Virtually Normal: An Argument About Homosexuality Analysis

According to Sullivan (2008), same-sex attraction has not always been considered a deviation. However, post-war societal reaction to prohibition, gay bathhouses and other establishments were adverse and a new war on immorality arose, which was supported by American individuals, religious and governmental institutions. This outlook prevailed throughout the 1950's and led to blatant anti-gay attitudes. The persecution of the gay life style brought on renewed shame and guilt for the homosexual community as gay men were forced to cope with the stigmatization by "passing" as heterosexuals and thus become invisible. This resulted in the development of their own discriminatory social construct, with a hierarchy where males who were able to prove their masculinity through assimilation were held in the highest regards, while those that did not were looked down upon by their own gay communities

There will always be a controversial argument over homosexuality. Whether it is accepted in the south, were they openly gay or discreet about it. In the book The Un- Natural State the Author, Brock Thompson, tells how the gays were more accepted in the south. In the book Men like that by John Howard, he tells how the Homosexuals in the south were under the radar. These two authors have two very different views, but they are both right.

Often after bullying and punishing children for their sexual orientation, it becomes the only thing others can see. It’s important to remember that masculine or feminine men can be gay or straight. Masculine or feminine females can be lesbian or straight. Does it really matter that their sexual orientation is different from the norm? Even today, gender stereotypes are forbidding men and women alike from participating in everything they want.

Laramie consisted of many other religions that presented the views of many of their citizens towards homosexuality. Reverend Fred Phelps, a minister from Kansas, negatively impacted the gay community as he protested against homosexuals. He believed gays were determined to go to hell because of God’s hatred for them. Reverend Phelps like McKinney was a homophobe, which upset many citizens when he ranted about gays going to hell right after the murder of Matthew Shepard. Many citizens including Romaine Patterson decided to take a stance against such hatred to “show the differences. And [to] think at times like this when we’re talking about hatred as much as the nation is right now, that someone needs to show . . . that there is a better way of

In Pepper Schwartz article titled “ The Social Construction of Heterosexuality”, Schwartz writes about what she believe Americans define as Heterosexuality. Schwartz writes about the so-called body standard that movies and television show set for us about how we should look and dress. Schwartz writes about what she believes straight men have to look like in order to define their masculinity. Schwartz’s main argument is about all the gender stereotypes we have in our society. Stereotypes like in order to be straight or even gay you have to look, dress, and talk a certain way. Schwartz is trying to say that you do not have to meet the so-called standards we have set for sexuality. Schwartz does make some valid

“Being gay is a fundamental part of my being - the core of who I've always been, and the thing that I had repressed and run from all my life.” Former New Jersey state senator, James McGreevey the American Democratic politician, kept his true identity from himself and the people he loved for almost his whole life. He ran away from felling anything for men because it was not only ‘wrong’ in society’s eyes but rather was not something he could accept about himself. And after 12 years of marriage to two different women he finally admitted to himself and came out about his sexuality. He finally accepted himself and allowed the society around him to do so too. He overcame the repression that he received by society to follow moral norms; additionally he overcame the repression his own mind forced him into believing for 12 years!

In the past decades, the struggle for gay rights in the Unites States has taken many forms. Previously, homosexuality was viewed as immoral. Many people also viewed it as pathologic because the American Psychiatric Association classified it as a psychiatric disorder. As a result, many people remained in ‘the closet’ because they were afraid of losing their jobs or being discriminated against in the society. According to David Allyn, though most gays could pass in the heterosexual world, they tended to live in fear and lies because they could not look towards their families for support. At the same time, openly gay establishments were often shut down to keep openly gay people under close scrutiny (Allyn 146). But since the 1960s, people

