Stereotypes Of Homosexual Women

Everyone knows a woman that dresses feminine—in long, flowy dresses, bright pink lipstick, and towering high heels. Personally, my usual attire is composed of a flower headband and a pastel yellow sundress. People typically expect straight women to uphold a certain feministic standard and anticipate that lesbian women appear masculine. Lesbians are stereotyped to have short hair, wear striped flannels and boyfriend jeans, and not wear makeup. Masculine-appearing women are assumed to be gay; however, there is a group of lesbian women who dress femininely. Lipstick lesbians, or LLs, are a part of the feminine lesbian community. The LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community has built up recently and an abundance of stereotypes as well. Contrary to popular belief, lesbians are not bound to one appearance. We as humans should have the opportunity to express ourselves in whichever way we desire. Similar to everyone else, lesbians’ appearances do not have to be strictly based off of who they are attracted to. Lipstick lesbians positively influence lesbian stereotypes because they defy masculine appearance and are unafraid to express themselves. By recognizing that lesbians who dress femininely are still lesbians, individuals can avoid awkward and uncomfortable situations by being respectful and acknowledging their boundaries.

In Stephen Mays’ essay “What about Gender Roles in Same-sex Relationships?” published in They Say I Say, the author discusses how people often assign gender roles automatically, even with gay and lesbian couples. Mays stresses the concept of femininity and masculinity, and also shows the difference in their roles, supports them with vivid imagery, and gives a rare example of gay male preferences, all while using the correct diction when referring to personal experiences. Although the author reiterates gender roles and their effect on same-sex relationships, he gives clear examples that support the idea of masculine or feminine qualities.

You see a guy that catches your eye. But, how do you tell if a guy you like is gay or not? Is there any signs to know it? Actually, many gay men don't fit stereotypes. Some gay men even train to be masculine. These men have deep voices, flirt with women, walk like a man, and do manly things. But ALL gay men give off subtle signs of their sexuality.

In society, heterosexuality is a principal method of organizing institutions and regulating individual behavior. A culture based on ideas of heterosexuality values relationships that are between men and women; as a result, sexual contact occurring between same sex individuals is seen as deviant and labeled as homosexual. In her book, Ward explains how straight white men can have sex with other white men while retaining their heterosexuality in addition to gaining a masculine appeal. Ingraham and Namaste’s discussion of heteronormativity, heterogenders, and supplementarity aids in understanding why straight white men are not labeled as homosexual and how this functions to reproduce inequalities based on race, gender, and sexuality.

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

Transgender people are a diverse population of individuals who cross or transcend culturally defined categories of gender ( Bockting ,Miner, Romine, Hamilton and Coleman, 2013). The world is evolving and people need to become acceptance of others especially transgender individuals. Transgender individuals are a group of people most vulnerable to workplace discrimination (Bailey, 2013) due to those that are prejudice or dislike the ideal of those unknown to them. Therefore, for those people that are not aware of how to confront their prejudice or biases towards people that are transgender, they should be more open minded to understand and accept diversity. There is a lot we need to learn about this phenomenon so having the willingness to understand

First, let’s start with the LGBTQ+ community. LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer. This community is amazing, and I’m glad that more and more people are accepting them today. Unfortunately, there are still individuals who stand for homophobia. A homophobe is a person with an extreme and irrational aversion to homosexuality and homosexual people. A man or woman, who likes their own gender, identifies as another or none at all can be a victim of homophobia. Homophobia tends to be more prevalent among men than women. In the minds of many people, gay men are inherently not masculine. That is of course, completely false. Sadly, society projects an image of what is acceptable to be if you are a man, gay not being one of them. In the eyes of many, males are not supposed to act feminine. Males aren’t allowed to do things like wear feminine clothing or makeup, or act feminine to say the least. Obviously, being a man is accepted and promoted in our society. Women who are more masculine or present themselves as men sometimes have an easier time than men who present themselves as women. That's because what is projected to society is that to be male is to be powerful and to be female is not. In my opinion, the stereotypes when it comes to gender roles are horrible. Men and women should be able to express themselves without the fear of getting judged or

A number of individuals who are not directly involved in the Queer community are rarely exposed to the discrimination of other subcultures from the majority (i.e. white, gay males). As a result of this, people are led to assume

One of the main stereotypes that exists about women is that women are nurturing and non violent individuals (Hassouneh 311). This has a direct effect on women in same sex relationships.This affects women in same sex relationships as it results in shock and disbelief when a woman does commit a violent act. For example, when a woman is being abused in a same sex relationship, she may not recognize the abuse as domestic violence, or even abuse for that matter, as she has the preconceived notion that women cannot be violent (Hassouneh 316). The also may not be believed when they do seek out help (Unit 4 75). Alongside this, the stereotype effects the accessibility a woman may have to help centres when she is in need (Hassouneh 318). Due to the fact that women are perceived as non-violent individuals, there are a severe lack of help centres available for women who a victims of female same sex domestic violence (Hassouneh 312).

