With respect to last week’s I’m an Old Gynophile item, I got a couple of reactions. One pointed out that most of my Paul’s Reading (and all my Blogrolling) were by men ― but it turns out one author’s ambiguous name messed up my correspondent’s count; as of last Monday, it was six women and four men. I have since updated my reading (see next item).
I would note that my gynophilia is a preference, and is not exclusionary.
A prominent example of this is parties, of which I now attend very few. But when I do, I find myself drawn to the circles of women. They discuss family, ideas, and books (as noted before, reading has become a gendered activity). Men talk about work and sports. I find the talk of women more interesting.
Clark Smith offered an interesting comment, which I am promoting to a blog item:
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Thanks for teaching me a new word, Paul. I felt the same way for a long time, but now consider that it wasn't in my case the actual male gender but rather the American male slovenly macho dumbass jock stereotype that I find repellent. I do not find this problematic with males of other countries such as Britain, France, Haiti, and Japan, where men are just as sensitive to the nuances of arts, fashion and civilized speech as their female counterparts. In America, male gay culture comes closest to these cultures along with soft male personalities like Gene Wilder, Paul Simon, Sean Penn, Stevie Wonder and maybe even Johnny Dep. I have collected over the years a wide circle of dearly beloved male friends, your fine self a prominent example among them. Perhaps this means I mostly like gynophiles. Sounds like my stance on eating meat. I only eat vegetarians.
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