Whether Straight Women Can Be Lesbians and Whether Straight Men Can Be Gay - Literature review Example

Student’s Name: Professor’s Name: Subject: Sex Orientation Date: Whether heterosexuals can be queer, whether straight women can be lesbians and whether straight men can be gay Introduction As much as there are several gays, bisexuals and lesbians contemporarily, a lot of people still live in the world in which being heterosexual or straight is viewed as the norm. A lot of people have the assumption that because an individual is either female or male, it is obvious that they will be attracted to particular type of people and that they are going to feel, look and behave in a particular way (King 2000). In actual sense, however, the manner in which a person feels looks and acts varies in a great way including to whom they may feel attracted to. It is very rare for the society to consider the attraction of a person to persons of the same or either gender as absolutely normal. It is therefore not easy for an individual to come out and openly indicate their sexual orientation especially if the orientation is considered abnormal by the society. Coming out as a homosexual requires an individual to tell another person the orientation of their sex publicly. Several people grow up imaging that each person has an attraction to the opposite sex. The victims will, therefore, not come out because who they feel attracted to may match what is considered normal by the society. Such a person may not consider his or herself as having a sexual orientation. This, therefore, makes people ending up in having queer sexual orientation. With queer sexuality, there is no solid sexual orientation but rather, the orientation is fluid (Cohen 2001). This article discusses sexual orientation indicating queer, lesbian and gay sexual orientation. Whether heterosexuals can be queer Queer should be thought of as an umbrella term that defines any person who feels outside the social norms regarding sexuality or gender (Cohen 2001, p 200). The people included in this umbrella are those that value the concepts of queer theory so much. Such people prefer not to identify with a particular gender label. It refers to bisexuals and heterosexuals who are gender fluid. Such people never feel like fitting to the norms of the society and usually, they want to bond with communities over that. The label is fluid but not solid. It only needs people to appreciate that certain people are different. However, there are no specifications of the contexts or how the people are different. The term queer may as well be used when people don’t want to shift their language in line with their politics, gender and sexuality that is ever evolving. It is, however, crucial to bear in mind that the term is of a given in-group and hence may offend a person depending on his or her geographic location, and generation. Queer, therefore, is not a specific term. It is not as specific as gay or lesbian, and it doesn’t give specific explanations to the gender of neither an individual nor his or her partner. If people are in partnership with persons across the spectrum of gender, it may not be appropriate to refer to them as bisexual because ‘bi’ implies that there are just two genders involved. Also, for an individual cannot identify himself with a gender that is binary then the terms ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’ are not limiting. In that sense, queer is precisely an umbrella reference that implies ‘not straight’ as much as it does not imply what the sexuality of a person might be exactly. Queer is also a term that I political referring to given political beliefs. The term doesn’t resonate with every community and not all LGBTQ people embrace it. Its history is derogatory, and it has not been reclaimed by everyone. The term, according to activists and theorists came to use in the 1990s.Queer theory directly contrasts the hegemonic sexuality normalizing tendencies that has its roots in the ideas of stable, static sexual behaviors and identities (Cohen 2001, p 201). The sexual subjects in the theory are contained and constructed by multiple regulation and categorization practices (Cohen 2001,p 201). The practices oppress and marginalize the subjects, and they are hence defined as deviants. As much as queer theory focuses on the sexual categories and sexuality, it also holds major political promise. “Queer” as a label, to several people, is a symbol of the acknowledgment that the daily survival and the existence of people, there is an embodied sustainability and resistance to systems. The resistance seeks to normalize the sexuality of people exploiting their labor and constraining their visibility. Presently, queer does not appear a challenge that is encompassing to the oppression and dominating systems especially the hetero-normativity embedded normalizing processes. At the queer theory peak, it is presumed that each identity is legitimate and that the gender of a person is as specific and idiosyncratic as the people are. It also indicates that the people are sovereign when it comes to determining what their gender is and that the gender expressions could be referred to as occupying points within a spectrum. In a nut shell, queer theory can be viewed as gender existentialism. In this sense, therefore, it is the responsibility of each to take of his or