Poll: Do you fit the stereotype?
One of the things that piques me most strongly about the disparity in perceptions between the heterosexual and homosexual communities is the assumption that heterosexuals are clean, wholesome people who never sleep around, never do drugs, always practice safe sex, and would never engage in intercourse with someone they weren’t wholly committed to - while homosexuals are considered promiscuous, reckless, and profligate, ridden with disease and addled by drug habits marked upon the community as clearly as heroin tracks down a junkie’s arms. 
Stereotypes ignore the high rates of teenage birth among the heterosexual population, the divorce rates (often due to infidelity), the unemployment rates, the education statistics, the drug use statistics…while at the same time ignoring the high percentage of the homosexual population who believe in commitment, who practice safe sex, who are self-sufficient, drug free and responsible citizens who seek to educate themselves and contribute to society.
Neither stereotype is correct; neither positive or negative view can wholly represent either demographic, but instead only highlight extremes used as ammunition against the opposition when attempting to claim equality or even superiority. We are all greater than the sum of our parts; so, too, are the many demographics that we all represent greater than the sum of their parts. The creature that we create known as the “community” is larger than we, a giant and representative beast, faceless and almost autonomous from its many minuscule and independent cells - and like healthy skin stretched smooth over cancer cells, like tarnished scars over a strong and beating heart, that monolith of the community often lies about the very parts that comprise it.
Is the face of your community lie, or truth? Do you exemplify it or defy it? Among your demographic, where do you fit?
Do you fit the stereotype?
1.) What is your gender?
(a) Male.
(b) Female.
(c) MtF trans.
(d) FtM trans.
(e) Androgynous/genderqueer.
(f) Intersexed.
2.) What is your sexuality? (If you’re transgender, choose the sexuality you define yourself as with your chosen gender.)
(a) Heterosexual.
(b) Homosexual.
(c) Bisexual.
(d) Asexual.
(e) Confused as hell.
(f) Cannot define because genderqueer/intersexed.
3.) Are you currently in a relationship?
(a) Yes, and I’m happy with it.
(b) Yes, but I’m looking to end it.
(c) No, and I’m not looking for one.
(d) No, but I’d like to be in one.
(e) I’m dating, but not really committed.
(f) I’m in multiple relationships/open relationships.
(g) I’m not sure.
4.) Are you now or have you ever been sexually active?
(a) I have been in the past and I am now.
(b) I have been in the past, but I’m not right now.
(c) I’ve never been sexually active/I’m a virgin.
5.) How many sexual partners have you had in the past?
(a) None.
(b) None, but I have fooled around a lot beyond first base.
(c) One to five.
(d) Six to ten.
(e) Eleven to twenty-five.
(f) Twenty-six or more.
(g) So many that I’ve lost count.
(h) I’m not sure/I’ve never counted.
(i) That’s private/I don’t want to discuss it publicly.
6.) Do you practice safe sex/exchange of bodily fluids?
(a) Yes; always.
(b) Some of the time, when I remember to.
(c) I mean to, but I rarely remember.
(d) It depends on my partner and if I trust them or know they’ve
been tested.
(e) No; never. I don’t even think about it.
(f) I’m a virgin/I don’t fool around.
7.) Were you ever educated about the dangers of unprotected sex?
(a) No. I’m not sure what you’re talking about.
(b) I was never educated, but I learned on my own.
(c) Yes; I was given educational material/instruction about
unprotected sex.
8.) Do you or have you ever used drugs?
(a) Yes, and I still do.
(b) Yes, but I don’t anymore.
(c) Yes, but I’m trying to quit.
(d) Yes, but only lighter things; nothing hard/heavy.
(e) No, and I never have.
(f) No, but I would be open to trying it.
9.) How do you feel about drug use in others?
(a) It’s their life; I don’t care.
(b) I’m strictly against it; no one should do drugs.
(c) I’m strictly against it, but won’t stop them as long as they don’t
associate with me.
(d) I’m all for it.
(e) I’m all right with it as long as it’s regulated and done in
moderation.
10.) Are you currently employed?
(a) Yes, but I’m looking for other work.
(b) Yes, but I’m not looking for other work.
(c) No, but I’m looking for work.
(d) No, but I’m not looking for work.
(e) No; I’m too young to work/still in school/live with my parents.
11.) What is your highest level of education?
(a) Some high school.
(b) High school.
(c) Some college.
(d) Associate’s degree.
(e) Bachelor’s degree.
(f) Master’s or higher.
12.) If you have not completed your field of study, are you still studying or did you drop out?
(a) I’ve completed my field of study.
(b) I’m still studying.
