this and is this a universal truth. .
In ancient Greek societies people had a very different opinion of men that .
slept with men. For example, it was considered quite an honor for a family .
with a young boy under the age of 10, to be given the privilege on an older .
man of high society taking their son into his house. The young boy would go .
and live with this older man. The older man would have sex with the young .
boy on a regular basis until the boy developed facial hair. It was not .
until then that the boy was considered a man. Society thought that an older .
mans, of great reputation, semen would help the boy develop into a fine .
young man. Once the boy developed the facial hair, the sex between the two .
would stop. The older man's job was finished. Obviously this would be .
considered an atrocious and disgusting act these days. The older man in .
this case would certainly go to jail for the 'crimes' that he had committed. .
However, in Ancient Greece this was not only considered perfectly normal, .
but as I already stated, it was an honor and a gift that not every boy was .
'lucky' enough to be given. Therefore, we can conclude from this comparison .
that homophobia, as we know it, is not a natural truth, nor is it a .
universal belief. Rather it is a socially constructed belief that many .
people have taken for granted as an inevitable part of human existence. .
It is important at this point to clarify something however. It is said .
that the role of the sociologist is a descriptive one as opposed to a .
prescriptive one. That is to say that the sociologist should describe the .
various practices, customs and structures that exist in various societies .
rather than suggest to people which one is actually the correct belief or .
the 'real' truth. .
Cross-gender comparisons is another commonly used comparison used to reveal .
socially constructed truths. In Carol Gilligan's book 'In a different .
voice' we find a fine example of a cross-gender comparison.
