The act of "coming out" is a complex political tool. Its use is open to ambiguous possibilities, ranging from subverting social order to reinforcing those power structures. Of course, it is undoubtedly an empowering act for many non-heterosexual persons to identify themselves as such. Even if the categories of "heterosexual" and "homosexual" are entirely socially constructed (as Michel Foucault argues), that does not mean that they are not real categories of thought that shape the way we live our lives. Indeed, my computer is entirely constructed, but is still undeniably real. Since many non-heterosexual people do live their lives identifying differently from heterosexual people, they may find "homosexual" (or a similar label) an accurate description of their identities and daily lives, however socially contingent that description is. That said, I do not wish to make a judgement call on whether or not someone should or should not come out. Rather, I wish to examine the complicated space represented by "the closet" and the multifarious effects that "coming out" has on the larger social structure. On one hand, it is tempting to say that the space of the closet, and the resulting ability to come out, is a necessarily radical weapon. Our social structure is based around insides and outsides: "any identity is founded relationally, constituted in reference to an exterior or outside that defines the subject's own interior boundaries and corporeal surfaces" (Fuss 234). Homosexuality serves as the foil to heterosexuality – something that heterosexuality can define itself against. It is "a transgression of the border which is necessary to constitute the border as such" (Fuss 235). Heterosexuality becomes that which is not homosexuality. The secretive space that the closet provides, though, complicates this binary structure. By providing the ability for an "outsider" to pass as an "insider," it serves as an ambiguous space that is neither clearly inside nor outside. It is a contradiction in itself, in that it is both inside and outside simultaneously. Furthermore, it points out the instability of society's larger inside/outside structure by including both inside-ness and outside-ness in the same space: the closet is a site where it is possible to be homosexual and inside, and heterosexual and outside, all at the same time. This possibility that anyone can spring out of the closet at any time and declare her/his ruse destabilizes the tenuous boundary between inside and outside. The act of coming out is subversive also because it points out all of heterosexuality as performance.
In certain countries such as the U.S, people discriminate against others to a certain extent based off their gender, race, and sexuality. Butler states that “to be a body is to be given over to others even as a body is “one own,” which we must claim right of autonomy” (242). Gays and Lesbians have to be exposed to the world because some of them try to hide their identity of who they truly are because they are afraid of how others are going to look at them. There are some who just let their sexuality out in the open because they feel comfortable with whom they are as human beings and they don’t feel any different than the next person. The gender or sexuality of a human being doesn’t matter because our bodies’ will never be autonomous because it is affected by others around us. This is where humans are vulnerability to violence and aggression. In countries across the globe, violence and attack are drawn towards tran...
They mention the transition of “the closet,” as being a place in which people could not see you, to becoming a metaphor over the last two decades of the twentieth century used for queers who face a lack of sexual identity. Shneer and Aviv bring together two conflicting ideas of the American view of queerness: the ideas of the past, and the present. They state as queerness became more visible, people finally had the choice of living multiple lives, or integrating one’s lives and spaces (Shneer and Aviv 2006: 245). They highlight another change in the past twenty years as the clash between being queer and studying queerness (Shneer and Aviv 2006: 246-7). They argue that the active and visible contests over power among American queers show that queers now occupy an important place in our culture. They expand on the fact that queerness, real, and performed, is everywhere (Shneer and Aviv 2006: 248). This source shows the transformation in American culture of the acceptance of queerness. It makes an extremely critical resource by providing evidence of the changes in culture throughout the last two decades. Having the information that queerness is becoming more accepted in culture links to a higher percentage of LGBTQ youths becoming comfortable with their sexual identity. However, compared to the other sources, this
In the past decades, the struggle for gay rights in the Unites States has taken many forms. Previously, homosexuality was viewed as immoral. Many people also viewed it as pathologic because the American Psychiatric Association classified it as a psychiatric disorder. As a result, many people remained in ‘the closet’ because they were afraid of losing their jobs or being discriminated against in the society. According to David Allyn, though most gays could pass in the heterosexual world, they tended to live in fear and lies because they could not look towards their families for support. At the same time, openly gay establishments were often shut down to keep openly gay people under close scrutiny (Allyn 146). But since the 1960s, people have dedicated themselves in fighting for
"Coming out of the closet" is an essential for homosexuals to develop their personal identity. Coming out of the closet is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's to tell others about their homosexuality or bisexuality where previously this had been kept secret. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of the closet is described and experienced variously as a psychological process or journey; decision-making or risk-taking (Wikipedia).
The history of the gay rights movement has been a hard fought battle within the United States. In fact the first gay rights movement dates back to 1924 with the creation of The Society for Human Rights in Chicago, Illinois. It wasn’t until the 1960’s that gay rights started to make progress. In the year 1969 The Stonewall Riots took place when gay, lesbian, and transgender patrons of a New York bar were raided by the police. This forever changed the movement from isolated incidents to a world wide phenomenon.
