The essay "The Joy of the Castrated Boy" and "How to Bring Your Kid Up Gay" both have the parallel themes of children, specifically males having to confront the idea of femininity in heterosexually-dominated societies. Boys growing up have to wrestle with their masculine identity and can even become outsiders in already marginalized communities. For example, the gay male that identified as "female" is just a self-constructed reality, because the male is rejecting a masculine identity, but cannot fully encompass what it means to female. Even for parents, it is often hard to deal with the idea of an effeminate son, which I find so distressing because as a child growing up, you want love and understanding from your family, not feelings of hate or embarrassment.
Both essays made me think of religious institutions that try to have "gay therapy" for kids and teens and more often causes harm than good. The Huffington posts recently released an article "Putting a Halt to the Religious Right's Anti-Gay Rhetoric" which speaks of the relationship between politics and them stopping legislation for LGBT through religious institutions, such as not allowing them to get married in churches in the states of New Jersey and others. However, the Episcopalian church accepts gay members and even ordains lesbian and gay priests which I think speaks volumes for the religious community and creates a safe environment where children can grow and have acceptance inculcated at a young age. If other churches could just be as accepting on LGBT youth and try to accept that being gay is not a disease that just can be cured through therapy or prayer, than the bullying from within families and churches would drastically decrease.
If you are interested in reading more of the Huffington post article, here is the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-ward-iii/anti-gay-religious-right-and-inclusive-christianity_b_1021875.html
I agree that many people see homosexuality as a "disease" that should be cured and that acceptance of homosexuality is a major struggle today. It is interesting to note how both essays emphasize male homosexuality. For example, Sedgwick points out that a "boy can be treated for Gender Identity Disorder of Childhood if he merely asserts that it would be better not to have a penis or displays a preoccupation with female stereotypical activities." In contrast, a girl gets labeled as a male only rarely if she asserts that she has, or will grow, a penis. My question is, why is there such a huge difference between the way in which males and females are labeled. Why is it easier for males to have Gender Identity Disorder?
ReplyDelete@Collette Perhaps the fight over sexual difference (and the categories that underpin it) is over the Phallus, females always being relegated as an afterthought. Remember that even to this day there is the popular belief, re-iterated ad nauseum on all sorts of outlets, that guys are "naturally" sexual, and women are all about romance, feelings, accessories, flowers and chocolate. Over and over female sexuality is effaced, neutered, and muffled, through this naturalizing rhetoric.
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