Things that are and aren't things

To find contradiction in China, you have to search just as far and wide as you would to find a den of whores, which is to say not far at all.  Granted, contradiction and hypocrisy are intrinsically a part of human nature, but it seems to have taken on a sentience of its very own in the Middle Kingdom (I'm not saying it hasn't in the States).  That being said, feel free to dismiss what I am saying as a misinformed opinion based on no evidence.  You probably wouldn't be far from the truth.

• Tattoos:  Most every single Chinese person(s) will tell you that tattoos are fiercely looked down upon, containing strong gang affiliations.  That's true; however, I have seen with my own two eyes just how many people here have tattoos.  It's not a slim margin.  They're there, carved in ink.  To a vast majority of Chinese, these people are probably soulless demon-beasts that fancy drug and drink.  Do they truly discriminate against people with tattoos, though?  In what I've experienced, they do not.  It probably stems from the deeply embedded face culture.  I have been in areas of the city where people are neither staring at me, nor are they staring at tattoos visible on Chinese flesh.

What seems to be the case is that the Chinese have beliefs that are formed through the same process used in education.  What is this process, you ask?  Memorization and repetition.  That's all well and good if you're practicing to be an altar boy, but can you imagine what it does to stifle creativity?  I have quite literally told my students to be creative only to see them all deliver the same precise manner of creativity as the next person in the class.  When this is in the form of role-play activities and the first one is entertaining... after you have watched the same scenario play out in its fifteenth iteration, you start to doubt the artistic expression of a culture that clings to its traditional paintings and poetry like they're some kind of religious artifacts.

It's this repetition, I'm guessing, that forms the basis of morality.  These, for some, are destined to be iron-clad  codes of social acceptance that fall in line with what they would have eventually sorted out for themselves.  For some, they may recite with passion the ideals that have been handed down to them, but they may truly believe something else on the inside.  And then there are some who believe something completely different and abstain from recitations based on their conviction.  This is in no way different from any other group of people, and you would be a retard if you thought I was trying to convince you otherwise.

If we accept the first group as the majority, then the second group would be sympathetic to the majority... effectively expanding the reach of said majority; serving to further alienate the minority.  Still, if the majority says that inked flesh is bad, then why isn't there more of an active stigma attached to it?  Is all of the negativity really so internalized because of the face culture?  Humans are emotional beasts.  As far as I know, the Chinese don't especially suffer from ulcers, which would lead credence to the belief that they in fact are not robots, and that they do in fact have and release a certain quantity of emotion from time to time.

So...  Tattoos are bad.  Some people have them.  The people that have them are bad.  But the good people don't get all holier-than-thou....  Why?

• Fear the Queer:  Human nature is to fear the unknown or that which is abnormal.  I understand that, and I even have a confession to make.  I am absolutely terrified of one entire group of people!  They have strange customs that I'll never fully comprehend.  They gather in hordes for scheduled meets.  They use their own designated sub-language.  They sometimes adorn fabrics with which I'm unfamiliar. You might have heard of them before.  I have my own name for them, of course, but they tend to call themselves Christians.  In China, homosexuals seem to follow along a few set paths.

The defiant and rebellious homosexual (we'll call this breed Queerimus Mightimus) punches the closet door into oblivion with a fistfull of "Radioactive Nihon Pellet Grenades".  Too soon?  After the closet has been sufficiently beaten in a postmortem kind of way, they face the all-too-often seen disowning and excommunication treatment from the family.  I wonder what Confucius would have said about throwing family away based on your son's/daughter's preference in seeking out love.  All joking aside, there is a veritable shload of horror stories that encourage Chinese LGB to remain silent.

If the Queerimus Mightimus is the whole milk of the Chinese gays, it's time to introduce you to the 2% homosexual, pasteurized for your convenience and health.  We'll call this breed the "Incognito Flambé".  This particular gay has heard the horror stories associated with the Queerimus Mightimus and has decided that it's not worth the risk.  Maybe that's true.  Maybe it's not.  You decide.  Wicked Wonder:  Believe it or Not.  Either way, this particular breed has decided not to leave the safety and convenience of the closet.  They may seek out a partner...or several, but they have no desire to even open the closet and take a peak.

That brings us to the skim variety of "comrades" (Chinese slang for gay).  We'll refer to this breed as "Turkish Delight".  These Nellies ("You call them that, too?")  are so far deep into the closet that they're getting fisted by Mr. Tumnus.  The Turkish Delight completely denies the actuality of their sexual being and forces himself (or herself) to marry a suitable Chinese girl (or boy), as determined by their parents. 

It's no secret that the situation here is no utopia.  What place can stake that claim?  That said, despite the deplorable truth that I am both inked and a card-carrying, certified homosex, I have not felt any more disapproved of here in China than I did in America.  In fact, I feel I have been more fully embraced here than in the place that I'm supposed to lovingly refer to as home.  Perhaps it has something to do with those strange sentinels that patrol the West--the Christians.  I don't hold any animosity whatsoever...  

So what's this contradiction?  If in the Land of the Free, you feel like a constrained and dying prisoner of culture, why do you feel more free than ever when fleeing to a land of purported unacceptance and strict moral guidelines?

Anyway...  The thing that sparked this post was a bit of news that I just read.  A gay couple just publicly announced their love and commitment for each other on a stage during a concert in Beijing.  Way to go Queerimus Mightimuses! or "Mightimi"?  I hope your parents don't discard you like trash.  That comes from the bottom of my miniscule heart.