my eyes and give him the "Oh, please" every once in awhile, when he needs a poke in his well-inflated self. Quite a few of us have deserved such a poke in the past, and received said poke from our fellow PSers.

I also never suggested that Kenny be anything but gay. I said it wasn't relevant to every issue. Nor do we need threads implying that there might be issues at PS concerning gays - - because there aren't any. And there never have been (to my recollection).

The question he asked, is at the top of each of your posts, before you submit. Read it. Here, I'll print it for you: "Do You Think Gay Men Here Help Or Hurt The Diamond Industry". If anyone here thinks this was: a) not a ridiculous question, or b) not a question meant to provoke a discussion that might create the exact drama it has indeed spawned . . . well, then . . . I've run out of ways to point out the obvious.

 

[Ella]

Re: Do you think gay men here help or hurt the diamond indus

This thread has more than run it's course. Why doesn't everyone go have a slice of pie or a drink, relax, and regroup.