I read Emily Webb's blog before I wrote this, and I really agree with a few of her questions concerning Carole Vance's piece (concerning social construction, I was really unclear about the whole thing, and what her stance was.), and what 'Queer' was. I've also been thinking about the people who really want change. I get through the readings that a lot of hardship goes on when people are just trying to live, and they get picked on for looking a certain way or acting a certain way, but I don't understand how they get mad for people noticing the differences from a normative expression of a girl or a boy, but then they want people to notice the differences, so they can be ---I guess I kind of just figured it out; You want people to understand the differences, so they won't give you spit, because now you resemble something they can point out in a magazine; a poster child for a particular group of people. (Are we allowed to cuss in this?)
I have a few questions, about definitions and terms that I think I need spelled out for me: What is "natural" thinking, how does it go against social construction (which is just more Carole Vance confusion)? Why exactly are we looking for the gene to find why we are gay, trans, bi, etc? Some animals are bisexual. Why do we care? I constantly ask why we have to know about other peoples' sexual orientations; how does it relate to physics, or sports, or anything? How, by knowing my cashier's love for men influence my purchase or anything that has to do with my life? It's none of my business! Why is it everyone's business to know or care what you like? I get that it's a form of self-expression, to declare and escape from the "closet," and that's great, but why does it have to be such a big deal? Why aren't heterosexuals given "coming out" parties? Why don't we have the same celebrations for straight people that we have for glbtq people? I get that it's a mountain we've crossed, like the feminist waves, because we've had to push hard to be accepted and safe, but aren't there more important things? I just want to know why it's so massively important to know everyone's orientation; I feel like it's going to be like the Stars of David during the Holocaust, and we're all going to have to conform to a particular spectrum, while there is always going to be a morph about to happen. Is this a fad?
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Molly,
ReplyDeleteYou are asking such great questions!
Natural or essentialist thinking often “assumes” that what makes one a “real” woman or a “real” man is our body, genes, hormones, etc. and it often neglects that social aspects that make us women and/or men. As a result, differences such as class, race, disability, geography, sexuality, etc. are neglected and/or erased. Such “additional” categories aren’t believe to shape how one might experience her/his life as a “woman” or a “man”.
And, you ask: why is being gay “such a big deal” (or why do LGBTQ folks embrace their identities with pride, when heterosexuals don’t have coming out parties?) Your questions are actually all connected to issues of power/powerlessness & normative/non-normative identities. Because heterosexuality is the “norm” (the assumed sexuality of everyone), there is no need to “come out” at straight, right? GLBTQ identities have historically and culturally been categorized as a sickness, a perversion, and/or a pathology in need of a “cure”. So, GLBTQ activists have reclaimed and taken pride in an identity that was once demonized. Would there be any need to assert a politics of pride if a GLBTQ identity had never been shamed, stigmatized, and/or pathologized?
Be sure to ask any/all of your questions in class today. All of your explorations will prompt great discussion!
I enjoyed reading your post. It really caused me to think and inquire more deeply about why we feel knowing someone's sexual orientation is our business? And, What effect will knowing this have on our interaction with people and why? Why does our view and interactions with someone change when we find something out about a person that has no effect on us? More and more, as we begin to ask questions of why we think this way and do this, it seems like its spilling over to the world of psychology.
ReplyDeletePrior to Ms. Woolway's visit, I was also curious about the word queer. What does it mean and when do we use it? After the class, it seemed as if the term was just very vague and the people who use it define it for themselves. When she spoke about being genderqueer, people who identify with that term reject the basic ideology that gender is just masculine and feminine and kind of disrupt that.
On to the next one----> You kind of did the same thing the heterosexuality quiz did. “ Why aren't heterosexuals having “coming out” parties”? Society doesn't do things like this because it's looked at as a norm. If you're heterosexual, you're good, normal, there's nothing wrong. But, if you're not “normal” then there's something wrong. Why do we do this? I don't know but its almost like its imprinted in people's minds. If you're not with the majority then you're against them. :-/