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Re: OT: What? the clean-shaven outnumber the bearded? "Yer Ugly Mug," etc.

From:Andreas Johansson <andjo@...>
Date:Tuesday, May 20, 2003, 8:10
Quoting Jake X <starvingpoet@...>:

> [an'dr\e@s r\oUt}: > > PS There are Darwinistic explanations of homosexuality. The latest I > heard > > invokes the "big brother effect", namely that gay men tend to have > more > elder > > borthers than other men, and asserts that homosexuality is a > side-effect > of > > actions by the foetus to defend itself from the mother's immune > system, > which > > is assumed to be on its guard against male signatures since the > earlier > male > > foetuses. > I've never heard this explanation before. I'm interested to know how > many > of > the gay men on this list have older brothers? I have none, though my > mother > had two abortions before I was born, which may have been male, but I > don't > think they'd have been old enough to have a recognizable gender > identity? > So does that count?
I'd guess "yes", but I simply do not know. The hypothesis did not come with any specific mechanism provided. I should perhaps add that when I say that there are explanations for something, I'm not necessarily implying that these explanations are true, nor that I believe in them. I'm in no position to judge this one on its scientific merits. Andreas