Lesbians on TV: Illusion of Progress When television first appeared back in the 1940's, times were very different. What we would consider completely normal today would have seemed quite taboo just a few decades ago. For example, in 1953, Lucille Ball was not allowed to say the word "pregnant" while she was expecting baby Ricky and it wasn't until the 1960's show Bewitched, that we saw a married couple actually sharing the same bed. Considering how conservative the television networks
best be described as nebulous. Although most know that a lesbian is a woman that loves other women, the public opinion surrounding lesbianism mainly consists of half-formed stereotypes and vague disapproval or begrudging acceptance. When considering the LGBT community, most people picture the gay male and neglect the rest of the acronym. There a multitude of reasons for this nebulous perception of the modern day lesbian, but in actuality, lesbian culture is a vast and solid connection between woman that
Identifying Lesbian and Mother In her 1995 book, "On the Outside Looking In: The Politics of Lesbian Motherhood", Ellen Lewin presents the phenomenon of lesbian women who, through childbirth, gain access to the heterosexual community as an in-group member. At first glance, Lewin's observations seem to subvert traditional inside/outside ideology, portraying the boundaries of the hetero- and homosexual worlds as permeable rather than rigidly, relationally exclusive. A more exhaustive analysis
There are many labels, names and categories that have been assigned or given to lesbians. What is "lesbian"? Is it a certain type of woman? Does one lesbian have an identical feature or character as another lesbian? Does a lesbian have something extra or something missing from heterosexual women? This notion that we can classify a human being by their sexual preference is absolutely ludicrous and unsubstantiated! Women are just that, women. Sexual attraction to humans, be it the same sex or not,
The idea that lesbians and gay men may be parents is often perceived as impossible or immoral. Gay men and lesbians are often excluded from having children because sexual reproduction is related to men and women only. My approach to this controversial topic of gay parenting will be that of attempting to analyze the Pro side first. Gays and lesbians deserve equal rights in our society. Society has to realize that the modern family has transformed into many different forms in recent years in that the
cases, blacklisted from applying for civilian jobs. Lesbians in this era were ostracized by society and endured unending discrimination from the government and police. In the face of this tremendous cultural pressure these women carved their own communities and lives out on the edges of the social order. The ‘Lavender Scare’ of the 1950s bred anti-gay legislation that led to horrific discrimination against lesbians and the development of a lesbian subculture. This period is currently referred to
Gay and lesbians today In was late July of 1999, five of my buddies and I had just graduated from high school and we were enjoying one of the greatest summers of our lives in Ocean City, Maryland. We were renting out what we thought was the best bachelor pad in all of O.C. on 139th street. Even friends of ours that we graduated with and had known for several years were living at the beach as well. Life was good. But two girls in particular that all of our friends knew from Paint Branch H.S.
out is real enough, but the worry does not end there. There also lurks the fear of being called names, being assaulted, perhaps even killed. For adults these fears are horrible enough. For a lesbian and gay teenager, who lacks experience and life skills to cope with them, such fears can be overwhelming. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth face many problems as they realize they are homosexual. Often they don't know even one other homosexual person and feel very alone and misunderstood. They see very few
Living in this generation as African American Lesbian women has proven to be more difficult as the years go by. We have heard so many horrifying stories about how African American women were treated during the slavery period. Who would have thought that things would be even worse as an African American Lesbian? As decades passed circumstances were to have improved but unfortunately, segregation is still being enforced in this new era. It is very unfortunate that we still live in a society that
Being for or against gay and lesbian marriage has been the topic that has started a great amount of controversy in the U.S. for the past few years. In some states gay marriage has been already been approved, but in others it has been denied. The next hot topic in the U.S. refers to the approval of gay and lesbian adoption. There are many negative and positives to this subject, whether society is for, or against gay and lesbian marriage. The act of gay and lesbian adoption should not be allowed because