(c) I dropped out, but I plan to go back.
(d) I dropped out, but I have no plans to go back.
Remember, you can answer all of these anonymously if you don’t want to vouchsafe these details with your name. I can’t even tell who you are if you choose to do so; you can just type in “Anonymous” for the name and put in a fake e-mail such as none@none.com. Everything passes through a proxy IP on a squid server, so you all look like the same IP address to me when you post anonymously - so there’s no fear that I’ll discuss your answers as associated to you.
My answers:
1.) a. 2.) b. 3.) g. 4.) b. 5.) i. 6.) a. 7.) c. 8.) e. 9.) c. 10.) a. 11.) d with a bit of e, as I have an associate’s but I’ve studied towards a bachelor’s. 12.) kind of b, kind of c, since I’ve completed one degree but want to return to finish another.
quiz, gay stereotypes, straight stereotypes
Listen to DR Streaming Radio
January 16th, 2008 at 1:13 am
1.) A
2.) B
3.) G
4.) B
5.) F
6.) A
7.) C
8.) D
9.) A
10.) B
11.) C
12.) C
January 16th, 2008 at 3:43 am
1. B
2. C
3. A
4. A
5. D
6. E–I do think about it, but usually don’t use it, and it’s a miracle I’m not ill from it.
7. C
8. E–and I don’t intend to, either.
9. B,C,E
10. D–I’m Disabled by way of mental illness.
11. C
12. D–also because of mental illness.
January 16th, 2008 at 7:38 am
1. Female
2. Heterosexual
3. yes, and very happy
4. A
5. C
6. birthcontrol, yes, protection from STD’s, no; since it’s the first partner for both of us and we have been checked
7. C; my parents started when I was 3, and in school we had sex ed at the ages of 12, 14, 15, 17 and 18.
8. E.
9. B.
10. E, I’m a student
11. B, I think, I have my secundary education degree?
12. B, still studying.
January 16th, 2008 at 10:33 am
1. B
2. B
3. E
4. B
5. C
6. A
7. B
8. E
9. C
10. B, I work in the computer industry, but would like to write full time.
11. E
12. A, but I would like to complete a masters.
January 16th, 2008 at 11:01 am
I think it’s weird that according to the ’standards’ discussed in the main post I fit the stereotype quite well, while I’m something of an exception compared to many of my peers.
January 16th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
1) b
e
2) c/a/e… too lazy to think/care
3) a
4) a
5) a, and a little of b
6) a
7) c
9) c/a
10) c
11) c
12) b and c since I dropped out once xD
January 16th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
1.b
2.d
3.c
4.c
5.a
6.f
7.c
8.e
9.a
10.a I hate my jobs.
11.e
12.b I want my PhD. Am I weird?
January 16th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
1. b. Female.
2. c. Bisexual/Pansexual, though I usually don’t think about it.
3. a. Yes, and I’ve been happy about it for the last three and a half years.
4. c. Virginal and happy that way.
5. b. None, but I have fooled around.
6. f. Since we’re not having intercourse and have both been tested, we don’t.
7. c. Yes. The pictures weren’t pretty…
8. e. No, and I never have, though I’ve considered it and decided against it.
9. a. I don’t care if my friends do it, but I would if it was my boyfriend or my brother.
10. e. Still studying and living with my parents.
11. a. Senior year of high school.
12. b. Still studying.
January 16th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
1.) a/Male
2.) c/A bisexual is what you call a gay man who thinks that woman are hot and will fantasize about them….but who’d never actually want to date or have sex with one, right? Or is that just called ‘fucked up’?
3.) c/Single and happily so.
4.) c/To my knowledge I’ve never had sex with anyone but myself.
5.) a/None.
6.) f/My poor virgin eyes!
7.) c/I think the sex ed classes I had went over it…it’s been ten years though.
8.) e/Haven’t, won’t.
9.) e/If it consumes your life, I don’t want to be around you. If you do it recreationally every once and a while and it doesn’t hurt the people around you, and it’s not while I’m around, I don’t really care.
10.) b/Yes, but I’d love a different job.
11.) c/Presently working towards my AS.
12.) b/As said.
January 16th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
1. b
2. c
3. c
4. b
5. e
6. d
7. b
8. d
9. e
10. d
11. e
12. a
January 16th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
1.b
2.c
3.c
4.c
5.a
6.f
7.c
8.f (well, alcohol and tobacco, so yes really, but I don’t know if that’s what you meant by drugs.)
9.e
10.e
11.a
12.b
January 16th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
1. e
2. f and a tiny bit of e. I’m not nearly as confused now. It started making more sense when I stopped trying so hard to figure it out and give it a name.
