Growing up Hidden and made-up story about best friend who is gay - Essay Example

"Growing up Hidden" and made-up story about Miguel Homosexuality is a topic that has become emotive in today’s culture as the number of antagonists and protagonists seem to be at par. Ideally, Linnea Due’s essay titled Growing Up Hidden is an indication of she struggled with being gay. According to the opinion of many, being gay is a phase that society intends one to outgrow but as Due insists she did not have to conform to the ideas of society. On the other hand, Miguel’s life is one that was different from that of Due as Miguel comes from Argentina where being gay is acceptable. In essence, the aspect of being gay in America becomes a challenge for those in America as the antagonists seem to have their ideas peeled. According to Due, she spent most of her life living a lie by attempting to develop an attraction for the male gender as a way of entertaining the existing norms in the American society. She found herself in heterosexual relationships that were not working since she was living a lie. However, Miguel’s gay aspect makes him coexist peacefully with those in his society as Argentine’s are not judgmental regarding one's sexual preference. On the contrary, defies the idea of one needs to conform to societal beliefs and attributes as a way of influencing society into accepting him. Moreover, the family experiences between Miguel and Due are quite different as Due experienced minimal love and acceptance from her family because of her being gay. Essentially, the essay presents the fact that she only was part of the family when she pretended to be heterosexual and when she finally revealed her sexual orientation, Due’s family sidelined her. In contrast, Miguel’s family is the ideal family as he did not have to conceal the fact he was gay since he had discovered it because his family seems open minded. They readily accepted Miguel and their view on him did not change at all; when he was growing up they allowed him to be his actual self. On the contrary, the essay by Linnea emphasized ho her parents knew of her sexual orientation but forced her to go to school dressed in girly clothes while she used to be herself when she went home. This portrays how hard her parents concealed her sexual identity as they thought of the idea as being shameful if the outside world knew about her sexual identity. In essence, hers was a double life that led her to struggle for a substantive portion of her life as she had to keep her act in check. On the other hand, the essay on Miguel has a difference in experience as there is no one time in Miguel’s life that he had to pretend as his parents were proud of him irrespective of him being gay. They accredited his performance in school as they saw him as a child like all the other within their family and received equal treatment as his siblings. Due’s essay portrays, her quest to be a normal child despite her being gay to which her parents denied her constantly. In fact, Due’s parents ought to have shown unconditional support for their daughter as opening up to society forms the trickiest aspect of revealing one’s gay nature to society. This becomes harsh for gay individuals as they aren’t accepted both at home and in their common surrounding. Nevertheless, Due’s friends are as judgmental as a closed minded society would be in that they are not supportive of her gay attribute. Instead, they alienate her for having stopped to live a life that is not the lie that they had all believed. In contrast, Miguel has a supportive friend as the hard times that he has had in his life he could share and receive encouragement to move forward. In essence, the American culture defies the acceptance of a gay individual in society, and it becomes emotional especially when one is not an American native. Subsequently, Miguel struggled to live his life as he had accustomed himself to because he found himself faced with the possibility of toning down his gay appearances. However, Miguel experienced few problems with acquiring friendship when he came to America in the early 1990s as he had a friend as me who he could rely on at all occasions. This contrary to Linnea as she had to fight her acceptance battles on her own as she had no support system of friends. Additionally, Miguel does not fear his ambitions to find a partner as he once attempted to make a pass at me as his friend – something, that he could not do with any random American individual. He seems to express his feelings more when he is with people as compared to Linnea within which he has developed trust for hence attempting to find a partner in them. This is quite different from Due’s story as her friends could not bear her making a pass at them because they had not accepted her for her. Despite the cultural differences between Americans and Argentines, Miguel had an easier time adapting to the way of the American social requirements as they at times could not question him since he was not an American native. However, Due has a different predicament as she is an American, hence, falls prey to daunting eyes by her society because they are of the same cloth. This forces her to live a hidden life unlike Miguel who is free to express himself. In matters of free expression in Argentina, Miguel can kiss his friends on their cheeks because of allowed same gender affection. Therefore, the free expression by Miguel helps him develop his gay identity in a foreign society because of his contentment of being himself and not surrounding would perceive him to be. As for Due, she is not free to express herself because in the society, that she has lived, homosexual exchange of affection in public is a taboo, hence, forcing her to hide her emotions. She has a rough time suppressing her emotions and identity, but instead expresses pleasantries with her friends in the normal way and not as she would have wanted. In summary, Linnea becomes a victim of her society as she hides from her reality and instead dwells in the pressures that society has forced on her. This contrary to Miguel’s experience as he seems not to have been dictated how he should live his life by the societal norms. He lives as a free willed as he does not feel the need to be another person to entertain societal expectations. As compared to Linnea, Miguel’s problem is not as enormous because he had no problems blending with his peers. His life is easier as he has a friend and family that he can share his turmoil with as compared to Linnea who seemed to be alone before she stopped living a hidden life. As a reflection, society may exert pressure on an individual by being antagonistic about how one chooses to live their sexual life by trying to dictate how one should live. However, a strong personality and resilience are influential in ensuring that individuals assert their choices on how to live their lives. This means that scenario, friends, and family play a role in enabling one to live either in hiding or in the open as presented in the two essays. Remarkably, Miguel is not a victim of the American society as he expresses himself willfully without factoring in any deterrence. Works Cited Linnea, Due. “Growing Up Hidden.” Reconstructing Gender: A Multicultural Anthology. 5th ed. Ed. Estelle Disch. McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008. Print. Read More