Quote:
Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
I never understood people getting mad if a gay person hits on them.
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It's worth understanding even if we disagree with it.
The first possibility is the emotional trauma caused by the sudden and unprepared realization that one could actually be raped.* Men don't go through their day thinking about that, and haven't come to terms with that risk, as most women have. Feeling the atmosphere of sexual danger that women live with 24/7/365 is really quite jarring for men.
The second possibility is that homosexual panic is like vertigo --- it's not the fear that one might fall; it's the fear that one might, in an unguarded moment, suddenly leap.
*I'm not saying that gay men actually rape straight men, just that straight men who react strongly to being "hit on" are usually the kind who are mostly isolated from gay men and have never considered the possibility that someone of equal or greater physical strength could overpower them, if they wanted to. The panic that inspires is irrational, but (I believe) sincerely felt.
