I just replied to a forum in one of my college classes. The class is called Gender Communication. We just read a chapter that explains how gender and race may influence what gender people gravitate towards. How family upbringings mold our adult gender and sexual orientation views.
Here's my reply to the forum... please read and reply. Discussion is the only way to change the world. Force is not the answer.
Forum Reply/post: Race and gender plays a huge role in determining how we have been gendered into being a certain way. In my asian-american experience, it always felt like it was customary to act like your gender. Males were pushed to reproduce as much as possible and likewise with females. I also grew up near Boston, which has a blunt and brash mentality. Phrase like "that's gay" and "stop being a faggot" were spewed on a daily basis... even if it wasn't about sexual orientation. So that put a stigma on those kinds of sexual orientations. It was like one big joke that everyone found "ok" to make. I listened to rock music, rap music and all kinds of music growing up. I liked bands such as Slipknot, The Offspring, Korn and Blink-182. Those bands would make light jokes about sexual orientation too. I also like popped music. I listened to boy bands. I even went through a Britney Spears phase. Even when it came to watching anime there was a social stigma. "Why are you watching Sailor Moon?"... is what my sister used to say to me... she was hinting at it being not "manly" to watch. My sister came to visit me in Fort Worth, TX one time with my mother and father. She noticed that I had a Hello Kitty rice cooker. She instantly called me a faggot. She would always resort to these kind of insults whenever I did something out of the "norm". Whenever my mother would ask me about girlfriends and the her future grandchildren, my sister would say it's not happening because I was gay. Funny thing is that I am not gay. After reading chapter 7, i've come to the conclusion that it's not my sisters fault for being so narrow minded and hurtful. When my family moved to Alabama due to bankruptcy, she found a way to stay in the Boston area. Her friends had kids and she became "Psuedo-Auntie". She is a "auntie" to like 20+ kids that arent even blood related to her. We did not have real blood relatives in Lowell, MA. I've traveled the world... my world views are world views. And I understand why my sister has a bubbled mentality... I don't blame her for all her years of torment she put onto me... I grew out of the anguish. I'm happy with who I am. And if I come off as not-straight... so be it. I know I am not. Others can assume... but like the old saying goes, "Those who assume make an ASS out of U and Me. Whenever this world begins to just let people be... the world will be bright. Full enlightenment. I probably went way too personal with this post... oh well.