Heteronormativity constructs heterosexual assumptions of gender and sex as an ideal and moral imperative, cooperating with and sustaining systems of power (Berlant and Warner 1998; Sharma 1999). Systems of power create a hierarchy within heteronormativity, doling privilege to some and marginalizing others. This hierarchy is present in homosexual communities as well. Norms within the homosexual community marginalize other kids of sex, gender, and sexuality difference (Stryker 2008). Using Butler’s concept of gender performativity illustrates the way that repetitive performances of gender leads to social coherency. Unable to attain heteronormative standards as lesbians, the couples conform to heteronormative standards in several key ways. Through the promotion of a homonormative-domestic discourse, producers tame the otherwise deviant sexual subjects to render them non-threatening to a straight audience, with a broader political impact that depoliticizes and demobilizes the LGBTQ population (Duggan 2002; Erhart 2013; Warner 2000). In adhering these key standards of heterosexual culture, a homonormative portrayal of lesbian motherhood emerges.

Leo Bersani suggests that “the gay man always runs the risk of identifying with culturally dominant images of misogynous maleness” (117). In his article, he discusses how the gay man is able to take on the privileges given to the heterosexual men in society because they represent the dominant gender. In his essay, Thomas Piontek discusses

Whitehead (2002: 166) writes, “men’s complicity in sexist or homophobic behaviour arises not from their core sexuality, but from a desire not to be excluded from male groups; not to be cast out and declared ‘not a male/man, like us’.” Consequently heterosexual masculinity is defined in opposition to racial and sexual minorities, and women. Gorer (1964: 129) states, “The lives of most American men are bounded, and their interests daily curtailed by the constant necessity to prove to their fellows, and to themselves, that they are not sissies, not homosexuals.” This, according to Kimmel (2001: 279), results in men inflating traditional rules of masculinity, a consequence of which is not only homophobic acts, but also the predation of women. Consequently, homophobia, racism and sexism are closely interlinked, as women, gay men and other minorities become the ‘other’ against which heterosexual men construct their identities. Kimmel (2001:284)

I agree completely as a society regardless of if you are in a heterosexual relationship or homosexual relationship you have a chance of fitting into gender roles. Women especially have this issue, a woman can have a job, go to school, and still be expected to have dinner on the kitchen table. Our society has women very insecure about their success for some it feels like cheating on their spouses if they invest in their work and career. To a degree I have felt that way having to decide between my relationship and my career, until I realized the career I had was not something that I wanted. I feel that one day we can have it all, but it will take a lot of feminist action to get there.

Gender and sexual orientation is a topic that has been and still today is not talked about in such a way it should be because of how society has chosen to structure and control it. Social stratification is a system in which groups of people are divided up into layers according to their relative privileges (power, property, and prestige). It’s a way of ranking large groups of people into a hierarchy according to their relative privileges (Vela-McConnell 2016). People, who deviate from the norm of the “accepted” gender and sexual orientation that society has placed upon us, are stratified below the norm of a dominating binary gender and sexual orientation. People who are queer face the struggle of mistreatment and an unaccepting society that has been socialized to see and act on gender and sexual orientation to being a dualistic system.

The world does not work like a digital clock where a discrete set of numbers is presented and one must accept what is shown. The world is more similar to an analog clock, where all possibilities are present and one can only assume one is correct based on approximation but is never entirely sure of said approximation. For someone who lives in such a world, I have had to learn to embrace the contradictions both society and myself impose upon my different identities as well as my position in respect to them. I am an Hispanic immigrant, born and raised in El Salvador who moved to the United States way too late in his life to consider it his home but early enough to embrace the good aspects of its culture. I am also a gay cis-gendered male who is beginning to explore his role as a member of the gay community. Lastly, both my embodiment and my attitudes are not that of a “masculine guy” (I am not particularly muscular, my jawline is rather soft and I am one of the unlucky few who is never able to grow decent facial hair). All of those elements of my identity affect me as they all shape my life and experience in different ways. It is the adaptability needed to be an immigrant, the survival instinct and mentality that come from being gay, and the defiance of traditional narratives of masculinity through my refusal to change my personality and embodiment to conform to it that have shaped me into the individual I am today. Those aspects of my identities have shaped the way I move