coming out

On this blog I try to mostly highlight our day-to-day living, what life and travel are like around Asia, and how adorable our children are (for the most part) as they've grown over the last year. But today I found myself annoyed as I opened my Yahoo! page and found, for the SECOND time in less than 24 hours, a "NEWS" story highlighting the sexual orientation of a Hollywood celebrity.

Now, a few things I know:

1- These people make more money than I'll probably ever see in a lifetime.
2- They have a ridiculously more proportionate chance of running into people who know who they are (their name, occupation, favorite bubble gum flavors) in any random public place outside of their home town than, say, someone like me.
3- Nearly every choice they make on a day-to-day basis is overly-scrutinized to the point that, if most of us were in their shoes, we would be terrified to leave the house.
4- Just because someone is famous doesn't mean their life, their choices, their opinions, their views, or their friends are more important than, say, mine. Or yours.

OK, that being said, I would like to express my distaste for "news-worthy" items that appear on computer screens across the globe. (Unfortunately, the US is not the only place where distasteful, sensationalized gossip passes as news.) I am entirely aware of the fact that my views are considered by most today to be old-fashioned and prudish, but I CANNOT EMPHASIZE ENOUGH THE DISTASTE I HAVE AGAINST KNOWING WHAT PEOPLE ARE DOING IN THEIR BEDROOMS. Side note: I love that you can shout things in writing.

I used to laugh with all my friends about the separate-bed policy on shows like "I Love Lucy" and how ridiculous that seemed because they were married, after all, and c'mon that's not how real couples sleep. But that doesn't mean I actually wanted to SEE them sleeping together, either. I know how babies are made. I have a couple myself. My friends and family have 'em too. But I don't make it a general topic of conversation over dinner with guests. What happens in a bedroom should stay in a bedroom. I firmly believe in physical intimacy being reserved for husbands & wives, but I also firmly believe in people being able to make their own choices. I will admit, I greatly dislike seeing homosexual relationships portrayed in the media when physical intimacy is displayed, and maybe I'd be called homophobic (or a lot of worse names, I'm sure) for saying so, but...well, see #4 on the above list. That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.

But it doesn't change the fact that someone's sexual orientation should not be considered a news item! Period. I don't know if it's my dislike for the whole celebrity/paprazzi/stalking/obsessing trends in the media or if it's just sadness that morality has become so individualized, immorality even sensationalized, to the point that no one seems to have any sexual morality because they never had anyone teach them correct principles...intimacy reserved for husband and wife, children raised in the bonds of marriage, young people keeping themselves morally clean and virtuous. Even as a young girl, in places outside of church, I understood that "virgin" was a derogatory word, as if no one in their right mind, and certainly not by CHOICE would be one. So now we've been reduced to taking our sexual morality cues from Hollywood stars that we don't even know, instead of turning to trusted friends, spiritual advisers, even (gasp!) parents. Actually, as I've been writing this, I'm reminded of a book Michael is reading (and I'm waiting impatiently for him to finish so I can start) called "Microtrends" that talks about how seemingly-small events are actually transforming our societies, our world as we know it. So maybe this is one of those things. Maybe a Hollywood star's sexual preference, simply because of their star power, will be the force behind changing politics and societal reform. Heaven help us.

Wow, not sure how I made that circle, being annoyed at my "Most Viewed Stories" tab on my homepage to ranting about morality in the world today, but writing makes me feel a little better. Which is why I have a blog. And a journal. Or three.