Covering By Kenji Yoshino: Chapter Summary

Covering, to cover is to hide something about yourself that is generally looked down up, to only fit better into mainstream society. In the New Civil rights by Kenji Yoshino imforms us on the concept of covering. Wesely Yang in paper tigers through differrent topics inderectly backs up Kenjis beliefs. Kenji explains why, even how we cover. Going as far as saying that everyone covers. Yang on the otherhand talks about the opression and life itself as a Asian American. Providing us many other people whom have had similar expieriances. The two back each others claims up. WEsely YAng agreees with Kenji Yoshino that everyone covers.

Imagine, you go to work in your dress shoes, black suit, buzz-cut hair, red power tie, and nobody pays you a second look. But, the second you get home, you kick off your shoes, and don high-heels, the suit is replaced with a dress, your short wig is taken off, and you let your long curls fall, and your tie is in the closet, with a necklace in its place. Such hiding of true feelings is not an unheard concept in the transgender world. Millions of transgender people will never express their true feelings in their lifetime. This is similar to The Intruder by Andre Dubus, Kenneth Girard a

‘At the most basic level, if a male applicant were to live discreetly, he would in practice have to avoid any open expression of affection for another man which went beyond what would be acceptable behaviour on the part of a straight man. He would have to be cautious about the friendships he formed, the circle of friends in which he moved, the places where he socialised. He would have constantly to restrain himself in an area of life where powerful emotions and physical attraction are involved and a straight man could be spontaneous, impulsive even. Not only would he not be able to indulge openly in the mild flirtations which are an enjoyable part of heterosexual life, but he would have to

Vulnerability is a compelling aspect of this text and Vargas consistently uses it throughout the text to appeal to his audience’s sympathy. This is made brazenly obvious when Vargas tells the audience he is gay and then proceeds to write, “Tough as it was, coming out about being gay seemed less daunting than coming out about my legal status.” By telling his audience it is harder to come out to people as an undocumented immigrant than it is to tell people he is gay, it puts everything in perspective. While both gay and immigrants are highly debated topics, the typical American understands how hard it is to come out as gay. It is a challenging and taxing experience to come out as gay because not everyone agrees with that lifestyle. By comparing the two, his audience, legal Americans, are able to begin to understand how formidable coming out as an undocumented immigrant truly is. Vargas strongly appeals to pathos by comparing undocumented immigration to sexuality, evoking empathy from his audience.

The goal of the following paper is to convince that soul theory is directly linked to one’s personal identity. This paper will also point out an objection raised to the theory, and to finish will prove how that objection is incorrect, leaving soul theory as the only answer to what makes someone who they are.

Roy Cohn and Joe Pitt represent the stereotypical gay man who refuses to publicly acknowledge his sexuality. They portray how gay men sometimes go to extreme lengths to deny their homosexuality. Both not only lie to others, but they lie to themselves. There is a certain sadness in the fact that some gay men desire the respect of strangers over being honest with themselves. Why do such a large number of gay men live lives in denial? The answer is simple. The answer is fear. Fear is the driving force behind many gay men's secrecy. The fear of how others may view them and the fear of how they will be received is overpowering.

I’m not going to pretend I know what it’s like to grow up under racial prejudice. I’m not going to pretend I understand any of the struggles people of a different race or ethnicity go through. I’m a white Christian female. I have not gone through the same things that people like Jose has gone through, but he uses many different examples to help connect with people from all walks of life, such as homosexuals, immigrants, Americans, and people with anxiety. Jose Vargas impacts a larger audience by sharing the personal details of his unconventional lifestyle and the help he received as a homosexual undocumented immigrant with anxiety.

Coming out from behind the badge is a novel written by a gay police officer named Greg focusing on homosexuality in the law enforcement profession. Throughout part I of the novel, Greg uses his own personal stories, as well as other’s personal stories, to help those going into law enforcement have a better understanding of homosexuality in the workplace. Following in part II, Greg gives step by step advice about coming out of the closet to fellow gay officers, and the ways to create an accepting workplace for the LGBT community.

