The University of Michigan is offering students a class in

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

Furthermore, if "gay men" require a class to teach them how to be gay then it kind of blows the whole being born that way out of the water, doesn't it?

Is that really what you think?

And do you really think the point of the class is to teach people to be gay?

I think that being gay is trendy in our society, thus classes like these popping up.

I have a gay friend who we all swear is straight. He does it for attention from his mom, seriously. Another friend of mine was gay as a teen, then grew up and admitted it was an attention ploy for mommy.

Do you REALLY think that doesn't happen?

I think it's being accepted more in our society (gay marriage anyone), hence these classes are allowed to exist.

It's definitely more accepted, but the University of Michigan has a history as pushing non-equal rights, such as black enrollment incentives and "how to be gay." Seriously, that's an ABSURD college course.

[Jenn! 918]

Wow, this is like the '50's on crack. Didn't they use to have classes teaching women how to be women (ie. home ec, etiquette, etc.)?

[Aymerlu 3]

Wow, this is like the '50's on crack. Didn't they use to have classes teaching women how to be women (ie. home ec, etiquette, etc.)?

LOL! Yep, an aunt of mine told me about those classes I was like #######???? I'd be the one getting kicked out the first minute of class

[SMOKE 1,426]

Wow, this is like the '50's on crack. Didn't they use to have classes teaching women how to be women (ie. home ec, etiquette, etc.)?

aahh the good ole days...

*hides*

[Aymerlu 3]

Wow, this is like the '50's on crack. Didn't they use to have classes teaching women how to be women (ie. home ec, etiquette, etc.)?

aahh the good ole days...

*hides*

RUN!

[Alhamdulillah 0]

Furthermore, if "gay men" require a class to teach them how to be gay then it kind of blows the whole being born that way out of the water, doesn't it?

Not if they've been in the closet for years trying to hide it.

What exactly, about being gay, would you say a closeted homosexual may not know that he needs to enroll in a college class to teach him? What are the requirements of being gay? Do you mean if a person is made to stay in the closet for a long period of time, he may forget that he likes other men and need to be reintroduced to that in some way?

[Heracles 417]

Wow, this is like the '50's on crack. Didn't they use to have classes teaching women how to be women (ie. home ec, etiquette, etc.)?

LOL! Yep, an aunt of mine told me about those classes I was like #######???? I'd be the one getting kicked out the first minute of class

Some lessons are needed. Like how to wear clothes that are not 10 sizes larger. How to act civilized. How to respect others. How selling crack cocaine, gang banging or being a ####### is not a career path. A lesson on class is also recommended. Something money definitely cannot buy.

[Alhamdulillah 0]

Furthermore, if "gay men" require a class to teach them how to be gay then it kind of blows the whole being born that way out of the water, doesn't it?

Is that really what you think?

And do you really think the point of the class is to teach people to be gay?

Just because you happen to be a gay man doesn't mean that you don't have to learn how to become one.

It would seem that's the opinion of the author of this introduction to the class. This sentence doesn't even make sense... if you're already gay then why would you need to learn how to become one? That alone would suggest to me that the opinion of this college is that a person makes a concious decision to be gay... hence the need to teach a course on how to become a gay man.

If that's not the case and people are in fact born gay, then I think all the gay people in the country should protest this class

[Jenn! 918]

Furthermore, if "gay men" require a class to teach them how to be gay then it kind of blows the whole being born that way out of the water, doesn't it?

Is that really what you think?

And do you really think the point of the class is to teach people to be gay?

Just because you happen to be a gay man doesn't mean that you don't have to learn how to become one.

It would seem that's the opinion of the author of this introduction to the class. This sentence doesn't even make sense... if you're already gay then why would you need to learn how to become one? That alone would suggest to me that the opinion of this college is that a person makes a concious decision to be gay... hence the need to teach a course on how to become a gay man.

If that's not the case and people are in fact born gay, then I think all the gay people in the country should protest this class

I think you're taking the statement too literally. They're talking about how to fit into gay culture.

