What were your thoughts before you started and then when you began reading this?
Has this had any impact on you?
If you look closely at the end, there is a defense of stereotyping. What is that all about?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Followers
Blog Archive
-
▼
2009
(10)
-
▼
October
(10)
- “Between the sexes: The Great Divide” 254
- “Letter to President Pierce” 611
- “What is a Homosexual” 256
- “Looking at Women,” 244
- “College Pressures” 442
- “Mommy, what does Nigger mean?” 485
- “Thinking as a Hobby,” 217
- “Who Shot Johnny?” 383
- “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self” 68
- “The Mystery of Zen” 1191
-
▼
October
(10)
Before I started reading this piece I thought it was strictly going to be what a homosexual was. I thought it would be mostly explaining how this one person realized they were a homosexual, and their daily life.
ReplyDeleteThis is what this piece is about, but it also goes into homosexuality in society, how different people deal with being homosexuals, and deeper into this person's thoughts about life through homosexuality.
I've always been accepting of homosexuals, I just view them as people, their sexual preference hasn't and doesn't bother me. I know that some people find it wrong (mostly religous people) because their relationships aren't between a man and a woman...but love is love to me. I do not think homosexuals choose to be gay- i think that's just what they are drawn towards, just as straight people are drawn toward the opposite sex. I'm not one to judge, and if that makes them happy I'm glad.
But this piece did open my eyes to what they really go through. The beginning was extrememly powerful to me- I can't imagine being next to someone as they (through his eyes) stripped in front of me if I had a crush on them...The author must've had soo many emotions going through his mind at that one point. And he couldn't act on what he wanted to do. As I'm sure he couldn't act on a lot of things...As he states- "The gay teenager learns in that kind of event a form of control and sublimation,..." It has to be so difficult to constantly hide who you are, what you feel.
At the end the author goes on to make certain generalizations about homosexuals, because not all are the rule. Many are the exception. In order to make this statement, he has to defend himself. This is slightly "homophobic", making these generalizations, but he wants us to see them.
Before i started reading this piece i was in my mind like oh boy this is going to be interesting. I did not really want to read this piece because this is one of those things that i am very close minded about and i am not afraid to say it that i do not know much about the topic and i do not really want to learn. So i was very hesitant to read this piece.
ReplyDeleteWhen i began reading this piece i was like ok i have to push through this and not make judgements and to actually read this for what it is meant to be. As i read more and more i found that even though i did not want to learn i was.
This piece impacted me in the way that it showed me what life for a homosexual is like but it also made me think in my mind because i did not agree withe the author when he said that for some it is a choice to be homosexual and for others its not. With the logical thinking that i have done about this topic i have come to the conclusion that i cant see how it could not be a choice by each person. Weather it was a concious or unconcious choice it was made at some point due to something that the person has learned sometime in their life and was interested in one sex more than the other due to the information that they have learned sometime in their past.
I think that the defense of stereotyping is all about the fact that due to the stereotyping the homosexual has been able to develop in the way that they developed.
Before I read this piece, I thought that it was going to be a more descriptive piece on what constitutes a homosexual. As, I started reading it, though I began to realize that it's more about how homosexuals deal with society. I don't think that this piece really has that much of an impact on me. I already think that homosexuality isn't something to be hostile towards and it's pointless to make a big deal out of something so relatively insignificant. I think that it's really sometihing that people just have to learn to accept about others. The whole society thing though, about concealing oneself, I think applies to a broader range of people than just homosexuals. I think that everyone conceals who they are, it's just to what degree that people do it that forms the difference. The stereotyping at the end, I think served as a way to discredit the general ideas about homosexuals. The author is trying to make a point about how stereotyping really is never the majority as most people seem to think.
