Bias in Lyman and Scott

DONNA K. DARDEN (DKD2737@tntech.edu)
Tue, 27 Feb 1996 09:14:17 -0600 (CST)

I think Stanford is quite right. Their book is descriptive of the bias which
exists in American society. The bias is america's, not Lyman's. I believe the
data will still show that men are more likely than women to engage in
non-intimate sex, whether these men are gay or straight. When you have two men
engaging in sex, therefore, the odds are greater that the act will be
non-intimate.

As long as we continue to refuse to legitimate same-sex unions, and thus give
them the social support which all unions need, we can expect gay men's unions
to be weaker than others', I believe. This certainly follows from what we
know about the play of boys and girls [Lever], and the lifetime effects of such
differences. For little girls, playing with a friend is the important point,
not the game. For little boys, the game's the important part, and the players
matter less.

I'm simplifying again.

It is often easy to confuse the message with the messenger, but learning to
separate them is part of sociology and other disciplines.

Donna Darden