This has nothing to do with GLBT issues (well, it can) but works against the notion the everyone can play nice. I have noticed that mere tastes in music, food, and entertainment divide people. Here are a few examples. Growing up, there were people who liked metal or hard rock. If a person as much as liked country rock or jazz-rock fusion, they were weird and it made for separate camps. If a person liked music such as classical or something highly sophisticated, they were outright ostracized. I didn't like this highly sophisticated music, but I knew kids who did or were trained in it via the instruments they knew how to play. There was very little "to each his own" ... or her own. The same thing happens with food. If coworkers can't agree on what food or drink to go out for, their rapport can also cool. I'm talking mostly about levels of spiciness here, for the most part. And, yet, there are types of food that these people have in common. I guess I'm glass half full, having seen these things in action. Have you seen where your tastes in entertainment, food, and pastimes have created divisions with your friends or among people you know?
The only real problems arise when people feel that their tastes are across the board superior to others. Not "I like apples, you like oranges" but more like "Apples are good and other fruits are for slack-jawed apes." IMO there is a teensy bit of truth to it in some cases, because people with more capable brains have more complex (and thus more fulfilling) avenues of entertainment open to them. I didn't like Shakespeare as a high school freshman, but now that I'm older and more receptive, I see why he has been hailed for centuries as a genius. I just wasn't able to fully enjoy what he had to say because my mind needed further development. That's not to say we should be making those judgment calls for others. Taste for one thing over another is a completely personal matter used for understanding oneself, and as I see it, any pleasure had purely from claiming the sophistication high ground is ill-gotten gains.
I love all the variety people have but yeah I know it can be intimidating when people seem exclusive or cocky about it. The solution is to simply like EVERYTHING THAT HAS EVER EXISTED
In a way, tastes can unite people, but you can also be friends with people who have varying interests so long as both of y'all are willing to explore the each others' passions and interests. I would guess it's almost like being in a romantic relationship with a person when you're friends with them because both should make compromises. In the end, however, there must be a certain overlapping in interests (or derivatives of those interests) to help the relationship have outlets that lead to forging a common bond.
I have very serious issues with people who play music which makes me wish I was dead, or try to force me to eat meat. Apart from that, I have no problem with varying tastes.
I moved to a new town last summer. New town, new school, new friends. These new friends are very close minded when it comes to music or movies. They have this strange problem... they just can't accept other types of music. It's strange. I personally listen to electronic music but I like a large number of genres. And they look at me in a strange way... it's stupid, but that's about it. I don't believe it divides people, but it does creates an awkward environment.
They divide people rather well from my experience. Here it's like...if you don't have a passionate interest in something trendy or popular, you're out of the league.
Me and my boyfriend vary on some things, and other things we are very similar. So I really don't see it. I love Mexican, and European influenced spicy foods; don't really like Asian style spices. My boyfriend's stomach can't handle this type of food, so we barely eat it together, even though it's my favourite. It doesn't bother me, because I can just eat food he likes; which I like as well. He also enjoys Mushrooms, and I fucking can't stand them. So far it hasn't caused an argument or resentment. He is also allergic to seafood, and I love shrimp, sushi, and what not, but it hasn't bothered me that we don't eat it together, I couldn't care less. Our music tastes are complete opposites, he likes country, I like more instrumentals with jazzy or hip-hop style drum lines. All it means is sometimes I have to listen to country music, and ya country music is offensive to my ears, but I make him listen to some boring ass elevator music sometimes, so we both have to put up with eachothers music. He enjoys watching sports, I don't mind, but sometimes my mind is moving too quickly and I need to watch something with more substance. This creates conflicts, but never ruins things. Sometimes I don't mind watching a 3 hour baseball game, but most of the time I dont. I make him watch some shit I like sometimes that he doesn't enjoy so it all balances out. So there are three examples of what you would consider enough to divide people but it hasn't. The majority of people I know aren't as heavily into humour or music like I am, so I am used to having conflicting opinions on stuff like that, and it really doesn't bother me or people I run into. We both just make fun of eachothers tastes rather than resent them. I can't tell you the amount of times I've made my friends watch some stupid video that I thought was hillarious and they thought was moronic, or music that they didn't like or thought was boring, and it hasn't started an argument once.
It kind of sucks. None of my IRL friends like any of the movies, tv shows, or music I like. My whole life has been like that. I've always been the oddball. So I've never been really close to anyone because I don't share their interests.
My willingness to develop friendships with rather liberal people 10 or so years ago in college and at work while being staunchly conservative (and I still am on certain issues) is paying big dividends right now. I've always liked to have a variety of people I know, even acquaintances. It has exposed me to various ways of thinking not previously imagined. You don't always have to agree with everyone, but you should listen to them. Different types of people around you will either strengthen your beliefs and cause you to know WHY you believe what you believe or allow you to make the changes necessary when you see fit.
I tend to get along with people despite their tastes. I get along with the person's 'soul' instead of what they portray themselves as, going out of my way to make them belong. Unless it has to do with hating others, things are easy to overlook. Really, does it matter that you like jazz and they like rock? Are people really that shallow?
I think tastes divide people, or at least, they can divide people unless there is a willingness on both sides to bridge the divide. I have a group of male cousins who are close because they all share the same tastes/interests - sport, beer and girls. I am very much the outsider and rarely see or speak to any of them now. The divide opened up while we were at school as I had a more selective education, with extra-curricular activities that developed an interest in calligraphy, speech, drama, culture, heritage and classical music. While they were out at the weekend kicking a ball or going for a swim, I'd be revising for a speech and drama exam or practising calligraphy. As I became more "posh" the divide grew, eventually becoming a chasm when they started dating girls. When I came out to them it was no surprise apparently, because they associated my different interests with "gayness". They'd discussed my sexuality years before and decided that I would "be a gay".
