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The Loss Of Lesbian Identity
The fear of the disappearance of Lesbian identity is not a new one; Lesbianism has a history of being ignored. In Compulsory Heterosexuality and
Lesbian Existence, author Adrienne Rich contends that through the lens of Compulsory Heterosexuality, Lesbianism is deemed either "Abhorrent" or
rendered invisible (Rich, 632). While inclusion and cohesion are necessary for minority groups to gain political clout and recognition, the lack of
spaces distinctly for Lesbians has always been sparse. Grouped in with Gay men, Lesbians lacked a solid political identity without their male
counterparts. "Lesbians have historically been deprived of a political existence through 'inclusion' as female versions of male homosexuality. To equate
lesbian existence ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Lesbians, like Gay men, Bisexuals, and Trans individuals, deserve unique spaces to discuss issues exclusive to them. The advancement of Queer
identity and the preservation of Lesbian identity do not need to be mutually exclusive. By is establishing more exclusive spaces for some groups, as
well as more spaces open to all LGBTQ participants, both communities can thrive, However, unlike these groups which have had an increase in
established safe spaces, Lesbian spaces are being either "queered" or shut down. This means Lesbians have no places to call their own, or to strengthen
their identities. "Lesbian" has become a symbol of regressive and exclusionary attitudes; while solidarity between Lesbians and the Trans community is
imperative, Lesbians are entitled to safe spaces and the autonomy to reject any sexual contact they do not wish to engage in without fear of being
deemed bigoted in response. These conditions, coupled with the negative connotations of Lesbianism, are not entirely new. Rather, they are the same
threats Lesbianism has always encountered in a different cultural context. These conditions have played a significant role in the weakening of Lesbian
identity. The loss of Lesbian identity and erasure of Lesbian history would be detrimental to the entire LGBTQ community, as Lesbians have a rich and
unique history, as well as standing in solidarity with other community members. Though it is on the decline, Lesbian identity will not die until those
with exclusive same–sex or same–gender attraction stop finding solace with the term. As many women continue to identify with lesbianism, these
women deserve to be adequately
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Waves Of Debates Within Feminism
Gender 208
Assignment 1: Waves of Debates within Feminism
Feminism, in simple terms, refers to a collective desire to end the oppression of women. Because oppression takes various forms and affects those
who are victim to it in a number of different, yet often connected ways; feminism should accordingly be regarded as a multifaceted set of movements
working towards multiple aims and ends. Which is to say that feminism is less a single movement concerned with the oppression of women, and more a
gathering of movements concerned with a number of oppressive structures, working towards the eradication of domination period. Analysing the works
of Mimi Mariuncci (2010), Audre Lorde (1984), and Rosemarie Garland–Thomson (2002) this paper will attempt to answer the question of why
intersectionality is imperative to feminist discourse and Praxis, exploring the different areas in which the oppression of women interests with the
oppression, marginalisation, and suppression of other minority groups, i.e. queer people, people of colour, people with disabilities, old people, poor
people, transgendered, and gender non–conforming people etc.
In the pursuit of inclusivity and intersectionality feminist discourse has been tasked with acknowledging and addressing all forms of oppression as a
logic of domination. A theory coined by ecofeminist philosopher Karen Warren which refers to a way of understanding and communicating with the
world, and it's inhabitants, in a way that is structured
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Biological Differences Between Men And Women Essay
Sex is defined as "the average, reliable, biological differences between males and females" (Auleb 1). One biological difference between males and
females is in external genitalia: males have penises whereas females have vaginas. Sexuality refers to one 's sexual orientation, sexual behaviors, and
capacity for sexual feelings (YourDictionary.com). Someone who is not sexually attracted to anyone may identify themselves as asexual. And sexual
identity is one 's conception of themselves in terms of to whom they are sexually and romantically attracted, if they experience sexual or romantic
attraction at all (Wikipedia.org). Someone who is attracted to people regardless of gender may identify as bisexual, or as pansexual if they do not
adhere to the belief that there are only two genders. One 's sexual behaviors and attitudes towards sex and sexuality may be governed by their
values, of which there are two types. Formal values are what one says they believe; informal values are what one actually does (Auleb 3). If
someone says that people should wait until marriage to have sex, that is their formal values. If they abstain from sex until marriage, that is their
informal value. Ideally, one 's formal values and informal values are in sync, for if they are not, one may find themselves in a situation in which they
are unready or unwilling to participate. One 's values do not form in a vacuum and are shaped by their society and culture. Family, religion, school,
media, and personal
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Gender Identity Is The Assumption Of There Being Binary...
Binary Logic: Another issue with research pertaining to sexual identity is the assumption of there being binary categories, such as gay/straight, male
/female, etc. Research in this area is generally dichotomized (e.g. male/female, gay/straight), which can foster rigid identity assumptions, foster
homogeneous understanding of research particiapnts and results, foster a divide between 'normal' and 'deviant' behavior, as well as mask inherent
variation in different groups and populations (Johnson & Repta, 2012). Bringing greater awareness to the complexity of sexual and gender identity
could have transformative effects on how research is conducted. Some scholars in the social work field have begun to acknowledge and recognize the
increasing evidence that sexual and gender identity are not binary categories, as well that categories might not even be an accurate way of
understanding these phenomena (Burdge, 2007; Roche & Gringeri, 2010). While an understanding that the binary model is flawed has gained some
traction in social work research, the majority of researchers continue to ignore and disregard this possibility, consequently reinforcing this erroneous
dichotomous paradigm (Rassi, 2011). It has also been noted that critiques from postmodern, poststructural, and queer theory perspectives, as well as
from individuals or groups (e.g. transgender, bisexual, intersex) who do not "fit neatly" into binary categories continue to remain essentially absent
within social work
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The Pros And Cons Of Homosexuality
In today's world, controversies are everywhere, and impossible to avoid in regular day–to–day interactions. When you educate yourself on a
controversial subject, you often discover how uneducated and occasionally bigoted other people can be. One such subject is sexuality. As time goes
on, sexuality gains more visibility as a growing number of people come out as gay, transgender, and other sexual gender orientations. TheLGBT+
(lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans* plus) community is a supposed safe place for those who identify as queer or trans* (umbrella terms referring to those
who don't identify with heterosexuality and those whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth, respectively). However, as
with any rule, people will make exceptions. Though many offenders deny, obvious discrimination is seen against minority sexualities, such as
asexuality and bisexuality, in forms of jokes and mockeries, invisibility, mislabelling, prejudice, and in some cases, innocent lack of knowledge, from
both inside and outside the LGBT+ community.
There are multiple aspects to someone's identity including gender, romantic, and sexual identity. Romantic and sexual identities are similar in their
variations. A prefix is placed before–romantic or –sexual. Some identity prefixes include hetero–, homo–, pan–, bi–, and a–. A romantic identity tells
what genders a given person experiences romantic attraction towards; a sexual identity tells of the genders a person experiences
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The Negative Stereotypes About Bisexual Lifestyle
The second contributing factor is the negative stereotypes about bisexual lifestyle. The political "treachery" of bisexual women resulted in their
connection to sexual promiscuity. Lesbian women also frequently accused bisexual women of being fence–sitters who were able to "choose" between
having a heterosexual and a lesbian relationship. Katie Griffin, a therapist, once summarized her bisexual experience into "On any other day, I will be
straight. If it's Wednesday, I must be Gay" (1). In other words, many see bisexual individuals as being 50% gay, 50% straight, and 100%
non–committal. Griffin is certainly not alone in her experiences; in her clinical practice she found that many bisexual women had to choose between
lesbianism and heterosexuality (10). The fluidity of bisexuality creates discomfort with women who had to go through the tedious process of
pinpointing the gender they are attracted to. Hence, lesbians see bisexuality as a transitional identity between heterosexuality and lesbianism; notably,
83% lesbians agreed that "some women claim to be bisexual when they are really lesbians who are afraid to admit it" (Rust, "Neutralizing the Political
Threat" 9). Stone also notes in her memoir that lesbians are often bitter about the "straight–passing privilege" that bisexual women possess (2). They
claim that bisexual women are able to enjoy the benefits of the lesbian community without receiving the discrimination that comes with it.
The ability of bisexuals to
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What Is Bi-Erasure?
What Is Bi–erasure? Oh Wait, You Wouldn't Know!
In a world where we can build kidneys from stem cells or connect to the internet via your watch: why is bisexuality forgotten about? The phrase
bi–erasure is one that you may not know but believe me it is one you definitely should know. Bi–erasure is defined as the tendency to ignore, remove,
falsify, or re–explain evidence of bisexuality in history, academia, news, media and other primary sources. The world seems to be celebrating the
death of homophobia because America made same sex marriage legal in all 50 states, but this is not the case. Homophobia is still very present in
society but more than homophobia its biphobia. Biphobia is intense hatred, fear or aversion towards bisexuals or ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Bi–erasure is so harmful because it attacks all that bisexual people believe in like the media, law and gay pride. Another thing bisexuals have to deal
with is that bisexuals are the least supported and least served minority group within the entire LGBT community with just .01 % of all LGBT funding
directed toward bisexual projects or programs since 1970. More than bisexuals not being supported research suggests that bisexuals suffer worse
mental health than heterosexuals, lesbians, and gay men. Bisexuals have higher rates of suicide, self harm, mood disorders and depression than any
other sexuality and one common reason for this is how tough it is to be an "out" bisexual in todays society.This is one of the biggest factors as to why
bi–erasure is so harmful to people. Our culture is so unaccepting of difference and this could be why people take part in bi–erasure however that does
not excuse
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Feminism : A Feminist Theory
WGS 3600: Feminist Theory
Frankie Snyder and Jax McMillian
Due: 12/10/2015
Feminism is gender liberation
Feminism needs to be more broadly defined in terms of gender liberation to encompass individuals from all walks of genders (or nongenders).
Separating gender nonconforming issues from feminism is erasive; marginalized gender nonconforming individuals should not be told to fend for
themselves and their own rights due to a multitude of oppressions experienced by these individuals (based on the prejudicial gender assumptions the
patriarchy puts on them). In all, feminism should encompass gender nonconforming rights because to do otherwise would be to align with the
patriarchal system in which feminists are fighting against; including gender nonconforming issues in the sphere of feminism will help strengthen the
discourse of general gender equality as has been argued for centuries.
Definitionally, much like feminism, nonbinary and gender–nonconforming can often be ambiguous and varied from person to person. For the sake of
this paper the reference to nonbinary individuals is a reference to anyone who at any point has identified outside of the gender binary at least some of
the time. This encompasses a broad range of identities including genderqueer, agender, demigender, genderfluid, and an accepted lack of identification
in the gender realm altogether. Further, gender–nonconforming will be defined as the expression/behavior that doesn't match masculine and feminine
gender
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Essentialist Theory Of The Queer Theory
sexuality often impacts the success of claims made by bi–sexual refugees. The author argues that this dominant understanding jettisons complex
subjective positions and disregards varying realities. The refugee determination system misinterprets and misidentifies the lived experiences of bisexual
claimants because of this knowledge, further disadvantaging this group of refugees. Rehaag observes that individuals seeking asylum on the basis of
oppression for their bisexual tendencies have significantly higher rejection rates compared to other claimants.
