Why are both public and private interests within cities becoming increasingly supportive of the creation of “gay space”?
Based on the public interest, “gay space” is important to support creative and high-tech industries. San Francisco, Washington, and San Diego, are all designed as high-tech areas in United States. According to Harvard University economist Edward Glaeser’s statistical analysis, gay workers do a better job than heterosexual (?) individual (Gates & Florida, 2002). Thus, creating diversity and inclusiveness within the population of high-tech industry areas can help to attract creativity and talent in a wide labor pool.
For private interests, the gay space is perceived as a safer space than, say, the Granville Strip in Vancouver. On the heteronormative Granville Strip, women experience more sexual harassment and aggressively heterosexual behavior by hyper-masculine men. The gay space within the clubhouses on the Eastside of Vancouver is safer for straight women, lesbian, and queer individuals who seek the less or non-heteronormative culture outside of the Granville Strip.
Dancing on the Eastside of Vancouver is preferable for young people because the space is less crowded and more diverse. One female subject interviewed in a study noted, “I think there’s more transgendered sort of sexuality happening in the indie scene probably than there is in mainstream scenes” (Boyd, 2008, p. 77). Indie events are more open to and tolerant of different expressions of sexuality. Thus, the diversity of sexual performativity at indie events is supported by private interests because of those events’ reputation for safer spaces and less heteronormativite.
How are heteronormative spaces created within cities such as Vancouver?
To f...
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...ces are more gender dichotomous, as most places are still dominated by gays and lesbians.
Creating a friendly queer space is important for most women who feel that the public space is dominated by men. The transgendered community is also affected by male violence. In order to protect female and gender variant people, the initial step is to create a harmonious space that welcomes every gender position, including transgender, gender variant, gay, lesbian, and queer. Creating an online community or chat room can be a helpful way to assimilate those marginal gender positions so that they can communicate openly, sharing their personal experiences and stories.
Works Cited
Gary Gates, Richard Florida.(2002), Technology and Tolerance: Diversity and High Tech Growth. Retrieved on April 8th from: http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2002/12/winter-technology-florida
In his work about gay life in New York City, George Chauncey seeks to dispel the various myths about the gay lifestyle before the Civil Rights era of the 60’s. He distills the misconceptions into three major myths: “…isolation, invisibility, and internalization” (Chauncey 1994, 2). He believes a certain image has taken in the public mind where gays did not openly exist until the 60’s, and that professional historians have largely ignored this era of sexual history. He posits such ideas are simply counterfactual. Using the city of New York, a metropolitan landscape where many types of people confluence together, he details a thriving gay community. Certainly it is a community by Chauncey’s reckoning; he shows gay men had a large network of bar, clubs, and various other cultural venues where not only gay men intermingled the larger public did as well. This dispels the first two principle myths that gay men were isolated internally from other gay men or invisible to the populace. As to the internalization of gay men, they were not by any degree self-loathing. In fact, Chauncey shows examples of gay pride such a drag queen arrested and detained in police car in a photo with a big smile (Chauncey 1994, 330). Using a series of personal interviews, primary archival material from city repositories, articles, police reports, and private watchdog groups, Chauncey details with a preponderance of evidence the existence of a gay culture in New York City, while at the same time using secondary scholarship to give context to larger events like the Depression and thereby tie changes to the gay community to larger changes in the society.
The media considers the1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City the spark of the modern gay rights movement. This occurred after the police raided the Stonewall bar, a popular gay bar in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Allyn argues that the new energy and militancy generated by the riot played a crucial role in creating the gay liberation movement. Arguably, the Stonewall Riots have come to resemble the pivotal moment in gay rights history largely because it provided ways for the gay community to resist the social norms. In fact, the riots increased public awareness of gay rights activism (Allyn 157). Gay life after the Stonewall riots, however, was just as varied and complex as it was before. In the following era, ho...
