Why do people constantly try to draw parallels between homosexuality & rape, bestiality & pedophilia?

Question

I see it all the time in this section & I can't for the life of me figure out WHY.

Are those people who make the "comparison" actually incapable of differentiating between the one & the others?

When one adult sexually assaults another adult, it's rape, & it's about power, control & violence. Bestiality is the mistreatment & rape of animals. Pedophilia is the molestation & rape of those too young to possess both the emotional & psychological capacity to provide reasoned, informed consent.

All three cases involve rape. All three cases involve a victim. All three cases involve a crime.

Homosexuality is consensual intimacy between two adults of the same sex. There is no rape. There is no victim. There is no crime.

So... why do people STILL compare homosexuality to rape???

Answer 1

Well, probably for the same stupid and primitive reasons that most religious scriptures, including the Bible, refer to women and children as the 'property' of men.

Drawing parallels betweens unrelated things is ancient and well-established among dominant groups and populations.

As a result, gross comparisons are made, for example, between black men and monkeys, between 'hysterical' women and frightened birds, between Jewish people and thieving jackals, etc.

These stereotypes are a form of social 'shorthand' which helps the majority group or dominant culture to avoid dealing with people as individuals.

This behaviour is primitive and deplorable.

Answer 2

Well there's a few reasons.

For example, sensationalism. The media sensationalizes anomalies. So for example it's one thing to have a pedophile, and everyone will assume the pedophile is after kids. But if a pedophile is a male raping a boy, he's classified as homosexual, even though research would show him 74% more likely to be in a relationship with the child's mother or other family member, and indeed not in a homosexual relationship at all.

But it's an anomaly, so they report it, and people remember anomalies.

It's the same reason people think of blacks as crooks, because every time a man commits a crime, and is black, it's sensationalized more than a white criminal.

The thing is, white and straight are more common, they're not in the least sensational. So any time you have anything that deviates from the common, the media has to swoop in and make a big deal out of it.

Then you have the fact that people forget the common, and only easily remember the uncommon, it's how our memories work. So we're more likely to remember something fantastic, like 911, than what we had for breakfast 10 days ago. It's true to a lesser extent in other ways.

So people hear the media say a man is a gay pedophile, they remember that, and then gay and pedophile go hand in hand. Much like there was speculation that the Virginia Tech killer might be gay at one point, so he would've been remembered as the gay killer, not simply a killer.

Another thing is because we wish to identify the anomalies and eliminate them. It's a very simple human way of learning, and part of the reason behind racism. You hear black people are crooks, so you remember that, and you may try to stay away from them. Likewise if you hear that gay people are deviants, then the same thing happens.

Plus for further comparison, if you don't know any black people, it's a lot easier to think of them as crooks, but if you know some, you're less likely to think of that, because they're no longer distant, you've been exposed to the truth, and you thus remember that.

So the larger part of the problem is that a lot of people don't know any gay people. So all they hear is fantastic stories, or tales passed on, and that's all they remember. They have no gay friends to break that mold for them.

It's easier to judge if you don't know the people intimately.

Answer 3

OK, I'm admitting now that I don't have the proof of this in front of me, but I'm almost positive this is the case. Give me about two days, and I bet I can come up with the sources on this.

At one point rape, bestiality, pedophilia, and homosexuality were all considered sexually deviant behavior/mental illness by the American Psychiatric Association. In 1973, homosexuality was removed from that list.

A few people have either missed that memo or disagree with the those who decide what a mental illness is or isn't.

It does make me wonder if these are the same people who argue that by making it legal for homosexuals to marry one another, it is also giving the go ahead for people to marry their dogs, their cousins, and their children. The comparison is not parallel, and the logical fallacies are too numerous to list.

Of course, the motivation is not logic. It is what logicians call "poisoning the well." Logical fallacies are readily accepted arguments, anymore. If logic was applied, this argument would be easily defeated, and since few people like to be wrong . . . .

Rape, bestiality, and pedophilia are very much about power, control, and violence. However, sometimes, it's also a very unhealthy level of curiosity. Some things should be left alone.

Homosexuality and the act of sex, like any act of sex, **can** be about power, control, and violence. But more often than not, both parties are consenting adults and realize that they have a fetish for domination and submission.

But the key term there is "consenting adults" just like you said.

