“Do we regard language as more public, more ceremonial, than thought? Just as family men condemn the profanity on the stage that they use constantly in conversation, in the same way we may look to written language as an idealization rather than a reflection of ourselves.” MenWayLooksMayUseLanguageWrittenStageConversationReflectionRegardProfanityFamily ManWritten Language Book:States of Desire Revisited: Travels in Gay America Source: States of Desire Revisited: Travels in Gay America
“For most Northerners, Texas is the home of real men. The cowboys, the rednecks, the outspoken self-made right-wing millionaires strike us as either the best or worst examples of American manliness.... The ideal is not an illusion nor is it contemptible, no matter what damage it may have done. Many people who scorn it in conversation want to submit to it in bed. Those who believe machismo reeks of violence alone choose to forget it once stood for honor as well.” PeopleMenWantBelieveWellsMayMadeRealSelfMatterDoneHomeForgetViolenceWorstExampleHonorBedConversationIllusionIdealsNo Matter WhatWingsStrikesDamageTexasSubmitCowboyScornForget ItMillionaireRight WingRedneckReal MenSelf MadeOutspokenManlinessMachismoNortherners Author:Edmund White
“I am, I must confess, suspicious of those who denounce others for having too much sex. At what point does a healthy amount become too much? There are, of course, those who suffer because their desire for sex has become compulsive; in their case the drive (loneliness, guilt) is at fault, not the activity as such. When morality is discussed I invariably discover, halfway into the conversation, that what is meant are not the great ethical questions but the rather dreary business of sexual habit, which to my mind is an aesthetic rather than an ethical issue.” MindDoeDesireSufferingCoursesSexCasesIssuesToo MuchLonelinessAmountHabitMoralityHealthyActivityConversationGuiltFaultsEthicalAestheticHalfwaySuspiciousDrearyEthical IssuesEthical Questions Author:Edmund White
