One of the most significant analytical approaches of sexual citizenship refers to the work of Richardson (1998, 2000a, 2000b, 2004) and Richardson and Monro (2012, 2013, 2014). Richardson’s criticism are based on the British context in the 1990s where the British government and political parties showed very rare concern about gay and lesbian on both local and national levels. With a plenty of issues surrounding gay men and lesbian movement and campaigns due to claiming equal rights, Richardson argued that gay men and lesbians were being excluded from the dominant model of citizenship, and they were not given the same rights as heterosexual couples. Be it social rights of welfare or financial support to gay and lesbians on micro or macro level, all these aspects suggested a disadvantaged position of gay men and lesbians. Regarding the construction of nationality, it links only to heterosexuality that has always been the only socially approved form, and this brings about penetrating against gay and anti-lesbian atmosphere. In order to clearly construct the notion of sexual citizenship, Richardson (2000a) conceptualized sexual citizenship through three types of sexual rights. These included conducted-based rights, …show more content…
108). This kind of rights mainly refers to the participation in sexual acts. Secondly, identity-based rights can be understood as “seeking rights through self-definition of individual identities” (Richardson, 2000a p. 108). Identity is centered on two categories. The first category is about self-identity. Sexual identity is regarded as the essential foundation for the inclusion and exclusion of citizenship. The second category concerns with the development of individual sexual identities and self-definition in sexual dimension. It refers to the notion of self-ownership and
All human beings are born with genes that are unique to them and make us the individuals we become. The right to exist as an individual in society achieving the best possible potential of one’s existence irrespective of any bias is expected by most humans. In the essay, ‘The new Civil Rights’ Kenji Yoshino discusses how the experience of discovering and revealing his sexual preference as a gay individual has led to him proposing a new civil rights by exploring various paradigms of the rights of a human being to exist in today’s diverse society. In exploring the vast demands of rights ranging from political or basic human rights we have differentiated ourselves into various groups with a common thread weaving through all the demands which
In Kennedy and Davis’ article the debate over who is constituted as the “true” lesbian reflects the tension between heterosexuality and butch-fem identities when taken into account ethnic background and assigned gender roles in the relationship. While lesbianism is supposed to pose as a challenge to heterosexuality as the norm, as Kennedy and Davis’ article shows, within the lesbian community practices like the specification of butch-fem roles becomes a tool of oppression similar to conformity to heterosexual traditional gender roles. To illustrate the point that sexuality is based on the “cultural interpretation of sexual experiences” and “articulation” of power relations in society (Halperin 424), this paper focus on Kennedy and Davis’ debate over who is the real lesbian, and it draws on examples from the film Forbidden Love and Lee’s article “Why Suzie Wong is not a Lesbian”. I argue that sexual deviance or otherwise is always defined by a power elite in the interest of protecting and legitimating the current sexual norms. While lesbian culture is meant to be a challenge to these heterosexual norms, and yet its definition of butch-fem roles performs its own marginalization that ultimately reinforces traditional male-female roles. Interestingly, it also uses this power structure to establish the racial exclusions of non-white women that can be traced through the history of European colonization.
middle of paper ... ... The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth Century America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Dean, D. R. (2001).
The focus of the book helps understand the true importance of books like Gay New York, Coming Out Under Fire, and Men Like That by explaining the progress made in the United States regarding the acceptance of the gay community into society. Consisting of six chapters that cover many issues regarding the government, including the military, welfare, and immigration. Much like in Coming Out Under Fire, Canaday points out issues gay men and women faced following World War II. From the mid-1940s into the late 1960s, the state crafted tools to overtly target homosexuality (Canaday, 2009). Policies were enacted that explicitly used homosexuality to define who could serve in the military (Canaday, 2009). Much has changed since then, considering the infamous “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was repealed. Canaday’s main argument in the book is that sexual citizenship was built into the federal bureaucracy as it was being created, and this needs to be more attended to by historians (Canaday, 2009). According to Canaday, the foundations of sexual citizenship are the reason the United States has such an issue with securing universal gay rights. Issues in the South are also addressed, much like in Men Like That. Religion and the power it has in the country limits many initiatives that support gay
Society is created with both homosexual and heterosexual individuals. Previously when certain laws discriminated against others, such as law for women's rights to vote, these laws were changed. Changing the traditions of the country does not mean that it will lead to the legalization of other extreme issues. Each ...
It is mind-blowing how little a woman has ownership over her own body. It is even more remarkable how, even in 2016, women still cannot freely enjoy being sexually active, like men, without shade being thrown at them. Jill Filipovic touches on these issues in her essay, Offensive Feminism: The Conservative Gender Norms that Perpetuates Rape Culture, and How Feminists Fight Back. Ms. Filipovic gives insight into how these perceptions help the rape culture in America stay alive. In this reflection paper, I plan on evaluating how there is a “war over the most basic of values: the humans rights to bodily autonomy and self-determination, the role of women in society, and the construction of the family (Filipovic 14).”
