Imposing Moral Standards on Others
By ParaTed2k
@ParaTed2k (22940)
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
December 21, 2010 6:58am CST
I've learned a lot from the discussions about gay people in the US Military. One of the things that I've learned is that imposing moral standards on others isn't the stuff of the far right anymore.
"I wouldn't have a problem showering with gay people."
I've read this line, or lines like it on many comments. So, apparently the person saying it thinks that since they wouldn't have a problem with this, no one should.
The people who say this would not only impose their standards on others, they would mandate them.
Apparently the "enlightened" among us resent anyone imposing moral standards on them, but demand Congress force their standards on everyone.
5 responses
@Latrivia (2878)
• United States
21 Dec 10
Hmm...uncomfortable showering with a certain person vs. losing your job for getting married or having a relationship.
Which is worse?
We can't pander to everyone who feels uncomfortable working with a certain person.
I notice the focus on the issue has veered strongly into the realm of making sure soldiers aren't uncomfortable, but the discomfort goes both ways. So what makes the discomfort of the homophobic soldiers being in close proximity to a homosexual more important than the discomfort of a homosexual having to hide a very important aspect of themselves in the dark for fear of losing their job?
More importantly, isn't it a waste of money to train men and women for the military only to discharge if they're outed, or giving them an easy escape route from duty by simply proving themselves to be gay?
1 person likes this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
21 Dec 10
Exactly Latrivia. All we are really doing is telling a different group of people to "get over it". We're not addressing the problems or working on solutions. We are just respecting the rights of one group and demonizing the other.
It's still imposing a moral standard on people and expecting them to shut up.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
21 Dec 10
and what to you do when it's one of your own taboos being forced on you?
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
22 Dec 10
No, you are just telling Gay people they get to shower and live with the gender they are attracted to, while prosecuting heterosexuals for the same thing.
You are creating a right for gay people that isn't afforded anyone else.
You are telling the people you so bigotedly call "homophobes" to shut up and accept your moral code.
You are demonizing people who don't conform to your way of thinking. So much that you would be willing to prosecute them if they don't.
How is that different than when gay people were arrested simply for being gay?
@TheMetallion (1834)
• United States
22 Dec 10
I wonder how many people who are afraid of showering with gays don't give a second thought to who's in the shower with them at a public gym or pool.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
22 Dec 10
Why do you assume it's a "hang up"? Is it a "hang up" if a woman doesn't like how a man is looking at her?
@TheMetallion (1834)
• United States
22 Dec 10
"Taking a shower" != "looking at her" Your hypothetical man dressing in drag to go into a woman's locker room for the purpose of oggling women is not a parallel to a Gay man in a men's shower taking a shower.
Your hypothetical man is a problem regardless of whether women ever catch on because he's acting deceptively to oggle women. There's no legitimate reason for a cis-gendered man to dress in drag and enter a woman's locker room. That's about this hypothetical man's behavior. You yourself admit that the gay man is not engaging in any wrong behavior by entering a men's shower for the purpose of showering, otherwise knowing the person is gay would make no difference.
The fact is that Gay men and heterosexual men have shared group showers every single day all across the country. No harm has come to heterosexual men from it.
@TheMetallion (1834)
• United States
22 Dec 10
So this isn't about there being something wrong with gays and hets both being in a shower together, it's about whether the het is hung up about gays.
@mensab (4200)
• Philippines
21 Dec 10
it is getting common nowadays to have double standards. the blurring of standards to be able to shift from one to another is a process of formation of a standard. today the world is in transition. modernity and post-modernity have changed the way we view the world and everything on it, including sexuality. while others are accommodating the new perspectives, many are holding on to the old ones, thus the clash of standards occur. i like this debate because we need it as a global community.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
21 Dec 10
From what I've seen, it's not a matter of not having people impose their morality on others, but who is granted the "right" to impose and who isn't.
@bestboy19 (5478)
• United States
21 Dec 10
My grandfather was in the navy during WWI. He said when you took a shower you never bent over if you dropped your soap, you squatted down to get it. Homosexuality wasn't out in the open then as it is now. Makes you wonder what the, "I wouldn't have a problem showering with gay people," have to look forward to.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
21 Dec 10
Yeah, that's an age old joke. When someone dropped the soap when I was in the Army we cheered lustfully. lol
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
22 Dec 10
Quickly... and more of a squat, with butt towards the wall. ;~D
