She might even forgo sailing to paradise to stay with him.Īnd this is how these traits have been selected for and perpetuated down through the generations, spreading them throughout the male population, even though intuitively you might think homosexuality would be deselected as not increasing the likelihood of reproduction.Īnother genetic factor, passed down from the mother to some male homosexuals, may literally drive a desire in some women to have lots o’ sex with men. So any woman seeking a man who is likely to stick around and help raise her child in a loving, nurturing environment would choose a guy who has a large number of the same “feminizing” traits that contribute to (but do not individually cause) homosexuality. Only if the other 37% of biological factors needed to make Aragorn gay had been just right during his creation would he have been born truly homosexual, and thus felt exclusively attracted to other men (or male elves, I suppose, although that’s a whole other issue). But he may have increased levels of kindness, sensitivity, and other nurturing traits one might consider more feminine than masculine. He would be seen as a “real man” by today’s standards (or even by King Denethor’s standards). His sexual preferences may be completely heterosexual. Which means that yes, a man can be, say, 63 percent biologically gay. Rather, a wide variety of genetic traits and bio-chemical influences must all be just right for a man to turn out biologically homosexual (as versus the variety of hormones and recreational chemical influences that may make a young man experimentally bisexual). While the research he discusses focuses on mundane earth-folk (and particularly males), I’d say these same answers would apply equally whether you’re from earth or Middle Earth.įirst, it turns out there is not any single “gay gene.” Nope, not even Rock and Republic bootcuts. Well, an article by Robert Kunzig in the June, 2008 issue of Psychology Today offers not one but three answers to the mystery of homosexuality’s existence, and further proof that homosexuality is natural. So why does homosexuality exist? And does it make sense for fantasy worlds and fantasy races to include homosexual behaviors? Such protests are often rooted in a belief that homosexuality is not “natural.” Such persons may see homosexuality as a unique and voluntary product of our societal history that need not exist in fantasy worlds, or as the author’s personal view being thrust upon them. Likewise, I have heard complaints from those who feel the inclusion of homosexuality in a fantasy world is as unnecessary and arbitrary as having the heroic champion pause to rail against liberal tree-hugging mages who don’t understand the war against the Tarerids in Aroc. But as it turns out, just as Wesley in The Princess Bride was actually “mostly dead”, Frodo and Sam were probably just “mostly” gay. Officers were given commissions for class reasons, not because they were experienced soldiers or leaders whereas the privates and batmen often had the age, experience, and wisdom their official superiors lacked.I’ve heard many a person say that Frodo and Sam in The Lord of the Rings were gay. “In the First World War this process was far from atypical. Frodo moves towards a childlike dependency: he presents the problems, Sam the solutions,” he asserts. “By then, the hierarchy is largely inverted. Tolkien maps the gradual breakdown of restraint until Sam can take Frodo in his arms and call him ‘Mr Frodo, my dear.’” British masculine reticence and class-consciousness problematised the communications between batmen and officers, the odd couples of the battlefield. He detailed, “A social gulf divides the literate, leisured Frodo from his former gardener, now responsible for wake-up calls, cooking and packing. Working-class men stayed at the rank of private or at best sergeant.” Officers had a university education and a middle-class background. On top of this Tolkien scholar John Garth describes the relationship between the two characters, “The relationship between Frodo and Sam closely reflects the hierarchy of an officer and his servant. RELATED: Lord Of The Rings Fan Site Describes J.R.R.
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