Reflection Essay Coming into this class, I knew I wanted to focus on how anthropology views the global advancement of queer rights. I knew that such a topic was sure to be fraught with issues, not only due to rampant homophobia, but also due to the different conceptions of human gender and sexuality that exist in different cultures. Many more issues with this sort of development were highlighted in my research. One of the articles I read took an in depth look at a supposed gay rights success story (CITATION). The country of Israel has distinguished itself from many other middle eastern countries by publicly supporting gay rights and advertising itself as a safe space for queer individuals. Its motivations for this, however, may leave something to be desired. In her article, Katherine Franke describes how the state of Israel has used its treatment of ‘the gays’ as a way to appeal to western countries and make itself more appealing despite continuing its human rights abuses against Palestinians and …show more content…
Besides being reminiscent of colonialist attempts to force cultural change, it also ignores the fact that not every culture views gender and sexuality in the same way, nor should they. The identity politics employed by most western organizations that work with queer rights operates under the assumption that not only does everyone have a clear concept of their own sexuality, but also that the same terms used in the west (lesbian, gay, straight, trans, cis, etc.) will be applicable to people everywhere. These groups also tend to focus solely on individuals’ identities as queer and the specific impact that has on their lives, while failing to acknowledge other ways people might be marginalized like poverty, refugee status, or
In certain countries such as the U.S, people discriminate against others to a certain extent based off their gender, race, and sexuality. Butler states that “to be a body is to be given over to others even as a body is “one own,” which we must claim right of autonomy” (242). Gays and Lesbians have to be exposed to the world because some of them try to hide their identity of who they truly are because they are afraid of how others are going to look at them. There are some who just let their sexuality out in the open because they feel comfortable with whom they are as human beings and they don’t feel any different than the next person. The gender or sexuality of a human being doesn’t matter because our bodies’ will never be autonomous because it is affected by others around us. This is where humans are vulnerability to violence and aggression. In countries across the globe, violence and attack are drawn towards tran...
Anthropological researchers have considerable moral and ethical standards by which their work must be conducted in order to preserve the accuracy and the posterity of the information gathered during the study and also to the persons or cultures of which they study. These two important parts of anthropology – the research and those being researched – can be conflicting. The Code of Ethics of the American Anthropological Association presents itself as a body of guidelines for discussing these ethical and moral conflicts. This allows for researchers in the field of anthropology to have a foundation for understanding what decisions must be made regarding these ethical and moral conflicts and to whom the disclosures of those decisions should be made.
Social discrimination against gay men and other MSM has been well-documented in many regions of the world, regardless of the cultural, social, political, economic, or legal environment in which they live.14-16 This discrimination can manifest itself in a wide variety of ways from personal hardships such as harassment, ridicule, rejection, or violence to high-level structural factors like discriminatory policies or violations of human rights. Social discrimination has been described as a key factor leading to poor health outcomes in MSM, including increased risk for HIV, across diverse settings.17
I chose anthropology as my major simply out of needing a different one. I was a business major my first semester and realized I didn’t like what I was doing. I liked history, but didn’t like all the aspects of being a historian, but as an anthropologist I could study many aspects of people and cultures and history all at the same time.
Queer theory cheats, by focusing on cultural texts (rather than real life) where it is easier to find sexual or gender ambiguities. Some have taken this to be an account of real social life. Fans of Judith Butler often ignore real-life oppression and instead support their optimistic worldview by gazing at gender-blending movies and photography. Discrimination at home and at work, for everyday queer people, are forgotten about in this approach. Butler 's argument that gender exists at the level of discourse ignores its significance as 'an institutionalised social practice '. It is important to capture real-life statistics of people who don’t fit the “norm” in either traditional gender or sex categories. If we stop identifying people who may not fit the “norms” of the binary, then we mask the structural and individual oppression they will experience. By celebrating difference, queer politics makes the 'gay ' or 'lesbian ' identity to be what some consider too important. Queer theory celebrates pleasure and therefore puts a lot of emphasis on sex. It also puts a lot of emphasis on the visual, as well as a lot of emphasis on the young and trendy ("Queer Theory:
However, across the globe, there remain many instances where an individuals' sexual orientation or gender identity can lead them to face execution, imprisonment, torture, violence or discrimination. The range of abuse is limitless and it breaches the fundamental views of international human rights law.
Susan Lindee and Ricardo Santos’ goal was to understand the contexts of genesis and development of biological anthropology around the world from an international standpoint, focusing on engagement with living human populations. Their contributors, scholars in history of science, science studies, and anthropology, were guided by key questions about national histories, collections, and scientific field practice.
