Thinkage

"Heterosexuality’s power lies in perception, not physical truth—as long as people think you’re exclusively attracted to the right gender, you’re golden.  But perception is a precarious thing; a 'zero-tolerance' policy has taught men that the way people think of them can change permanently with one slip, one little kiss or too-intimate friendship.  And once lost, it can be nearly impossible to reclaim... "The zero-tolerance policy is legitimately scary, then, not just because it sticks you with a label, but also because it erases a lifetime of straightness...

"Indeed, such erasure is scary even if homosexuality itself isn’t a bad thing.  Even if religion and Esquire didn’t teach men to be scared of each other’s bodies, they would still be afraid of the way a brush with gayness can so suddenly erase the rest of their sexuality.  With so much on the line, it’s no surprise that men take up the job of policing this boundary themselves, lest it be policed by someone else, to their detriment." -- Zach Howe

Zits by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman