Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The power of conformity
Examples of assimilation in america
Conformity in society
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The power of conformity
Kenji Yoshino, author of Covering: An Assault on Our Civil Rights argues that the demand for assimilation needs to be weakened through social solutions. Assimilation affects all groups not just the gay and lesbian community or other minority groups. In order for true equality to be realized individual conscience and compassion needs to change to protect behavior outside the realm of the law (Yoshino p.24) . Grievances are often processed through naming and blaming but are not claimed in order to seek a remedy. This is due in part to an individual’s interpretation, perception, and external factors of the injury, such as social status . Yoshino describes his parents demand for American assimilation as pressure to refrain from creating attention such grievances would create to his sexual orientation. The law is designed to protect statues not an individual’s behavior. Therefore the demand for assimilation or covering is not a behavior that individuals are protected against. The principle institutional mechanism of the myth of rights is litigation. Society trust and looks to the Supreme Court for declaration. Law writers use the legal reasoning of judges as a tool …show more content…
Yoshino describes wearing a gold vest as allowing his inner self to come to the surface for society to see. Yoshino describes covering as a painful experience in which the individual experiences two selves. Their inner true sense of self includes their sexual orientation which society demands them to suppress and feel ashamed of. Their outward self is façade of mainstream assimilation that society demands as a ticket to acceptance. Yoshino describes his boyfriend and himself arguing over how to perform their gayness (Yoshino p.76). Yoshino argues that gay men place pressure on other gay men to assimilate a straight man’s body. That is to be masculine (Yoshino p.
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...
Rather, more multiple categorized differences are confirmed with various dimensions. By applying the concept of “intersectionality” to the present social situations, the right of the same-sex marriage can be given as an another example. In regard to this, the subject’s identities are subdivided into the multiple existing frameworks, and the aggregation of these characters establishes one unique personality. The examples of what makes people separate from “others” are seen in the dissimilarities of their sex, age, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, and their geographical position, and these categories construct the different personal experiences and standpoints. For example, In Japan, the gay marriage is not authorized under the current law. Also, the amount of exposure about the LGBT in the media is still low, thus a subordinate social movements are not active. As a result, heterosexual people do not recognize the existence of the minority group, and even if they recognize it, people do not try to focus on the situation of them. Thus, the gender minority people are still in the positions of weak. On the other hand, in The USA, the same-sex marriage is legalized, and generally speaking, as a result of the legalization, the LGBT people have more access to the social life like heterosexual people have. This comparison indicates that due to their geographical location,
Men and women of all races are subjected to change due to the consistently persistent demands of covering. Women are forced to adjust to covering demands through many ways such as sororities, partner relationships, and social work environments. Kimmel states “ Girls who learn to accommodate themselves to Guyland run the risk of becoming grown women who accommodate themselves with intransigence”(Kimmel 261). The intransigence that he refers to is unchanging behavior of men but according to Kimmel, the love of a woman cannot change the behavior of a man. Their love is not transformative and therefore, they must change their own behavior (cover) to accommodate to the intransigence of men. Comparable to men, the intransigence of society is also something human beings are unable to change. The ways of humanity have been set and unchanged so that others must assimilate to the norms. Yoshino describes the evolution of covering in this statement “Covering has enjoyed such a robust and stubborn life because it is a form of assimilation. At least… this country has touted assimilation as the way Americans of different backgrounds would be ‘melted into a new race of men,”(Yoshino 294). This quotation describes how covering has existed for a long period of time. Because of this, mankind has been unable to change assimilation and is forced to accommodate to the intransigence of
All human beings are born with genes that are unique to them and make us the individuals we become. The right to exist as an individual in society achieving the best possible potential of one’s existence irrespective of any bias is expected by most humans. In the essay, ‘The new Civil Rights’ Kenji Yoshino discusses how the experience of discovering and revealing his sexual preference as a gay individual has led to him proposing a new civil rights by exploring various paradigms of the rights of a human being to exist in today’s diverse society. In exploring the vast demands of rights ranging from political or basic human rights we have differentiated ourselves into various groups with a common thread weaving through all the demands which
