no one's jumping all over you at all. the sad truth is that you were told politely that it was considered unnecessary and a bit inappropriate, and you were most ungracious in your response.

you're what, 13? i realize that for the 13-15 age group these days, being bi is a bit like owning a copy of nirvana's Bleech album when i was that age. it's the cutting edge of cool. kind of like smoking for 8 year olds in hastings :roll:

but, you know what? despite all the research that shows any animal species becomes proportionally more disposed to homosexuality as its population reaches the environment's limit to support it, rising levels of trendy alternative sexuality and earlier ages of sexual exploration still aren't 'cool' status symbols.

i find a 13 year old kid talking about how she's bi just as dumb as a 24 year old man talking about how many pubic scalps dangle from his belt. if your sexual identity is the key component to how you see yourself and show yourself to other people, then you're no more interesting or noteworthy than someone who can't go five minutes without talking about their italian sports car.

it's showing off. and it's not showing us anything that's going to impress us or shock us or make us care, really.

so, we want to make sure you understand that. you're welcome to say what you want around here, but if you say stuff that bores us and annoys us, we're going to let you know.

do use your own judgement, no one's ever said not to. but if your own judgement constantly fails to comprehend what the general community's into, then don't get snarky if we point it out to you for your own understanding.

[quote:00f1cc904b="Garner"]a 24 year old man talking about how many pubic scalps dangle from his belt.[/quote:00f1cc904b]
[i:00f1cc904b]That[/i:00f1cc904b] is an image I could live without!

[quote:f6d0f0489f="Victimov8"][quote:f6d0f0489f="Garner"]a 24 year old man talking about how many pubic scalps dangle from his belt.[/quote:f6d0f0489f]
[i:f6d0f0489f]That[/i:f6d0f0489f] is an image I could live without![/quote:f6d0f0489f]
I'm just hoping that Garner was speaking metaphorically... :?

Me too, but still... :roll:

And responses like yours are just what caused me to become ungracious in my response, garner! You are automatically assuming I'm saying that I'm bi just to be 'cool'! I'm not saying it to get attention, I'm not saying it because I think the kids at school will think it's 'cool', I'm saying it because it's part of me, and I like to say who I am. Maybe I shouldn't have revealed my age if that means that everything I say is going to have childish and immature reasoning behind it. Maybe that's unfair, but I don't want to be judged by my age. I freely admit that I'm nieve, and maybe I'm less mature than a number of you on this board, but I am mature enough to know that acting something or saying something to be 'cool' would get me nowhere. And I'm hardly a part of teenage mainstream culture.

as a rule, no one's going to care how old you are. if you're mature, you're mature. if not, you're not.

and, two more rules:

telling teenagers that they're remotely predictable, understandable, or like every other teenager before them is a surefire way to piss them off BUT...

no one's figured out their sexuality by the age of 13. no one's figured out who they are by that age. no one's grown up by 13, most people aren't grown up by 30, and if they're lucky they've realized that they're just now becoming aware of how ignorant they are about themselves.

Just like Marcia and Victimov8 said, it is fine to mention these things when they're relevant. However, when it is just a random sidenote, it does seem like you WANT people to pick up on the fact and comment on it, which does seem attention seeking.

You do seem mature, and your age doesn't matter here. Neither does your sexual orientation.

i dont know that sexual orientation is entirely relevant to who you are. It jut defines who you want to shag in a broad sense. And I'd like to think that most people are defined by more than that.

Generally, it's not really the sort of thing you want to shout about though.

What does it matter what sort of people you want to shag? Does anyone really care?

I think not.

Certainly not once the playgrounds been left behind.

Sexual orientation is certainly a part of you. But it doesn't really have any bearing on your personality. Unless your one of those uber camp gay men.

like mclaren?

Yes, much like Mclaren.

I've never seen anyone as flappy as him!

You know garner, as much as you know about teenagers you should know they hate to be patronized. You really shouldn't make generalizations. A few hundred years ago, people were having children by the age of thirteen. And I am perfectly aware I know very little about myself. You don't know me, so it's really impossible to tell what I'm like. Can we end this semi-argument we're having now?

And it affects the way I behave around people, which affects they way they behave around me, doors. Who's Mclaren?

Sir_G - Garner has a very good point that 13-year olds are usually still in that "uncertain" stage - this is not patronizing (although OK, one could call it generalizing, although cases where it would not apply would tend to be at the extreme end of the statistical curve), it is simply a statement of biological fact - your example of thirteen-year-old mothers "hundreds of years ago" does not take into account that they very rarely would have had a choice - "romantic" marriages are a fairly late development - you married who your parents chose, or the boy next door, or whoever had the money - and don't forget that a lot of those thirteen-year-olds would die in childbirth!

Also, you should not feel that you are being got at because of your age - I was recently slapped down for mentioning aspects of my sex life - and I am 56 years old (and thus allowed to have one - at your age in practically any country in the world (and Camelot) then for legal reasons I hope you were talking theoretically!)

Edited for spelling

I was definitely talking theoretically, Pixel. And I did read that conversation you got slapped down in. It kinda made me see where this was going to go when garner got irritated about my post. Things tend to blow out of proportion when some takes arms against something someone said. :roll:

And I know that most thirteen-year-olds are at that uncertain stage. I'll be fourteen in two weeks (little difference that it is) and I still probably am. I'd elaborate on that, but it probably wouldn't be considered relevant by most people on this board, and one argument is much more than enough.

So unless anyone has any lingering points, why don't we steer this conversation back into the direction it was originally meant to be in. I have no objections to there being icons that indicate a person's sex, but if they were optional I probably wouldn't use one.

[quote:23cd629b9c="Garner"] most people aren't grown up by 30, and if they're lucky they've realized that they're just now becoming aware of how ignorant they are about themselves.[/quote:23cd629b9c]
33 and counting!

Similar to when all of the people said to me "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
I don't want to grow up! I still don't know what I want to do, although I am fairly close to it now...

[quote:40e3ebccbc="Sir_Gawain"]And it affects the way I behave around people, which affects they way they behave around me, doors. Who's Mclaren?[/quote:40e3ebccbc]

Mclaren is another poster. We pretend he's gay and call him dale.

Sexuality only has a direct effect on your personality if your trying to fire into someone. Other than that, it doesn't matter.

Even then, it tends not to be sexual orientation, but hormones and things.

Sexual orientation is a large brush stroke. The only thing it defines is what half of the worlds population you're more inclined to want to fuck.

I wouldn't say "hello, i'm hetrosexual. It makes me who I am!".

Patently, this is incorrect in that my sexuality is nothing to do with WHO I am.

It just gives me a pointer to where i'm likely to have more fun.

If people treat you differently cause your bi, then they have some sort of problem.

If you think you treat people differently cause your bi, then, I would suggest that is also a problem.