...his father, Ronnie Paris Jr., would box with the 3-year-old, slapping him in the head until he cried because he didn't want his son to grow up to be ``a
sissy,'' the boy's mother testified Monday.
...``He was trying to teach him how to fight,'' said Shanita Powell, Nysheerah Paris' sister. ``He was concerned that the child might be gay.''
Is this but a natural progression of a Ronda Storms mindset?
(Also see the St. Pete Times article)
A number of gay men, myself included, will describe having a physically or mentally agressive/abusive father. I've read some on the subject and there is no consensus on the cause.
ReplyDeleteUntil the studies of the last few years that suppport the position that sexual orientation is immutable (at least after the age of 6), people thought agressive fathers or codling mothers might be responsible for homosexualty.
More importantly, I think, is the possible link between gay boys, agressive/abusive fathers, and suicide attempts. Some studies indicate that adolecent gay men are many times more likely to have attempted suicide than their straight peers.
In public health we look at multi-dimensional life outcomes, like in-home mental/physical abuse causing higher prevalence of run-away episodes, crimes, school drop-out, less job initiation and retention, and of course depression and suicide. In a general sense, the link between a physically/mentally abusive parent--father or mother--and depression, suicide, etc. through the blame-and-shame game onto a gay son (either direct or indirect) isn't too much of a logical leap. The interplay between the interpersonal (parent-and-son) and social relationships together make up the context of what I call the 4 Pillars of Discrimination. Although it has a predominantly social structure, my model can be applied to the interpersonal as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently working on this outcome piece and will release it within another week on my site.
http://perspectiveofpete.blogspot.com/2005/07/in-its-proper-context-letters-to.html