Homosexuality and Heterosexuality describe preferences. And by the modern context of suffering it could be argued that homosexuals do suffer to a degree. But in cultures where sexuality or gender is much less hetero normative, sexuality is a very dynamic thing. And often time’s people who ascribe themselves as primarily homosexual in such cultures often do have lapses in sexuality or brief periods in which they do have sex with the opposite gender. And vice versa often applies to heterosexuals. IN fact, if humans were left to their natural devices instead of the social constructs "heterosexual, homosexual" then most humans would naturally choose to be bisexual. But this does not describe preferences; it describes innate instinctual proclivities which describe the human species by default of being mammals and primates. Preferences on the other hand are learned through experience or by natural attraction.
Unfortunately in the west and near east, sexuality is one of those things which is polarized and must be lifelong. If a person sways their mind about their sexuality once then it is seen as a negative and indecisive thing. Unfortunately, sexuality doesn't work that way and to say that sexuality cannot change throughout life is simply not true. Some people have an inherent tendency to be attracted to the same or opposite gender. But given the correct circumstances (whether it be emotional, mental, environmental, or even physically) people with break with this static definition of their sexuality.
In fact in my culture (Bini, & Igbo) until fairly recently, it was common for sexuality to be dynamic. It was not until some of my people converted to Islam and the other half to Christianity that our definitions of sexuality became as stagnant and unchanging as the west's or near east's definition. For thousands of years sexuality was described inherently by preference, not in absolute terms. In fact, we had no words fully describing the concept of sexuality until Europeans arrived and gave us these definitions. For thousands of years sexuality was dynamic in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in west and central Africa. And even in these cases where men or women preferred homosexuality, they often and frequently tended to have sex with the opposite gender. The same can be said of those who are straight. In fact many traditional Igbo and Bini still practice this form of sexuality. It’s more of the hybridized Christians and Muslims who abstain from the traditional practice. The same can be said about many pre-Christian European societies, pre-industrial East Asian societies, parts of India, much of the pre-Columbian Americas, and vast amounts of the pacific islands.
I think the concept of "homosexual" or "heterosexual" is much more descriptive of the polarization techniques used by the near eastern civilizations that often made clear distinctions between genders, classes, and races. Which by nature of proximity, western society has inherited many of those concepts and distinctions. In fact, the concept of homosexuality didn't even exist in western civilization until the advent and spread of Christianity
. A big clue for those who don’t' know.
You're the one who originally introduced it as evidence for your viewpoint, so you apparently thought it was good enough to quote a few posts ago. I'm just asking you to explain why you thought it was evidence.
