Canvassing the Internet: Platonic Admiration

[tealin]

I know I was behind the door when hormones were handed out, but surely I am not the only one who finds it possible to respect and admire someone – or even just like a fictional character – without being sexually attracted to them. In high school the response to a statement of such admiration was usually full of conspiratorial innuendo, accompanied by a virtual 'wink wink nudge nudge.' I thought that when I joined the grownup world that mindset had been left behind, but I've encountered it a few times recently and it's got me wondering. Anyone out there know what I'm talking about? Opinions? Insights? Observations? Advice, even?

Comments

[karalora.livejournal.com]

*No* *Effing* *Kidding* this is annoying. That people read sex into every instance of attraction, that is. I think ani_bester is spot-on about it partly being a deficiency of the English language. Our feelings for our parents, our children, our siblings, our friends, our significant others, our pets, our favorite movies, and chocolate are all described by the same word. Some confusion is inevitable.

And I think *you* are spot on about this being an especially American disease, because our culture is so schizo when it comes to sex. We're simultaneously obsessed with it and horrified of it. Maybe we're obsessed with it *because* we're horrified of it--fear is a strong motivator, after all.

Anyway, it's frustrating. We humans are too complicated for our own good.