Homosexuality via Culture

It's true that no culture is homogeneous. That is to say, no culture is so entirely encompassing and complete that every single individual strictly adheres to it without difference of opinion, thought, or action. This exists at the group level as well; for example: Jewish Americans have their own very distinctive, and yet are still very much an integral part of the larger American culture.

This brings me to my main point: homosexuality (what else?). Although homosexuality obviously has no known evolutionary significance, and serves almost no purpose in the scope of survival mechanisms, what then is its function in the context of culture? It is interesting to me, personally, how homosexuality is viewed by different cultural groups. Some societies consider it an abomination (like our very own, not so very long ago), some societies have adapted to their culture pretty fluidly, and some even openly encourage homosexuality (*cough* Ancient Greeks *cough*). There are records of homosexuality in nearly every culture, during every time period of human existence. This isn't a new phenomenon; however, it has entered into a new dimension.

Although I am not sure if I even view homosexuality as a cultural dissonance (I guess it depends on the culture, eh?), I do know this: the challenge we face today, as a global society, and especially here in America, is how to efficiently and effectively incorporate this rapidly expanding sub-culture into our own. Maybe we should take a look at some of those that readily embraced homosexuality as a normal part of the natural world (yes, even some animals have homosexual relationships).

Maybe someone should investigate the cultural significance and functionality of homosexuality. What larger scope of vision did these cultures have that allowed them to view homosexuality as not only commonplace but as completely harmonious with their culture? Does homosexuality run as a parallel to the rest of culture or is it a part of it? Like I said before, no culture is homogeneous. And it may very well be that it is this cultural heterogeneity that has allowed us to thrive as the dominant species on the planet.




That's all for today.

WildCoyote