Answer 4

Look at it this way. If there were no such thing as sex, we would still need a way to sustain the human population, since we are not immortal. We would have to create heterosexual sex. The reason sex feels good is because without the feeling, many beasts would be too dumb to reproduce on purpose. Without that good feeling, homosexuality, pedophilia, necrophilia and bestiality would all become extremely irrational, and probably disappear. Heterosexual sex would not go away. We would still need it. The problem is that since we started raising kids on birth control and abortion, the entire population lost touch with the connection between sex and reproduction. Now, sex is just something that feels good that you can do with any person, object or beast, and reproduction is only something you do in a clinic when you are 40.

Answer 5

Well, there USED to be a crime. And therein lies the reason.

For a long time, homosexuality was included in a set of standards that were naively referred to as "crimes against nature." These included bestiality, necrophilia, & sodomy (including heterosexual sodomy).

As such they were prosecuted in the framework of nature itself as a victim. Rape and child molestation had human victims, crimes against nature were simply human attacks against natural laws.

The past 40 years have seen the removal of such laws, first slowly, then in 2003, with the US Supreme Court's outlawing of sodomy laws, with one broad stroke. However, the echoes of the earlier era remain. It will take at least 2 more generations (and perhaps more, because of the religious support for anti-homosexuality laws) for those echoes to fade away.

Remember, though, that it is hardly black or white. I recently heard a CHRISTIAN podcast talking about homosexuality, and the hosts were recognizing that they would not want to have the same acts that homosexuals do outlawed from heterosexual relationships. They were using this insight to find some support for gay rights. This kind of conversation among Christians would not have been possible earlier, because it would have meant promoting criminal behavior. Now it seem like it is no big deal.

Answer 6

I read every reply to this question, hoping someone who stands by these comparisons would try to defend them.

So far, no one on the other side of the issue has started an answer with "I compare homosexuality to rape because..." and then said something intelligent.

I'm starting to think -gasp!- that it may not be a valid comparison, and -double gasp!- even the people making the comparison KNOW it's not valid.

Answer 7

I followed everything else, except to be honest with ya...not all beastiality is rape. Unless sometimes it's a horny animal jumping a human...but since the human would like it with that kink, than it's still not rape. Ever had a dog try to hump your leg? Lol ;)

But people are programmed to believe what society dictates, and society has dictated for a while now that anal is wrong, and that therefore homesexuality is wrong.

BUT! That is only the men! It seems to me lesbians have had a far easier time of it because of people wanting to see two women together. People tend to act like homosexuality is a scale...with lesbians being the dream, and gay men (as the opposite) being the nightmare.

It's really sad society can't be more accepting, but I think a lot of prejudice stems from the older generation. Once the younger generation has taken its place I think people will be more open to it.

Answer 8

This is the same thing I have been wondering. It makes no sense. Like you, I don't understand how they possibly cannot see the HUGE differences between these things. I think people are just afraid of homosexuality because they know nothing about it and are striving desperately to find anything (whether it makes sense or not) to support their bigotry. No one wants to admit they are a bigot.

Answer 9

i can see that a comparison can be made ONLY in that a person can't help who they're attracted to. just as a gay person can't help being attracted to the same sex, so a paedophile can't help being attracted to kids. but that's where any comparison ends. and before anyone starts thumbing me down, i'm not saying that the act of paedophilia is acceptable, i'm just saying that they can't help the feelings. now acting on those feeings is a whole other show and you're completely right about the consent issue. this is where the comparison ends.
the same can be said for comparing paedophiles with straight people, no one chooses who to be attracted to, it just happens.

Answer 10

Liza P, this is YOUR quote "If they would take time to look at the statistics 95% of straight men are rapists & pedophiles ".

Now I know a LOT of straight men and NOT a SINGLE one is a rapist NOR a pedophile. Just where did you GET those statistics? I am a strraight male and I have never forced my self on anyone nor have I ever tried to get intimate with anyone under the age of 18 (except when I TOO was under the age of 18 and that doesn't count).

Raji

Answer 11

Because they are right about everything and for some reason that I can't understand, they seem to find homosexuality as disgusting as all those other unimagineable things.

To me, that kind of thinking is DISGUSTING!

You said it right when you said homosexuality is consensual intimacy between two adults of the same sex.