To investigate this assertion, Rehaag uses the queer theory as the main theoretical framework. According to Rehaag, the Queer theory is an
interdisciplinary medium that examines the complex interactions between sexuality and gender, and conceptualizes such views of sexual orientation as
"essentialist." The essentialist view dichotomizes individuals as being either straight or gay on the basis of early childhood psychological factors or
biological traits. Consequently, this essentialist argument comprehends sexual orientation as unchangeable and inflexible. Essentialists may, in selected
instances, acknowledge groups beyond gay and straight, such as transgendered and bisexual individuals. Queer theorists reject the essentialist view
arguing that these categories are not inflexible. Rather, these categories are regularly recreated through socio–historical patterns or structured social
exchanges. Consequently, the queer theory
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It Aint Easy Being Bisexual On TV By Amy Zimmerman
A Rhetorical Analysis of "It Ain't Easy Being Bisexual on TV" The representation of the LGBT community in the film industry has long been a topic of
much debate. In her article, "It Ain't Easy Being Bisexual on TV," Amy Zimmerman addresses this topic with specific interest on bisexual
representation. By appealing to the logic of her audience, using an informal tone, and referring to relatable content, Zimmerman constructs an argument
which persuades readers of The Daily Beast that the film industry is unfairly and inaccurately representing bisexuals. However, her argument holds
little influence over those who are not movie fans or The Daily Beast readers. Zimmerman begins developing her persuasive argument at the beginning
of her article... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
To support this opinion, Zimmerman immediately clarifies why she believes this, stating that Martell is presented by Game of Thrones as someone
with an "insatiable appetite" (Zimmerman 565) instead of a dissimilar sexuality. This has the result of devaluing his bisexuality and reframing it as
"masculine libertine" (Zimmerman 565). Unfortunately, statistics and logic are rarely enough to persuade an audience about a topic, especially if that
topic is emotional. Zimmerman handles this by using rhetorical examples which appeal to the audience's emotions to her advantage. Specifically, she
includes characters, titles, and quotes from movies. This works because many members of Zimmerman's audience are movie enthusiasts, which is
reasonable to conclude since The Daily Beast "delivers award–winning original reporting and sharp opinion in the arena of . . . pop–culture" ("About
Us"). For instance, consider the statement that, "when even a show like Glee . . . makes fun of the 'myth' of bisexuality, it's clear that bisexual
representation . . . is still stuck in the dark ages" (Zimmerman 565). By using Glee as an example in this quote, Zimmerman creates a feeling of
relatability with the Glee fan base while also showing them how a movie they love is unfairly representing bisexuals. This feeling of relatability makes
the audience more receptive to Zimmerman's argument. In addition to using rhetorical examples, Zimmerman also utilizes an informal tone to make
herself more
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Sexism In Movies
In her October 2016 Ted Talk, activist Stacy Smith presented a problem that has been persistent for over fifty years. In her discussion, Smith brought to
light information about the sexism that is prevalent in Hollywood. Smith, along with her team, has conducted more than thirty investigations on the
erasing and marginalization of females in the movie industry. Smith discusses how she carries out her research by cataloguing all speaking characters
on–screen for race, ethnicity, gender, LGBT, and characters with disabilities. Smith uses her data to show how much under representation there truly is
in Hollywood and the film industry. Smith not only argues the under representation of actresses, but also the under representation of females behind...
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Smith states that, "Across the top 100 films of just last year, 48 films didn't feature one black or African–American speaking character, and 70 films
were devoid of Asian or Asian–American speaking characters that were girls or women" (Smith). The discrimination of African Americans, Asians,
and many other races and ethnicities has been somewhat of an epidemic in Hollywood and the film industry for many years. It is understandable how
this topic can upset people and have them pushing for more ethnic diversity in movies. Although many believe the film industry should include more
diversity, people also must understand that not all characters can be changed just for the sake of having more diversity in a film. Take historical films
for example, directors are not going to make a historical film with actors that do not fit within the roles of the movie. This is different in the case of
movies like the Spiderman franchise. This franchise had been looking for an actor to continue the franchise, and had an African American actor in the
running for the main role. Even though the previous films had while actors portray the lead, it would have been completely acceptable for an African
American actor to take over. In the end the Spiderman franchise gave up a wonderful opportunity to cast an African American actor and help to fight
against the diversity
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The Historical Prevalence Of Bisexuality Essay
The historical prevalence of bisexuality is hard to determine because same–sex sexual activity has traditionally been very stigmatized; furthermore
bisexuality is often ignored in historical discussions of sexual orientation. Nonetheless, over the past few decades, the status quo with regard to
same–sex sexual activity has changed drastically. The repeal of anti–gay laws and the 2003 supreme court decision Lawrence v. Texas which eliminated
all remaining sodomy laws in the United States, the removal of homosexuality from its designation as a sexual disorder in the DSM, the existence of
high–profile LGBTQ figures, and the push for, and legalization of gay marriage in the United States and other western countries have all been
significant contributing factors toward the normalization of same–sex sexual activity. The general public has experienced increased exposure to the
LGBTQ community, and as a result, acceptance of sexual minorities, including bisexual individuals, has grown.
In spite of the progress toward acceptance of bisexual individuals, many people still view sexual orientation as dichotomous, which contributes to the
erasure and/or invisibility of the bisexual community (Alarie & Gaudet 2013). Some also perceive bisexuality as a "transitional identity" between
heterosexuality and homosexuality, or believe that people who identify as bisexual are just too afraid to come out as homosexual (Israel and Mohr
2003; Alarie & Gaudet 2013). Some studies have
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Celebrating the Queer in Amsterdam
I think the celebration of LGBT identities in Amsterdam from the article "Gay Men and Lesbians in the Netherlands" by Gert Hekma and Jan Willem
Duyvendak to the movie we watched was an interesting look at LGBT struggles (or lack of struggles) and identities found in the Netherlands in
comparison to the United States. At first glance, from both the movie and the article, Amsterdam just seems like a wild, amazing time for people of all
sexualities. Equality has been reached. Hallelujah! Let's party! Beyond this outward appearance of equality and acceptance, Amsterdam's LGBT culture
must be unpacked and examined beyond just gay people partying a lot like in the documentary. I think the article "Gay Men and Lesbians in the
Netherlands" did a pretty good job of unpacking Amsterdam's LGBT culture but a criticism I have is that the article pretty much forgot bisexuals
and trans people in its analysis of Amsterdam's gay culture. Bi and trans erasure is a thing that regularly occurs in both straight and gay spaces so I
was not surprised by this but it is telling about both the authors and Amsterdam in general. This is a connection that will be addressed because we did
read articles on both bisexual and trans people. Amsterdam, in its goal to become the gay haven of the world, has conveniently forgotten about
everybody else in the LGBT struggle including many people of color, and that must be tackled for positive change to occur. As the article "Gay Men
and Lesbians in the
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The Is The Romantic And / Or Sexual Attraction For More...
Bisexuality is the romantic and/or sexual attraction to more than one gender. Those who identify as bisexual are attracted to male, female, and
sometimes the non–binary genders. Non–binary genders can include those who are transgender, agender, and genderfluid. Bisexuality is a separate
sexuality from pansexuality. Pansexuality which is the romantic and/or sexual attraction to all genders. Like the sexuality and gender spectrums
bisexuality is also a spectrum. One can be bisexual but only desire those of the male and female gender. Another could only find those who are
non–binary and the female gender attractive, ect.
Within the mainstream and LGBTQ+ communities the issue of bisexual erasure is quite prevalent. Bisexual erasure is the act of ignoring or
removing the existence of bisexuality from primary sources. Bisexual erasure is a form of biphobia, the aversion to bisexuality and bisexual people.
It can also include the denial of the existence of bisexuality. Female bisexuality has been the most ignored and unbelieved form of bisexuality.
Today's denial of female bisexuality is a product of traditional disenfranchisement of female sexuality. By comparing John Wilmont, Earl of
Rochester's poem "Song" to Aphra Behn's poem "To the Fair Clarinda" the existence and erasure of female bisexuality becomes clear. Rochester, a
known bisexual, wrote "Song" in 1680. The work focuses on the narrator's, Rochester's, view on choosing women as romantic partners. The poem
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Group Reflection
Thirdly, I asked John Blu about the activities and discussions that go on during the meetings that they hold on Thursdays. He stated that"Every
meeting is different, there's group conversations when an issue or situation comes up from a member, there has been presentations on bullying,
and there's activities like speed friending." John Blu continued to talk and started to discuss about how they did an activity called speed friending
He then began giggling and said "It felt like speed dating and that everyone was there to find a hookup or hook ups, most trying to find bisexuals
to experiment with." I then was shocked about why that was an activity at the meeting and how that educated people. However, I was not going to
let this cloud my judgement before hearing what QUEST had to say about their meetings. When I went to see QUEST, we met in their conference
room, there were no pride flags like anticipated, nor many cis males or females. The day I went in to observe the group, there were many people
coupled off, that discussed how they all just met and that they met one another because of QUEST. In that moment I then realized that what John
Blu said was very much true. I began observing them and watching how they were all over each other, which was disturbing in way because it was
PDA. I then watched one of the advisors also be all over one of the new members of the group. I started to believe maybe the members are there for
the wrong reasons and people were not there to
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Essay On AIDS
On larger scales as well, societies have been depriving LGBT people of their histories and rights in order to preserve the current social and cultural
climates. As rigid social classes have started to become more blurred, AIDs literature has become more mainstream and the history of the AIDs crisis in
terms of gay people has become less shadowed. The first truly definable category of AIDs writing is in the face of the initial media blackout, wherein
only those who were affected by the disease wrote about it, or consumed media related to it. This was when being gay was even more dangerous
/considered irreparably immoral, and the tone of the writing has shifted in the modern day to more generalized, hopeful themes. (McDonald) It has
taken a ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
While the issue being discussed is whether trans* people are allowed to use the restroom that best corresponds with their gender, the real question
being discussed is whether or not trans* people are allowed to exist in public spaces; if they can't safely use the restroom in a public space, then they
can't exist in that space for very long without either leaving or putting themself in danger. They either remove themself or someone removes them. It's a
more direct method compared to restriction of information, but the intent and the outcome are the same; erasure of LGBT people from the public
consciousness. Similarly, and more specifically, The 1969 Stonewall Riots and subsequent American "revolutions" were misrepresented and
redirected in order to preserve the social climate as much as possible. Sylvia Rivera, despite being a huge part of the Stonewall Riots and helping,
according to many historians, to kickstart the US LGBT rights movement, is hardly ever mentioned outside of in depth LGBT conversations. Rivera
was a huge part of LGBT history, and even then not many young or newly realized members of the community know about her because she was a
trans*woman of color, the most threatened and erased LGBT denomination. In a work titled "The Stonewall uprising," the introduction reads, "In the
early morning of June 28, 1969, police officers entered the Stonewall Inn. The bar was a
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Homosexuality In Ancient Greece
In the wake of the 2016 presidential election and the stunning reality for many LGBT people of the country electing an incredibly anti–LGBT president
and vice president, there was one area of redemption for the LGBT community. Kate Brown, who is bisexual, became the first openly LGBT governor
(Phillips). For LGBT people, representation is a huge step forward for voices to be heard and for equality to become a reality and to have an openly
bisexual woman in an influential leadership position, is important for the same reasons for the rest of the LGBT community, but also because of how
few bisexuals are out of the closet. The Pew Research Center has found that "71% of lesbians and 77% of gay men" are out to all or most of the
important people ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
On February 21, 1903, "The first New York anti–gay police raid takes place at the Ariston Bathhouse. Police detained 60 men, and arrested 14" ("A
History of the LGBTQA Movement"). Same–sex attraction and acting on this attraction was seen as a dangerous threat to the community that called for
police presence in the early twentieth century in the United States as seen through this raid. In the same article from 1934 to 1968, the "Motion
Picture Production Code, known as the Hayes Code, prohibited depiction of homosexuality in film" " ("A History of the LGBTQA Movement"). Not
only was there no representation for LGBT people in film for this long period in twentieth century America, it was illegal to for movie makers to
depict homosexuality which leads to homosexuality becoming even more taboo than how cultural attitudes around it create. In 1945, "After the Allied
forces liberated the concentration camps, those interned for homosexuality are not freed, but required to serve out their full sentences because of the
German law outlawing homosexual behavior" " ("A History of the LGBTQA Movement"). The Holocaust is often seen as a major injustice in Jewish
history, but it also had a huge impact on lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals who were found guilty of homosexuality and even though they faced the
same horrors of the Holocaust that Jewish people did, they did
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Calculus Oaper
http://www.terry.uga.edu/~dawndba/4500compulsoryhet.htm
Compulsory Heterosexuality and
Lesbian Existence 

Adrienne Rich
Adrienne Rich 's essay constitutes a powerful challenge to some of our least examined sexual assumptions. Rich turns all the familiar arguments on
their heads: If the first erotic bond is to the mother, she asks, could not the "natural" sexual orientation of both men and women be toward women?
