From: James Rogers (jamesr@best.com)
Date: Tue Jan 15 2002 - 00:24:26 MST
On 1/14/02 10:15 PM, "Spike Jones" <spike66@attglobal.net> wrote:
> I would expect rural communities to be more tolerant of homosexuals.
> Society in general has some wacky notion that natural is good.
> Rural communities are more likely to have come in contact with
> wildlife and livestock on farms. Anyone who has spent a lot of
> time with animals has likely seen homosexuality there. So rural
> citizens should see homosexuality as natural. I dont understand
> why it doesnt seem to work that way. Perhaps Vermonters are
> not weighed down the with the notion that natural is necessarily
> better than artificial.
You have to distinguish between Western rural, Southern rural, and
Midwestern rural as they each have distinctive cultures that handle these
things differently.
I have another theory based on what I've observed, at least as it applies to
Western rural culture. The problem ultimately is that there are no gay
cowboys for any practical purpose. Gay culture (as a generalization) tends
to strongly reflect the values and ideals of the notoriously left-wing urban
culture that they are stereotyped as being part of (think San Francisco).
The sum total exposure to the homosexual community that the rural community
receives is from TV shows (which just perpetuate the stereotype), and their
very limited personal interactions, which also tend to at least partially
confirm the stereotype. In my experience there has never been an
intrinsically anti-homosexual tendency to Western rural culture, unlike
Southern rural culture which does seem to have this tendency.
The problem is that rural Western culture has been placed in a very
adversarial position against what is perceived as a rabid left-wing urban
culture hell-bent on destroying them. Whether it is true or not, it is hard
to live out there and not see it that way because Western rural communities
are politically impotent due to their sparse populations and have received
the short end of the stick on most matters that concern them at the Federal
level. The problem with homosexuality isn't that they view homosexuals as
intrinsically bad or anything like that, but that homosexuals appear to be
the quintessential members of the very culture that is attacking them. In a
nutshell, Western rural culture views homosexuals as political enemies in a
fight that rural Westerners are taking very seriously. It isn't anything
personal.
Only tangentially related, while I have serious misgivings about Midwestern
and Southern rural culture for one reason or another, I find that rural
Western culture has a great many fine qualities that make it one of the best
regional subcultures the U.S. has. It is a shame that it is being actively
attacked by another subculture that has far less redeeming value and
considerably more political clout.
Cheers,
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com
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