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Message: <blockquote data-quote="HeapThaumaturgist" data-source="post: 3667904" data-attributes="member: 12332">My wife would have a field day with this thread.  We both had a lot of gay/lesbian theory during our stint in The Ivory Tower.We were discussing this thread in the car after dinner, and I'll try to summarize some of her comments:To a predominance of bi/lesbian female characters over bi/homosexual male characters, she thinks it is, in some ways, related to pandering somewhat to the male buying public, but also that female homosexuality is generally "less threatening" (in no small part that many men find it so ... interesting) so if an author wants to portray homosexuality in a positive/neutral light, the easiest way is through female characters, which are less likely to cause strong reactions in the greater population of the readership WHILE presenting same-sex couples in a positive light.  Females are less likely to react negatively to homosexuality across the board (and are even more less likely to react negatively to female homosexuality, for ill-understood reasons, which is to say women react more negatively to male homosexuality than female for some reason).To a preponderance of bisexual females in positions of power or prestige, she doesn't find that out of the ordinary either.  For one, the female form is objectified sexually and possession of the female is somewhat written into power-concerns in Western culture.  I.E. the possession and consolidation of power is in some ways connected to the possession of the female as an intimate partner.  Another point is that some research has suggested that the occurance of bisexuality and lesbianism tends to increase somewhat with socioeconomic position and, especially, education (there's something to the old yarn about college roommates, perhaps) so that, yes, women found in positions of power or WITH great power may, in fact, be more commonly bisexual or lesbian than the baseline average across population would suggest, both as the trappings of power and based on educational and socioeconomic positioning concerns.  What does this mean to Elminster?  Probably not much.--fje</blockquote>

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