Imagine, you go to work in your dress shoes, black suit, buzz-cut hair, red power tie, and nobody pays you a second look. But, the second you get home, you kick off your shoes, and don high-heels, the suit is replaced with a dress, your short wig is taken off, and you let your long curls fall, and your tie is in the closet, with a necklace in its place. Such hiding of true feelings is not an unheard concept in the transgender world. Millions of transgender people will never express their true feelings in their lifetime. This is similar to

Kenji Yoshino wrote an article named “The Pressure to Cover” which was published in the New York Times Magazine on January 15th, 2006. (Yoshino 32) The article focuses on how different sexual and racial groups are discriminated against. Yoshino’s article is an excerpt from his book called, Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights. Yoshino argues that, “Discrimination used to take aim at entire social groups. Now it is directed at the members of those groups who refuse to assimilate to the mainstream.”(Yoshino 32) An important detail about Yoshino is that he is a male, Japanese homosexual.

1) Opposing Forces This film displayed two opposing forces which were represented as the transsexual community verses society. The weaker force in the film was displayed as the transsexual community while the stronger force was society. The goal of the weaker force was shown as a desire for equality within all culture and fair treatment of these individuals. This goal of the weaker force highlighted a weakness in the stronger force which was seen as fear.

During the book, Yoshino talks about how different religions have to cover. He elaborated on the fact that Muslims, after 9/11 were faced with this challenge. What took me by surprise, was the encounter of the mother going to change her son’s surname from Mohammed to Smith. I have never thought of this issue. I never knew there were Muslims who actually changed their name! I could never imagine changing my name in order to fit in with society and/or not be look upon in such a harsh way and religiously profiled.

Every day in the United States, a young person, under the age of eighteen faces homelessness, and most often it’s because of others. In a report by The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, it was noted that 26% of LGBTQ youth were kicked out of their homes when they came out (Ray, 2006). The Urban Justice League reports numbers as high as 78% of LGBTQ youth that “were removed from or left their foster care placements because they were un-welcoming or hostile towards their sexual orientation and/or gender identity ” (Feinstein, Greenblatt, Hass, Kohn, & Rana, 2001). The United States is an independent, individualistic country; we prize the freedom of expression, but do we really? One of the most significant, if not the most important, social structures is the family. Gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals who are aware of their sexuality, must create an alternative self to present to family and friends, especially if there is an understanding, verbalized or implicit, that homosexuality is not tolerated, or simply wrong. Many gay, lesbian and bisexual men and women would rather go with the flow, assimilate, not make waves, rather than to express their own gay identity, and risk ostracism.

Greenan & Tunnel (2003) posit that the societal marginalization exerted on same-sex couples, translates into internalization of an inferior status (as cited in Wetcher & Bigner, 2012). Herdt (1989) describes the process of coming out as the process of introducing an individual’s sexual orientation to broader circles of people, commencing with the self. The fear of coming out is often associated with fears of emotional rejection by family members, or internal belief of disappointing one’s parents. To cope with this fear, often gay men resort to concealment of their identity (Herdt, 1989; Ramirez & Brown, 2010). The social construct of belonging to a minority community, the avoidant attachment style and the threat of conflict within the family of origin system acts as the reagent that evokes Steve’s emotional distress which he regulates by withholding disclosure. Brain’s feeling of insecurity and wanting reassurance could be attributed to the vast discrepancy between the interactions he has experienced with his family of origin and current family system he shares with Steve.

Imagine if you were to be judged for who you were, or what you did, or even your gender type. In the world there are a lot of social injustices going on even to this very day. One of the most common and heard of social injustice would probably be the one of people being lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender. This issue has been going on for quite a long time now. Some people do not agree with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender projects. A lot of people suffer because of this injustice, and it also affects their whole lives. A lot of the people that go through this most likely end up fighting back for what they believe is right, which in their