Currently, only 13 countries offer rights for members of the LGBT community. Within those countries, few offer equal rights such as health care, marriage rights, and adoption to LGBT members. Many people around the globe would agree that these rights, along with all other rights granted to heterosexuals, should not be granted to these members of the LGBT community. One prevalent notion is that being gay, or being included in the LGBT community, is unnatural. This notion is simply incorrect; everyone, no matter their gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation does, in fact, deserve the same liberties as their heterosexual counterparts. Being a member of the LGBT community has no negative effect on the lives of others unless those people view heterosexuality in a negative light, allowing it to bedevil them, and ultimately change the way they live their life. Being gay is completely natural. Though some would argue that homosexuality is unnatural, others would disagree, being that research has been conducted. The conclusion was that the way people think and feel towards others is s...
Traditionally, people involved in homosexual relationships have suffered social persecution in Australia, and there was no legal recognition of their relationship. In recent decades however, these social views have changed, and the law has adapted to reflect societies changing opinion of same-sex relationships. While there has been progress in the recognition of same-sex relationships, the ultimate goal of advocates for same-sex relationships is for them to be seen as equal to opposite-sex relationships, in all regards. The main focus point of this aim for equality is the legalisation of same-sex marriage, which is a highly controversial issue, and has proven difficult for supporters of same-sex relationships to achieve.
Essay #1: Sexual Politics It has been said that “Society has always defined for us what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman, what a man should be like and what a woman should be like, and these traditional definitions of gender roles have limited and even harmed individuals”. The theme of sexual politics comes to mind in this quote. One can define sexual politics as the relationship of the sexes, male and female, regarding power. Society’s definition of this can limit an individual in their gender role and restrain a person from being themselves.
Tatchell, Peter (1992). Europe in the Pink: Lesbian and Gay Equality in the New Europe. London: GMP.
Over the past couple centuries that the United States has existed, society has always had a judgement to make on one’s sexuality. At the head of society has consistently been white, Christian, hetereosexual males; therefore, they had the power to define sexual and societal norms. As a result, judgements on one’s sexuality have always intersected with one’s race, class or gender, groups of people that are not dominating society.
Milstein, Susan A. Taking Sides Clashing Views in Human Sexuality. Ed. William J. Taverner and Ryan W. McKee. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.
In today’s world, as humankind is still in progress, we have a much more liberated world compared to past. In terms of politics, we learned discrimination is not a honourable case to be involved in and we tried to minimize constraints reflected on “other” races, “other” nationalities, in short all of the others that are not similar to “us”. “Us” is, without doubt, white, Western man. Despite all the back-drawed prejudices of others in the name of liberation, respect and equality, it does not seem to be the situation for non-heteronormatives to live in a peaceful environment. Since I came to Amsterdam as an exchange student this term, I had the opportunity to experience daily-life with all the people from different sexes, genders not considered “normal” which is rarely the case in Turkey. Amsterdam made me face non-heterosexual world and I realized that these people do suffer from unequal rights mostly in other parts of the world. I questioned myself as being far away from that topic in the past and it really made sense to me to investigate about supremacy of heterosexuals.
Gender and sexuality can be comprehended through social science. Social science is “the study of human society and of individual relationships in and to society” (free dictionary, 2009). The study of social science deals with different aspects of society such as politics, economics, and the social aspects of society. Gender identity is closely interlinked with social science as it is based on an identity of an individual in the society. Sexuality is “the condition of being characterized and distinguished by sex” (free dictionary, 2009). There are different gender identities such as male, female, gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual that exists all around the world. There is inequality in gender identities and dominance of a male regardless of which sexuality they fall under. The males are superior over the females and gays superior over the lesbians, however it different depending on the place and circumstances. This paper will look at the gender roles and stereotypes, social policy, and homosexuality from a modern and a traditional society perspective. The three different areas will be compared by the two different societies to understand how much changes has occurred and whether or not anything has really changed. In general a traditional society is more conservative where as a modern society is fundamentally liberal. This is to say that a traditional society lists certain roles depending on the gender and there are stereotypes that are connected with the genders. One must obey the one that is dominant and make decisions. On the other hand, a modern society is lenient, It accepts the individual’s identity and sexuality. There is no inequality and everyone in the society is to be seen as individuals not a part of a family unit...
The buzz from my cell phone forced me to open my eyes. Yawning, I closed my eyes again, did not feel to wake up yet. Besides, my bedroom was still dark. Well, I closed the entire curtain tightly last night because my goal was to sleep in.