My views changed in many ways from this class. Before this class, I had not considered many aspects of the gay community in many regards. Transsexual’s roles as men or women, lesbian interactions with transsexuals, gay black men with regards to the community, and issues concerning intersexed people were the topics I was most ignorant of. My views on them changed mostly because I became more informed. I was not very biased in any sense to begin with, so the views that changed in this class were not really related to opinion. Essentially, the topic of transsexuals changed my perspective of how they fit in to the community as men or women.
I always wondered if they were really considered women or not, and while before I had the opinion that their genitals made up their true role, I now view how they try to act as their role. While it seems obvious that how they act with regards to their role as far as style, expression, etc, I tended to see them in terms of what was actually under their clothes. Now, I see them as however they want to act without discriminating (politely) with regards to how they choose to use their sexual organs as this is part of their sexuality.
I was never aware that lesbians or male homosexuals did not let these people into the “community” because they are not actually born into sexuality or are by any definition a pure lesbian or homosexual. Furthermore, I became aware of the problems gay black males commonly have with being cut off from the rest of the African community. The concept of intersexed people having their identity surgically altered before they are aware of it was also new to me and changed my perspective.
I wish I could have contributed more to the class, but I contributed a fair amount to the discussions when I thought I could do so in an intelligent manner. This is probably how I contributed best, as I sincerely enjoyed the lectures while giving them deep consideration, I assisted in providing for a stimulating and thought provoking atmosphere. The ways in which I offered unique and specific questions allowed the class to consider the topics in a new light, and thus gaining a deeper understanding. I would go as far to claim that I added entirely new perspectives to the class’s learning, but I proposed slightly different situations and questions that changed the considerations enough to where it was somewhat different and new.
Lehr’s Queer Family Values provided for diverse accounts, objective viewpoints, and new twist on common traditional thinking. They changed how I think about traditional values and everyday notions. The basic heterosexual viewpoints, as challenged by the author, are also now perceived in a new light by me and likely the whole class. I never really thought of marriage as something oppressive or so directly related to gender, economic, or ethnic background but I do now.
I was able to consider gay and lesbian oppression in a new way, as the author discussed this in depth while further relating this to social threats and the family. I also learned that the nuclear family is practically custom-fit for society while it ultimately revolves around heterosexuality. I have never really considered how heterosexuality plays such a strong role in society outside of sexuality itself. The article led to me care more for the societal equality for those not a part of a heterosexual nuclear family. I do not think society should favor people based on heterosexuality, though I also do not think that it actually intends to.
The popularity of the heterosexual family is what had led the rest of society to be built around it. The people in these families have been spending much time making lives for themselves easier without giving serious regards to the non-heterosexual minority. However as common as homosexuality is and as acceptable as it is becoming, perhaps this will happen in due time.
Seidman and Richardson’s Handbook of Lesbian and Gay Studies has also been seriously enlightening. I honestly feel however that all of the readings were enlightening, and this one was with regards to the viewpoints extracted from so many essays. The abundance of information revealed some core relevant issue to the gay community in addition to the ever-changing theory. I learned of the origins of gay and lesbian studies, as well that of the confining of such studies in earlier times to specific institutions. I also learned of the scientific basis for sexuality on levels that beforehand I was only vaguely familiar with.
While the distinction between heterosexuals and homosexuals was apparent to me before, I was able to better comprehend some specific cases and studies with regards to scientific aspects as discussed in the reading. I was previously unfamiliar with the topic of ‘cyber-queer’ research, and now I am. The most interesting concepts for me were the topics of sexuality with regards to education and religion. Religion is a controversial topic, obviously, to begin with.
It in combination with homosexuality is interesting to consider because it seems to serve as the source for many resulting opinions. Most of society’s stigmatization towards homosexuality can probably be related to religion, since so many people base all of their actions off of religion while homosexuality is commonly not tolerated in many popular religions such as Christianity.
The Transgender Studies was uniquely interesting in that it put a whole new spin on sexuality not commonly discussed. The book’s discussion of the evolution of transgender analysis provided me with a lot of insight on a new area, and thus was one topic where the most actual learning took place. While the concepts were not as particularly relevant to me as I know only homosexuals and no transgenders, I feel I have a newfound level of awareness similar to corporate-style diversity training.
I may actually be required to take some sort of diversity or sensitivity training for my career, and if so, I will be able to contribute much to group discussions because of all of the material learned here. At any rate, the transgender studies also made me familiar with the topic of “scientific sexology,” something which I was previously unfamiliar with.
Queer Theory was unique in its presentation but ultimately was less informative than I feel it could have been. The premise of it revealing the origins of homosexual desire seemed promising for lots of new learning. While it did provide me with an interesting perspective on these origins as well as some research in the area, overall I do not feel that it gave me a complete understanding as to why homosexual are the way they are.
Perhaps this will never be as understood as common scientific fact, however I felt as if the book would have explained more than it did. Overall I was not disappointed, for I did feel as is the studies presented enlightened me to a point where I can now look at homosexuals with more empathy and overall understanding. This kind of empathy and meaning is what is important to me in this reading as much as it is in any other.
Overall, I cannot say my opinions towards politics or any kind of topic have changed from these readings because I was already rather liberal to begin with. The way I have changed is how I perceive people. I am always trying to understand people and have empathy so I can establish and maintain positive relationships. Understanding these concepts on deep levels helps me to do just that, and between a lack of motivation and a lack of time I did not do the research on my own.
My feelings have not changed much either, I had the mentality that I mentioned before this class began. I actually had to stop myself from being so interested in diverse sexuality that I favored it. While I do not have biases, I do not want to praise people just for not having traditional sexuality and I feel this level of emphasis has the tendency to do that. The point is people should be treated equally, of course, with regards to sexuality, while praise is just as much difference as bias from a theoretical viewpoint.
I still do not feel there is any active systemic oppression. I simply think the world was designed mostly by heterosexuals who made live convenient in their way and those like them. While this never gave enough consideration to some in according to certain opinions, I am not convinced there is a real systemic oppression. I think there is about as much or more racism than there is systemic oppression, and I do not believe there are intentionally active forces beyond ignorance and racism in personal opinion to suppress race.
Homophobia is something people need to get over. This was evident in about every reading. All people need to reflect on this, and the most damning cause of such beliefs is likely religion. If people honestly belief that homosexuality is not only a sin but one of the worst sins, it will take a ridiculous or even impossible amount of equal rights actions to counter the stigmas and beliefs. Flexibility is most relevant here, and the course as a whole serves the purpose to inform us of sexual differences so that there is no homophobia. Discrimination and prejudice are obviously very negative while these commonly integrated into society is plain destructive. Perhaps Queer Theory and Queer Family Values explained this best, as they related topics in heterosexual terms for easy understanding.
I always had an eye for stereotyping and avoiding it. I pride myself on being a liberal. The best I can do is to become aware and open minded, while taking care to show equality. The Queer Theory and Queer Family Values mentioning of such stereotypes as the ‘flaming gay’ male and ‘butch’ female are the most common stereotypes. While it did take me some time, I learned awhile ago that not all guys who act in the ‘flaming’ or ‘limp wristed’ manner are actually gay, or that ones that are gay will act as such. Just the same, I recognize the stereotype of ‘butch’ lesbians, realizing not all butches are gay and not all ‘dominant’ lesbians are butch types. As such, I feel my ability to recognize stereotypes is roughly the same.
This class has helped me become more aware overall. I already prided myself on being knowledgeable to some extent, open minded, and with as little bias as possible. While I did not need serious barriers to be removed or phobias solved, I still learned a great deal that can be applied to my life in the future.