Rich 's radical questioning has been a major intellectual force in the general feminist reorientation to sexual matters in recent years, and her conception
of a "lesbian continuum" sparked especially intense debate. Does lesbianism incorporate all support systems and intense interactions among women, or
is ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In none of these books, which concern themselves with mothering, sex roles, relationships, and societal prescriptions for women, is compulsory
heterosexuality ever examined as an institution powerfully affecting all these; or the idea of "preference" or "innate orientation" even indirectly
questioned.
In For Her Own Good 150 Years of the Experts ' Advice to Women by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English, the authors ' superb pamphlets,
Witches, Midwives and Nurses: A History of Women Healers, and Complaints and Disorders: The Sexual Politics of Sickness, are developed into a
provocative and complex study Their thesis in this book is that the advice given American women by male health professionals, particularly in the areas
of marital sex, maternity, and child care, has echoed the dictates of the economic marketplace and the role capitalism has needed women to play in
production and/ or reproduction. Women have become the consumer victims of various cures, therapies, and normative judgments in different
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Feminism In Angela Carter
Angela Carter does not speak of a Feminism that succumbs to patriarchal pressure. She allows certain cracks and fissures to become visible in
patriarchal structure and roles. Her treatment of the characters and situations is notably ambitious. Her reworking of myths and weaving of
imaginary situations evoke ideas of liberation and changes. Carter's female heroes in The Passion of New Eve and Nights at the Circus are not
merely victims of sexual harassment or rape. They are masculine females able to pose a challenge to all patriarchal norms. Both these novels provide
Carter opportunities to redefine masculinity. She succeeds in crediting her female protagonists with strong degree of autonomy and in making her male
protagonists convincingly drawn human beings. Carter's imaginary flights to worlds where women are installed as beings of power are prophetic in
every sense. Both Fevvers and the New Eve are symbolic representations... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
To ensure the safe and free future of women, she deconstructs the myth of the creation of Eve. The events treated in the novel take place in an
unspecified future when urban civilization is on the verge of collapse. The man named Evelyn regards women as inferior, treating them as sex
objects. He is involved in a torrid love affair with the black prostitute Leilah. But he is duly punished by the feminists. He is captured by band feminist
guerilla fighters who deliver him up to their leader mother, "a parodic portrait of matriarchal superwoman" (Contemporary Women's Fiction 18). The
Mother of Beulah is certainly a representation of the revengeful and powerful superwoman that Carter envisages for the future. The mother uses Evelyn
as a material in her experiment to create the perfect women. It very clearly suggests that it id men, not women, who require liberating from the tyranny
of gender
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Theories On The Causation Of Homosexuality
Running head: CAUSATION OF HOMOSEXUALITY 1
Theories on the Causation of Homosexuality
Luke Thomas
The University of Alabama
CAUSATION OF HOMOSEXUALITY 2
Abstract
There are two main schools of thought regarding the causation of homosexuality. The first,
which is examined in this research, is biological cause. Three main categories of thought
exist under biological theory: hormone theory, brain theory, and genetic theory. Each
category contains convincing evidence as to why its respective variations should be attributed
to provoking homosexuality. Hormone theory maintains that abnormal levels of testosterone
expose–whether too great or too little–is responsible for masculinizing or feminizing
the fetus and thus altering its ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The study of its causation, however, has been greatly expanded only within past two
centuries. Many theories have been formulated to attempt to explain what causes sexual
variance, and in particular, homosexuality. These theories can be grouped into two main
categories: nature and nurture. The theories which fall under the nature category maintain
that homosexual behavior results from biological, innate differences between homosexuals
and heterosexuals. The nurture theories, in contrast, state that homosexual tendencies form
as a result of one's sociological environment, and that homosexuality is an acquired trait.
Recent research, however, indicates a stronger assumption towards biological causes of
homosexuality and leads one to question the validity of the nurture theories in influencing
homosexual behavior.
Nature Theories
Theories crediting homosexual behavior to natural, biological factors take many
different routes. The three main subcategories of biological theories include hormone theory,
brain theory, and genetic theory. Although neither the nature nor the nurture theories are
entirely conclusive, recent research suggests more of a correlation between biological
theories on the causation of homosexuality as opposed to sociological theories.
Hormone Theory
Several studies have been conducted in an attempt to prove the
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Examples Of Bisexual Stereotypes On Gay
Bisexual Stereotypes
Since the early ages of life being gay or bisexual has has always been frowned upon or considered "not normal." Living in the twenty –first century
,homosexuals seem to still be portrayed as the stereotypical personalities given to them long ago. In Amy Zimmerman's, "It Ain't easy Being
Bisexual on Tv," she analyzes and describes her claim about the different stereotypes of bisexuals on television. Zimmerman uses Piper Chapman
from the popular Tv series Orange is the New Black as a support. Chapman refers to herself as a " former lesbian" who has only ever been interested in
one woman ( Zimmerman 565)
The Author also speaks on Kurt Hummel, a fictional gay character on Glee. She [ Amy] address how Kurt smugly informs his boyfriend that
'Bixseual's' a term that gay guys in highschool use when they wanna hold hands with girls and feel like a normal person for a change.' Zimmerman
criticizes the show for claiming to acknowledge the underdogs and "freaks",but simultaneously they mocks the "myth" of bisexuality (Zimmerman 565).
In the reading, Zimmermann also tackles the idea of " good" homosexual actors and actresses,who are considered role models because they play
authentic roles. The notable examples she use are Max from Happy Endings, the woman that starred The L Word ,and the cherished Will from the
show Will and Grace. Zimmerman explains how the "good" characters don't change the fact that gay characters are used as
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
Literature Review : Anti Forensics
Literature Review Anti–forensics The purpose of anti–forensics is to intentionally make digital investigations and the examination of digital media
more difficult through several means including data forgery, data hiding or data deletion. The techniques differ in what they do but the purpose is to
make sure data is unrecoverable. (Lucia, 2013) Forensic tools There are many tools used to try and find data that has been removed from a disk but
none of these tools are able to recover data from devices that have been sanitized. The reason for this is that the data contained in the file is
overwritten thus making it unrecoverable. Tools such as encase (proprietary) and diskdigger(free) are able to recover files that have been deleted using
the normal delete function with encase building up a complete image of the disk and contains much more information that can be used to see how
many times anti–forensic tools were run (if installed) because of prefetch files. Diskdigger on the other hand just recovers files that have been
deleted and allows them to be restored. There are many tools designed to securely erase data from a hard disk or just to remove a file. These tools
include ccleaner, HDD erase and many more. These tools allow for either files to be delete individually by overwriting the space they take up or
overwriting all the free space on the drive to remove any traces that files existed on the device. They overwrite the data and contain many different
algorithms that offer
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
Alison Bechdel, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic '
Introduction
Alison Bechdel's graphic memoir, "Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic", frames the development of her own sexual identity as she "comes out" as a
lesbian and masculine woman. While sexual identity is how one thinks of oneself in terms of to whom one is romantically or sexually attracted, to
represent the process of establishing sexual identity of Bechdel, Queer Theory is the best for demonstrating the development of one's established sexual
identity. According to Butler (2011), Queer theory builds both upon feminist challenges to the idea thatgender is part of the essential self and upon gay
and lesbian studies' examination of the socially constructed nature of sexual acts and identities. However, Bruce, the father of Bechdel, has struggles in
his sexual identity. He does not acknowledge his sexuality, which fluctuates within the LGBTQ sphere. By declining to occupy his space within the
queer community, Bruce denies his own identity, as a bisexual man and a feminine male (Eleanor, 2014). This article is going to explore the
presentations of the sexual identity of Bruce and Bechdel represented in the graphic novel. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Form the formal clothing of Bruce and his image from his daughter's perspective, it shows that Bruce finds his struggles between his reality of being
bisexual and the public appearance. He tries to act the role as an ideal husband and father which is a manifestation of the
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
The Negative Stereotypes About Bisexual Lifestyle
The second contributing factor is the negative stereotypes about bisexual lifestyle. The political "treachery" of bisexual women resulted in their
connection to sexual promiscuity. Lesbian women also frequently accused bisexual women of being fence–sitters who were able to "choose" between
having a heterosexual and a lesbian relationship. Katie Griffin, a therapist, once summarized her bisexual experience into "On any other day, I will be
straight. If it's Wednesday, I must be Gay" (1). In other words, many see bisexual individuals as being 50% gay, 50% straight, and 100%
non–committal. Griffin is certainly not alone in her experiences; in her clinical practice she found that many bisexual women had to choose between
lesbianism and heterosexuality (10). The fluidity of bisexuality creates discomfort with women who had to go through the tedious process of
pinpointing the gender they are attracted to. Hence, lesbians see bisexuality as a transitional identity between heterosexuality and lesbianism; notably,
83% lesbians agreed that "some women claim to be bisexual when they are really lesbians who are afraid to admit it" (Rust, "Neutralizing the Political
Threat" 9). Stone also notes in her memoir that lesbians are often bitter about the "straight–passing privilege" that bisexual women possess (2). They
claim that bisexual women are able to enjoy the benefits of the lesbian community without receiving the discrimination that comes with it.
The ability of bisexuals to
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
Lgbtq Actors
Not only are LGBTQ people not represented on TV or in the movies, LGBTQ actors are few and far between due to the homophobia present
throughout the entertainment industry. "LGBT actors are discriminated against, and many of them feel uncomfortable being out professionally
because of the risk to their career prospects (Gray)." Faced with discrimination it makes sense that only 53% of lesbian and gay actors are out to
most of their fellow actors, 36% have revealed to agents they are gay, and only 13% have told industry executives (Child). Nevermind getting the
chance to play characters they can relate to, LGBTQ actors aren't even allowed to exist as their true selves without risk of ruining their career. LGBTQ
actors exist and they should be... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Hypervisibility really is just another way to deny people recognition and the right to truly be seen which creates undesirable and harmful exposure.
However, the only other option being presented is invisibility which enforces silence and erasure, and the LGBTQ community certainly does not need
more of that. Hypervisibility is not a solution for the inadequate amount of LGBTQ characters being created and it's time that the public recognize how
the mass media is denying us access to more diversity in
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
Sociological Attitudes Toward Gender And Sexuality
When analysing the current state of sociological attitudes toward gender and sexuality, the overwhelming conclusion is that the hegemonic view in
society assumes an inherent binary (Lorber via Steele, 2005, p.75). We categorize people into two groups: male or female; man or woman; masculine or
feminine; gay or straight. However, throughout humanity's development, variances to that model have emerged, either choosing to sit somewhere
between the binary, or reject the model altogether. These variations challenge the binary assumptions entrenched within society, and as a result, are
often denied, misunderstood or ignored entirely.
