Personally, I went to a school that only had at most five students who were openly gay, but this difference was not seen as a problem to anyone, it just made those people unique. However, I do feel like while those students did not live in a environment that was hostile to their sexuality, but they did live in one that was very uncomfortable with their sexuality. It was an issue that was simply accepted and not really talked about, as many people did feel uncomfortable with the whole idea of homosexuality. The point I'm trying to make is that I feel like a great deal of people in America aren't necessarily against GLBT students, but it is something we simply don't understand and have a hard time addressing. I feel like this difficulty stems primarily from the idea of heteronormativity, that all our lives we had seen a relationship outlined as a man and a woman, and felt that that was the only way.
Also, our discussion on gender roles made me realize something I hadn't before. I feel as though part of the discomfort a lot of people in our country feel around homosexuals is not just from unfamiliarity, but from the idea that many homosexual men and women have personalities that are very very far away from the typical roles of their sex. That is (this is not always the case, but even so) we see many gay men acting in very feminine ways and lesbians dressing and carrying themselves in more masculine ways.
I completely agree with what you when you said that we find it 'wierd' because we've grown up to the normality and acceptance of a man and a woman being together or married. Then once we get to middle school and high school and start to personally witness people straying off from their gender we think that they're different. And while they are different in their own way they aren't bad people just because they dont like the opposite sex. I also feel somewhat uncomfortable around flamboyant gays and butch woman because I don't understand why they have to act the part to such an extreme level. I feel like if your gay your gay, you don't have to act like a fairy or a lumberjack to prove that your the opposite sex its just annoying sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your distinction between "weirdness" as unfamiliarity rather than intolerance. Referencing this discomfort to "heteronormativity" is appropriate as well. Many of us seem to express discomfort when "gender" is performed in ways that question the social norms. I wonder if the "fairies" and "lumberjacks" Carl mentions in his comments aren't simply overtly challenging traditional norms in order to cause others to question why we cling to these "roles" so tightly. Aren't there other ways of "performing" gender than those we are most familiar (ie: comfortable) with?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post! =)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you whole heartedly....there are so many people in the world that want to judge everyone for what they like or what makes them happy rather than who they truly are inside as a person. I think it is amazing that you can acknowledge to yourself and be comfortable telling others that being introduced to a homosexual environment is not something you were familiar with going through high school. I came from a very large high school with about 2,000 kids enrolled, and that was only three grades (10, 11 and 12). I would say that being introduced to a homosexual atmosphere is something I am relatively used to, due to the mass amount of people throughout my school who were. Even though I am straight I sympathize with those who struggle in expressing their true feelings and letting other people know what they like.