The topic of homosexuality elicits many reactions. It is forever played upon in pop culture for it's shock value if nothing else. Some demonize it, holding things like religion as proving, "alternative lifestyles," to be wrong. Some have erotisied homosexuality as in many of Anne Rice's vampire novels. Some laugh at homosexuality or people who are homosexual, calling it, "weird". Some react violently, as in the case of Matthew Shepard. And yet others have gradually turned towards acceptance shown (debatably) in such movies as, " To Wong-Fu Love Julie Newmar" and " In and Out".
Pop culture has largely ignored "different" or "minority" groups, especially gays. However, during the 1980's new support/ religious and action networks arose (Mondimore 173). These groups did two important things of many, a) made noise b) fought for gay and lesbian rights and therefore screentime. From the shock of AIDS to the recently publicized hate crimes people are stepping out of the closet in record numbers. A friend described it to me as, " A choice between the devil and the deep blue sea, you can either let your fear eat you up inside or face it," he shrugged.
Alan Brinkley, author of The Unfinished Nation, speculates that the raid of police officers on the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in New York started the effort to protect and create rights for gay Americans. The police would frequently taunt and harass patrons of the nightclub until one day when the crowd turned on the police and a riot insued. This caused a overall wakeup for both the police force and the nation for which it was televised (Brinkley 955).
While Hollywood pumps fictional stories such as the first televised lesbian kiss on Ellen, the real world is turning. While th...
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...outh, and other youth are widely unaccepting as well, though they are being slowly softened up in front of their favorite television shows to the idea that gay people are people too. Even so, pop culture has, on the topic of homosexuality, moved from a quiet unacceptance to a highly visual coverage that sometimes states open acceptance.
Bibliography
Brinkley, Allan. The Unfinished Nation. New York: McGraw Hill, 1999.
GLSEN. GLSEN. Novemver 26,2001 .
Marcus, Eric.What If Someone I Know Is Gay?. New York: Penguin Putnam Books, 2000.
Mondimore, Francis Mark. A Natural History of Homosexuality. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.
OUTFRONT. OUTFRONT. November 26, 2001 .
Shenitz, Bruce. "Laramine's Legacy."OUT October 2001: 76-77,110-111.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights .Amnesty International. November 26, 2001 .
The Vietnam War: A Concise International History is a strong book that portrays a vivid picture of both sides of the war. By getting access to new information and using valid sources, Lawrence’s study deserves credibility. After reading this book, a new light and understanding of the Vietnam war exists.
Removal of the mountaintops causes environmental impacts from blasting. The blasting has caused rocks to be deposited into valleys on the hillsides, burying almost 2,000 miles of streams which feed the Mississippi River. Slurry, the residue which is used to clean the coal can wash into groundwater and may contain arsenic, lead, manganese, iron, sodium, strontium, and sulfate. A recent research study is beginning to link these environmental impacts to the grave health concerns in the Appalachian communities. During most of the Mountaintop removal mining’s history coal industries have been able to obtain permits easily to operate, but once under the Obama administration Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) those permits now take more time to obtain. The permit process requires all applications to be reviewed before being given out to coal
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (2005) defines mountaintop removal as “a mining practice where the tops of mountains are removed, exposing the seams of coal.” Coal companies throughout Appalachia adopted this process as a means of acquiring coal faster. People in support of mountaintop removal concentrate, not only on the cheap, plentiful energy which is produced, but also the supposed increase in safer occupation opportunities for miners. Such individuals also argue that flattened land provides space for airports, prisons, and shopping centers. However, mountaintop removal has serious consequences, which need to be revealed.
Totalitarian regimes take over control of every aspect of an individual's life in which the state holds total authority. The only thing Totalitarian regimes do for its community is cause the basic rights of humans to be destroyed by brutality and terror. The Totalitarian society of any regime is constantly moving toward some end goal, even though the totalitarian state never reaches it. It instead creates the illusion of doing so. As soon as one goal was reached, it was replaced by another and such was the case in Stalin's Russia.
Gays and Lesbians also went through a contentious time during the 1960s. This began with a routine police raid at the Stonewall, a bar that gays frequented. During this raid, they men refused to be arrested and sent to prison, and they began a riot in the streets. This riot became a three day rebellion that had gay men flaunting their homosexuality in Sheridan Square for all to behold. This “coming out” helped the Gay Rights movement because it “initiated self-defense and political activity”, bringing more attention to the matter. Organizations like the Gay Liberation Front attempted to connect the s...
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.