Enter bisexuality. Put simply, the concept of bisexuality is a sexual orientation that lies in the space between heterosexuality and homosexuality.
However, society's assumption of sexual essentialism, the idea that sexual orientation is fixed and absolute, has led to a culture that is
"uncomfortable with people who are sexually ambiguous (Valverde via Naugler, 2012, p. 87). This urges society to assume that, despite the
existence of bisexuality, people are really either gay or straight (Valverde via Naugler, 2012, p. 83). This is the phenomenon of bisexual erasure
(Eisner, 2013, p. 89). Bisexual erasure affects both bisexual men and women in various ways; however, this essay will focus on the erasure of
bisexuality in men in particular.
There is a distinctive public perception when it comes to bisexuality in men: that they don't exist at all. Denial
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
Stereotypical Trope Of Falling In Love
Faking it is one of the very few queer shows out there on TV diving into the topic of exploration of sexuality, and of course the stereotypical trope of
falling in love with your best–friend (not saying that it's a bad thing– it just brings up a lot of lesbian feels). It is about the main character, Amy,
discovering that she may not be as straight as she had thought through the process of realizing that she could be in love with her best friend, Karma.
Now I'm not gonna go into too much depth about what this show is about because I could be here forever and let's face it, no one wants that (also,
there's Google–no I'm not endorsed). From the new part 2 of season 2 trailer there has been a lot of criticism of bisexual erasure on the show. The
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
Lgbt
What Is LGBT?
LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and along with heterosexual they describe people's sexual orientation or gender identity. These
terms are explained in more detail here.
Lesbian
A lesbian woman is one who is romantically, sexually and/or emotionally attracted to women. Many lesbians prefer to be called lesbian rather than gay.
Gay
A gay man is one who is romantically, sexually and/or emotionally attracted to men. The word gay can be used to refer generally to lesbian, gay and
bisexual people but many women prefer to be called lesbian. Most gay people don't like to be referred to as homosexual because of the negative
historical associations with the word and because the word gay better reflects their ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Sexual orientation also refers to a person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviours, and membership in a community of others
who share those attractions. Three sexual orientations are commonly recognised – heterosexual, homosexual (gay and lesbian) and bisexual.
Homophobia
Homophobia refers to fear of or prejudice and discrimination against lesbian, gay and bisexual people. It is also the dislike of same–sex attraction and
love or the hatred of people who have those feelings. The term was first used in the 1970s and is more associated with ignorance, prejudice and
stereotyping than with the physiological reactions usually attributed to a 'phobia'. While homophobic comments or attitudes are often unintentional,
they can cause hurt and offence to lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
Transphobia
Transphobia refers to fear of or prejudice and discrimination against people who are transgender or who are perceived to transgress norms of gender,
gender identity or gender expression. While transphobic comments or attitudes are often unintentional, they can cause hurt and offence to transgender
people.
Definitions adapted from More Than a Phase (Pobal, 2006), For a Better Understanding of Sexual Orientation (APA, 2008) and Answers to Your
Questions About Transgender Individuals and Gender Identity (APA,
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
Glee Representation
The increasing prevalence of LGBT representations in film and television has had positive contributions in challenging the dominance of
heteronormativity. Representations through LGBT characters in film and television increases awareness of the LGBT community. These
representations may challenge people's perceptions of things such as masculinity and femininity or homosexuality and heterosexuality. However, not all
representations are positive, as they often distort characters into dangerous stereotypes and misrepresent the community entirely. This misrepresentation
holds true with bisexual characters. The representation of bisexuality in film and television leads to bisexual erasure and misunderstandings of
bisexuality. Robyn Ochs identifies ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
At this point in the series Kurt is attempting to pursue Blaine – who identifies as gay – romantically, but when Blaine gets drunk and kisses a girl at a
party he begins to question his identity. Kurt protests, and Blaine explains: "When we kissed it, it felt good...I've never even had a boyfriend
before. Isn't this the time you're supposed to figure stuff out? Maybe I'm bi, I don't know." Blaine's explanation demonstrates his confusion about
his sexual identity. He already knows he likes men, but having enjoyed kissing a girl, he now wonders if he likes women as well. Kurt responds to
Blaine's confusion perpetuates the stereotype that bisexuality does not exist: "Bisexual's a term that gay guys in high school use when they wanna
hold hands with girls and feel like a normal person for a change." Glee does not use this episode to foster a discussion on the harmful stereotypes
about bisexuality, but instead when Blaine kisses a girl for a second time he immediately realizes he's only interested men after all. The issue is
resolved, and Kurt is now able to continue pursuing Blaine without the "threat" of his interest in
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
Identifying As A Sexual Minority
Identifying as a sexual minority can be as isolating as it can be a communal experience. Sexual identities tend to exist in flux as individuals begin to
grow understand more about themselves, their preferences, and the labels they may or may not choose to adopt. Unfortunately, this explorative process
is not always encouraged when these same individuals encounter heteronormative expectations for their life and behavior. Access to Internet
communities comprised of individuals with varying sexual identities, rupture these localized cultural boundaries and insert varying queer identities.
Their offline setting may prevent the chance for self–discovery in a way that is vital to their health during major stages of development; however, their
participation in communities online allow for the formation of identities otherwise unrepresented in the physical reality they see around them. Within
this paper, the umbrella term "queer" will be used to encompass many different sexual identities mentioned. While once used as a derogatory term, it
has been rebranded and revitalized as a term of unification for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. In order to prevent erasure of the narrative of
subsets of members within the larger queer community, their identities will be included. When discussing the larger implications of the development of
sexual minority identification, queer will be employed. The formation of sexual identities is a layered and often lengthy process. Unfortunately, when
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
Lgbt History And The Modern Era
There are many topics prevalent shown throughout history. History books in today's society highlight the majority of groups of people and historical
events. This essay will prove that there is a problematic issue where LGBT lives and existences are being erased throughout history and the modern
era. Throughout, it will be explained how these groups of people are being underrepresented within history, major wars, and the modern era.
History covers a very broad spectrum of time, with recorded history going as far back as five thousand years. Yet, within this period of five thousand
years, history books implemented in school systems rarely give detail to LGBT people (Carter, "It's Time to Write LGBT History into the Textbooks").
For example, within America, homosexuality has been shown throughout Native American tribes long before Europeans even stepped foot onto the
land. While traditional European beliefs define a person's sexual identity male or female based on biological determination, Native American's have a
vast variety of how sexuality is viewed. Native Americans believed the Creator created three different genders; males, females and two–spirits,
following the Plato model of roles. Gender roles and gender identity mirrored one another, each containing their own magical attributes according to
lore. While gender identity defined Native American gender roles, their expectations for the two spirits differed. Native American ideology welcomed a
third gender and openly
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
Essay On AIDS
On larger scales as well, societies have been depriving LGBT people of their histories and rights in order to preserve the current social and cultural
climates. As rigid social classes have started to become more blurred, AIDs literature has become more mainstream and the history of the AIDs crisis in
terms of gay people has become less shadowed. The first truly definable category of AIDs writing is in the face of the initial media blackout, wherein
only those who were affected by the disease wrote about it, or consumed media related to it. This was when being gay was even more dangerous
/considered irreparably immoral, and the tone of the writing has shifted in the modern day to more generalized, hopeful themes. (McDonald) It has
taken a ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
While the issue being discussed is whether trans* people are allowed to use the restroom that best corresponds with their gender, the real question
being discussed is whether or not trans* people are allowed to exist in public spaces; if they can't safely use the restroom in a public space, then they
can't exist in that space for very long without either leaving or putting themself in danger. They either remove themself or someone removes them. It's a
more direct method compared to restriction of information, but the intent and the outcome are the same; erasure of LGBT people from the public
consciousness. Similarly, and more specifically, The 1969 Stonewall Riots and subsequent American "revolutions" were misrepresented and
redirected in order to preserve the social climate as much as possible. Sylvia Rivera, despite being a huge part of the Stonewall Riots and helping,
according to many historians, to kickstart the US LGBT rights movement, is hardly ever mentioned outside of in depth LGBT conversations. Rivera
was a huge part of LGBT history, and even then not many young or newly realized members of the community know about her because she was a
trans*woman of color, the most threatened and erased LGBT denomination. In a work titled "The Stonewall uprising," the introduction reads, "In the
early morning of June 28, 1969, police officers entered the Stonewall Inn. The bar was a
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
The 1981 Hiv / Aids Epidemic
The 1981 HIV/AIDS epidemic was a time of turmoil for the LGBT+ community due to the high transmission risk of HIV/AIDS between homosexuals
(Richardson 5). Tension ran high within community, as different groups experienced different amounts of discrimination for their transmission risk. In
particular, scholars find that "tensions between lesbian and bisexual women was much more problematic than tensions between gay and bisexual men"
(Udis–Kessler 46). Despite the similarities of lesbian and bisexual women as non–heterosexual women, the two groups are politically divided instead of
united. What discrimination, if any, did bisexual women receive from lesbian women as a result of the 1981 HIV/AIDS epidemic? What were the
socio–political... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
These two sexual identities are extremely similar but translate to vastly different experiences. Lesbians are the more prominent group in the LGBT
community; they were far more visible in the media and established their own lesbian feminist organizations before the HIV/AIDS epidemic (Rust,
"Neutralizing the Political Threat" 2). On the other hand, bisexual women lacked the support communities that lesbians enjoyed during the 1980s.
Many organizations and colleges did not acknowledge bisexual existence until the late 1970s, when the letter "B" was added to the LGBT+ acronym
(Hutchins 244). Evidence of tension between the two groups existed in the 1970s prior to the epidemic, where lesbian groups apparently regarded
bisexual women as a political threat (Tucker 43).
At the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, lesbian and bisexual women had similar political standings. The literature published during this period was
largely focused on men. The heterosexual and gay community was regarded as high risk for transmission, but sex between women was assumed by a
majority of the medical community as having a low risk of HIV/AIDS transmission (Richardson 2). National censuses of HIV positive individuals gave
homosexual, bisexual and heterosexual men each their own category, but all women were grouped into one large category (Richardson 9). The
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
Film And Television : Stereotypes And Implications
The usage of the word "bisexual" to define an individual's attraction to both sexes has been around since 1892. Bisexuality itself has been around
since the study of world sexuality and in the United States alone, bisexuals make up 55% of the LGBT community (Gates (2011) p. 4). Yet as recently
as the early 21st century, psychologists have still tried to argue that "most people are one way, some the other. A very few are truly ambidextrous"
(Myers (2003) p.476). Bisexual representation in film and television is largely portrayed through common stereotypes and implications – when it is
portrayed at all. In television, bisexuality is dismissed as the transitory stage between heterosexuality and homosexuality. In film, it is minimized to
titillation for a male audience or as a trope for sexual promiscuity. This is largely in part due to the negative stereotypes surrounding the sexuality and
the dichotomous nature of media framing in terms of sexual orientation in an effort to discourage bisexual visibility. Some of the largest stereotypes
surrounding bisexuality aim largely at the person's inability to "pick a side" and the erasure of their orientation when they finally do. According to
Sharon Sumpter's "Myths/Realities of Bisexuality," the majority of bisexual stereotypes have to do with the idea that bisexuals are only
"experimenting" and either "haven't fully accepted themselves" or are "going through a phase" (Sumpter (1989)). The latter stereotype is perhaps the
most
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
Effects Of Discrimination And Minority Stress
Discrimination and Minority Stress As stated earlier previous studies have reported decreased resilience among LGBA+ populations, however, it is
important to note that identifying, as LGBA+ does not inherently cause the distress that is the source of poorer levels of mental health and resilience.