3. c
4. c Funny thing is, when I tried to explain my sexuality to my best friend, she asked how I knew if I’d never had sex. Like I needed proof.
5. a
6. f
7. c I was lucky enough to have a really good Health teacher in high school.
8. e
9. e Only because I don’t think it’s my place to tell anyone else what to do. As long as no one’s getting hurt, I stay out of it.
10. b I work part time to help pay for school, but I still live at home, so I don’t have to work to support myself. I just don’t want to stick my parents with tuition bills. Seems rude.
11. c I just started Monday, actually. I have exactly three days of college education.
12. b
January 16th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
(*flails* Grr to WordPress errors. Let’s try this again, shall we?)
1.) d/e. Sort of undecided; born female, but really more of a drag queen. I’m definitely more male-like, but I’d like to be a man that could pass as a woman. If that made sense.
2.) b/d/f. Uhm, I mostly like boys? Pretty boys? (fun to look at, but not at all interested in anything more)
3.) c. No. No no no.
4.) c. (see above)
5.) a. (self-explanatory, I feel)
6.) f.
7.) c. It was quite explicit, actually. And there were pictures.
8.) f, I suppose? I like a little wine, and I’m not necessarily opposed to all drugs…but either way, that’s not for me now, and may well never be.
9.) a/e. People should be smart about it, but in the end, it’s up to them. Just don’t push it on me.
10.) e. I’m in high school, with no desire/need for a job yet.
11.) a.
12.) b.
(Some of those were harder to answer than they looked! …Or was that just me? :3)
January 16th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
1. b
2. a
3. a
4. a
5. c
6. b Now I do. I should have done it before, but I didn’t. Fortunately, I came out of that relationship disease-free and childless.
7. c
8. e
9. e
10. b
11. e
12. a
January 16th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
1) ususally (b). Occasional divergence, but usually (b)
f
2) c
3) Cross between (a) and (f)- he and I are in a long term relationship, but we are open to others joining us if we find the right others.
4) a
5) c
6) d
7) c
9) e/a- it’s their life, but I don’t want to see someone utterly messed up by it.
10) e (college is the term the Americans use for University, yes? In the UK, college often refers to the education between 16 and 18, when those who wish to stay on for further education do so.)
11) c
12) b
As for the idea that hetero couples are always wise and careful with sex whereas homosexuals are wild deviants with no reservations… I’ve often found it to be the other way around. Hetero individuals seem to sleep around and catch nasty things a good deal more often, though I put that down to individual idiocy rather than a statement on all purely hetero people.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:09 am
01. B, maybe D? I want a penis but I don’t wanna be a guy O
05. C
06. D
07. B
08. F, I’d only do this if a responsible friend was there to make sure I didn’t over do it or do anything majorly stupid, ya know? I’m still a teenager, you have NO IDEA what goes through my head when I’m securely held down, can you imagine me HIGH? O.O
09. B, it’s disgusting, but according to 8, I just wanna know what it’s like *shrugs*
10. C, I want an effing job!!! MONEH!!! XO
11. A
12. B
January 18th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
1.b
2.a
3.c/d Not looking right now, but you know, sometimes the idea of it sounds nice.
4.c
5.a
6.f (yeah, I lead a sexually boring life, oh well, leaves more time to write)
7.c
8.e.
9.b/c (I realize I can’t control what others do, but I wouldn’t want to be around it)
10.b (I kinda want a different job and would love to write full-time, but I’m not actively looking for anything new right now and I don’t have enough money to only write)
11.e
12.b (Got my Ba in English and Psych, and working on an MA in English with a concentration in creative writing–how useless is that for higher education? But I plan to come out of it with another novel draft.)
Like Sihaya, I feel weird to sort of “fit the stereotype,” but I think part of that is because it seems like ‘virgin,’ regardless of orientation, seems to be abnormal for a 20-something.
It’s also weird how some people don’t understand that no one fits a steroetype exactly and you can’t base anyone on those kinds of assumptions (and here I’m thinking of a classmate in particular, she just did not get it). ~big sigh~ Okay, I’m done now.
January 18th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
1) b/e. Unlike a lot of people, *what* I am isn’t terribly informative.
d (defining “lighter things” as alcohol and tobacco)
2) a with a touch of c.
3) d. Working on it…
4) c
5) a
6) f
7) c
9) e
10) c. As jobs don’t last longer than 4 months since I entered college, I’m pretty much constantly in a state of searching.
11) c
12) b
Huzzah for not fitting the stereotype *or* breaking it. I suppose I do fit the “stereotypical tomboy” image though. If you catch me on the right day.