The Invention Of Sexuality As A Social Construct - 955 Words

Since the invention of sexuality as a social construct, there has been the invention of heterosexual versus the other – with the other being anything beyond opposite-sex attraction. This otherness creates discrimination and hatred, thus reinforcing a normal versus abnormal feeling within people. In 2013, 42% of Americans confessed that they believed that being gay or lesbian was a choice, and that choice was to live an abnormal lifestyle (Masci, Americans Are Still Divided on Why People Are Gay). Abnormalities regarding sexuality – whether a choice or not – reinforce compulsory heterosexuality because people do not want to be seen as different, or abnormal. Compulsory heterosexuality is a problem within society because it reinforces a viewpoint that homosexuality is abnormal and therefore, wrong. The act of believing that everyone that one meets is straight unless proven otherwise is known as compulsory heterosexuality. It is the result of â€Å"a social system where all person[s] are assumed to be heterosexual and gender differences are taken for granted as natural† and those who do not fit into these norms are labeled as â€Å"sexually deviant† (390). Believing that everyone is heterosexual, or attracted to the opposite sex only, reinforces the idea that anything other than straight is unacceptable and wrong. It feeds into how children are raised and what toys they are allowed to play with and parents reinforce heterosexuality by promoting motherhood and classically feminineShow MoreRelatedScientific Illiteracy/Misinformation, Or The Depletion1293 Words   |  6 PagesStates faced its own issue with private and state-sponsored media and the invention and integration of a new pill that would change the way people looked at women: birth control. The feminist movement brought this issue to the forefront of the media, claiming the pill would empower women to take control of their bodies and become more forward thinking about s exuality in general. The PBS study The Pill, which discusses the social scope of the birth control pill, illustrates how the media erupted afterRead MoreHomophobia Hurts Everyone By Warren J. Blumfeld1078 Words   |  5 Pages but I couldn’t imagine losing the people that I deal with everyday and who have loved me no matter what because I am in love with someone of the same sex. In â€Å"Naming All the Parts†, Bornstein (2014) discusses the relation of gender desire and sexuality. Being a male to female transsexual, she argues that gender is a socially constructed system of classification and it must be deconstructed and done away with completely. She also discusses the differences in sex and gender and gender roles. WhenRead More Laura Briggs Reproducing Empire: Race, Sex, Science, and U.S. Imperialism in Puerto Rico1734 Words   |  7 PagesRico as true Puerto Ricans, or to construct Puerto Rico as economically unconnected to the U.S. is a misconception, which has been historically employed to blame Puerto Rico for the U.S. subordination of it. Briggs records Puerto Ricos history as a model, testing site, or laboratory for U.S. colonial rule, centering on the ways in which this has functioned in relation to or through (control of) Puerto Rican working class women and family, sexuality and reproduction. Briggs utilizesRead MoreDeborah Whaley s Black Women1423 Words   |  6 PagesBlack female characters in mainstream comics, â€Å"comic book writers have used illustration of and ideologies about the Black female body to signify the fetish, fear, and fabrication of Africa† (p. 96). 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In addition, Whaley offersRead More Hegemonic Masculinity in American Society Essay1497 Words   |  6 Pagescontrol, speed, toughness, and dominion (Trujillo 23). In various spheres of life such as sports, and political leadership, using a male body as a symbol of power led to the creation of male dominance. However, towards the fall of the 20th century, this social consult came under immense challenge when women began to venture in politics and competing men in sports such as football and ath letics. Today, the American sporting scene is full of sports women partaking games that were initially reserved for menRead MoreHysteria, Not Only Oppressed Female Social Upliftment1566 Words   |  7 PagesDuring the 19th century, Hysteria, not only oppressed female social upliftment but it, led to a misconception of the sexual health of females. This misconception, as well as its unravelling was heavily influenced by the developments of Western medicine. The following essay will look at these developments, focusing on how the invention of the vibrator changed the perception of the female orgasm, sexual desire and pleasure. To begin with, the two-sex model and the influence of religious movements willRead MoreSex, Gender, And Gender936 Words   |  4 PagesFor the past few decades, feminists have been constantly debating the conventional views, of sex and gender in today’s society. As a result, we often think of sex as biological and gender as social, which are terms that are often used interchangeably and are socially or culturally constructed. In other words, the terms male and female are referred to as sex categories, while masculine and feminine are considered gender categories. To demonstrate the prevailing views of sex and gender, in AfricanRead MoreThe Cultural Identity Of The African American Community1653 Words   |  7 Pagesidentity reflects the common historical experiences and shared cultural codes, which then provide individuals with a black diaspora to identity with. According to Hall, modern black cinemas reflect the different histories, which help individuals construct certain aspects of their identities, including their cultural identity. In the second, Hall calls into question the problematic issue of identity as production and its relation to the black individual. â€Å"Cultural identity, in this second sense isRead MoreMarx s Theory And Marx857 Words   |  4 Pagesgrave and that all societies must pass through capitalism in order to get to a better world. Marx argued that it was impossible to leap directly into communism from capitalism. To remove people from what Marx saw as the selfish and materialistic construct that was created by capitalism, re-education under a socialism would be the necessary to necessitate the change from capitalism to socialist society. Marx was a strong advocate for socialism and largely critical of capitalism. He believed that communism