Monday, June 26, 2006

Gay Origins

In response to the story below, I was asked what I thought about the issue.

I think culture affects the expression of a variety of genetic variations. Basketball players are clearly impacted by their genes, but being tall and fast would not really have been that useful before a society that had invented basketball had come into existence. At least it would not make you a multi-millionaire (or equivalent).

In agricultural societies where the family was the prime unit of production (as opposed to post-1950s Capitalism where the family is a unit of consumption), people really could not be openly gay in the way they are today.

It's really capitalism, which promotes individuation and the individual as both worker and consumer that has allowed both women and gays to pursue lives outside of the family unit.

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