Essay on Lesbianism: Femmes and Lipstick Lesbians

Before we can address the issue of homophobia. We must distinguish what exactly homophobia is, Homophobia is a term to describe hate towards homosexually oriented people. Homophobia is a form of stigma based on sexual ideas. This is also explained in the book “The Challenges of being a gay rural gay man, coping with stigma”. It states “sexual stigma is defined as social disapproval of any-non-heterosexual behavior”. Stigma that is based on hate towards people that are different, or people we don’t understand.

However society 's perspective on sexual identity has changed tremendously over the years. It used to almost be a disease that no one wanted to admit to having or have to deal with because that 's not what society viewed as “normal”. It was even said that only homosexuals can contract HIV/AIDS. In some cities, people got attacked physically because of the disagreement on homosexuality. Homosexual denied it their homosexuality because they didn 't want to be judged, but more and more people are admitting to it. Historical perspectives have changed too, especially in the U.S military service when homosexuals were banned from serving until 1993 when the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy was passed which allowed homosexual to serve in the military but not admit to it if they were asked. After World War II gay life flourished in urban areas such as Greenwich village and Harlem.

Bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender, asexual; these are all examples of different sexualities, and identities. One of the biggest problems with society today is that many people are resistant, sometimes violent, towards the unknown. People identify in many different ways, as many different things. Some ways of life do not allow a lifestyle straying from straight men, and straight women; being taught this from a young age for an entire lifetime will strike fear and hatred into the hearts of those who encounter otherwise. Other cultures, such as the Navajo people, celebrate these differences with love and overwhelming support. Individuals portraying both as their given sex at birth, and as the opposite sex (cross-dressing, referring to themselves with a name generally given to the opposite sex, using different pronouns, etc.) are given special titles (Two

The words “lesbian” and “gay” can be interchange to describe same sex couples. If you identify as Lesbian or Gay it means you are only attractive to the same sex. If you are attracted to females and males you are described as bisexual. This means you have a physical and emotional attraction to both genders. Many religious group disagree with the way the LGBTQ community chooses to live. They believe having a relationship with the same gender is morally incorrect. It is frowned upon because of the ways their religious books and information states a relationship and family are only between a male and a female. Although lesbian and gay are most commonly talked about group there are many others groups in the LGBTQ community looked past because many people do not really know or understand what they

This is quite an interesting article to someone like me who considered herself to be a lesbian woman and who has had several encounters with these “straight” women. The author’s main point in this article is the vast continuum in which women’s sexuality resides, but also the ways in which these women define what classifies one someone who is homosexual. Most conformed to binary categories heterosexual-homosexual, while one refused to conform to one or the other while also being uncomfortable with the bisexual label. A majority of these women also placed an emphasis on the physical act of sex with another woman to be the definitive action that would classify them as a lesbian. Since none of them had “gone all the way,” then two of the three women stated that they considered themselves heterosexual while the one, as mentioned above, refused to conform to a label.

According to Ms. Paige, “Generally, people want to see you as male or female. Nothing in-between seems to be acceptable.” However, there are currently 63 genders which people around the world may identify as. Furthermore, according to Kinsey’s Seven point continuum, people may not even be solely homosexual or heterosexual. According to him, there is no clear-cut distinction between homosexuality and heterosexuality. This is because his scale relies on both sexual behavior and feelings of attraction. Therefore, even though one might think of themselves as heterosexual, they may be ambisexual (not solely homosexual or heterosexual). As seen in this aforementioned case, the society someone is placed in may heavily influence their identification. Additionally, there seems to be a lot of misinformation about biological sex. Although many people in western cultures will state or acknowledge the presence of two sexes, this is also not true. As a result of various hormone imbalances prior to birth, a person may have primary sex characteristics that do not fit into one of the two previously mentioned categories. These individuals are termed intersex, as a result of their incomplete sexual differentiations. Ultimately, there end up being six common karyotypes, with XX and XY being the most common.

According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, homophobia is the irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals. Much like a witch hunt, homophobia targets and seeks out individuals, gay or straight, and persecutes them based on ignorance, and further more if one cannot provide solid proof of his or her innocence. (Hughes) It is the fuel behind many hate crimes and discrimination. Some claim that homosexuality is a disease. If this statement is true, couldn’t we all simply begin to call in “queer” to work and school when we won’t be present? (Avert)

There are many words that change meaning throughout time as a result of how they are used in society. Early on in history gay used to be the main word to describe being happy or joyful, however, as time went on the word’s meaning drastically changed. It has now become used in offensive slang, which not only makes the meaning of the word more degrading, but it also is attacking homosexuals. Why can’t we go back to the old meaning? The meaning where everything was happy and joyful. Now it is just used to hurt people who do not deserve

Homosexuality plays a big part in Sexual Prejudice in the United States today. According to Herek 2002, “Survey participants generally were more likely to regard gay men as mentally ill, supported adoption rights for lesbians more than for gay men, and had more negative personal reactions to gay men than to lesbians”. People in the present US society, mostly label gay men as completely wrong and are more favorable for lesbian

There’s also transsexual, transvestite, and androgynous/gender queer. Transsexual is when you seek medical attention to the transition from one sex to the other. That way your appearance outwards is more like how you feel on the inward. A transvestite is someone who cross-dresses, much like a drag queen, but for their own pleasure instead of performance pleasure for others. Androgynous, or genderqueer, is a mix of both masculine and feminine. Sometimes they roll between male and female, depending on their mood. They also sometimes explain that they 're genderless: therefore, you would call them, “they” or “it”. They are simply independent of sexual orientation.

In every corner of the world, the topic of homosexuality sparks controversy from both supporters and opponents of the sexual orientation. Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines a homosexual as “being sexually attracted to people of the same sex.” The underlying influence from historical, sociological, and health disciplines are just a few reasons such a large gap exists on the spectrum between supporters and opponents of homosexuality. This paper serves as an analysis of the previously mentioned disciplines with gathered data from a variety of scholarly journals. Based on the grounds of historical, sociological, and health disciplines, it would be far too ethnocentric, discriminatory, and physically unhealthy for society to reject homosexuality as an individual’s choice in a way of life.

Bisexual people may be men, women, transgender, or genderqueer. They may be monogamous or abstinent or may have multiple sexual partners, just like heterosexual and lesbian and gay people. Many people are bisexual and bisexuality cuts across distinctions of race/ethnicity, gender identity, age, class, ability, and religious affiliation.

“…there are lesbians who affirm that “women and men are different species or races (the words are used interchangeably): men are biologically inferior to women; male violence is a biological inevitability…” By doing this, by admitting that there is a “natural” division between women and men, we naturalize history, we assume that “men” and “women” have always existed and will always exist.’”

Gender and sexuality can be comprehended through social science. Social science is “the study of human society and of individual relationships in and to society” (free dictionary, 2009). The study of social science deals with different aspects of society such as politics, economics, and the social aspects of society. Gender identity is closely interlinked with social science as it is based on an identity of an individual in the society. Sexuality is “the condition of being characterized and distinguished by sex” (free dictionary, 2009). There are different gender identities such as male, female, gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual that exists all around the world. There is inequality in gender identities and dominance of a male

Sexuality is an issue that has been widely discussed and has often been misunderstood by society. It has often been a misconception by members of the heterosexual community that all lesbians want to be men. Through applying common sense, it can be understood why people may think gay women want to be men when looking in on the lesbian community, some lesbians prefer to express themselves and their sexuality through the way they dress and act; their short hair, masculine clothing, wearing no make-up and their macho