[lbo-talk] Michelangelo , was Re: The sources of suffering (Grow up!) ( Was Re: Harry Potter, Metritocracy, and Reward)

[John Thornton]

Chris Doss wrote:
>> Just out of curiousity, how do we know what
>> Michelangelo's sexual orientation was? Do we have
>> correspondence between him and a lover or somesuch?
>>     
>
> Asking about M's sexual orientation is as silly as asking whether he 
> was a Democrat or a Republican.  Our typology of sexual orientation 
> did not exist in 16th century Europe, so it's a meaningless question.
>
> Miles
>   

How can such a smart person write something so dumb?
Miles if you're savvy enough to realize that the historic differences in 
understanding sexual orientation are non-trivial one would think you 
would also realize that Chris' question was far from meaningless.
The analogy you draw however is deeply flawed so as to be meaningless.
I would suggest reading the collection of works that comprise "Queering 
the Renaissance".
It would seem that we actually can come to a decent understanding of the 
sexual orientation of others during Michaelangelo's time.

John Thornton