The Social Control Mechanism

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In, Body Work by Sara Paretsky, the Guaman family’s homophobia damages their family by causing both Allie’s rape and death, and the covering up of them. Homophobia manages to cause all of this damage because it is a powerful social control mechanism, meaning it leads individuals towards conformity, and shames and or ostracizes those who don’t conform to the societal norm. In this case, the societal norm is heterosexuality, and homosexuals are shamed and ostracized for deviating from that norm. Allie is ashamed of being a lesbian and decides to serve in Iraq in the hope that she can repent for her “sins,” and her family is so ashamed of her homosexuality that they must deny it, which allows Tintrey to cover up the truth behind Allie’s death.
Shame arises from many different sources. In Allies case, her shame comes from her belief that her being a homosexual is sinful. Her religion has actually made her homophobic and so she feels same for being exactly what she believes is sinful. We see this belief as a driving force for her going to Iraq, especially when she writes about the advice she got from her priest. “I must remember those words in times of temptation, Father Vicente said when he urged me to take this job. A chance to start over, he said, to leave your sinful tendencies in America and serve your country overseas. I thought maybe he’s right” (381). What is most important here is that Allie thinks Father Vicente is right. Her Catholic upbringing has told her that she must repent for her lesbianism, and she has bought wholeheartedly into that idea. We see that when Clara talks about Allie’s journal. “Allie told me she was going to Iraq to make more money so I could go to a good college. Then it tuned out it was an act of p...

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... a powerful social mechanism, meaning it leads individuals towards conformity, and shames and or ostracizes those who don’t conform to the societal norm. In this case, the societal norm is heterosexuality, and homosexuals are shamed and ostracized for deviating from that norm. Allie is ashamed of being a lesbian and decides to serve in Iraq in the hope that she can repent for her “sins,” and her family is so ashamed of her homosexuality that they must deny it, which allows Tintrey to cover up the truth behind Allie’s death. There is something ironic about the fact that homophobia can actually hurt those who are homophobic themselves. The horrible consequences of bigotry have been seen in the past, and unfortunately it still exists in many forms today, homophobia being a significant one. Hopefully, stories like Body Work contribute to the deterioration of homophobia.

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