Instead, it is a reaction the previously stated statistics representing shocking levels of exposure to discrimination, which also take the form of
microaggressions. Micro–aggressions are aimed at minority groups and are a form of assault that can exist in a variety of forms either verbal or
nonverbal, as well as be intentional or unintentional on behalf of the perpetrator. Microaggressions have previously been linked to increased mental
health difficulties in the form of increased anxiety in African American University Students (Smith, Allen, & Danley, 2007). As individuals worldwide
of multiple ethnicities, ages, religiosity, and able–bodiedness may identify as LGBA+, taking into account, this intersectionality and how it impacts on
resilience is necessary to our understanding of LGBA+ populations. An individual who identifies both as a sexual minority and as an ethnic minority
may have the effects of such discrimination and micro–aggressions compounded resulting in overall poorer resilience as the stressors experienced an
increase (Balsam, Molina, Beadnell, Simoni, & Walters, 2011). The Intersectionality between ethnicity and sexual identity also has a clear impact on
social
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
Bisexuality Erasure
Bisexuality Erasure
Saige Brey
Aug 15, 2015 – When you hear the term "bisexual", what comes to mind? For some it's what they identify with in the LGBTQIA+, for others it's a
confusing and broad term that somewhat covers their sexuality, and for others it just seems like a foreign and strange idea. As a bisexual, I've heard
the question, "Well which gender do you prefer more?" several times. My answer to that is usually along the lines of 'neither', which leads to some
confused looks or even some of disbelief.
To start, bisexuality is not a "Well, you're either straight or gay! Pick one!". Bisexuality is within the LGBTQIA+ and sexuality spectrum, but it is
neither a preference of any of the genders. For some, yes they prefer a gender, but ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
For example, pansexuality is the attraction to all genders (not just male and female), and polysexuality is the attraction to some (not all) genders. A
plethora of people identify as all three of these genders, and yes they are real, and some do have preferences, others do not.
Basically, bisexuality erasure is a becoming a prevalent problem in the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as the straight community. I've had people tell
me that bisexuals are just pretending, and then there's the ever present rumor that bisexual people are just in it for the sex. I'm here to say that's not
true. A bisexual person can like two, many, or all genders, and it has literally nothing to do with sex or the amount of sex that person has.
However, some people within the LGBTQIA+ community feel like bisexuals are the most privileged of the sexualities, because they can "just identify
as straight if they felt like it" (an actual person has said this to me before), and haven't felt the homophobia and hostility faced towards the community.
But we have. Bisexuals may not encounter as much homophobia and hostility, but we still get the constant, "Which do you prefer more, boys or
girls?" and the "Well you have to like one more than the other, liking two (or more) doesn't make
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

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The Loss Of Lesbian Identity

  • 1. The Loss Of Lesbian Identity The fear of the disappearance of Lesbian identity is not a new one; Lesbianism has a history of being ignored. In Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence, author Adrienne Rich contends that through the lens of Compulsory Heterosexuality, Lesbianism is deemed either "Abhorrent" or rendered invisible (Rich, 632). While inclusion and cohesion are necessary for minority groups to gain political clout and recognition, the lack of spaces distinctly for Lesbians has always been sparse. Grouped in with Gay men, Lesbians lacked a solid political identity without their male counterparts. "Lesbians have historically been deprived of a political existence through 'inclusion' as female versions of male homosexuality. To equate lesbian existence ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... Lesbians, like Gay men, Bisexuals, and Trans individuals, deserve unique spaces to discuss issues exclusive to them. The advancement of Queer identity and the preservation of Lesbian identity do not need to be mutually exclusive. By is establishing more exclusive spaces for some groups, as well as more spaces open to all LGBTQ participants, both communities can thrive, However, unlike these groups which have had an increase in established safe spaces, Lesbian spaces are being either "queered" or shut down. This means Lesbians have no places to call their own, or to strengthen their identities. "Lesbian" has become a symbol of regressive and exclusionary attitudes; while solidarity between Lesbians and the Trans community is imperative, Lesbians are entitled to safe spaces and the autonomy to reject any sexual contact they do not wish to engage in without fear of being deemed bigoted in response. These conditions, coupled with the negative connotations of Lesbianism, are not entirely new. Rather, they are the same threats Lesbianism has always encountered in a different cultural context. These conditions have played a significant role in the weakening of Lesbian identity. The loss of Lesbian identity and erasure of Lesbian history would be detrimental to the entire LGBTQ community, as Lesbians have a rich and unique history, as well as standing in solidarity with other community members. Though it is on the decline, Lesbian identity will not die until those with exclusive same–sex or same–gender attraction stop finding solace with the term. As many women continue to identify with lesbianism, these women deserve to be adequately ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 2. Waves Of Debates Within Feminism Gender 208 Assignment 1: Waves of Debates within Feminism Feminism, in simple terms, refers to a collective desire to end the oppression of women. Because oppression takes various forms and affects those who are victim to it in a number of different, yet often connected ways; feminism should accordingly be regarded as a multifaceted set of movements working towards multiple aims and ends. Which is to say that feminism is less a single movement concerned with the oppression of women, and more a gathering of movements concerned with a number of oppressive structures, working towards the eradication of domination period. Analysing the works of Mimi Mariuncci (2010), Audre Lorde (1984), and Rosemarie Garland–Thomson (2002) this paper will attempt to answer the question of why intersectionality is imperative to feminist discourse and Praxis, exploring the different areas in which the oppression of women interests with the oppression, marginalisation, and suppression of other minority groups, i.e. queer people, people of colour, people with disabilities, old people, poor people, transgendered, and gender non–conforming people etc. In the pursuit of inclusivity and intersectionality feminist discourse has been tasked with acknowledging and addressing all forms of oppression as a logic of domination. A theory coined by ecofeminist philosopher Karen Warren which refers to a way of understanding and communicating with the world, and it's inhabitants, in a way that is structured ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 3. Biological Differences Between Men And Women Essay Sex is defined as "the average, reliable, biological differences between males and females" (Auleb 1). One biological difference between males and females is in external genitalia: males have penises whereas females have vaginas. Sexuality refers to one 's sexual orientation, sexual behaviors, and capacity for sexual feelings (YourDictionary.com). Someone who is not sexually attracted to anyone may identify themselves as asexual. And sexual identity is one 's conception of themselves in terms of to whom they are sexually and romantically attracted, if they experience sexual or romantic attraction at all (Wikipedia.org). Someone who is attracted to people regardless of gender may identify as bisexual, or as pansexual if they do not adhere to the belief that there are only two genders. One 's sexual behaviors and attitudes towards sex and sexuality may be governed by their values, of which there are two types. Formal values are what one says they believe; informal values are what one actually does (Auleb 3). If someone says that people should wait until marriage to have sex, that is their formal values. If they abstain from sex until marriage, that is their informal value. Ideally, one 's formal values and informal values are in sync, for if they are not, one may find themselves in a situation in which they are unready or unwilling to participate. One 's values do not form in a vacuum and are shaped by their society and culture. Family, religion, school, media, and personal ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 4. Gender Identity Is The Assumption Of There Being Binary... Binary Logic: Another issue with research pertaining to sexual identity is the assumption of there being binary categories, such as gay/straight, male /female, etc. Research in this area is generally dichotomized (e.g. male/female, gay/straight), which can foster rigid identity assumptions, foster homogeneous understanding of research particiapnts and results, foster a divide between 'normal' and 'deviant' behavior, as well as mask inherent variation in different groups and populations (Johnson & Repta, 2012). Bringing greater awareness to the complexity of sexual and gender identity could have transformative effects on how research is conducted. Some scholars in the social work field have begun to acknowledge and recognize the increasing evidence that sexual and gender identity are not binary categories, as well that categories might not even be an accurate way of understanding these phenomena (Burdge, 2007; Roche & Gringeri, 2010). While an understanding that the binary model is flawed has gained some traction in social work research, the majority of researchers continue to ignore and disregard this possibility, consequently reinforcing this erroneous dichotomous paradigm (Rassi, 2011). It has also been noted that critiques from postmodern, poststructural, and queer theory perspectives, as well as from individuals or groups (e.g. transgender, bisexual, intersex) who do not "fit neatly" into binary categories continue to remain essentially absent within social work ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 5. The Pros And Cons Of Homosexuality In today's world, controversies are everywhere, and impossible to avoid in regular day–to–day interactions. When you educate yourself on a controversial subject, you often discover how uneducated and occasionally bigoted other people can be. One such subject is sexuality. As time goes on, sexuality gains more visibility as a growing number of people come out as gay, transgender, and other sexual gender orientations. TheLGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans* plus) community is a supposed safe place for those who identify as queer or trans* (umbrella terms referring to those who don't identify with heterosexuality and those whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth, respectively). However, as with any rule, people will make exceptions. Though many offenders deny, obvious discrimination is seen against minority sexualities, such as asexuality and bisexuality, in forms of jokes and mockeries, invisibility, mislabelling, prejudice, and in some cases, innocent lack of knowledge, from both inside and outside the LGBT+ community. There are multiple aspects to someone's identity including gender, romantic, and sexual identity. Romantic and sexual identities are similar in their variations. A prefix is placed before–romantic or –sexual. Some identity prefixes include hetero–, homo–, pan–, bi–, and a–. A romantic identity tells what genders a given person experiences romantic attraction towards; a sexual identity tells of the genders a person experiences ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 6. The Negative Stereotypes About Bisexual Lifestyle The second contributing factor is the negative stereotypes about bisexual lifestyle. The political "treachery" of bisexual women resulted in their connection to sexual promiscuity. Lesbian women also frequently accused bisexual women of being fence–sitters who were able to "choose" between having a heterosexual and a lesbian relationship. Katie Griffin, a therapist, once summarized her bisexual experience into "On any other day, I will be straight. If it's Wednesday, I must be Gay" (1). In other words, many see bisexual individuals as being 50% gay, 50% straight, and 100% non–committal. Griffin is certainly not alone in her experiences; in her clinical practice she found that many bisexual women had to choose between lesbianism and heterosexuality (10). The fluidity of bisexuality creates discomfort with women who had to go through the tedious process of pinpointing the gender they are attracted to. Hence, lesbians see bisexuality as a transitional identity between heterosexuality and lesbianism; notably, 83% lesbians agreed that "some women claim to be bisexual when they are really lesbians who are afraid to admit it" (Rust, "Neutralizing the Political Threat" 9). Stone also notes in her memoir that lesbians are often bitter about the "straight–passing privilege" that bisexual women possess (2). They claim that bisexual women are able to enjoy the benefits of the lesbian community without receiving the discrimination that comes with it. The ability of bisexuals to ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 7. What Is Bi-Erasure? What Is Bi–erasure? Oh Wait, You Wouldn't Know! In a world where we can build kidneys from stem cells or connect to the internet via your watch: why is bisexuality forgotten about? The phrase bi–erasure is one that you may not know but believe me it is one you definitely should know. Bi–erasure is defined as the tendency to ignore, remove, falsify, or re–explain evidence of bisexuality in history, academia, news, media and other primary sources. The world seems to be celebrating the death of homophobia because America made same sex marriage legal in all 50 states, but this is not the case. Homophobia is still very present in society but more than homophobia its biphobia. Biphobia is intense hatred, fear or aversion towards bisexuals or ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... Bi–erasure is so harmful because it attacks all that bisexual people believe in like the media, law and gay pride. Another thing bisexuals have to deal with is that bisexuals are the least supported and least served minority group within the entire LGBT community with just .01 % of all LGBT funding directed toward bisexual projects or programs since 1970. More than bisexuals not being supported research suggests that bisexuals suffer worse mental health than heterosexuals, lesbians, and gay men. Bisexuals have higher rates of suicide, self harm, mood disorders and depression than