...sented as more than just deviance, but a way in to comparable differences to what are the societal and sexual norms of “typical” attractions and behaviorisms. This is the outlying interdisciplinary approach to the nebulous idea of queer ecology. In sum, clarifying the definition of queer and how queer ecology influenced and diverted from more biased structures to ecology has a positive effect on future studies, despite its own shortcomings. It provides a more fluid and approachable, albeit complex framework for many people.
The Stonewall Inn served as the backdrop of the Stonewall riots in 1969. In the 60’s, very few businesses were friendly to open homosexuals, and tensions amongst gays and mainstream culture were coming to a breaking point. Homosexuality was not as accepted as it is today, and there were few places for people to be open about their sexuality. The Stonewall Inn, apparently owned by members of the Mafia, was considered a safe haven for drag queens- the transgender community. It catered to male prostitutes, homeless youth- those were cast aside by a society that did not accept them. Police had raided the bar in the past, on a regular basis. But on June 28, 1969, the story took a turn.
One of these ways could be a concentrated effort amongst educators and others to use both homosexual and heterosexual examples and to speak openly about both. By openly speaking about both heterosexuality and homosexuality, an environment in which both perspectives are accepted and seen as equal would come about. This would also transfer over into the society’s belief on gender roles by doing away with the two specific genders that currently dominate our society. Open dialogue keeps heteronormativity at bay by calling attention to all and allowing all to explore a variety of different gender identities. Another way, which was spoken about in class, is by integrating typical single-gender activities such as sports. Brandeis club sports makes a point of having female, male, and co-ed options when it comes to sports. This third option allows students to partake regardless of what gender they identify as and creates a safe space for everyone. There are many ways to create spaces that are conducive for gender fluidity and disband the societal expectations of two heteronormative gender roles. However, as a whole, getting rid of heteronormativity will not be an easy
To conclude, I chose this article as I found the discussion point interesting and wanted to bring to more people’s attention some of the underlying discrimination that is embedded in U.S. culture. Although transgender people are in the minority, they are no less than myself. I believe strongly that they deserve the same rights and opportunities that are presented to me daily. This article is relevant to the issues of Cultural Anthropology as it addresses questions surrounding gender stereotypes, gender discrimination, gender performance as well as relationship ties and kinship.
... 40% of the current population (Florida). This in addition to the success found in the Silicon Valley, Boulder, and Austin show that the socioeconomic group, the Creative Class, is not just a short-term group. In fact Florida and other experts believe that the Creative Class is the wave of the future and will continue to group and inspire young leaders. The need to include all races, incomes, and sexual preferences will make this inclusive socioeconomic group the most powerful group in America. This is because if people participate in the socioeconomic group they will benefit if the don’t they will still reap the benefits of these creative individuals who are pushing for change and success. The Creative Class is producing great leaders; great leaders will be able to pick up people and cities that have fallen, in turn promoting economic development and success.
The history of the gay rights movement goes as far back as the late 19th century. More accurately, the quest by gays to search out others like themselves and foster a feeling of identity has been around since then. It is an innovative movement that seeks to change existing norms and gain acceptance within our culture. By 1915, one gay person said that the gay world was a "community, distinctly organized" (Milestones 1991), but kept mostly out of view because of social hostility. According to the Milestones article, after World War II, around 1940, many cities saw their first gay bars open as many homosexuals began to start a networking system. However, their newfound visibility only backfired on them, as in the 1950's president Eisenhower banned gays from holding federal jobs and many state institutions did the same. The lead taken by the federal government encouraged local police forces to harass gay citizens. "Vice officers regularly raided gay bars, sometimes arresting dozens of men and women on a single night" (Milestones). In spite of the adversity, out of the 1950s also came the first organized groups of gays, including leaders. The movement was small at first, but grew exponentially in short periods of time. Spurred on by the civil rights movement in the 1960s, the "homophile" (Milestones) movement took on more visibility, picketing government agencies and discriminatory policies. By 1969, around 50 gay organizations existed in the United States. The most crucial moment in blowing the gay rights movement wide open was on the evening of July 27, 1969, when a group of police raided a gay bar in New York City. This act prompted three days of rioting in the area called the Stonewall Rio...
