Henrique Hansmann

[klifhangar]

Wow. I never would have imagined focusing on his nose. I saw this man's abs and chest and thought, this dude is pretty incredible. I find his torso spectacular (nice smile, too). I never paid any attention to the nose. Amazing how different people focus on different things.

Ha! It's not so much that I focused on his nose but that I thought "he is def my type" then analyzed why that is. He looks like a buddy of mine and one similarity is the distinctive, masculine nose. Yes, I like all those other parts too and wonder if what they say about big noses is true

[+ Unicorn]

He's in his early 20s. Very nice guy (I met him once, socially)

 

Not that I would ever have a snowball's chance in Hell with him, but I'm just curious if he's gay?

[MscleLovr]

Not that I would ever have a snowball's chance in Hell with him, but I'm just curious if he's gay?

 

It's an interesting question for Brazilians. Culturally they are quite relaxed about sexuality, and sometimes they do things out of economic necessity, to repay hospitality and to demonstrate gratitude. I find that the Anglo-Saxon desire to 'label' and classify a person is very limiting. To my knowledge, Henrique is straight and has a girlfriend.

[+ Unicorn]

It's an interesting question for Brazilians. Culturally they are quite relaxed about sexuality, and sometimes they do things out of economic necessity, to repay hospitality and to demonstrate gratitude. I find that the Anglo-Saxon desire to 'label' and classify a person is very limiting. To my knowledge, Henrique is straight and has a girlfriend.

 

I find the word "label" to be a very loaded term. It implies that there's something wrong and/or shameful about being gay. We now know that sexual preference is hard-wired and not subject to change, and appears to be determined at a young age--certainly before adolescence, and maybe even at birth. In fact, in California, it is illegal for parents to try to force "conversion" therapy on their children, because it's proven that these "therapies" don't work (and are harmful, in fact).

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB1172

Therefore a person is either gay, straight, or bisexual. Although a term such as "criminal" could be seen as a "label" (a negative term, and a description about someone that is potentially subject to change), words such as "gay," "straight," or "bisexual" are just descriptive terms to communicate a sexual preference. It helps communicate a very important aspect of a person's life. For example, when I tell people I'm gay, they don't have to wonder when or if I'll ever have a wife & children. Obviously, having sex with the same gender in exchange for payment or other favors doesn't make a person gay, although some people will describe the person as "gay for pay."

Also, "Anglo-Saxon" is not a synonym for "White" or "European." I have a European background, but my family can trace its lineage back hundreds of years, and there's no one on my family tree from the British Isles. For whatever reason, I find that in general in more progressive European countries, generally in Western and Northern Europe, men are more likely to describe themselves as gay, whereas in less "advanced" cultures, such as in Eastern Europe, men describe themselves more often as bisexual.

 

That being said, I appreciate the information. I don't know why it matters to me to know whether someone is or is not on "my team," but I do get some sense of satisfaction when I hear that a man I admire for whatever reason is gay. It's not a huge disappointment to learn otherwise, though. Obviously I understand the odds are against it.

[+ glennnn]

I really appreciate your point that Anglo is not a direct synonym for Caucasian. Many people do not understand this. My friend, who is as Italian as anyone can be in these days of mixed genes, is highly amused when "labeled" Anglo by other minority groups. As in, "What would an Anglo know about prejudice?" Her family's history of their arrival in New York in the 1870's and the anti-Italian bias they met there tell a different story.

[MscleLovr]

Just to clarify what I wrote earlier, I did not use "Anglo-Saxon" as a synonym for Caucasian. I was trying to find an historic term that would broadly describe various Northern European and North American countries and encompass Australia and New Zealand. I was aiming to contrast the thinking in those countries, where broadly men may say they're straight, gay or bi, to that in countries that are culturally more Latin (say Southern Europe and South America) in outlook, where again broadly men may enjoy a range of sexual activities.

 

And I did not use 'label' in a loaded sense. I was referring to what is quite common nowadays among young Europeans (and I have also heard the same comment in New York and San Francisco) where they refuse - as they put it - to 'label' their sexuality. My strong feeling is that they do not consider "there's something wrong and/or shameful about being gay" as Unicorn wrote. I think many young people do not define themselves by their sexual preference/activity and see sexuality as more than binary. I commented on Brazilians being quite flexible in their thinking on this matter because I have had ostensibly straight young guys visiting Europe initiate sexual contact and be very affectionate and eager to thank me for my hospitality.

[+ Unicorn]

I was trying to find an historic term that would broadly describe various Northern European and North American countries...

 

Well, you didn't find it. I will tell you that many people such as myself find the term offensive. I am proud of the culture of my ancestors' country, and I most definitely do not identify in any way with Anglo-Saxon culture. I find that culture ridiculously class-conscious, elitist, unfriendly, and violent. It's completely absurd that they have a "House of Lords" not just in the 20th Century, but even in the 21st Century. I think it's been many decades since any other European country had such a legislative body. They've invaded almost every country on the planet:

http://indy100.independent.co.uk/image/19289-1cnpnch.jpg

 

During WW2, my mother remembers well the words of her mother when the family escaped to England from the Nazis: "The food here is so terrible in peacetime, I can hardly imagine how it will be during wartime!". And so the family pushed on to Argentina to wait the Nazis out. I am proud of my American history, and our rejection of the British and their culture, and am grateful not to be ruled over by some monarch in a land thousands of miles away. I would venture to say that most Europeans would also bristle at being called "Anglo-Saxon." I suspect that if you were to call most Irish "Anglo-Saxon," you might find yourself with a black eye. Many Irish died getting rid of the British just as we Americans did, although it sure took them a lot longer (I guess maybe because the French helped us). I've heard many Europeans tell me that English tourists are the worst.

 

As for Brazilians not "labeling" themselves with their sexual preference, I will say this. The exact age probably depends on each person, but by the time a man is 18, he definitely knows whether he's turned on sexually by men, women, or both. It occupies certainly daily thought (in the case of men, probably almost continuously), and is not subtle in any way. A man may wish to keep his sexual preferences secret, but he knows damned well whether he's gay, straight, or bi. What he does for economic reasons, of course, are another matter. And if he wishes to play games, and say he's only doing something for economic reasons when he's, in fact, enjoying same-sex encounters, that's his business as well. But just about every man in this planet knows whether he's gay, straight, or bi. If he wants to keep it private, that's up to him. But saying "I don't want to label myself" is pure bullshit. And I do call BS as well to any man who says he doesn't know whether he's gay, straight, or bi (barring unusual medical conditions).

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AVLcMIHn-Gs/UqR1JcwR3eI/AAAAAAAABco/e3n_NS1EBzk/s1600/whtbj+but+you+are+blanche.gif