The Challenges of Lesbian and Gay Youth This research paper is missing the works cited “The unprecedented growth of the gay community in recent history has transformed our culture and consciousness, creating radically new possibilities for people to ‘come out’ and live more openly as homosexuals”(Herdt 2). Before the 1969 Stonewall riot in New York, homosexuality was a taboo subject. Research concerning homosexuality emphasized the etiology, treatment, and psychological adjustment of homosexuals
Understand the lesbian identity “…sex attains meaning in social relations, which implies that we can only make appropriate choices around sexuality by understanding its social, cultueral and political context.” (Quote: 9293 jeffrey weeks) The idea around the sexual tradition has drastically changed over the years; for centuries homosexuality was considered as a sinful act; but with developments in the scientific, cultural and social world this ‘act’ developed into an identity, a way of being based
Free Essays - The Church and Gays, Lesbians The Catholic Church loves LGBT people with a profound love, just like it loves all of its other children. Various organizations within the church have as their main purpose the delivery of the Gospel to LGBT's. All of us are sacred creations of God, and therefore deserve respect on the basis of our human nature. This essay treats an outreach effort of the church in this area. In the rite of baptism, the liturgy joyfully proclaims, "you are God's
comedically playing off each other in the motion picture ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding.’ Sure, gays and lesbians have been around forever, especially in Hollywood. But never has there been a time to be more out. With the popularity of shows like Will and Grace, which feature leading gay characters, as well as Dawson’s Creek and it’s supporting character of teenager Jack McPhee, we are slowly seeing gay and lesbian characters creeping into the mainstream media. The family unit has always been a treasured and
Lesbian feminism, in itself, is a response to the second wave of feminism. The second wave of feminism was responsible for making gender discrimination visible, encouraging women to take government/political positions, and also contributed to procreative rights. Lesbian feminism emphasized on focusing their energy away from men and more into other women. The paper, The Woman Identified Woman, by Radicalesbians describes lesbianism, like male homosexuality, as a category of behavior possible only
Social and Legal Obstacles of Gay and Lesbian Parenting In the last decade there has been a rise in the number of lesbians and gay men forming their own families. Many do this through adoption, foster care, artificial insemination, and other means. Today, researchers have estimated that the number of children living with one gay or lesbian parent is six to fourteen million. Some have described this current period as a lesbian and gay “baby boom”. However, lesbian and gay parents face many social and
Metaphorical Lesbian in Chopin’s The Awakening In “The Metaphorical Lesbian: Edna Pontellier in The Awakening” Elizabeth LeBlanc asserts that the character Edna Pontellier is an example of what Bonnie Zimmerman calls the “metaphorical lesbian.” It’s important to distinguish between Zimmerman’s concept of the “metaphorical lesbian” and lesbianism. The “metaphorical lesbian” does not have to act on lesbian feelings or even become conscious of herself as a lesbian. Instead, the “metaphorical lesbian” creates
Homosexuality Is Wrong Within the past several years gay and lesbian rights has become a huge issue. Gays and lesbians have started to come out of the ''closet," and proudly admitting their sexuality. In the past few years gays and lesbians have been fighting for the right to marry, and adopt children. So far there is only one state that allows gays to become married. People have become more and more open minded with homosexuality. Twenty years ago homosexuality was looked down upon (in general)
Edna as a Metaphorical Lesbian in Chopin’s The Awakening Elizabeth LeBlanc places The Awakening in an interesting context in her essay “The Metaphorical Lesbian,” as gender criticism must, for Chopin wrote the novel at the end of the 19th century, when homosexuality as an identity emerged culturally, at least in terms of the gay male identity, as proffered by Oscar Wilde across the Atlantic. Lesbianism, too, started to make its debut on the cultural stage, particularly in literature. However
I) THE SCIENTIFIC PERSPECTIVE: Scientifically speaking, sex is a means to an end. The end being the propagation of the human race. This end can never be fulfilled by sex between males (in the case of gays) or between females (in the case of lesbians). Therefore, the general conclusion is that homosexuality is irrational and illogical. If we consider the construction of the bodies of the male and female, what is noticed at once is that the construction of a body of a male (the penis and