However, depending on their environment or the quality of one’s relationship to another person; the individual’s sexuality can be discussed with those closest to them. When their sexual orientation is revealed or “outed”, the individual has both opportunities such as accepted by families and peer groups and problems such as dealing with homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in their homes, schools and the communities in the presence of others and their opinions; making them feel let down, abandoned and dejected. According to Kathryn Dindia’s article “Going Into and Coming Out of the Closet: The Dialectics of Stigma and Disclosure” those who identify as bisexual, lesbian, gay or transgender are subject to stigma of AIDS or mental illness because “...the stigma is difficult or impossible to conceal, whether to reveal or conceal is an issue for the discreditable…”(85). Stating the individuals who came out as the “discreditable”, as have noted when the individual decided to reveal their sexual orientation they have ordeals such stereotypes, hatred, microaggressions and stigma. The chapter speaks into social sense unlike the next reading “Out of the Closets and Into the Courts”, Ellen Andersen narrates coming out in a more legal manner. During the Counterculture Movement and the 1970’s, Andersen pointed out and stressed “...gay men and lesbians needed legal representation…”(17) as well as protection by law enforcement, although earlier said the Stone wall Riots was provoked by acts of police brutality and the court system. Especially in American society, the book additionally states that the Gay Rights
Discrimination has always been prominent in mainstream society. Judgments are quickly formed based on one’s race, class, or gender. The idea that an individual’s self-worth is measured by their ethnicity or sexual preference has impacted the lives of many Americans. During the early colonial period, a social hierarchy was established with white landowners at the top and African-American slaves at the bottom. As equality movements have transpired, victims of discrimination have varied. In the late 1980’s when Paris is Burning was filmed, gay rights were still controversial in society. The lack of acceptance in conventional society created hardships in the lives of transgender women and gay men.
For many generations, especially in North America, homosexuality was not accepted in any way, shape, or form. Many believed that it was a medical illness that was curable, when in reality, people were, and still are, ignorant and could not come to terms that everyone in this world is different from one another. For many instances of being treated unjust, many individuals in the gay community did not want to “expose” themselves and remained in the “closet”. As means to make gays and lesbians proud and take a stand for who they are, a movement spread across internationally. This movement is known as “The Gay Liberation” movement which occurred between the late 1960s and the early to mid 1970s (“Gay Liberation”). The Gay Liberation movement urged individuals of the gay community to “come out,” revealing their sexuality to their loved ones as a form of activism, and to counter shame with gay pride (“Gay Liberation”). The Stonewall Riots are believed to have been the spark that ignited the rise of the Gay Liberation movement; it influenced the way the gay community is viewed socially and how their rights are politically present day.
Throughout history people who manifested an attraction for others of the same sex usually have gone through a lot of maltreatments, discrimination, and have often been regarded as “sexual deviants.” Relationships between people of the same sex have been present since the beginning of history. Their lives have not always been easy, because they have been persecuted and sometimes even forced to go through a psychiatric evaluation. At the same time, in order to gain their rights and dignity, they had to take their fight to the legal system because as George Chauncey, a professor of history at Yale University mentioned, “although most people recognize that gay life was difficult before growth of the gay movement in the 1970s, they often have only the vaguest sense of why: that gay people were scorned and ridiculed, made to feel ashamed, afraid, and alone” (290). However, discrimination and maltreatment were not the only reasons homosexuals had to take their struggle to the courts. An American professor of history at Yale University, who has testified in a number of gay rights cases, has exposed the ins and outs of the legal system in the second half of the twentieth century. During this time, a great number of states had created laws, which authorized the indefinite detention of homosexuals in mental institutions, and conditioned their release upon proving that they were cured from homosexuality (Chauncey 294). This past history, together with studies conducted by some prestigious institutions have lead society to understand that the right to homosexual marriage is economically, ethically, and morally correct, because it would benefit the economy and society by increasing the federal budget and creating a legal status for homosexual c...