On June 28, 1969, an event occurred that was to be the start of one of the most powerful movements in US history. On that Friday in June, the New York police force raided a popular bar in Greenwich Village called the Stonewall Inn because it was suspected of operating without a liquor license. Raids usually went on undisturbed by people involved, but during this raid the area around the inn exploded into fierce protest. The repercussions and multiple disputes that resulted from the initial raid would come to be known as the Stonewall Riots.
Halperin, David. "Is There a History of Sexuality?." The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader. Ed. Henry
When Stalin became leader of the USSR the quality of life and standard of living dropped considerably. For instance the people had no personal freedom. Meaning that they had to worship Stalin as all other religions had been abolished and most churches had been demolished. The people who went into those churches that were left standing were arrested or punished otherwise. Soon there were food shortages. Somewhere between 1932 and 1933 over 6 million people died of starvation. This was the greatest man made famine in history. The famine came as a result of Stalin’s unrealistic goals . Also, people had poor family lives. Abortions came a dime a dozen as did divorces. Wedding rings were banned. There was insufficient housing, as some people had to live in tents. This may be because of workers not working hard enough. Maybe if the workers worked harder they could have received better housing.
The Gay Rights Movement has brought the idea and acceptance of homosexuals in American Culture a very long way in the last thirty years or so. However, those who accept homosexuality or those who encourage it are still the minority in comparison, and so, there is a long way to go still before homosexuality is considered completely normal and gays are treated just like everyone else. The great uprising of people has already come and gone, and now the movement is in the maintenance stage, where it does not get much media attention anymore. That could be the best way to go for the Movement though, as their goal all along has been to blend in and be treated like everyone else. How better to do that than to not draw attention to one's self.
In the 1990's there has been what is called a "normalized movement"(Warner 41). This so-called movement has permeated into all aspects of the Gay and Lesbian movement's agenda. It has become increasingly clear in the realms of the media such as television, movies and magazines. The major objective for the proponents of this movement is to make the homosexual seem "normal." This would be done by not focusing on the sexual nature of the homosexual. Since their sexual behavior is considered deviant by society, any outward expression of it will be looked down upon. So, it has been the goal of some leaders of the movement as well as those who control the media outlets to separate the identity and sexuality of the homosexual as far as possible.
After Vladimir Lenin, a Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist, died, Stalin outmaneuvered his rivals and won the control of the Communist Party. In the tardy 1920’s he became dictator of the Soviet Cumulation. Then he wanted to industrialize the country because at the time the economic was farming. Millions of farmers reluctant to be apart of Stalin’s orders and were killed as penalization. The civilization led a widespread famine across the Soviet Coalescence and killed millions of people. Stalin wanted to kill anyone who opposed him of his orders. He engendered an army of secret police, and inspirited citizens to spy on others which had many people killed or sent to a labor camp. Virtually everyone around Stalin was considered a threat to him, even the Communist Party, the military, and components of the Soviet Coalescence society, s...
At the start of the 20th century, Russia began to rapidly change. The Czarist autocracy that was previously in place was overthrown and the most influential family, the Romanovs, were no more. The Russian Revolution was soon in full swing and people were needed to take charge. One of the leader who emerges as a result of this is Joseph Stalin. Starting out as a simple countryside peasant, he quickly rose to a position of power. Eventually reaching the position of dictator, he implemented new policies that would further industrialize Russia as well as further progressing his goal of having total control over the Russian people. These policies include his 5-year plans as well as the creation of a totalitarian state. Joseph Stalin is, by many, considered one of the most ruthless leaders in the history of the world.
Along with a change in gender role for women over the past century there has been a change in the idea of gender and sexuality. The acceptance of sexual orientations besides heterosexuality has led to a major change in marriages and family. A factor in this acceptance has been the media. There have been quite a few shows with homosexual and transgender characters. The media has influenced many people to fight for certain legal rights for homosexual people. This has led to same-sex marriages being legalized in some states. Now there are many marriages in the U.S. comprised of homosexual people. Alon...
Of all topics most popular in today's media, issues concerning homosexuals and homosexuality in general top the list. Homosexuality is generally defined as a sexual relationship between partners of the same sex. Debate concerning its causes and consequences has been going on for many centuries and almost in every period in human history. However, never before in human history has it been granted such wide scale acceptance in western society as it has now. The question that I seek to answer in this paper is whether such wide scale acceptance should in fact be granted to homosexual behavior? Is such behavior rational, scientifically functional or is it actually detrimental to the high level of civilization that we've achieved?