[lbo-talk] Clash of Sexual Civilizations (was Re: ahmadinejad)

Michael Smith mjs at smithbowen.net
Wed Sep 26 09:23:44 PDT 2007


On Wed, 2007-09-26 at 11:56 -0400, Doug Henwood wrote:
> On Sep 25, 2007, at 5:50 PM, Michael Smith wrote:
>
> > On Tue, 2007-09-25 at 17:02 -0400, Charles Brown wrote:
> >
> >> is it possible that he, like the ancient Greeks that we're all
> >> supposed to admire so much, doesn't see homosexual people as existing
> >> as much as homosexual _behaviors_ that some engage in?
> >
> > This was exactly Yoshie's original point, if I understood
> > her correctly.
>
> Yeah that's her point, but how do we know that's where Ahmadinejad is
> coming from?

We don't know, of course. Yoshie (and, si licet magnis componere parvos, I) is/are trying to figure out what he might have meant. The reason his statement seems to need some parsing is that if it's understood in the conventional way, then Ahmadinejad is claiming that nobody does same-sex sex in Iran. Which would be so prodigiously silly it's hard to believe _anybody_ would say it.

Assessing semantic intent is always conjectural. Where conversations are taking place through two-way translation across a considerable cultural gap, it's unwise to conclude the other party is a fool or a loon when you find something he says startling.

I'm actually just sitting here listening to A's speech. He sounds a lot less foolish and loony -- and much better-bred -- than Lee Bollinger.



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