ReplyDeleteI had my thoughts on what this piece was going to be about before reading it. I figured it was going to go into depth in what a homosexual is and how they think or something along that path. This did not have a profound impact on me. I gained a realization of how hard the social life of a homosexual is and the day to day struggles they are presented with. I already knew that most try to keep it to themselves and that life had to be hard for them but i obtained a greater knowledge on the subject. I believe that the stereotyping at the end gets rid of some of the common stereotypes about homosexuals and shows some other things about them.
ReplyDeleteBefore I began reading this piece I had already made assumptions about what the center of this piece would be. I figured that this would just be another person trying to explain that their sexual preference was not a choice and that people need to be more understanding and accepting of homosexuals. I knew that I was not open to this issue at all, but I still attempted to put aside my opinions and beliefs before I began reading.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the first paragraph I hoped that the author wasn't going to tell any more stories about his feelings for other men. I decided to read the rest of the essay rather quickly just so that I could get through all of it and I knew that I would have to control what I wrote in my blog because I'm sure that other people have opinions different from my own.
My opinions aside, I think that the author did a very good job of expressing his thoughts and experiences, being a homosexual himself. I was enlightened on what the life of a homosexual was commonly like and the struggles that they face, mainly during their years as adolescents.
Although I got an "inside look" on being a homosexual, I am not impacted by it very much since I am extremely closed minded on the subject. I do however give this author a lot of credit for even writing this piece, given the amount of controversy that he must have known would result from it.
At the end of the piece, the author defends the stereotypes that often portray homosexuals because a lot of them aren't true of the majority. Although there are some homosexuals that fit the stereotypes, there are more that don't and the author is trying to explain that, using himself as an example.
I was very curious and looked forward to reading this piece since I will never truly understand why homosexuals are "the way they are" or their struggle. Even after getting glimpses into gay culture (my uncle is gay, watching "Milk", etc.) it was something I was essentially clueless about-until now.
ReplyDeleteThis piece did have an impact on me and helped open my eyes to the topic. It made me realize that despite our more "tolerant" society, people still have difficulty being a part of it as homosexuals. Putting the crazy opposition aside (they're "poisoning" American families and "confusing" troubled youth and what not) there are still those in our country who close their minds to homosexuals and their world. For example, just last week the citizens of Maine voted down a law that would have allowed gay marriage in their state. It is hard to be a citizen in a country where you are discriminated against on both a micro and macro scale for something that is not your fault. Plus, I never really had a chance to dwell on how much effort some homosexuals (like the author) put into being someone different than who they are, someone who can hide from the scornful eyes of their heterosexual peers.
I thought it was interesting how much this piece was related to "Between the Sexes, a Great Divide". I saw the similarities throughout the essay with the "us and them" attitude but also noticed 1) how the author made the point that his experience was not the "universal homosexual experience" and 2) how he pointed out that there's no cut and dry solution to the problem ("There's a lamentable tendency to try to find some definite solution to permanent human predicaments...in order to cut the argument short."). Homosexuality, like the difference between genders, is a societal conundrum...
The author believes that a taboo in our society is not to generalize anybody based on their race or culture-instead, accepting diversity means to put everyone on an equal playing field despite the striking differences they might have. I must agree with him. That is impossible to do no matter how "tolerant" you say you are because as humans we notice differences. He goes on to say that what he is describing in the later part of his essay is "homophobic" due to the fact that he makes generalizations about homosexual life. However, he did not take the task lightly or complete it with little thought or consideration. He made them based on a life of experience as a homosexual in our society and seeing others go through the same things, even if they did approach it in different ways. Without any sort of fundamental definition of homosexual life, given by the people that experience it first hand and not heterosexuals, we would never even begin to understand it.
I love what Josh said about how all people try to conceal their true selves in some shape or form and they only differ in their degree of concealment. I thought that was an excellent point. I am glad some of you guys like King Irby and Travis admit to the fact that you are "close minded" on this subject but that you put most of that aside to read and analyze the piece as unbiased as possible. I think it will be intersting to discuss this in class seeing that we have differing viewpoints on this topic...