Schultz, David, and John R. Vile. The Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties in America. 710-712. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale Virtual Reference Library, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. .
The acceptance of “abnormal” sexualities has been a prolonged, controversial battle. The segregation is excruciating and the prejudice remarks are so spiteful that some people never truly recover. Homosexuals have been left suffering for ages. Life, for most homosexuals during the first half of the twentieth century, was mostly one of hiding: having to constantly hide their true feelings and tastes. Instead of restaurants and movies, they had to sit quiet in the dark and meet each other in concealed places such as bars. Homosexuals were those with “mental and psychic abnormalities” and were the victim of medical prejudice, police harassment, and church condemnation (Jagose 24). The minuscule mention or assumption of one’s homosexuality could easily lead to the loss of family, livelihood, and sometimes even their lives. It was only after the Stonewall riots and the organization of gay/lesbian groups that times for homosexuals started to look brighter.
He mournfully tells his audience he has “moved away from the periphery and toward the center of American life, [he] has become white inside” (Liu 1). As a young chinese boy growing up in America, he was taught the way to assimilation was to abandon the language, culture, and traditions of his ancestors, and his essay is a remorseful reflection on the consequences of his sacrifice. Despite giving away so much, despite doing it all to ‘become white’, he will always be an outsider – race and skin color can never be the uniting factor of a community. Eric Liu goes on to talk about how “the assimilist is a traitor to his kind, to his class, to his own family” (Liu 2). Why does it need to be this way? The ‘a-word’ (assimilist) need not be a negative one, if only assimilation meant adapting to an ideology rather than one race’s culture. If that were the true meaning of assimilation, the idea that to assimilate is to betray would be eradicated. The current method of naturalization to American culture is unacceptable: The only thing that will unite Americans will be a common goal to promote good values and hard work within
“Equal rights for lesbians and gay men may be the greatest civil rights battle of the 21st century” (Avery 2007, p. 71). Homosexual couples have been fighting a losing battle for years, and their struggle has recently taken the spotlight once again as a burning topic. Over the years, many people have come to support equal love. However, many Americans still advocate the one man-one woman institution of marriage. The fight for equal rights in general has always been a complex issue. African Americans, women, and many other minorities have had to fight for the rights that they hold today. There are many factors involved in gay activism such as support, attitudes, roles, and the implications of the movement. Social psychology takes a particular interest in gay rights and these factors in particular, as it is a current, controversial topic within American society.
One day in May 1988, Rebecca Wight and Claudia Brenner were backpacking on the Appalachian Trail in south central Pennsylvania. Claudia was thirty-one, and Rebecca was twenty-eight. Along the trail, they encountered a stranger who tried to involve them in conversation. Suddenly, the quiet of the afternoon was shattered by gunfire. Claudia was hit in the arm, neck, and face. Rebecca struck in the back and head; the shot in her back exploded her liver and killed her. The stranger, Stephen Roy Carr, shot them because they were lesbians (Oliver 8). There were laws against this of course. However, unfortunately for people who identify as homosexual, not many of these laws were followed for the reason that discrimination against gay people was clearly evident in America. When this incident happened, a social movement was well under way. This movement, of course, was the gay rights movement. One of the earlier accomplishments of the movement was in 1951, when the First National Gay Origination was founded. Yet, during the 1950s, it would have been immensely illegal and dangerous to register any kind of pro-gay organizations (Head). The gay rights movement continues to create and achieve goals even today. Many people did not support the movement; however, fortunately the gay rights movement had many followers from homosexual to straight people all over the country. Some memorable leaders would be Kathy Kozachenko, first openly gay women elected into politics, and Harvey Milk, first openly gay man elected into politics. In 1977 Harvey Milk won a seat in the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. It was there that Milk delivers a famous and inspirational speech which would later be called the “Hope Speech”. The main idea to take away from th...
The homosexual community faced, and still faces many hardships. Homosexuals are constantly being judged based on their feelings and beliefs. Many homosexuals and supporters believe this is not fair, especially the ones in Ame...
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