Comparing Lan Yu And Bishonen

During the 19th century, social life began to become more sexualized and people began to be defined by their sexual behaviors. With this, the idea of love and romance was feminized; and women were considered the ones who expressed their emotions, accepted strong feelings, and remained pure. In contrast, men started to be considered sexualized creatures that were expected to be emotionally reserved. Today there is a sexual double standard that puts pressure on women to engage in less sexual activity than men and puts pressure on men to maintain a standard of masculinity, just like in the 19th century. Below we will not only explore the “feminization of love” as discussed in class, but also expand on how it has made an impact on sexual expectations of men and women and how this relates to the sexual stigmatization of casual sex.

Can you imagine that everyone rejects you just because you are a girl? That actually happened universally in the last century, specifically in the old China. The gender discrimination was deeply rooted in people’s minds and became a traditional Chinese thinking. Wayson Choy illustrates this kind of discrimination really well in his novel The Jade Peony. In the novel, Grandmother continually reminds Jook-Liang that girl-child is useless, it affect Jook-Liang thinks about people, and change the views of various people. Also, it makes her struggle to assimilate to Chinese and Canadian society. Though, she tries her best to revolt

In “The Myth of Homosexuality” by Christine Downing, there is the discussion of homosexuality and its meaning over the years. Downing begins the article by stating how a myth has classified women-on-women and men-on-men relationships to fall under the same term of homosexuality, but there is much deeper understanding to it than that. The classification under one word has caused a lot of shaping concerning how they are viewed or how they view themselves. In order to look past the surface of what defines the myth, Downing states that we must start with the culture’s myth and it’s origin.

There are various perceptions of gay and lesbian couples that they represent a more egalitarian relationship. (Civettini 2015:1) However, when same-sex couples are observed there is still a tendency to believe that the relationship contains a masculine and feminine figure following the heterosexual model. So, it is necessary to address both how these couples deviate from society’s norms as gay individuals but might still be reproducing the same behaviors as heterosexual couples because the ideologies are so deeply rooted in social institutions. The stereotypical connotations of masculinity and femininity influence all aspects of American society and gender display relies heavily on meeting those given expectations. So, in the case of this article, the author Civettini views a connection between sex, gender, and sexual orientation when it comes to displaying

Relationships between people depend on the time period, the location, the social norms set at place in one’s society and one’s own personality. Throughout history and cultures the meaning of relationships have changed. In some ways they have become more relaxed and in others stricter in following these rules of society. In Six Records of a Floating Life by Shen Fu, he describes his relationship with his wife and his culture during the eighteenth century in China. His story tells a relationship that was very unique between his wife, Yun and himself. For the time they were very progressive in their beliefs and actions. It helps the reader see the culture in China at this time and how relationship during a time with strict societal rules especially for women became to be a very surprising and reformist relationship.

In this move, the Chinese community expects women to get married for procreation purposes. For instance, Wai Tung is being by his mother to get so that he can give her a granddaughter against his will. At the long last he gets married to satisfy his nagging parents to a female tenant. The movie creates a notion that a woman needs a man to achieve something in life because Wei Wei gets married to a gay landlord because she needs a green card. In this case, the marriage between Tung and Wei becomes a marriage of convenience. This scene portrays an aspect of China traditions that women are tools of sex in that part where Mr. Gao insists on throwing a wedding banquet for the couple. After the party and all the drinking, Wai Tung and Wei Wei are put to bed, and things get out of hand. Also, the movie reveals another purpose of female in traditional Chinese culture, which is human production. Tung’s father doesn’t care if his son is homosexual or not as long as he gets a grandchild. Tung’s parents only want Wei to give their family the next generation.

“There is no reason that we should ever be ashamed of our bodies or ashamed of our love” (Levithan). This is a quote drawn from the book “Two Boys Kissing” by David Levithan. This quote reinforces the idea that we as individuals should embrace who we are no matter our identification our sexual preferences. Levithan novel “Two Boys Kissing” brings attention and awareness to homosexuality relationships. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the sorted themes displayed throughout “Two Boys Kissing” and the effects the have on the LGBTQ community.