Robert G. Waite discusses the struggle of teenagers, especially young male youth homosexuals. Waites argues that teenagers were the pre-occupation of the Nazi regime because of their concern for the future of their country. Before World War II began Nazi’s had strict control over teenagers, in Waites article he mentions that conviction of teenagers for homosexual acts were ranked twelfth in “frequency of convictions” it climbed to fifth by the end of the decade Waites mentions that shortly after the Nazi government came into power the convictions rate went up 14 %, but when World War II began the Nazi’s had a hard time keeping the same strict control over the teenagers because there were less parents, employment rates of teenagers went up,

even though sexuality can be considered universal, the sexual behaviors affiliated with it offer different attitudes in various communities. Sexuality is aligned to sexual attraction where individuals can identify themselves with a broad range of sexuality that is bisexual, gay or being lesbian. Sexuality can change over time in a person depending on the circumstances surrounding him or her. It may be affected by the social circle and emotional imbalances that may occur in an individual. Interestingly there exists sexual inequality among many societies in the world. As observed, many societies encourage men to have multiple sex partners but forbid it in women. Moreover, pre-marital sex is promoted in men, but women are flaunted if they participate in pre-marital sex. Across the globe, Western Europe has embraced certain norms in sexuality such as homosexuality whereas African society embraces a negative attitude towards the same.

In his published 1968 article printed by the Village Voice, Seymour Krim’s, Revolt of the Homosexual, converses with a fictitious ‘straight guy’ to reduce the preconceived notions of the life of homosexuals, and insisted that it is a natural behavior. This was a bold action considering that homosexuality at the time was considered an aberration or a disease. He challenged the theory that being gay is a sickness, and he desired a right for all homosexuals to not be criminalized, as long as it does not conflict actual harm on another person. Basically, he demands a ‘simple human right’, and believes that if the oppression continues then homosexuals will gradually start to stand against it because they are tired of having to hide- just like how

because it leaves unfulfi[ed an innate and innately rewarding desire. And should the reader 's environmentalism threaten to Bet the upper

“Homophobia: the fear of and prejudice toward homosexuality, is present in every facet of life: the family, organized religion, the workplace, official polices and the mass media” (Schaefer, 379). Homophobia is the reason why families do not want to have homosexual teens. The book also states how even though homophobia has been decreasing, many people still express their homophobic feelings that the homosexual lifestyle is unacceptable (Schaefer, 379). Even in the home of adolescents their parents were raised in a generation were being gay was viewed as wrong. This ideology leaves families to discard their own children because they themselves fear the “repercussions” of having a homosexual teen.

In both of the texts, they cover the topic of homosexuality, but in very different ways. In text A, the idea of lesbianism is described by Evelyn as an ‘abnormality’, suggesting that being a lesbian is frowned upon, and considered strange. Evelyn also uses a euphemism to describe lesbianism, showing that the topic of being gay is a very taboo subject that most people don’t want to hear about, suggesting again that lesbianism is considered bad in this time. Because homosexuality is described as a negative thing, we can understand that this text was most likely written a while ago, as societies attitudes towards homosexuality has changed in recent years, and is now viewed as a positive thing. However, in text B, there is also mentions of lesbianism, but in a more direct way, as a dysphemism. The questioner states in the question that she thought that she ‘was

As a society, we feed off of each other for what a proper response to something may be. As children, we first look to see our mother’s reaction after falling down; if she is calm, I should also be. We look to each other for what a definition of things should be, as well. In the 1950’s, it was generally obscene for a woman on television to show her belly button, whereas today we will show nude breasts on primetime programming. This follows the sociological theory of symbolic interactionism, where society and individual social interaction provides a subjective meaning to deviant behavior. Many social definitions change for the better, however some change for the worse. One such example was once viewed as normal, with no second thoughts given

Other studies conducted suggest that homosexuality might be base on difference in the brain structure of homosexual and heterosexual males. In 1991, Simon LeVay, a researcher at salks institute for biological studies in San Diego, found that an area of the brain called INAH-3 was larger in heterosexual men as in homosexual men [6]. INAH-3 is a small cell cluster in the hypothalamus that is involve regulating male sex behavior. LeVay’s finding provided clues that prove that sexual attraction to some extent might be biological. Other studies following levay’s study suggest that homosexuality might be base on genetic. It is believe that “gay gene” is passed from mother tho son.