Still waiting for the electrician. Sigh.

Well, while I'm waffling around in Blogland, I might as well relay a conversation I had the other day. Wendy, my housemate, works for Tribune, building web sites for their TV shows. One of the shows she's working on is Mutant X. I was checking out the character list, and dammit, they have a Counselor Troi -- a good-looking female empath who's a bit of a party girl (ok, Troi wasn't a party girl, but she did get around.) So I'm wondering: Why are the empaths always females? Why aren't there any male empaths? Am I the only one who thinks this is stupid and sexist? Hence the conversation I had with Wendy's resident comics expert:

Me: Why are the empaths never men?
Comics expert: hmmm now how do I answer that one
Me: Probably because they think any man in touch with ANYONE's feelings -- his own, someone else's -- must be gay.
Comics expert: that's what I was going to say, but glad you did
Comics expert: stereotypical action fare rules
Comics expert: the exception: the romantic lead, who is ~struggling~ to come to grips with said feelings
Comics expert: because, as you know, all stalwart, confident and superpowered heroes struggle with things like emotions
Comics expert: it's what gives them their angst
Comics expert: and without angst, said heroes would be cartoonish supermen
Comics expert: and we all know those don't exist

So are we wrong? Are there any male empaths? If so, are they gay or straight? And why is thought of having a gay superhero such a big deal? Write me and let me know.