Gender neutral washroom has been increasing constructed in Fredericton especially in school and campus. It is a good phenomenon to show the protection and supporting for LGBTQ group by society, however, the fact shows that there are some distances to achieve the equality for LGBTQ people in Canada at present. A student claimed that he was harassed in female washroom in her first year in UNB, there was a drunk guy outside the female washroom and though the interviewer was a boy going to female washroom according to her appearance. The interviewer said the guy was yelling at her and going to attack her. Fortunately, her friend was coming with her and helped her to solve the problem.
Diversity in the work place has generally been thought of as purely an employment equity issue. However, diversity is coming to be recognized as an asset which can, like any other asset that is well managed, contribute to the bottom line. Diversity is growing almost as quickly as the number of software vendors at an accounting convention (Talbot-Allen, 1995, p. 3)
Velez, T. (2004, November). More businesses include sexuality, lifestyle differences in diversity hiring. Knight Rider Tribune Business News. Retrieved from Proquest database on August 13, 2005.
Community is a broad term, but it would be best described as a “feeling of companionship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.” The LGBT Community is the joining of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their supporters, with the purpose of celebrating individuality, sexuality, and diversity. In addition, the LGBT community actively fights for equal rights and calls for an end to sexual-orientation based discrimination. The LGBT Community is made up of people from all races, socio-economic, religious and non-religious, and age backgrounds. The LGBT community supports all three assumptions, and also somewhat challenge assumptions two & three. Although the LGBT community is accepting of types
In today's society, there exists a mixture of issues which tend to raise arguments with people all over. There are a handful of topics that always seem to escalate these differences between people to the point where one who earnestly participates in discussion, debate and argument can direct their anger towards their feelings on the person themselves. Some examples of such delicate subjects are the death penalty, abortion, and euthanasia. An issue that has in recent years, begun to increase arguments, is the acceptability of homosexuality in society. Until recently, homosexuality was considered strictly taboo. If an individual was homosexual, it was considered a secret to be kept from all family, friends, and society. However, it seem that society has begun to accept this lifestyle by allowing same sex couples. The idea of coming out of the 'closet' has moved to the head of homosexual individuals when it used to be the exception. Homosexuality is nothing to be ashamed of and we should all come to realize this.
Gender Theory in Everyday Life”, the various definitions of “trans” depict that it is not possible to place one’s gender into only two categories. In the definitions of “trans”, transformation or transitioning is a common theme. Transforming into their true self or transitioning from one gender to the other. In the third definition, transgendered individuals are seen as transcending gender, thus making gender non-existent; not only to them, but when they view other individuals (Kessler and McKenna 1-2). The individuals in “When Girls Will Be Boys”, had to create a safe space, and find allies that would provide them with resources to help them in their progression as a trans individual. Trans people truly want to be integrated into society, but they are cognisant of the social standards in place that make them othered (Quart 49-50). In the instance of the varied definition of trans and the experiences of people in “When Girls Will Be Boys”, they are all going against the social norms and actively fighting to create a seat at the table. They refuse to to fit in the status quo of accepting that there are only two genders, and one must stay in either category. Instead, they challenge that thinking by being themself, thus having a hand in creating the new norm. These individuals are not passively combating the misconceptions, miseducation, and misinformation. They are actively creating a space for others and themself to grow in self and in
A community according to Webster’s dictionary is “a social group of any size, where members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common culture and historical heritage”. There are many different types of communities, but all have the same premise and that is to support one another within that community. LGBTQ communities let individuals talk openly about their feelings without being discriminated against. These communities have allowed an escape for its members from the stigma of the still largely ignorant society towards the LGBTQ community. Communities are a positive thing as long as animosity does not exist within these communities. Rancor within an LGBQT community diminishes the ability of that community to effectively provide for those who identify as LGBTQ and seek its support.