herself, be brave and honest in determining what and who we are. No one has the mandate of telling us we are not what we think we are or that whatever we think we are is ugly or wrong. It is our responsibility and right when it comes to being honest to ourselves (Cohen 2001). A queered heterosexuality forms the world free from oppression. That way, individuals have been given the freedom of expressing their sexual desires the way they are comfortable without infringing on their rights (Cohen 2001, p 205). Individuals have the rights to lead their sexual lives the way they best feel without affecting others. A heterosexual is a person who is sexually attracted to the people from the opposite sex. It is, therefore, possible for a person to lead a queered heterosexual life in that as much as he or she has a partner; he or she is not deterred from fulfilling the queered sexual lifestyle. A person may imagine a world lacking heterosexuals. This may, however, make representations that are severe of the desires of the people and most likely organized violence. It is more in line and practical for queer values and Anarchist to encourage the promotion of queered heterosexuality development than doing away with heterosexuals. When a person queers his or herself, tends to be much more comfortable, honest and less oppressive than when a person is pretending to be what they are not. To accept the prospects of queered heterosexuality allow people to recognize the fact that heterosexual queer already exists. It is fundamental to permit that the heterosexual queer has a very fundamental role towards liberating persons. It is paramount to accept that one as a queer heterosexual. The meaning of heterosexual can hence be changed when it has been understood that it is as a result of open prospect and that it is subject to changes within other than imagining that it is Nature constructed. A queer that operates outside the individualism political culture make an assumption of a material independence enabling them to dismiss the culturally or historically recognized communities and categories. They will at least move among them fluidly without settling for a relationship or identity that is permanent. Other than the sporadic insight, the queer activists politics are structured around the straight verses anything else dichotomy (Cohen 2001, p 206). Whether straight women can lesbians In the works of Moore Candace, Getting Wet, in the L Word pilot episode, Jenny witnesses a lot of lesbianism in her career (Johnson 2007, p 160). The experiences first socked her forcing herself to ask a lot of questions. She was busy held trying to fix her studio in a garage that was converted. The garage was behind her boyfriend’s house. She heard the voice of a woman from the backyard of the next door. Jenny then curiously approached the bamboo fence that bordered the pool of their neighbor. There she had a glimpse of Shane unbuttoning the white shirt she had on and carelessly threw it down. She also saw another woman pulling her blue dress out. Jenny felt embarrassed and ducked causing her camera to cut to a shot that was of reverse angle. Lesbianism is very rampant contemporarily, and straight women are also being influenced to be lesbians. This is because of the company of women that the straight women walk with. Lesbians can easily influence a straight woman. Lesbians choose to remain in their current life of lesbianism because they term lesbianism as traditionally feminine and hence domestic. They hence prefer nesting to role-playing and election of the sexual identities that are very clear. According to scientists, homosexuality or heterosexuality is not a switch but a spectrum. This, therefore, means that if an individual is exactly at the spectrums end, he or she will never feel an attraction from a person of the opposite or same sex. Most men and women are however not at the exact end of the spectrum. This, therefore, means that under certain circumstances, with particular people, there is a possibility, however mild, of the person feeling attraction that are not the same as their sexual orientation. For cases of the persons who never thought of themselves as bi, they will end up being confused or in negation other than seduction (Johnson 2007, p 161). A lesbian has a task of choosing to either publicly come out and say their sexual orientation or hide (Johnson 2007, p 165). Because of the perceptions and stereotypes most societies have put on lesbianism, lesbians have been subjected to a lot of traumas. The trauma attached to lesbianism has made it difficult for most lesbians to come out. Most of them prefer hiding their sexual identity. Straight women can cross over and become lesbians depending on some factors. Some women view a heterosexual differently. They argue that in such relationships men dominate over then, and they are expected to be submissive every time. As a result, they opt to join relationships that there is no male dominance. However, the exposure a woman has can change her sexual orientation too. When a woman is surrounded by friends who are lesbians, the frights might influence her to become one. Peer influence is a key factor when it comes to matters to do with sex. Whether it is choosing a sexual orientation or deciding how sexually active an individual is. Parents, therefore, have the responsibilities of