We Read, Sexualities, Queer Theory, And Qualitative Research `` By Joshua Gamson

Sexual orientation is a topic that is very debatable and contains a lot of information. The information I have learned since beginning this research paper has been memorable and has taught me alot. The sociology of sexual orientation teaches us a lot without us being aware about it. Looking at someone else’s puzzle piece and incorporating it into one’s own life is the mission of sociology. Dealing with sexual orientation, it teaches us not to discriminate against someone because they are different than what we are accustomed to and learn to accept others who are different. If you look at it from a broader perspective everyone, is different to someone else and once the world understands this, it will be a much more safer and positive place to

The LGBT community has been silently suffering through generations. But in this generation, they are finally showing the world their voice. There have been many instances where young adults were denied their right to be who they are and now they are speaking out about the mistreatment. Even though the united states have begun to be more open about the LGBT community here is still more change it come. These changes can be explained through many sociological perspectives including: functionalist, conflict, symbolic interactionism and interactionism. Along with these perspective religion, norms and deviance all impact these individuals who are striving to be open about who they really are inside and out.

Throughout our society today, the debate of sexual orientation has been plastered throughout the media. There are many issues throughout our country that conflict with a traditional viewpoint. Day by day, awareness has been spreading about the issues facing the LGBT community. Throughout much of the reading, I have seen both sides. The side that has tormented many through discrimination and oppression as well as the side that has been liberated and is proud to fight for the rights of themselves and others.

Thirdly, queers challenge the categories as well as binaries of sexual and gender by questioning the categories and binaries’ reasonability. Queer theorists concern about how and why the categories of gender and sexuality are shaped, thinking the main reason is to better control people so as to achieve political goals. As de Lauretis (1991) stated, the existing strategies of homosexual, which is created based on the existing categories of gender and sexuality, is to ensure the “ center” integrated. Moreover, they reject and question the usefulness of categories. According to

This article is about heterosexuality and it talks about homos vs. hetero and how it’s different in other culture. Katz goal of this article to get people to have open minds about the name “heterosexuality”. He wants to remove the idea of heterosexuality from “the realm of the taken-for-granted, subjecting it to the dangers of analysis–and the possibility of critique” (67). To me this article make the readers open their mind up to things they never properly thought of and think out of their own boxes. Makes them think what “hereto” and “homo” people are like and how they live their lives. Katz goes back to the 19th century and talks about the history back then and how sexuality wasn’t a

Chapter 11, of the textbook “Understanding Social Problems,” by Linda M. Mooney, David Knox, and Caroline Schacht jockeys issues related to sexual orientation. This chapter openly deliberates the struggle for equality for non-heterosexuals and their fight for equal rights and recognition. This paper will briefly summarize this chapter.

Today in our public way of living there is something new, which demands our attention and deserves a careful moral response; the term homosexual. Sexual identity is now in crisis throughout the population, and gay people-at once the most exposed subjects and objects of the crisis-have been forced to invent a complete perspective in grasping this term and what it’s like being “made-up” of this gay “gene”. The education on this does not come as simple as one would think; but with

Before reading this week’s readings, I understood heteronormativity as the idea that being heterosexual is normal and how many believe that is the only way to live even if you are not heterosexual. I realized how sexuality is much more complicated than I originally thought. Sexuality is not just one-dimensional but there are so many parts to it that people are not aware of.

Queer theory questions creations of normal and divergent, insider, and outsider.2 Queer theorists analyse a situation or a text to determine the relationship between sexuality, power and gender. Queer theory challenges basic tropes used to organize our society and our language: even words are gendered, and through that gendering an elliptical view of the hierarchy of society, and presumption of what is male and what is female, shines through. Queer theory rejects such binary distinctions as arbitrarily determined and defined by those with social power. It works to deconstruct these binaries, particularly the homosexual/heterosexual binary.4

Queer studies, child of Women's Studies and Feminist Studies, sprang into the academic setting next. Queer Studies have been often aligned with homosexuality and homosexual identities, and the questioning of normative heterosexual and homosexual practices, as well as calling attention to the fluidity of sexuality. “Queer theory concerns itself with any and all forms of sexuality that are "queer" in this sense--and then, by extension, with the normative behaviors and identities which define what is "queer" (by being their binary opposites)” (Klages, 2012). Queer theory followed feminist ideology in rejecting the notion that sexuality is predetermined by biology or that it should be “judged by eternel standards morality and truth” (Klages, 2012).

The above quotation shows how complex and multidimensional this issue is. Some academics and researchers, especially in Queer studies, have argued that it is a historical and social construction. However, since the end of the 1800s, there has been a movement towards increased visibility, recognition and legal rights for homosexual people, including the right to marriage and civil unions, adoption and parenting, employment, military service, and equal access to health care.

The lack of public education on the community is rather obvious when we look at the dispute of over the acronym that represents it, which can vary anywhere from simply “LGBT” to “LGBTQQIP2SAA” (Petrow). As a result, the LGBT+ community is seen as a monolithic group and the diverse interests and difficulties of each sexual orientation is ignored. These diverse agendas surfaced clearly within the HIV/AIDS epidemic, as different groups experienced a different amount of discrimination. Hence, the HIV/AIDS epidemic is the prime context to not only study the tension between lesbian and bisexual women but also the study of intragroup conflicts within the LGBT+ community.

We human beings are a melting pot of ingredients and spices that blend to define our essence as individuals. One such component that adds a definitive flavor to our respective recipes is sexuality. The basis in which the term sexuality is defined can appear deceptively simplistic. By a general definition, sexuality is a person’s sexual orientation or preference. Reality, however, has its sly way of skewing the fundamental meaning of human sexuality into a continuum, a spectrum rather, which encompasses aspects beyond just sexual orientation or preference. This intricate definition forged by society and the media- the reality of many nowadays- has become a more complicated and controversial subject, and now serves as the prominent

“Homosexuality hasn’t been discovered recently. It has been common in our world since ancient times and still exists today.” (K.J .Dover,n.d.). It’s in the nature of an individual to be a homosexual, something that cannot be changed no matter how much you persuade or force them. People have different attitudes towards homosexuality; some are tolerant about it while others can’t stand the mere fact to see them around. This essay is going to define and briefly discuss homosexuality and how our society reacts to it.

Upon entering this course, my understanding of human sexuality was decent; I was aware of certain aspects of sexuality such as being straight, gay, lesbian, queer, transgender, etc. Nevertheless, I did not realize how expansive sexuality is; it never occurred to me that sexual health, prostitution, marriage, rape, sex trafficking, divorce, families, etc., all fell under the umbrella of human sexuality. Books and essays such as Renee Hill’s Walk Together and David Shneer’s “Out of School” showcased the multiple facets of human sexuality and how terms like queer are not directly related to homosexuality. While sexuality and homosexuality are linked, frequently, people mistake them as being synonymous; before entering this class, I was searching for a definition of sexuality, and often in the thesaurus section of dictionary websites homosexuality and or sexual orientation was considered a synonym of sexuality. Formerly, I too would have agreed they were the same, however, after taking this course, I concluded that homosexuality is just one topic in the broad discussion of sexuality. My understanding of sexuality now is that it