Society is created with both homosexual and heterosexual individuals. Previously when certain laws discriminated against others, such as law for women's rights to vote, these laws were changed. Changing the traditions of the country does not mean that it will lead to the legalization of other extreme issues. Each ...
One cannot generalize or predict all human behaviors, thought processes, morals, and customs. Because human nature is dominated by different types of cultures and societies in various parts of the world, this can often lead to misunderstanding which ultimately leads to the illusion of cultural superiority, and in most cases this can lead to genocide - the systematic murder or annihilation of a group of people or culture. Anthropology is the study of humans, our immediate ancestors and their cultural environments this study stems from the science of holism - the study of the human condition. Culture is crucial in determining the state of the human condition, as the cultures are traditions and customs that are learned throughout an individual
Halwani, Raja, Gary Jaeger, James Stramel, Richard Nunan, William Wilkerson, and Timothy Murphy. What Is Gay and Lesbian Philosophy? 2008. MS. Oxford, UK. San Diego Mesa College Academic Databases. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. .
Throughout Western civilization, culturally hegemonic views on gender and sexuality have upheld a rigid and monolithic societal structure, resulting in the marginalization and dehumanization of millions of individuals who differ from the expected norm. Whether they are ridiculed as freaks, persecuted as blasphemers, or discriminated as sub-human, these individuals have been historically treated as invisible and pushed into vulnerable positions, resulting in cycles of poverty and oppression that remain prevalent even in modern times. Today, while many of these individuals are not publicly displayed as freaks or persecuted under Western law, women, queer, and intersexed persons within our society still nonetheless find themselves under constant
Cultural anthropology has taught me a lot in such a short time. This class has been very eye opening to me and has made me think more about the different cultures around me and just how important it is to learn about them. One of the things I have learned is how religion is related to culture. Culture is behaviors of a community such as the food they make, the music they listen to, and the rituals they take part in. This can be very similar to religion because a culture is based off of their religious beliefs. Some cultures do not eat pig because it is against their religious beliefs. Some cultures listen to particular songs because it is based off of their religious beliefs. Another thing cultures relate closely to is languages. Without language
Gender and sexuality can be comprehended through social science. Social science is “the study of human society and of individual relationships in and to society” (free dictionary, 2009). The study of social science deals with different aspects of society such as politics, economics, and the social aspects of society. Gender identity is closely interlinked with social science as it is based on an identity of an individual in the society. Sexuality is “the condition of being characterized and distinguished by sex” (free dictionary, 2009). There are different gender identities such as male, female, gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual that exists all around the world. There is inequality in gender identities and dominance of a male regardless of which sexuality they fall under. The males are superior over the females and gays superior over the lesbians, however it different depending on the place and circumstances. This paper will look at the gender roles and stereotypes, social policy, and homosexuality from a modern and a traditional society perspective. The three different areas will be compared by the two different societies to understand how much changes has occurred and whether or not anything has really changed. In general a traditional society is more conservative where as a modern society is fundamentally liberal. This is to say that a traditional society lists certain roles depending on the gender and there are stereotypes that are connected with the genders. One must obey the one that is dominant and make decisions. On the other hand, a modern society is lenient, It accepts the individual’s identity and sexuality. There is no inequality and everyone in the society is to be seen as individuals not a part of a family unit...
Overall, queer activism is focused towards searching for and cultivating ethics (Dave 2011, 5). Several arguments against the LGTBQ community claim that same-sex relationships are morally wrong. Queer activism aims to refute this claim by stating that people should be allowed to be with whomever they love. It is important to note that queer activism in India tried to establish its own set of beliefs that are different from the ‘Western’ views towards lesbianism (Dave 2011, 10). This was done to prevent Western imperialistic views from dictating what is acceptable in
When one hears the words “LGBT” and “Homosexuality” it often conjures up a mental picture of people fighting for their rights, which were unjustly taken away or even the social emergence of gay culture in the world in the 1980s and the discovery of AIDS. However, many people do not know that the history of LGBT people stretches as far back in humanity’s history, and continues in this day and age. Nevertheless, the LGBT community today faces much discrimination and adversity. Many think the problem lies within society itself, and often enough that may be the case. Society holds preconceptions and prejudice of the LGBT community, though not always due to actual hatred of the LGBT community, but rather through lack of knowledge and poor media portrayal.