monitoring their children and knowing well the group of people the children walk with. As much as there are several lesbians today, a lot of people still live in the world in which being heterosexual or straight is viewed as the norm. A lot of people have the assumption that because an individual is either female or male, it is obvious that they will be attracted to particular type of people and that they are going to feel, look and behave in a particular way. In actual sense, however, the manner in which a person feels, looks like and acts varies in a great way including to whom they may feel attracted to. People should be given the freedom of choosing the type of sexual orientation they feel comfortable. A person has the rights to decide what he or she want as long as it does not affect another person negatively. Straight women, therefore, have the right to become lesbians or bisexuals if they want. However, lesbians like gays may be exposed to sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS because they share sex tool like dildos (Johnson 2007, p 165). Whether straight men can be gay To a great extent, most people are challenged by the dilemmas of emerging their identities. Sorting out the values of people from those they inherited is a very big challenge (King 2000). A gay is a homosexual man who feels sexually attracted to a fellow man or men. Like lesbianism, most societies do not approve of gays. The society views it as an abnormal sexual orientation, and it has hence caused trauma to the men who are gay. The homosexuals hence tend to hide their sexual identity, and they fear to come openly out. Gay men, unlike minority group members who are ethically, by race or religiously defined do not depend on their families to offer them teachings about their culture of their history. The gay make discoveries of their roots via the contacts they have with the society at large as well as the larger world. The socialization given to a child when growing up affects their sexual orientation. Just like lesbianism, growing up within the gay culture Can make a child to be automatically gay (Savin-Williams 2010). It doesn’t matter whether the child was born straight or otherwise. A straight man, on the other hand, can become gay or even queer. Exposure influences the character and behavior of an individual in a great deal. What a person constantly gets exposed to ends up defining their character. It is therefore very crucial for parents to carefully and closely monitor their children. The friendships and groups individuals form influence their sexual orientation. Most gays were not born gays, but it is the socialization and exposure they have constantly had in life that changed their sexual orientation. The gay men have distinctive characteristic relations that are particular to them but very different from that of the main stream society (Halperin 2012) The Asian-Australians and Asian-Americans gay and lesbians have increasingly critiquing the relationships between (homo) sexuality and race that is so complex. They have been critiquing in relation to the queries of power (Caluya 2006, p1). It is therefore very possible for an individual to cross over from being a straight male to being a gay. Having the experience of being gay whether it was through sodomy or not, may make a person to change and be gay. Research indicates that most young men who were sodomized tend to be gays when they are grown up. Nevertheless, as much as people have the rights of having whatever sexual orientation that pleases them, gay has been associated with a lot of health concerns. When a gay couple is having sex, they risk contracting sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS because of the friction and lack of protection. Conclusion In conclusion, sexual orientation is a topic that has been pertinently discussed by several scholars. The gay, lesbians and queer sexuality have faced a lot or researches by several scholars. The societies have also begun to be more moderate in the way they handle the people who have sexual orientations were that were initially considered abnormal. Most countries today consider allowing the homosexual marriages liberal. Countries like the US, for instance, are known to have approved same-sex marriages. Contemporarily, homosexual tend to come out openly and announce their sexual o=orientation to the public. There are organizations that have been formed specifically to fight for the rights and wellbeing of the homosexual. The society is becoming permissive to what was initially considered abnormal and ungodly. Some societies however still discourage same-sex relationships considering them not socially upright. Lists of references Caluya, G., 2006, ‘The (Gay) Scene of racism: Face, Shame and Gay Asian Males,’ ACRAWSA e-journal, Vol. No. 2, 2006.p.160. Cohen C., 2001, The radical potential of Queer politics Princeton, Princeton University Press. Halperin D., 2012, How to be Gay, Harvard, Harvard University Press. Johnson M., 2007, Third Wave Feminism and Television, New York Palgrave Macmillan. King L., 2000, Gay and Straight Possible Selves: Goals, Identity, Subjective Well-Being, and Personality Development, Retrieved 6th June 2015 from, Savin-Williams R., 2010, Who’s Gay? Does It Matter? Retrieved 6t June 2015 from, < http://www.smellslikecollege.com/PSY210doc/WhosGay.pdf > Read More

