My husband is perceived by others as being somewhat effeminate, and this was much worse in high school. He has bulked up some, put on more muscle, and has a beard and hair all over his chest and back, but when I met him, he was 21 and could not grow a beard, he did not have any hair on his body except axilla, legs and pubes. He is 6'2", weighed 155, and his achilles tendons are deformed so he walks on the balls of his feet. My dad calls him "Twinkle Toes" behind his back, a lot of men have/had a visceral reaction against him.
He also has an IQ of about 180, very good at math, but poor social skills, and he is very poor at empathy, and very sensitive to criticism. He was harassed constantly, called "faggot," forced to participate in fights, where he would get beaten up before a crowd of people, this happened regularly, he says. I don't know what he could have done, I just believe that if he had better social skills, he would have been rejected, but not physically abused.
We have been together 20 years, he is heterosexual. So it's not just homosexuals who are treated savagely for being effeminate. |
