Neil 's Life Course Perspective

Throughout the 1950’s, the United States belonged to the Leave It To Beaver era. Families were structured around a strong, hard working father and a wonderful homemaker mother. Children were brought up with solid ideologies on what society expects from them and were warned about living a different and dangerous life. Only one-year separates Tennessee William’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room from there publishing dates during this decade of unwavering beliefs. These texts were seen as extremely controversial during their time due to their themes of homosexuality. Sexual orientation was an awkward topic during such a “to the book” time period and these texts pushed the limits, making them remarkable and memorable works. Both Tennessee Williams and James Baldwin explore the panic men experience while trying to comprehend what sexual orientation they belong to and highlight the masculine gay man. These texts also examine the woman’s role in the mist of it all.

Coming to terms with it is almost harder than being accepted for it. A popular topic among the media, the LGBT+ community is gaining more and more rights as time goes by. About this topic, Irving says “When I was a boy, I imagined having sex with my friends’ mothers, with girls my own age--yes, even with certain older boys among my wrestling teammates. It turned out that I liked girls, but the memory of my attractions to the “wrong” people never left me. What I’m saying is that the impulse to bisexuality was very strong; my earliest sexual experiences--more important, my earliest sexual imaginings--taught me that sexual desire is mutable. In fact, in my case--at a most formative age--sexual mutability was the norm. What made me a writer was definitely a combination of what I read and what I imagined--especially, what I imagined sexually.” (An exclusive essay on Amazon). Irving doesn’t want people to think this book is about his son, because it’s not. He doesn’t want to forget his young self, but make experiences for others with

Blanche’s descriptions of her young husband are void of any vapid generalities associated with homosexuality. Blanche describes Allan to Mitch with these words: “There was something different about the boy, a nervousness, a softness and a tenderness, which wasn’t like a man’s, although he wasn’t the least bit effeminate looking—still— that thing was there…” (Williams 108). Through this description of Allan, Williams shatters the preconceived notions the American middlebrow may have of a gay man. Allan Gray looked nothing like the formulaic homosexual, and yet, he was still a gay man. Allan Grey becomes simply a man who happened to be gay, as opposed to a man who was gay and nothing else. Williams furthers this rebuke of problematic stereotypes by removing the quintessential indicator of homosexuality from his description of Allan Grey. As Michael Schiavi writes: “Effeminacy, which American culture continues to read as an infallible homosexual marker, remains conspicuously absent throughout his stories” (Schiavi 108). Williams refused to promote baseless and misguided notions of homosexuality in his work. Through this refusal, Williams destroys the perception the middlebrow American of his time had of homosexuality, forcing them to confront the reality that gay men are not all

Throughout this story he gives up several parts of himself in order to make his mother happy. When discovering his sexuality he first felt ashamed by the sexual urges he had to touch himself, so went onto remove his hands. This story greatly impacts the way the LGBTQ community see themselves. Members of this community are used to feeling ashamed and guilty for their sexual orientation and what gender they identify with. This story highlights how detrimental the affects of this guilt and shame people are forced to carry. People would rather resort to losing their hands than dealing with what they are feeling. This is symbolic of how the LGBTQ community would rather lose what makes them unique, what makes them who they are, than carry around the burden they feel for the sexual preferences and the gender they self identify with. Reading this may help someone who is feeling like they have no choice but to hide whom they really are by showing them how it may result in a total loss of self. Those who may be dealing with the guilt and shame associated with their sexual orientation or with the gender they choose to identify with may feel connected to this story in a way that may help them deal with their emotions and help them respond in the appropriate ways instead of loosing sight of who they are.

Client grew up in a conservative and strict southern family in small town in Georgia with socioeconomic statues of average-middle class. Consequently, his childhood consisted of psychological, verbal and emotional abuse by his parents. Client was constantly criticized by his father, client quoted, “I was never good enough for him”. Client was under constant pressure to meet his parents’ standards. However, he never succeeded and was seen as a failure in his parent’s opinion. Client was not able to inform his parents about being Gay which made him isolated and even more distant from them.

As a homosexual teen in the 1950s, he understood how lucky he was to have progressive parents. His father was a professor of Physics at Columbia University and his mother, despite being a housewife, complemented her husband’s intellectual ability. His parents allowed him to have hotdogs from the carts roaming through the streets of New York City and even let him play basketball with black people sometimes. They did not deter his young sister, Emily from wearing pants in the house and he was pretty sure they would let him have long hair if he ever wanted to. And most important of all, they would accept him for what he was because as his mother constantly reminded him ‘they love him’.

“ It was not the sobbing, joyous reunion of Odysseus and Telemachus. It was more like fatherless Stephen and sonless Bloom...but which of us was the father? I had felt distinctly parental listening to his shame-faced recitation.” (Bechdel, 221) The discovery is captivating because it alludes to the reader the true tragedy of the graphic novel; the father’s own denial, rather than his death. Within this revelation comes the different challenges homosexuals face. The father epitomizes the fear of rejection by blurring the lines between fiction and reality; portraying himself, his home, and family differently than it truly is. While Alison conveys the acceptances of herself, but faces the difficulties that come with that acceptance.