ReplyDeleteBefore I started reading this piece I thought it was going to be about a homosexual person and tell about how their life is different from ours and how they deal with being a homosexual. This essay didn't really have a great impact on me I am kinda against gay and lesbian people. I think it is just because I don't like the way they act and I guess I am being sterotypical but I have always had views on homosexuals, that were negative in fact. But I don't know why I am this way, maybe I will never know. Maybe It's just the way society views gay and lesbian people, but I have always felt a certain way about homosexuals. Some people may think that they can accept people that are homosexual but In reality they are always making sarcastic jokes about them and really don't show them respect. I really wish I could find out why I feel this way about these sort of people . I can not relate like Christyn can with her uncle because no one in my family is gay or homosexual or lesbian. I guess I will never know.
ReplyDeleteAlthough some people are closed-minded on this subject, I'm glad they could put that aside and take the piece for what it is.
ReplyDeleteThese closed-minded people probably had difficulty reading about his personal experiences with sexuality, refering to the first paragraph. I however found it very interesting, I found the first paragraph allowed great emotion to come forth right from the get go. It didn't start off slow by any means.
I agree with Travis, I think it's great that the author could come out with this piece...I give him a lot of credit as well. And yes this is a piece about homosexuality, but more importantly finding your place in a society that (for the most part) cannot understand you.
I really can't say much about this piece. This piece in and within itself is an enormous piece but the title gives a false pretense on what is to be expected. It gives a homosexual's point of view of life and society in a somewhat micro and macro scale. The author also shortly covered his high school life. I found this piece somewhat boring and almost repetitive of read in a certain fashion. The piece is only 4 pages long but it did seem to drone on. For me it did not peak any sort of interest or draw any part of my attention to any particular part. I suppose it did give a non-typical point of view of homosexuality that most of us(heterosexuals) do not get to see or comprehend.
ReplyDeleteIf there is one thing that validates the use of the blog it has to be the level of honesty that is found in your posts. I really not only enjoyed reading them, but appreciated what you all have had to say.
ReplyDeleteMost everybody stated their personal views on homosexuality and I find it interesting on how the class is divided on those who are okay with it and those who are close-minded towards the topic. I think that Christyn was right in comparing this piece to the "Between the Sexes" piece. Both pieces show the differences with sexuality and how they fit into society as a whole. I also think that she had a little more insight compared to the rest of us who read this in that she had "glimpses into gay culture." I think that Travis was right in giving the author credit on writing this piece and that even though he was close-minded on the subject, he was able to put his own opinions aside and comment on the piece. A lot of people commented on how reading this piece gave them an insight into how homosexuals must live in order to "survive" in this world. I think that this is one of the main purposes of this piece, and the author must have done a good job in doing this if so many people got it.
ReplyDeleteI like the things that Irby said in his blog and I found his ideas about the piece to be very similar to mine.
ReplyDeleteI also like some comments that christyn made in her novel, like the comparison of this piece to "Between the Sexes, a Great Divide" and I agree with her that until reading this piece, a lot of people were clueless about the lifestyles of homosexuals.
I thought this blog was great because there are so many different views of this essay.
I agree with Travis that this is one of the better blogs.
ReplyDeleteBefore i began reading on being a homosexual, i thought it would be about the struggles that a homosexual deals with while growing up. I was plesently suprised when i read the essay i really enjoyed how it was about the development of them and their lifestyle. I found it very interesting because the lifestyle of a homosexual is something that i have never thought about and i had no idea on what it is really like. The essay has impacted me in a good way it allowed me to open my eyes and understand the things that go on and why homosexuals act and show interests in the things that they do. I thought the essay was very well written and was very powerful. I also enjoyed on how in the essay the sterotypers are broughten up and dicussed. The sterotypes are defended because the author feels that they are almost fitting and correct even though there are few people thet are acceptions the sterotypes. This piece means is very powerful to me i could not imagine going through the things that he delt with.
ReplyDelete