The Gay and Lesbian Movement - Research Paper Example

Question Two Gay and lesbian movement The Gay and Lesbian Movement has been able to come up with the rights of the bisexuals in the whole world, and this is because of the political influence that this people have. The movement has been discussed through debates and approaches to bring out and foster the rights of these people who have enabled the gay and lesbian people to fight for their rights in their countries. Despite the fact that other people do not view the gays and lesbians as normal people, they themselves are making a progress in the issues, and thus they are working to ensure that they get what is rightfully theirs. In the past few years, the gay and lesbian movement has been able to get legal protection, making the movement to be legal, and now anyone willing to come into the movement is not at all restricted (Rimmerman 1). Politically, the gays and lesbians have been given a chance to lead other groups of people as they have been elected in some of the elections were carried out in the United States. These people have been elected as state legislators and as congressmen, and thus they have been able to get into high positions in the country. There are also communities which help in ensuring that the gays and lesbians needs are met. There has also been an establishment of businesses that helps in the making sure that the needs of these people are met and they live well and satisfied. The gays and lesbians have made a mainstream on the media such as television, in the music industry, and have also appeared in films which every other member of the society watches (Rimmerman 2). However, the society does not consider gays and lesbians to be vital, and some of the public issues which the society may need to address are not addressed by the people who are in this movement. For example, the gays and lesbians are not allowed to carry out some activities such as adopting children, teaching in the public schools, and also taking care of foster children and serving in the public arena such as in the armed forces and as guards. During the early times, the gays and lesbians believed that they would progress if only they involved themselves in the media and had a connection with the public. Therefore, they would protest and fight for their rights and involve in political activities in order to ensure that they get attention from the other members of the public, and thus they believed they would get to progress in all their undertakings as the movement was being established. They did all that they did in order to ensure that they no longer hid from the public, and nether would they be afraid of getting to the public with their status. They would not live in silence any longer and thus would ensure that they have become visible and everyone else knows of their existence (Rimmerman 84). The issue of gay and lesbian movement has been controversial to the social life of the community. This means that there are factors which have to be considered in ensuring that the message of the existence of the movement is received well by the social community. Conflicts exist between the rights of the Christians and the rights of the gays and lesbians (Rimmerman 122). The Christian community in the United States is said to be composed of people who are anti-gay, and thus the two movements cannot come together either socially nor politically to bring out a notion of power. Differences between gay and lesbian, on one hand, and queer, on the other Gays and Lesbians are those people who are sexually attracted to people of the same sex. This means that a man may be sexually attracted to another man or a woman may be sexually attracted to another woman. On the other hand, the word queer explains an individual who is attracted to another individual of the same sex, but it does not have to be sexual attraction. Queers can be bisexual meaning that they are not content with the type of relationship that they involve themselves in. This means that a man who is bisexual may be attracted to a man, and later on get attracted to a woman. This may continue, and thus this kind of a person is said to be bisexual. Gays and lesbians are not bisexual because their relationship is that which is consistent on one type of gender. Queers can also be metrosexual, meaning that they want to use some of the products that people of opposite gender use. For example, men who are metrosexual may use beauty products that the women use, and the queers are the people who behave like this. Gays do not behave this way because they just live as men but do not behave like women nor use some of their products. The differences between the gays and lesbians on one hand and the queers on the other hand are evident in terms of the fact that queers can be heterosexual, but gays cannot be. Being heterosexual means that the person is sexually attracted to a person of different sex, that is, a man is sexually attracted to a woman. Gays and lesbians are attracted to the same sex as compared to the queers who may be attracted to the people of the opposite sex. The issue of death drive is that which is opposed to the social situation among the groups of people in the society. This means that gays are fighting for their rights, but the queers have no movements to fight for their rights, and they are said to be unaccepted in the society. Queers wish to be the same as the people of other genders, and thus they tend to involve themselves in some of the activities that other genders involve themselves in. Question Three Challenges that gender, class, and race place before the queer cultural critique Gender is the state of being either male or female. The mark of determining whether a person is male or female is concerned with the issue of identifying the person’s biological sex. The biological identity of being male or female cannot be changed, and the way an individual is born shows the gender identity of such an individual. The question of gender identity is used to answer some of the questions that help an individual be able to deal with the concepts of social interaction and adaptability to the society. Identity in gender does not give information on the attitudes and behavior of an individual. The issue of gender in relation to the queer cultural critique occurs when the female, for example, are not able to feel competent in their genders. This means that the female feel unappreciated, and they tend to feel as if they are not recognized. Such females end up involving themselves in some of the activities that would make them feel recognized. Such people get to do some of the things that would make them recognized by the people around them. They also do these things so as to ensure that they get to a situation where they are able to attract people and thus become queer in their actions and behavior. It is important for people to be courageous in identifying their gender. Courage enables one to be confident and thus feel appreciated despite their appearance. This will help in reducing the queer behavior that the people have. All men and women should be able to understand that each person is different and unique, and therefore they should focus on ensuring that they accept themselves as they are. The challenges that come along with the gender sensitivity of the people is the fact that some women, for example, want to become superficial men, and thus because they cannot become men physically, they tend to involve in alcohol consumption, become masculine and behave as men do. Racial identity is the distinction that exists among the different people in the society. The issue of racial identification is used to identify the differences between the people and their behavior concerning some of the aspects as skin color and shapes of the individuals. An individual is able to identify with his race in terms of ethnicity and an individual’s background. Ethnicity defines the individual’s cultural behavior and attitude, and the practices that exist among the people. Race is an issue which brings about several differences in the culture of the people who live in a community. Therefore, the people’s way of life differs from the others, and thus they tend to concentrate so much on how they can be able to identify with the other groups of people. People from different races get confused when they try to understand the issues of sexuality among them. There are people who feel that their racial statuses are not appreciated by the society, and thus they are able to do things which make them look like people from other races. They believe that they can only be recognized if only they are able to look the same as people from other cultures. This is a great challenge to the people who are from other racial backgrounds, and thus they tend to be queer in their behavior so that they can fit in the society they want to fit into. Racial differences can lead to a person having different opinion on the issue of sexuality, and this can lead to emergence of so many issues which may lead to the misunderstanding of the situations around the people. Therefore, the issues of wanting to fit in races that are not a person’s races make one to have mixed races because even if they wish to be from other races, they cannot be able to leave or disown their race. Through the process of trying to sell out them, the men and women tend to have queer behavior which is not recognized by the society, and thus end up to involving in some of the issues which they feel are not according to the social standards and culture of the community. Class identity is the movement from one social context to another. This is the ways in which an individual is able to move from one social class to another depending on the status that he or she has been in. Movement from one social class to another is a concept which helps in identifying the various ways in which the economy of a country is moving, and the favors that the people get from such economic changes. Class identity is an issue which is concerned with the people’s way of life. This means that the people are able to feel appreciated and feel connected to the others because of the fact that they are able to move from one class to another. The level movement of the people enables them to feel mature and feel in place, such that they are able to get to the situation where the others are in making the lifestyle of such people change. Works Cited Rimmerman, Craig. From Identity to Politics: The Lesbian and Gay Movements in the United States. New York: Temple University Press, 2009. Print. Read More