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From: andyb@dartvax.UUCP (Andy Behrens)
Newsgroups: net.women,net.motss,net.singles
Subject: Re: homosexual associations
Message-ID: <2358@dartvax.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 28-Aug-84 20:55:58 EDT
Article-I.D.: dartvax.2358
Posted: Tue Aug 28 20:55:58 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 30-Aug-84 10:34:57 EDT
References: <4061@fortune.UUCP>
Organization: Dartmouth College
Lines: 35

>	I would like to know why straight people always think of males when
>	they speak of homosexuals?  Lesbians are homosexuals too you know!

Why do some people think "homosexual" implies "male"?  I can think of
two reasons.

I suspect that the word may have become specialized in the same way as
"man", which originally referred to any human being -- and for the same
reasons.  

	+----------------------------------------+
	|	  HOMOSEXUAL (= gay person)	 |
	|  +-----------+	+-------------+  |
	|  | HOMOSEXUAL|	|   LESBIAN   |  |
	|  |  (= gay   |	|   (= gay    |  |
	|  |     man)  |	|    woman)   |  |
	|  +-----------+	+-------------+  |
	+----------------------------------------+

	+----------------------------------------+
	|	     MAN (= person)		 |
	|  +-----------+	+-------------+  |
	|  |    MAN    |	|    WOMAN    |  |
	|  |  (= male  |	|  (= female  |  |
	|  |   person) |	|    person)  |  |
	|  +-----------+	+-------------+  |
	+----------------------------------------+

A second possibility is that people confuse the Greek root "homo-" with
the Latin word.  (And are ignorant of the fact that the Latin means
"person" rather than "male").  

		Andy Behrens
		andyb@dartmouth.csnet
		{astrovax,dalcs,decvax,cornell,linus}!dartvax!andyb