any other sexuality and one common reason for this is how tough it is to be an "out" bisexual in todays society.This is one of the biggest factors as to why bi–erasure is so harmful to people. Our culture is so unaccepting of difference and this could be why people take part in bi–erasure however that does not excuse ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 8. Feminism : A Feminist Theory WGS 3600: Feminist Theory Frankie Snyder and Jax McMillian Due: 12/10/2015 Feminism is gender liberation Feminism needs to be more broadly defined in terms of gender liberation to encompass individuals from all walks of genders (or nongenders). Separating gender nonconforming issues from feminism is erasive; marginalized gender nonconforming individuals should not be told to fend for themselves and their own rights due to a multitude of oppressions experienced by these individuals (based on the prejudicial gender assumptions the patriarchy puts on them). In all, feminism should encompass gender nonconforming rights because to do otherwise would be to align with the patriarchal system in which feminists are fighting against; including gender nonconforming issues in the sphere of feminism will help strengthen the discourse of general gender equality as has been argued for centuries. Definitionally, much like feminism, nonbinary and gender–nonconforming can often be ambiguous and varied from person to person. For the sake of this paper the reference to nonbinary individuals is a reference to anyone who at any point has identified outside of the gender binary at least some of the time. This encompasses a broad range of identities including genderqueer, agender, demigender, genderfluid, and an accepted lack of identification in the gender realm altogether. Further, gender–nonconforming will be defined as the expression/behavior that doesn't match masculine and feminine gender ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 9. Essentialist Theory Of The Queer Theory sexuality often impacts the success of claims made by bi–sexual refugees. The author argues that this dominant understanding jettisons complex subjective positions and disregards varying realities. The refugee determination system misinterprets and misidentifies the lived experiences of bisexual claimants because of this knowledge, further disadvantaging this group of refugees. Rehaag observes that individuals seeking asylum on the basis of oppression for their bisexual tendencies have significantly higher rejection rates compared to other claimants. To investigate this assertion, Rehaag uses the queer theory as the main theoretical framework. According to Rehaag, the Queer theory is an interdisciplinary medium that examines the complex interactions between sexuality and gender, and conceptualizes such views of sexual orientation as "essentialist." The essentialist view dichotomizes individuals as being either straight or gay on the basis of early childhood psychological factors or biological traits. Consequently, this essentialist argument comprehends sexual orientation as unchangeable and inflexible. Essentialists may, in selected instances, acknowledge groups beyond gay and straight, such as transgendered and bisexual individuals. Queer theorists reject the essentialist view arguing that these categories are not inflexible. Rather, these categories are regularly recreated through socio–historical patterns or structured social exchanges. Consequently, the queer theory ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 10. It Aint Easy Being Bisexual On TV By Amy Zimmerman A Rhetorical Analysis of "It Ain't Easy Being Bisexual on TV" The representation of the LGBT community in the film industry has long been a topic of much debate. In her article, "It Ain't Easy Being Bisexual on TV," Amy Zimmerman addresses this topic with specific interest on bisexual representation. By appealing to the logic of her audience, using an informal tone, and referring to relatable content, Zimmerman constructs an argument which persuades readers of The Daily Beast that the film industry is unfairly and inaccurately representing bisexuals. However, her argument holds little influence over those who are not movie fans or The Daily Beast readers. Zimmerman begins developing her persuasive argument at the beginning of her article... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... To support this opinion, Zimmerman immediately clarifies why she believes this, stating that Martell is presented by Game of Thrones as someone with an "insatiable appetite" (Zimmerman 565) instead of a dissimilar sexuality. This has the result of devaluing his bisexuality and reframing it as "masculine libertine" (Zimmerman 565). Unfortunately, statistics and logic are rarely enough to persuade an audience about a topic, especially if that topic is emotional. Zimmerman handles this by using rhetorical examples which appeal to the audience's emotions to her advantage. Specifically, she includes characters, titles, and quotes from movies. This works because many members of Zimmerman's audience are movie enthusiasts, which is reasonable to conclude since The Daily Beast "delivers award–winning original reporting and sharp opinion in the arena of . . . pop–culture" ("About Us"). For instance, consider the statement that, "when even a show like Glee . . . makes fun of the 'myth' of bisexuality, it's clear that bisexual representation . . . is still stuck in the dark ages" (Zimmerman 565). By using Glee as an example in this quote, Zimmerman creates a feeling of relatability with the Glee fan base while also showing them how a movie they love is unfairly representing bisexuals. This feeling of relatability makes the audience more receptive to Zimmerman's argument. In addition to using rhetorical examples, Zimmerman also utilizes an informal tone to make herself more ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 11. Sexism In Movies In her October 2016 Ted Talk, activist Stacy Smith presented a problem that has been persistent for over fifty years. In her discussion, Smith brought to light information about the sexism that is prevalent in Hollywood. Smith, along with her team, has conducted more than thirty investigations on the erasing and marginalization of females in the movie industry. Smith discusses how she carries out her research by cataloguing all speaking characters on–screen for race, ethnicity, gender, LGBT, and characters with disabilities. Smith uses her data to show how much under representation there truly is in Hollywood and the film industry. Smith not only argues the under representation of actresses, but also the under representation of females behind... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... Smith states that, "Across the top 100 films of just last year, 48 films didn't feature one black or African–American speaking character, and 70 films were devoid of Asian or Asian–American speaking characters that were girls or women" (Smith). The discrimination of African Americans, Asians, and many other races and ethnicities has been somewhat of an epidemic in Hollywood and the film industry for many years. It is understandable how this topic can upset people and have them pushing for more ethnic diversity in movies. Although many believe the film industry should include more diversity, people also must understand that not all characters can be changed just for the sake of having more diversity in a film. Take historical films for example, directors are not going to make a historical film with actors that do not fit within the roles of the movie. This is different in the case of movies like the Spiderman franchise. This franchise had been looking for an actor to continue the franchise, and had an African American actor in the running for the main role. Even though the previous films had while actors portray the lead, it would have been completely acceptable for an African American actor to take over. In the end the Spiderman franchise gave up a wonderful opportunity to cast an African American actor and help to fight against the diversity ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 12. The Historical Prevalence Of Bisexuality Essay The historical prevalence of bisexuality is hard to determine because same–sex sexual activity has traditionally been very stigmatized; furthermore bisexuality is often ignored in historical discussions of sexual orientation. Nonetheless, over the past few decades, the status quo with regard to same–sex sexual activity has changed drastically. The repeal of anti–gay laws and the 2003 supreme court decision Lawrence v. Texas which eliminated all remaining sodomy laws in the United States, the removal of homosexuality from its designation as a sexual disorder in the DSM, the existence of high–profile LGBTQ figures, and the push for, and legalization of gay marriage in the United States and other western countries have all been significant contributing factors toward the normalization of same–sex sexual activity. The general public has experienced increased exposure to the LGBTQ community, and as a result, acceptance of sexual minorities, including bisexual individuals, has grown. In spite of the progress toward acceptance of bisexual individuals, many people still view sexual orientation as dichotomous, which contributes to the erasure and/or invisibility of the bisexual community (Alarie & Gaudet 2013). Some also perceive bisexuality as a "transitional identity" between heterosexuality and homosexuality, or believe that people who identify as bisexual are just too afraid to come out as homosexual (Israel and Mohr 2003; Alarie & Gaudet 2013). Some studies have ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 13. Celebrating the Queer in Amsterdam I think the celebration of LGBT identities in Amsterdam from the article "Gay Men and Lesbians in the Netherlands" by Gert Hekma and Jan Willem Duyvendak to the movie we watched was an interesting look at LGBT struggles (or lack of struggles) and identities found in the Netherlands in comparison to the United States. At first glance, from both the movie and the article, Amsterdam just seems like a wild, amazing time for people of all sexualities. Equality has been reached. Hallelujah! Let's party! Beyond this outward appearance of equality and acceptance, Amsterdam's LGBT culture must be unpacked and examined beyond just gay people partying a lot like in the documentary. I think the article "Gay Men and Lesbians in the Netherlands" did a pretty good job of unpacking Amsterdam's LGBT culture but a criticism I have is that the article pretty much forgot bisexuals and trans people in its analysis of Amsterdam's gay culture. Bi and trans erasure is a thing that regularly occurs in both straight and gay spaces so I was not surprised by this but it is telling about both the authors and Amsterdam in general. This is a connection that will be addressed because we did read articles on both bisexual and trans people. Amsterdam, in its goal to become the gay haven of the world, has conveniently forgotten about everybody else in the LGBT struggle including many people of color, and that must be tackled for positive change to occur. As the article "Gay Men and Lesbians in the ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 14. The Is The Romantic And / Or Sexual Attraction For More... Bisexuality is the romantic and/or sexual attraction to more than one gender. Those who identify as bisexual are attracted to male, female, and sometimes the non–binary genders. Non–binary genders can include those who are transgender, agender, and genderfluid. Bisexuality is a separate sexuality from pansexuality. Pansexuality which is the romantic and/or sexual attraction to all genders. Like the sexuality and gender spectrums bisexuality is also a spectrum. One can be bisexual but only desire those of the male and female gender. Another could only find those who are non–binary and the female gender attractive, ect. Within the mainstream and LGBTQ+ communities the issue of bisexual erasure is quite prevalent. Bisexual erasure is the act of ignoring or removing the existence of bisexuality from primary sources. Bisexual erasure is a form of biphobia, the aversion to bisexuality and bisexual people. It can also include the denial of the existence of bisexuality. Female bisexuality has been the most ignored and unbelieved form of bisexuality. Today's denial of female bisexuality is a product of traditional disenfranchisement of female sexuality. By comparing John Wilmont, Earl of Rochester's poem "Song" to Aphra Behn's poem "To the Fair Clarinda" the existence and erasure of female bisexuality becomes clear. Rochester, a known bisexual, wrote "Song" in 1680. The work focuses on the narrator's, Rochester's, view on choosing women as romantic partners. The poem ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 15. Group Reflection Thirdly, I asked John Blu about the activities and discussions that go on during the meetings that they hold on Thursdays. He stated that"Every meeting is different, there's group conversations when an issue or situation comes up from a member, there has been presentations on bullying, and there's activities like speed friending." John Blu continued to talk and started to discuss about how they did an activity called speed friending He then began giggling and said "It felt like speed dating and that everyone was there to find a hookup or hook ups, most trying to find bisexuals to experiment with." I then was shocked about why that was an activity at the meeting and how that educated people. However, I was not going to let this cloud my judgement before hearing what QUEST had to say about their meetings. When I went to see QUEST, we met in their conference room, there were no pride flags like anticipated, nor many cis males or females. The day I went in to observe the group, there were many people coupled off, that discussed how they all just met and that they met one another because of QUEST. In that moment I then realized that what John Blu said was very much true. I began observing them and watching how they were all over each other, which was disturbing in way because it was PDA. I then watched one of the advisors also be all over one of the new members of the group. I started to believe maybe the members are there for the wrong reasons and people were not there to ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 16. Essay On AIDS On larger scales as well, societies have been depriving LGBT people of their histories and rights in order to preserve the current social and cultural climates. As rigid social classes have started to become more blurred, AIDs literature has become more mainstream and the history of the AIDs crisis in terms of gay people has become less shadowed. The first truly definable category of AIDs writing is in the face of the initial media blackout, wherein only those who were affected by the disease wrote about it, or consumed media related to it. This was when being gay was even more dangerous /considered irreparably immoral, and the tone of the writing has shifted in the modern day to more generalized, hopeful themes. (McDonald) It has taken a ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... While the issue being discussed is whether trans* people are allowed to use the restroom that best