The relationship between the Dindon family and Albin, George and Jean-Michel, reflects how pre- stereotypes prove a negative response in first impressions of LGBTQ+. The discovery of Albin and George who are in a homosexual relationship, immediately have the rejection from Edouard and Marie due to defying heteronormativity. The pre-existing prejudice of LGBTQ+ impacts their perspectives on Jean-Michel; Edouard exclaims ‘What sort of family do you think this son of a pervert could make/ Being brought us as he was by two transvestite homosexuals.’ Demonstrating that Edouard’s pre-existing stereotype reflects on their opinion of Jean-Michel which lies at the root of ideals that homosexual couples are incapable of upholding a family. However,

Article 1: Stacey, J., & Biblarz, T. J. (2001). (How) does the sexual orientation of parents

parenthood and will be extremely motivated and are well resourced. The purpose of this study was to investigate how parents’ sexual orientation can have an impact on their children’s lives. However, Goldberg & Kashy & Smith (2012) suggested that future studies should not only control parental characteristics, but also cautiously examine the children in each group of families. They concluded that investigators should be aware of the results before concluding what influence parental sexual orientation had on children’s gender development, due to the lack of clarity in the field. Goldberg & Kashy & Smith (2012) stated that some lesbian mothers contribute in many ways when it comes to fostering masculine traits in their sons and feminine traits in their daughters. Altogether, Goldberg & Kashy & Smith (2012) have progressed the debate on the idea that parental gender draws attention to the growing and continuing studies of parental sexual orientation and gender roles and how that affects child development, in order to educate society. Jacson, Ianlongo and Stollak (1986) studied the relationships between three parental factors and the presence of both masculine and feminine traits in young adults. Both parents and children self-related femininity and masculinity were also examined. There were a total of 184 participants (75 males and 109 females) chosen from a population of 1780 undergraduates who completed the Short Form of the Bem Sex Role Inventory at the beginning of the term.

Before fully coming out as a lesbian, Samantha tells her mother at the age 13 that she is bisexual. Samantha described her mother responding in a, “calm and cool way, but didn’t seem to take me seriously. I think she thought it was a phase. Neither of us mentioned it again” (Lundsten 72). One year later, Samanta knew she was a lesbian. She told her mother, older brother, grandmother, and best friend. Samantha described her family's’ reactions, “My mother took it well, since I’d already told her I was bi the year before. My brother was lukewarm - he wasn’t happy about it, but he also didn’t make a big deal about it. Grandma, however was amazing” (Lundsten 72). Samantha felt that her grandmother had, “been my rock and my best advocate” (Lundsten 72). Unfortunately, Samantha’s best friend, Alyssa, did not take the news well. Alyssa became distant, did not call Samantha back, and started avoiding Samantha at school. Samantha’s schoolmates were not accepting of her. Her schoolmates started a rumor that Samantha and Alyssa were dating, and other rumors about who Samantha was attracted to.

Dean is a 16 year-old Caucasian adolescent who is a sophomore in a semi-rural town in the South. His parents divorced when he was 8 years of age and both parents remarried. Dean’s mother is not a significant part of his life, therefore he is primarily raised by his father and step-mother. Dean also has a younger step-brother. Dean has always seemed to follow suit in what his father wants for his life; ie. football, choice of career, and lax attitude regarding school grades. Now at 16, Dean is struggling with his peer-group, his sexual identity, self-image, depression, and alcohol abuse. Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson have developmental theories that could aid in explaining Dean’s current struggles (Broderick & Blewitt, 2015). There are also several interventions and explanations that can aid Dean in uncovering core issues in order to help him face his current developmental concerns.

Suddenly feeling exposed, he turned around and stared at the rumpled bed. Goosebumps prickled his skin. He’d ruined one of the most significant moments of his life, and he wished it had ended differently. But what that actually meant, he wasn’t sure. He thought he’d come to terms with being in a homosexual relationship, but once again, the seed of doubt had sprouted, leaving him feeling isolated and confused. And while he knew he owed his friend an apology, he wondered if he’d actually feel relieved if it were rejected. Then he could put it all behind him and return to his life, relatively unscathed.

Prior, unashamed of his sexuality, is looked down upon by the world firstly for being unashamedly gay and secondly for having contracted AIDs. Prior’s own boyfriend of four and a half years,Louis, looks down on him as a burden. One of the only glimpses into the couple’s home life is a conversation about death and the after life, fueled by Louis’s guilt

Growing up in a heterosexual neighborhood, gay couples were not something that you came across every day as you do in today’s time. At the age of 22, Dawn was introduced to her first gay couple, Mike and Thomas. They were friends of her husband. She had never known a gay couple before or even a gay person. It was extremely strange and uncomfortable for Dawn to be in the presence of two gay men. It was nothing out of the ordinary at first. To Dawn, it was just like two men living together as roommates until they kissed. Dawn felt like she was invading on their privacy as she sat and watched them kiss. She quickly turned her head so she would not be intruding. Now, Dawn is extremely close to Mike and Thomas. She claims