From: RFaussette@aol.com
Date: Fri May 30 2003 - 09:55:34 EDT
In a message dated 5/29/03 1:50:13 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
alexanian@uncw.edu writes:
> http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,454451,00.html
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From the article:
Homosexuality
Ray Blanchard at the University of Toronto has found that gay men are more
likely than either lesbians or heterosexual men to have older brothers (but not
older sisters). He has since confirmed this observation in 14 samples from
many places. Something about occupying a womb that has held other boys
occasionally results in reduced birth weight, a larger placenta and a greater
probability of homosexuality. That something, Blanchard suspects, is an immune reaction
in the mother, primed by the first male fetus, that grows stronger with each
male pregnancy. Perhaps the immune response affects the expression of key genes
during brain development in a way that boosts a boy's attraction to his own
sex. Such an explanation would not hold true for all gay men, but it might
provide important clues into the origins of both homosexuality and
heterosexuality.
I think you can safely conclude from ridley's, "more likely","something
about","that something","suspects","perhaps","would not hold true for all","might
provide important clues,"
that this is a liberal partisan piece, not necessarily science. Note the
reference in the full text to freud (discredited) and Boaz (with Mead debunked).
rich
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