However, there are no specifications of the contexts or how the people are different. The term queer may as well be used when people don’t want to shift their language in line with their politics, gender and sexuality that is ever evolving. It is, however, crucial to bear in mind that the term is of a given in-group and hence may offend a person depending on his or her geographic location, and generation. Queer, therefore, is not a specific term. It is not as specific as gay or lesbian, and it doesn’t give specific explanations to the gender of neither an individual nor his or her partner.

If people are in partnership with persons across the spectrum of gender, it may not be appropriate to refer to them as bisexual because ‘bi’ implies that there are just two genders involved. Also, for an individual cannot identify himself with a gender that is binary then the terms ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’ are not limiting. In that sense, queer is precisely an umbrella reference that implies ‘not straight’ as much as it does not imply what the sexuality of a person might be exactly.

Queer is also a term that I political referring to given political beliefs. The term doesn’t resonate with every community and not all LGBTQ people embrace it. Its history is derogatory, and it has not been reclaimed by everyone. The term, according to activists and theorists came to use in the 1990s.Queer theory directly contrasts the hegemonic sexuality normalizing tendencies that has its roots in the ideas of stable, static sexual behaviors and identities (Cohen 2001, p 201). The sexual subjects in the theory are contained and constructed by multiple regulation and categorization practices (Cohen 2001,p 201).

The practices oppress and marginalize the subjects, and they are hence defined as deviants. As much as queer theory focuses on the sexual categories and sexuality, it also holds major political promise. “Queer” as a label, to several people, is a symbol of the acknowledgment that the daily survival and the existence of people, there is an embodied sustainability and resistance to systems. The resistance seeks to normalize the sexuality of people exploiting their labor and constraining their visibility.

Presently, queer does not appear a challenge that is encompassing to the oppression and dominating systems especially the hetero-normativity embedded normalizing processes. At the queer theory peak, it is presumed that each identity is legitimate and that the gender of a person is as specific and idiosyncratic as the people are. It also indicates that the people are sovereign when it comes to determining what their gender is and that the gender expressions could be referred to as occupying points within a spectrum.

In a nut shell, queer theory can be viewed as gender existentialism. In this sense, therefore, it is the responsibility of each to take of his or herself, be brave and honest in determining what and who we are. No one has the mandate of telling us we are not what we think we are or that whatever we think we are is ugly or wrong. It is our responsibility and right when it comes to being honest to ourselves (Cohen 2001). A queered heterosexuality forms the world free from oppression. That way, individuals have been given the freedom of expressing their sexual desires the way they are comfortable without infringing on their rights (Cohen 2001, p 205).

Individuals have the rights to lead their sexual lives the way they best feel without affecting others. A heterosexual is a person who is sexually attracted to the people from the opposite sex. It is, therefore, possible for a person to lead a queered heterosexual life in that as much as he or she has a partner; he or she is not deterred from fulfilling the queered sexual lifestyle. A person may imagine a world lacking heterosexuals. This may, however, make representations that are severe of the desires of the people and most likely organized violence.

It is more in line and practical for queer values and Anarchist to encourage the promotion of queered heterosexuality development than doing away with heterosexuals.

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