[almaty 19]

I want to know

time for your test! bend over the desk!

heard you have to do an oral exam too

[Alhamdulillah 0]

I think you're taking the statement too literally. They're talking about how to fit into gay culture.

So then it is about teaching stereotypes and not about teaching how to be gay then. Some gay people I've known over the years would take offense to the fact that people think they have to be a flaming ** to be gay. One of the most masculine men I've ever known was gay and he never once felt the need to act like a woman or dress like a circus clown to be that way.

This school may as well have a foreign language class in "ebonics" and how to be a "hillbilly" if that's the case.

[Jenn! 918]

I think you're taking the statement too literally. They're talking about how to fit into gay culture.

So then it is about teaching stereotypes and not about teaching how to be gay then. Some gay people I've known over the years would take offense to the fact that people think they have to be a flaming ** to be gay. One of the most masculine men I've ever known was gay and he never once felt the need to act like a woman or dress like a circus clown to be that way.

This school may as well have a foreign language class in "ebonics" and how to be a "hillbilly" if that's the case.

Precisely why this course is ridiculous.

[no name 1]

I think you're taking the statement too literally. They're talking about how to fit into gay culture.

So then it is about teaching stereotypes and not about teaching how to be gay then. Some gay people I've known over the years would take offense to the fact that people think they have to be a flaming ** to be gay. One of the most masculine men I've ever known was gay and he never once felt the need to act like a woman or dress like a circus clown to be that way.

This school may as well have a foreign language class in "ebonics" and how to be a "hillbilly" if that's the case.

Did you even read the description?

Course Description:

Just because you happen to be a gay man doesn't mean that you don't have to learn how to become one. Gay men do some of that learning on their own, but often we learn how to be gay from others, either because we look to them for instruction or because they simply tell us what they think we need to know, whether we ask for their advice or not.

This course will examine the general topic of the role that initiation plays in the formation of gay male identity. We will approach it from three angles: (1) as a sub-cultural practice — subtle, complex, and difficult to theorize — which a small but significant body of work in ####### studies has begun to explore; (2) as a theme in gay male writing; and (3) as a class project, since the course itself will constitute an experiment in the very process of initiation that it hopes to understand.

In particular, we will examine a number of cultural artifacts and activities that seem to play a prominent role in learning how to be gay: Hollywood movies, grand opera, Broadway musicals, and other works of classical and popular music, as well as camp, diva-worship, drag, muscle culture, taste, style, and political activism. Are there a number of classically 'gay' works such that, despite changing tastes and generations, all gay men, of whatever class, race, or ethnicity, need to know them, in order to be gay? What is there about gay identity that explains the gay appropriation of these works? What do we learn about gay male identity by asking not who gay men are but what it is that gay men do or like? One aim of exploring these questions is to approach gay identity from the perspective of social practices and cultural identifications rather than from the perspective of gay sexuality itself. What can such an approach tell us about the sentimental, affective, or subjective dimensions of gay identity, including gay sexuality, that an exclusive focus on gay sexuality cannot?

At the core of gay experience there is not only identification but disidentification. Almost as soon as I learn how to be gay, or perhaps even before, I also learn how not to be gay. I say to myself, 'Well, I may be gay, but at least I'm not like that!' Rather than attempting to promote one version of gay identity at the expense of others, this course will investigate the stakes in gay identifications and disidentifications, seeking ultimately to create the basis for a wider acceptance of the plurality of ways in which people determine how to be gay.

Additional note. This course is not a basic introduction to gay male culture, but an exploration of certain issues arising from it. It assumes some background knowledge. Students wishing to inform themselves about gay men and gay culture in a preliminary way should enroll in an introductory course in lesbian/gay studies.

[Amby 490]

I want to know

time for your test! bend over the desk!

heard you have to do an oral exam too

*bends over* hmmm I wonder what this test is about

[almaty 19]

I want to know

time for your test! bend over the desk!

heard you have to do an oral exam too

*bends over* hmmm I wonder what this test is about

well, college can be pain staking at times