Ball, Richard A., Huff, C. Ronald, Lilly, J. Robert. House Arrest and Correctional Policy: Doing Time at Home. California: Sage, 1988.
First, Anti Social Personality Disorder is a mental condition that can cause a person to think and behave in a destructive manner. “Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is characterized by a pattern of socially irresponsible, exploitative, and guiltless behavior. ASPD is associated with co-occurring mental health and addictive disorders and medical comorbidity.” (Black, 2015) People with ASPD have a habit of antagonizing and manipulating others but also have no awareness for what is right and what is wrong. One tends to disregard the feelings and wishes of others. “ASPD typically begins during childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood.” (Kivi, 2012) ASPD usually is noticed around 8 years old, but it is categorized as a conduct disorder. Though children can be treated in what doctors may think is ASPD, children will not be completely diagnosed with the title of ASPD until at least 18 years of age. In time those with ASPD behavior usually end up turning criminal.
In conclusion, Anti-Social Personality disorder has immense effects on people concerning empathy, violence, and even learning. It is also a very resistant disorder to treat. However, much needs to be learned about this disorder in order to help patients live normal lives, and can even be useful in establishing a treatment context for addressing conditions such as substance abuse, impulsive aggression, and schizophrenia ( Pajerla, 2007).
Pop culture has largely ignored "different" or "minority" groups, especially gays. However, during the 1980's new support/ religious and action networks arose (Mondimore 173). These groups did two important things of many, a) made noise b) fought for gay and lesbian rights and therefore screentime. From the shock of AIDS to the recently publicized hate crimes people are stepping out of the closet in record numbers. A friend described it to me as, " A choice between the devil and the deep blue sea, you can either let your fear eat you up inside or face it," he shrugged.
Yiu, L. (2012). Community care. In L. Stamler & L. Yiu (Eds.), Community health nursing: A Canadian perspective (3rd ed., p. 213, 219, 227). Toronto, Canada: Pearson Canada Inc.
“The unprecedented growth of the gay community in recent history has transformed our culture and consciousness, creating radically new possibilities for people to ‘come out’ and live more openly as homosexuals”(Herdt 2). Before the 1969 Stonewall riot in New York, homosexuality was a taboo subject. Research concerning homosexuality emphasized the etiology, treatment, and psychological adjustment of homosexuals. Times have changed since 1969. Homosexuals have gained great attention in arts, entertainment, media, and politics. Yesterday’s research on homosexuality has expanded to include trying to understand the different experiences and situations of homosexuals (Ben-Ari 89-90).
Ties between the community and jail are already tenuous and are only strained when alleged offenders are not offered correctional alternatives. There have been plenty of studies done to help the legal system to decide which offenders need to be detained and which are okay to be released. Such developments have only given the legal system the proper tools needed to better equip prisons and other correctional institutions with alternative methods to incarceration. As time goes on, the inflated usage of correction alternatives will help to cut the costs of incarcerating offenders by giving them the chance to become reformed citizens and reintegrate themselves back into
The important feature of antisocial personality disorder is a blatant and pervasive pattern of violation of the rights of other persons. The onset of this pattern is at childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood. This particular pattern is also referred to as psychopathy, sociopathy or dissocial personality disorder. In order for a person to be diagnosed with ASPD, the individual must have a history of symptoms of conduct disorder 15 years and must be at least 18 years old. Conduct disorder means the individual must have a repetitive and persistent pattern of violating the rights of others around him; for example, aggression to persons and animals, destruction to property, deception, theft and serious violation of rules. The behavour might become less evident as the individual becomes
As Tamsin Wilton explains in her piece, “Which One’s the Man? The Heterosexualisation of Lesbian Sex,” society has fronted that heterosexuality, or desire for the opposite sex, is the norm. However, the reason behind why this is the case is left out. Rather, Wilton claims that “heterosexual desire is [an] eroticised power difference [because] heterosexual desire originates in the power relationship between men and women” (161). This social struggle for power forces the majority of individuals into male-female based relationships because most women are unable to overcome the oppressive cycle society has led them into. Whereas heterosexual relationships are made up of the male (the oppressor) and the female (the victim who is unable to fight against the oppressor), homosexual relationships involve two or more individuals that have been freed from their oppressor-oppressed roles.
When one hears the words “LGBT” and “Homosexuality” it often conjures up a mental picture of people fighting for their rights, which were unjustly taken away or even the social emergence of gay culture in the world in the1980s and the discovery of AIDS. However, many people do not know that the history of LGBT people stretches as far back in humanity’s history, and continues in this day and age. Nevertheless, the LGBT community today faces much discrimination and adversity. Many think the problem lies within society itself, and often enough that may be the case. Society holds preconceptions and prejudice of the LGBT community, though not always due to actual hatred of the LGBT community, but rather through lack of knowledge and poor media portrayal.