Chronic closet case dedicates his energies to relentlessly persecuting his "fellow" queers. Who's more to blame: him or society?
Yeah, good point. I mean, he's a dick. But were it not for society pushing and encouraging the behavior, would he still be to blame? I'd have to say society. Were he in a different, more tolerant society, I can imagine the pressure would be off and he'd feel no need to persecute fellow queers to the extent he's doing.
Both. Although internalised homophobia obviously harms him, there is no excuse for actually doing what he does. Saying "society" sort of negates the presence and actions of individuals, which is what composes society. He is as responsible as the next cis-het, and given he appears as one, then he has the same responsibilites until he comes out, for the sake of not harming other queers.
Him! Most of society is accepting or atleast indifferent I feel . But even excluding that people CHOOSE to be mean!
Both. It stems from the overlapping influences of free will, personal morality, and societal pressure. Often difficult to distinguish between them. Better, I say, to stop trying to attribute blame. People are the way they are. They can also be changed. So try to change them, and if you are successful, don't make them carry the weight of their past.
I'd have to say both. ---------- Post added 2nd Apr 2014 at 09:12 AM ---------- I love that commercial! :lol:
I'd also say both. Using the term 'blame' tends to paint the question more in legal/adversarial terms, as if, before a metaphorical court, either one party or the other had to assume full culpability. The problem here is also in the term 'society', and that our society is far from monolithic. I'd argue that we have to define the term 'society' on a case by case basis before one could proceed to try to answer such a question. Do we mean the narrower society in which he might have been raised? We might have person X, raised by strict Southern Baptists, sent to a small religious school, whipped and paddled for any digressions, and kept on a short leash, sheltered as it were from 'sin'. Then, we might have person Y, raised by ex-hippies, sent to a public high-school for the arts, encouraged to embrace diversity. Either might rebel against their upbringing, or else follow its general outlines. Then come the smaller, personal experiences that might influence matters; sexual encounters had during the process of growing up, examples of gay people, and so forth. There's so many variables, all in all, that it seems hard to couch such question merely in terms of 'blame'. It's an interesting question, though I think homophobic outcomes are the product of a number of complex factors, but also that the individual is not merely helpless, and bound by circumstance. Ultimately, one has to break away from the strictures of society to some degree, and become an individual...or so one should hope!