Personally, Ott and Aoki’s research
allowed me to realize how different my level of acceptance is much more open
towards members of LGBTQIA community. From an early age it was the norm to
question new ideas, the gender roles people were contradicting from societal
norms were brought to my attention and from then I learned even two of my
teachers from grade school (Pre-Kindergarten and 1st grade) were
lesbians and had been living with one another for many years. Through this
immersive learning and other experiences of accepting LGBTQIA community members,
I bettered myself when providing the comfort to a friend at a moment when
coming out, and what I learned is that the idea of ‘coming out’ isn’t always necessarily the dramatic proclamation from
atop a mountain which is often depicted.
My teenage years provided much time
for making friends from many different backgrounds. One of my friends was an
openly gay male who was proud to represent his lifestyle, although very aware
that not everyone would treat him like a friend depending on their views
towards his personal qualities. Another friend, also a gay male, was not as
upfront towards being gay, and when openly questioned by other mutual friends
of his sexual orientation he responded in a sense that implied a standing of “wasn’t it obvious?” Although Friend #1
was willing to cry to ends length when coming out to us as friends, Friend #2
came out in a very non-verbal manner.
Friendship for my community of
friends, which included both of these friends I use as examples and upward to fifteen+
, were all established before the seriousness of high-school relationships were
in full swing. With this manner, it should be said that that there was a
general understanding of which orientation cultivated within our community of
friends.
The degree and level of acceptance from which
both of these friends received positive notes was identical. The article quotes
Burke when referring to Framing and Symbolic views:
“Symbolic forms can be, according to Burke loosely grouped into “frames
of acceptance” and “frames of rejection” based on the general orientation they
adopt in “the face of anguish, injustice, disease, and death.”
I realize Matthew Sheppard did not
come up with in a community where everyone was accepting of his sexual
orientation. Although, that does not
mean all members of his community shared the same points of views as Aaron
McKinney and Russell Henderson. What
this quote focuses and directly relates towards my friend#1/#2 examples, is
that there may have been an unwarranted threat Friend #1 felt towards
prejudices that Friend #2 had not felt with in his immediate community. It’s a
different view, though I find that the lack of a pinnacle Friend #2 associate
with “coming out” directly goes hand-in-hand with the study of gender norms which
were covered in class as well.
In summary,
the aspect of coming out, to one of
my friends was a monumental achievement in his life. On the contrary the label
of sexual orientation to another friend was merely just an act of stating “as
matter of fact.” Both of my friends are
open gay males who came to terms with analyzing their individual situation and
catered their lifestyles to their needs.
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