LETTERS: A look at the heterosexual myth

To the Editor: American masculinity may be inseparable from heterosexuality, but that does not mean that all American heterosexuals that are considered to be masculine buy into the idea that homosexuals are "peculiar aberrations." I certainly don't, and none of my heterosexual friends do, either. In fact, my gay male friends are a lot less aberrant that many of the people I've met here at Penn. I also, along with many other heterosexual men, don't define myself by what I am not. We do not actively demonstrate our anti-homosexuality, simply because we are not anti-homosexual. If it is "essential" for you to derive your identity from what you are not, then you are probably a pretty confused person. It is this confusion which brings me to my suspicions about Wilson. If he feels that the prerequisites for masculinity are being "cool, tough and unemotional" and having a fondness for "breasts, cars and football," then (minus the breasts part) I'll take my chances with my '84 Buick and the computer science people. It scares me to think that Wilson, who claims to understand heterosexuals and masculinity at large, only consorts with legions of these "masculine American" clones and neglects the rest of us in the process. And the use of the word "faggot" is not "understood by all men." I may use all forms of obscenities, but you'll never hear the word "faggot" uttered from my mouth. I'm not alone on this, and it just goes to show that you can't make such sweeping statements about masculine American heterosexuals. Likewise, how can you make such generalizations about homosexuals? Have many people considered that otherwise masculine-acting and looking men might be gay? Many gay men just don't define themselves by their orientation, just like many heterosexual men don't define themselves by theirs. My advice to people who buy into the "Marlboro man" definition of masculinity: Go out and get to know some gay people, and maybe even befriend them. The only real thing separating heterosexuals and homosexuals is sexual orientation. Everything else is socially reinforced and therein lies the homosexual/heterosexual myth. Mike Bruni Engineering '01