In her essay titled “Compulsive Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence,” Adrienne Rich claims that any alternative to heterosexual outcome is discouraged by society. The essay claims that Western tradition has used the heterosexual family model as the basic social

The stereotypical romantic scripts found in the media such as the classic Disney representations of romance, create a circumscribed view of romance and sexuality that does not equally represent the population of the individuals that it reaches. This concoction of heteronormativity perpetuates the normative view of romance and sexuality as being white, heterosexual, and virginal.

In traditional Western society, sexuality is defined, what is considered normal is established. Although, the borders of normalcy are being stretched with gay rights, a straight, monogamous relationship is still what is expected. A traditional Western relationship is built by spending time with your partner and sex is a form of shared intimacy. In stark contrast to traditional Western culture, Tayo has multiple encounters with Native American women, which quickly lead to sex. To a traditional Western perspective, sex seems to function like a handshake throughout Ceremony, it is a social convention. At a glance, there seems to be no emotional aspect because of the limited time spent together, but upon closer inspection there is a deep kinship and intimacy that goes beyond time. The women Tayo meets are not just for sex, they help him complete the ceremony of self-realization by playing the role of a guide. For Tayo, sexuality is a fluid and multicultural idea; there is not a clear line between what is and what it is not. Illustrating the limitations of normalizing sexuality. Both characters highlight the false dichotomy created through the process of normalization.

Following this expectation, Zhong Yu chooses the take part in a loveless marriage. According to Zhong Yu, those who choose not to marry are “regarded as an eccentric who looks down on ordinary people,” in short, a “heretic” (145). Furthermore, when being questioned on why she chose to get married, she reasons that “people may talk you into getting married” (135). Both instances illustrate Zhong Yu’s willingness to let external opinions dictate her choice, not wanting to be judged by others in the first instance and doing as she is told in the latter. Evidently, making a decision based on social norm is a choice Zhong Yu regrets and “when [she] can’t sleep at night, [she] forces herself to sober up by recalling,” her past mistakes (135). Additionally, when conversing with her daughter, Zhong Yu strongly advises her not to marry too early. The fear of judgement compels Zhong Yu spends a lifetime of reminiscing past memories, rather than living for happiness. Zhong Yu tries to cope with a lifetime of loving in spirit rather than in person, yet this leaves her in a state of despair and emptiness. Zhong Yu acknowledges the mistakes she makes when conversing with her daughter, and shares the knowledge she gains, in hopes that her daughter will not repeat the same

Chinese queer migrants have the unique attitude to coming out and marriage. In the context of Chinese society, the possibilities to present a gay identity affect queer attitudes to public visibility and coming out. Chinese queers get used to behaving in a ‘heteronormative’ way under the pressure of Chinese environment, which some of them are not willing to make their sexual orientation visible. In other words, Chinese queers behave in a normative way to prove that they are integrated into a heteronormative category. This also applies to some Britain-based young Chinese queer migrants, in which shows a rejection of their identity as Chinese queer. Although they do not associate coming out as a ‘Western issue’, the concern to make their sexual

The twentieth-century tendency to view human love and sexuality within a dichotomized universe of deviance and normality, genitality and platonic love, is alien to the emotions and attitudes of the nineteenth century and fundamentally distorts the nature of

Research comparing how people in the United States are more widely accepted based on sexuality than other parts of the world, particularly focusing on China. In the United States sexuality is less biased and more widely accepted than in China, making it easier for people with different types of sexuality get more recognition and acceptance. Depending on where you are in the world human sexuality will constantly be contested and changed based on how people feel about other people, even if that means contesting cultural norms and different traditions a country, or people have. In my research I will be exploring how people in both the United States and China in large urban cities understand homosexual couples. I will also explore how

In the last decade, the issue of homosexuality has been widely discussed and known in Hong Kong. People have more opportunities to approach the word `homosexuality' in their daily life through literatures, movies and occasional news revealing celebrities' homosexual behaviors. Simultaneously there has also been significant growth in commercial venues such as restaurants and bars, catering to gays and lesbians. In short, the social context of Hong Kong and the attitudes gays and lesbians are likely to hold about their sexual orientation are very different from those of previous generations.