corresponds with their gender, the real question being discussed is whether or not trans* people are allowed to exist in public spaces; if they can't safely use the restroom in a public space, then they can't exist in that space for very long without either leaving or putting themself in danger. They either remove themself or someone removes them. It's a more direct method compared to restriction of information, but the intent and the outcome are the same; erasure of LGBT people from the public consciousness. Similarly, and more specifically, The 1969 Stonewall Riots and subsequent American "revolutions" were misrepresented and redirected in order to preserve the social climate as much as possible. Sylvia Rivera, despite being a huge part of the Stonewall Riots and helping, according to many historians, to kickstart the US LGBT rights movement, is hardly ever mentioned outside of in depth LGBT conversations. Rivera was a huge part of LGBT history, and even then not many young or newly realized members of the community know about her because she was a trans*woman of color, the most threatened and erased LGBT denomination. In a work titled "The Stonewall uprising," the introduction reads, "In the early morning of June 28, 1969, police officers entered the Stonewall Inn. The bar was a ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 17. Homosexuality In Ancient Greece In the wake of the 2016 presidential election and the stunning reality for many LGBT people of the country electing an incredibly anti–LGBT president and vice president, there was one area of redemption for the LGBT community. Kate Brown, who is bisexual, became the first openly LGBT governor (Phillips). For LGBT people, representation is a huge step forward for voices to be heard and for equality to become a reality and to have an openly bisexual woman in an influential leadership position, is important for the same reasons for the rest of the LGBT community, but also because of how few bisexuals are out of the closet. The Pew Research Center has found that "71% of lesbians and 77% of gay men" are out to all or most of the important people ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... On February 21, 1903, "The first New York anti–gay police raid takes place at the Ariston Bathhouse. Police detained 60 men, and arrested 14" ("A History of the LGBTQA Movement"). Same–sex attraction and acting on this attraction was seen as a dangerous threat to the community that called for police presence in the early twentieth century in the United States as seen through this raid. In the same article from 1934 to 1968, the "Motion Picture Production Code, known as the Hayes Code, prohibited depiction of homosexuality in film" " ("A History of the LGBTQA Movement"). Not only was there no representation for LGBT people in film for this long period in twentieth century America, it was illegal to for movie makers to depict homosexuality which leads to homosexuality becoming even more taboo than how cultural attitudes around it create. In 1945, "After the Allied forces liberated the concentration camps, those interned for homosexuality are not freed, but required to serve out their full sentences because of the German law outlawing homosexual behavior" " ("A History of the LGBTQA Movement"). The Holocaust is often seen as a major injustice in Jewish history, but it also had a huge impact on lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals who were found guilty of homosexuality and even though they faced the same horrors of the Holocaust that Jewish people did, they did ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 18. Calculus Oaper http://www.terry.uga.edu/~dawndba/4500compulsoryhet.htm Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence 
 Adrienne Rich Adrienne Rich 's essay constitutes a powerful challenge to some of our least examined sexual assumptions. Rich turns all the familiar arguments on their heads: If the first erotic bond is to the mother, she asks, could not the "natural" sexual orientation of both men and women be toward women? Rich 's radical questioning has been a major intellectual force in the general feminist reorientation to sexual matters in recent years, and her conception of a "lesbian continuum" sparked especially intense debate. Does lesbianism incorporate all support systems and intense interactions among women, or is ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... In none of these books, which concern themselves with mothering, sex roles, relationships, and societal prescriptions for women, is compulsory heterosexuality ever examined as an institution powerfully affecting all these; or the idea of "preference" or "innate orientation" even indirectly questioned. In For Her Own Good 150 Years of the Experts ' Advice to Women by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English, the authors ' superb pamphlets, Witches, Midwives and Nurses: A History of Women Healers, and Complaints and Disorders: The Sexual Politics of Sickness, are developed into a provocative and complex study Their thesis in this book is that the advice given American women by male health professionals, particularly in the areas of marital sex, maternity, and child care, has echoed the dictates of the economic marketplace and the role capitalism has needed women to play in production and/ or reproduction. Women have become the consumer victims of various cures, therapies, and normative judgments in different ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 19. Feminism In Angela Carter Angela Carter does not speak of a Feminism that succumbs to patriarchal pressure. She allows certain cracks and fissures to become visible in patriarchal structure and roles. Her treatment of the characters and situations is notably ambitious. Her reworking of myths and weaving of imaginary situations evoke ideas of liberation and changes. Carter's female heroes in The Passion of New Eve and Nights at the Circus are not merely victims of sexual harassment or rape. They are masculine females able to pose a challenge to all patriarchal norms. Both these novels provide Carter opportunities to redefine masculinity. She succeeds in crediting her female protagonists with strong degree of autonomy and in making her male protagonists convincingly drawn human beings. Carter's imaginary flights to worlds where women are installed as beings of power are prophetic in every sense. Both Fevvers and the New Eve are symbolic representations... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... To ensure the safe and free future of women, she deconstructs the myth of the creation of Eve. The events treated in the novel take place in an unspecified future when urban civilization is on the verge of collapse. The man named Evelyn regards women as inferior, treating them as sex objects. He is involved in a torrid love affair with the black prostitute Leilah. But he is duly punished by the feminists. He is captured by band feminist guerilla fighters who deliver him up to their leader mother, "a parodic portrait of matriarchal superwoman" (Contemporary Women's Fiction 18). The Mother of Beulah is certainly a representation of the revengeful and powerful superwoman that Carter envisages for the future. The mother uses Evelyn as a material in her experiment to create the perfect women. It very clearly suggests that it id men, not women, who require liberating from the tyranny of gender ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 20. Theories On The Causation Of Homosexuality Running head: CAUSATION OF HOMOSEXUALITY 1 Theories on the Causation of Homosexuality Luke Thomas The University of Alabama CAUSATION OF HOMOSEXUALITY 2 Abstract There are two main schools of thought regarding the causation of homosexuality. The first, which is examined in this research, is biological cause. Three main categories of thought exist under biological theory: hormone theory, brain theory, and genetic theory. Each category contains convincing evidence as to why its respective variations should be attributed to provoking homosexuality. Hormone theory maintains that abnormal levels of testosterone expose–whether too great or too little–is responsible for masculinizing or feminizing the fetus and thus altering its ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... The study of its causation, however, has been greatly expanded only within past two
  • 21. centuries. Many theories have been formulated to attempt to explain what causes sexual variance, and in particular, homosexuality. These theories can be grouped into two main categories: nature and nurture. The theories which fall under the nature category maintain that homosexual behavior results from biological, innate differences between homosexuals and heterosexuals. The nurture theories, in contrast, state that homosexual tendencies form as a result of one's sociological environment, and that homosexuality is an acquired trait. Recent research, however, indicates a stronger assumption towards biological causes of homosexuality and leads one to question the validity of the nurture theories in influencing homosexual behavior. Nature Theories Theories crediting homosexual behavior to natural, biological factors take many different routes. The three main subcategories of biological theories include hormone theory, brain theory, and genetic theory. Although neither the nature nor the nurture theories are entirely conclusive, recent research suggests more of a correlation between biological theories on the causation of homosexuality as opposed to sociological theories. Hormone Theory Several studies have been conducted in an attempt to prove the
  • 22. ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 23. Examples Of Bisexual Stereotypes On Gay Bisexual Stereotypes Since the early ages of life being gay or bisexual has has always been frowned upon or considered "not normal." Living in the twenty –first century ,homosexuals seem to still be portrayed as the stereotypical personalities given to them long ago. In Amy Zimmerman's, "It Ain't easy Being Bisexual on Tv," she analyzes and describes her claim about the different stereotypes of bisexuals on television. Zimmerman uses Piper Chapman from the popular Tv series Orange is the New Black as a support. Chapman refers to herself as a " former lesbian" who has only ever been interested in one woman ( Zimmerman 565) The Author also speaks on Kurt Hummel, a fictional gay character on Glee. She [ Amy] address how Kurt smugly informs his boyfriend that 'Bixseual's' a term that gay guys in highschool use when they wanna hold hands with girls and feel like a normal person for a change.' Zimmerman criticizes the show for claiming to acknowledge the underdogs and "freaks",but simultaneously they mocks the "myth" of bisexuality (Zimmerman 565). In the reading, Zimmermann also tackles the idea of " good" homosexual actors and actresses,who are considered role models because they play authentic roles. The notable examples she use are Max from Happy Endings, the woman that starred The L Word ,and the cherished Will from the show Will and Grace. Zimmerman explains how the "good" characters don't change the fact that gay characters are used as ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 24. Literature Review : Anti Forensics Literature Review Anti–forensics The purpose of anti–forensics is to intentionally make digital investigations and the examination of digital media more difficult through several means including data forgery, data hiding or data deletion. The techniques differ in what they do but the purpose is to make sure data is unrecoverable. (Lucia, 2013) Forensic tools There are many tools used to try and find data that has been removed from a disk but none of these tools are able to recover data from devices that have been sanitized. The reason for this is that the data contained in the file is overwritten thus making it unrecoverable. Tools such as encase (proprietary) and diskdigger(free) are able to recover files that have been deleted using the normal delete function with encase building up a complete image of the disk and contains much more information that can be used to see how many times anti–forensic tools were run (if installed) because of prefetch files. Diskdigger on the other hand just recovers files that have been deleted and allows them to be restored. There are many tools designed to securely erase data from a hard disk or just to remove a file. These tools include ccleaner, HDD erase and many more. These tools allow for either files to be delete individually by overwriting the space they take up or overwriting all the free space on the drive to remove any traces that files existed on the device. They overwrite the data and contain many different algorithms that offer ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 25. Alison Bechdel, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic ' Introduction Alison Bechdel's graphic memoir, "Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic", frames the development of her own sexual identity as she "comes out" as a lesbian and masculine woman. While sexual identity is how one thinks of oneself in terms of to whom one is romantically or sexually attracted, to represent the process of establishing sexual identity of Bechdel, Queer Theory is the best for demonstrating the development of one's established sexual identity. According to Butler (2011), Queer theory builds both upon feminist challenges to the idea thatgender is part of the essential self and upon gay and lesbian studies' examination of the socially constructed nature of sexual acts and identities. However, Bruce, the father of Bechdel, has struggles in his sexual identity. He does not acknowledge his sexuality, which fluctuates within the LGBTQ sphere. By declining to occupy his space within the queer community, Bruce denies his own identity, as a bisexual man and a feminine male (Eleanor, 2014). This article is going to explore the presentations of the sexual identity of Bruce and Bechdel represented in the graphic novel. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... Form the formal clothing of Bruce and his image from his daughter's perspective, it shows that Bruce finds his struggles between his reality of being bisexual and the public appearance. He tries to act the role as an ideal husband and father which is a manifestation of the ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 26. The Negative Stereotypes About Bisexual Lifestyle The second contributing factor is the negative stereotypes about bisexual lifestyle. The political "treachery" of bisexual women resulted in their connection to sexual promiscuity. Lesbian women also frequently accused bisexual women of being fence–sitters who were able to "choose" between having a heterosexual and a lesbian relationship. Katie Griffin, a therapist, once summarized her bisexual experience into "On any other day, I will be straight. If it's Wednesday, I must be Gay" (1). In other words, many see bisexual individuals as being 50% gay, 50% straight, and 100% non–committal. Griffin is certainly not alone in her experiences; in her clinical practice she found that many bisexual women had to choose between lesbianism and heterosexuality (10). The fluidity of bisexuality creates discomfort with women who had to go through the tedious process of pinpointing the gender they are attracted to. Hence, lesbians see bisexuality as a transitional identity between heterosexuality and lesbianism; notably, 83% lesbians agreed that "some women claim to be bisexual when they are really lesbians who are afraid to admit it" (Rust, "Neutralizing the Political Threat" 9). Stone also notes in her memoir that lesbians are often bitter about the "straight–passing privilege" that bisexual women possess (2). They claim that bisexual women are able to enjoy the benefits of the lesbian community without receiving the discrimination that comes with it. The ability of bisexuals to ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 27. Lgbtq Actors Not only are LGBTQ people not represented on TV or in the movies, LGBTQ actors are few and far between due to the homophobia present throughout the entertainment industry. "LGBT actors are discriminated against, and many of them feel uncomfortable being out professionally because of the risk to their career prospects (Gray)." Faced with discrimination it makes sense that only 53% of lesbian and gay actors are out to most of their fellow actors, 36% have revealed to agents they are gay, and only 13% have told industry executives (Child). Nevermind getting the chance to play characters they can relate to, LGBTQ actors aren't even allowed to exist as their true selves without risk of ruining their career. LGBTQ actors exist and they should be... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... Hypervisibility really is just another way to deny people recognition and the right to truly be seen which creates undesirable and harmful exposure. However, the only other option being presented is invisibility which enforces silence and erasure, and the LGBTQ community certainly does not need more of that. Hypervisibility is not a solution for the inadequate amount of LGBTQ characters being created and it's time that the public recognize how the mass media is denying us access to more diversity in ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 28. Sociological Attitudes Toward Gender And Sexuality When analysing the current state of sociological attitudes toward gender and sexuality, the overwhelming conclusion is that the hegemonic view in society assumes an inherent binary (Lorber via Steele, 2005, p.75). We categorize people into two groups: male or female; man or woman; masculine or feminine; gay or straight. However, throughout humanity's development, variances to that model have emerged, either choosing to sit somewhere between the binary, or reject the model altogether. These variations challenge the binary assumptions entrenched within society, and as a result, are often denied, misunderstood or ignored entirely. Enter bisexuality. Put simply, the concept of bisexuality is a sexual orientation that lies in the space between heterosexuality and homosexuality. However, society's assumption of sexual essentialism, the idea that sexual orientation is fixed and absolute, has led to a culture that is "uncomfortable with people who are sexually ambiguous (Valverde via Naugler, 2012, p. 87). This urges society to assume that, despite the existence of bisexuality, people are really either gay or straight (Valverde via Naugler, 2012, p. 83). This is the phenomenon of bisexual erasure (Eisner, 2013, p. 89). Bisexual erasure affects both bisexual men and women in various ways; however, this essay will focus on the erasure of bisexuality in men in particular. There is a distinctive public perception when it comes to bisexuality in men: that they don't exist at all. Denial ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 29. Stereotypical Trope Of Falling In Love Faking it is one of the very few queer shows out there on TV diving into the topic of exploration of sexuality, and of course the stereotypical trope of falling in love with your best–friend (not saying that it's a bad thing– it just brings up a lot of lesbian feels). It is about the main character, Amy, discovering that she may not be as straight as she had thought through the process of realizing that she could be in love with her best friend, Karma. Now I'm not gonna go into too much depth about what this show is about because I could be here forever and let's face it, no one wants that (also, there's Google–no I'm not endorsed). From the new part 2 of season 2 trailer there has been a lot of criticism of bisexual erasure on the show. The ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 30. Lgbt What Is LGBT? LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and along with heterosexual they describe people's sexual orientation or gender identity. These terms are explained in more detail here. Lesbian A lesbian woman is one who is romantically, sexually and/or emotionally attracted to women. Many lesbians prefer to be called lesbian rather than gay. Gay A gay man is one who is romantically, sexually and/or emotionally attracted to men. The word gay can be used to refer generally to lesbian, gay and bisexual people but many women prefer to be called lesbian. Most gay people don't like to be referred to as homosexual because of the negative historical associations with the word and because the word gay better reflects their ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... Sexual orientation also refers to a person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviours, and membership in a community of others who share those attractions. Three sexual orientations are commonly recognised – heterosexual, homosexual (gay and lesbian) and bisexual. Homophobia Homophobia refers to fear of or prejudice and discrimination against lesbian, gay and bisexual people. It is also the dislike of same–sex attraction and love or the hatred of people who have those feelings. The term was first used in the 1970s and is more associated with ignorance, prejudice and stereotyping than with the physiological reactions usually attributed to a 'phobia'. While homophobic comments or attitudes are often unintentional, they can cause hurt and offence to lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Transphobia Transphobia refers to fear of or prejudice and discrimination against people who are transgender or who are perceived to transgress norms of gender, gender identity or gender expression. While transphobic comments or attitudes are often unintentional, they can cause hurt and offence to transgender people. Definitions adapted from More Than a Phase (Pobal, 2006), For a Better Understanding of Sexual Orientation (APA, 2008) and Answers to Your Questions About Transgender Individuals and Gender Identity (APA, ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 31. Glee Representation The increasing prevalence of LGBT representations in film and television has had positive contributions in challenging the dominance of heteronormativity. Representations through LGBT characters in film and television increases awareness of the LGBT community. These representations may challenge people's perceptions of things such as masculinity and femininity or homosexuality and heterosexuality. However, not all representations are positive, as they often distort characters into dangerous stereotypes and misrepresent the community entirely. This misrepresentation holds true with bisexual characters. The representation of bisexuality in film and television leads to bisexual erasure and misunderstandings of bisexuality. Robyn Ochs identifies ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... At this point in the series Kurt is attempting to pursue Blaine – who identifies as gay – romantically, but when Blaine gets drunk and kisses a girl at a party he begins to question his identity. Kurt protests, and Blaine explains: "When we kissed it, it felt good...I've never even had a boyfriend before. Isn't this the time you're supposed to figure stuff out? Maybe I'm bi, I don't know." Blaine's explanation demonstrates his confusion about his sexual identity. He already knows he likes men, but having enjoyed kissing a girl, he now wonders if he likes women as well. Kurt responds to Blaine's confusion perpetuates the stereotype that bisexuality does not exist: "Bisexual's a term that gay guys in high school use when they wanna hold hands with girls and feel like a normal person for a change." Glee does not use this episode to foster a discussion on the harmful stereotypes about bisexuality, but instead when Blaine kisses a girl for a second time he immediately realizes he's only interested men after all. The issue is resolved, and Kurt is now able to continue pursuing Blaine without the "threat" of his interest in ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 32. Identifying As A Sexual Minority Identifying as a sexual minority can be as isolating as it can be a communal experience. Sexual identities tend to exist in flux as individuals begin to grow understand more about themselves, their preferences, and the labels they may or may not choose to adopt. Unfortunately, this explorative process is not always encouraged when these same individuals encounter heteronormative expectations for their life and behavior. Access to Internet communities comprised of individuals with varying sexual identities, rupture these localized cultural boundaries and insert varying queer identities. Their offline setting may prevent the chance for self–discovery in a way that is vital to their health during major stages of development; however, their participation in communities online allow for the formation of identities otherwise unrepresented in the physical reality they see around them. Within this paper, the umbrella term "queer" will be used to encompass many different sexual identities mentioned. While once used as a derogatory term, it has been rebranded and revitalized as a term of unification for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. In order to prevent erasure of the narrative of subsets of members within the larger queer community, their identities will be included. When discussing the larger implications of the development of sexual minority identification, queer will be employed. The formation of sexual identities is a layered and often lengthy process. Unfortunately, when ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 33. Lgbt History And The Modern Era There are many topics prevalent shown throughout history. History books in today's society highlight the majority of groups of people and historical events. This essay will prove that there is a problematic issue where LGBT lives and existences are being erased throughout history and the modern era. Throughout, it will be explained how these groups of people are being underrepresented within history, major wars, and the modern era. History covers a very broad spectrum of time, with recorded history going as far back as five thousand years. Yet, within this period of five thousand years, history books implemented in school systems rarely give detail to LGBT people (Carter, "It's Time to Write LGBT History into the Textbooks"). For example, within America, homosexuality has been shown throughout Native American tribes long before Europeans even stepped foot onto the land. While traditional European beliefs define a person's sexual identity male or female based on biological determination, Native American's have a vast variety of how sexuality is viewed. Native Americans believed the Creator created three different genders; males, females and two–spirits, following the Plato model of roles. Gender roles and gender identity mirrored one another, each containing their own magical attributes according to lore. While gender identity defined Native American gender roles, their expectations for the two spirits differed. Native American ideology welcomed a third gender and openly ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 34. Essay On AIDS On larger scales as well, societies have been depriving LGBT people of their histories and rights in order to preserve the current social and cultural climates. As rigid social classes have started to become more blurred, AIDs literature has become more mainstream and the history of the AIDs crisis in terms of gay people has become less shadowed. The first truly definable category of AIDs writing is in the face of the initial media blackout, wherein only those who were affected by the disease wrote about it, or consumed media related to it. This was when being gay was even more dangerous /considered irreparably immoral, and the tone of the writing has shifted in the modern day to more generalized, hopeful themes. (McDonald) It has taken a ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... While the issue being discussed is whether trans* people are allowed to use the restroom that best corresponds with their gender, the real question being discussed is whether or not trans* people are allowed to exist in public spaces; if they can't safely use the restroom in a public space, then they can't exist in that space for very long without either leaving or putting themself in danger. They either remove themself or someone removes them. It's a more direct method compared to restriction of information, but the intent and the outcome are the same; erasure of LGBT people from the public consciousness. Similarly, and more specifically, The 1969 Stonewall Riots and subsequent American "revolutions" were misrepresented and redirected in order to preserve the social climate as much as possible. Sylvia Rivera, despite being a huge part of the Stonewall Riots and helping, according to many historians, to kickstart the US LGBT rights movement, is hardly ever mentioned outside of in depth LGBT conversations. Rivera was a huge part of LGBT history, and even then not many young or newly realized members of the community know about her because she was a trans*woman of color, the most threatened and erased LGBT denomination. In a work titled "The Stonewall uprising," the introduction reads, "In the early morning of June 28, 1969, police officers entered the Stonewall Inn. The bar was a ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 35. The 1981 Hiv / Aids Epidemic The 1981 HIV/AIDS epidemic was a time of turmoil for the LGBT+ community due to the high transmission risk of HIV/AIDS between homosexuals (Richardson 5). Tension ran high within community, as different groups experienced different amounts of discrimination for their transmission risk. In particular, scholars find that "tensions between lesbian and bisexual women was much more problematic than tensions between gay and bisexual men" (Udis–Kessler 46). Despite the similarities of lesbian and bisexual women as non–heterosexual women, the two groups are politically divided instead of united. What discrimination, if any, did bisexual women receive from lesbian women as a result of the 1981 HIV/AIDS epidemic? What were the socio–political... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... These two sexual identities are extremely similar but translate to vastly different experiences. Lesbians are the more prominent group in the LGBT community; they were far more visible in the media and established their own lesbian feminist organizations before the HIV/AIDS epidemic (Rust, "Neutralizing the Political Threat" 2). On the other hand, bisexual women lacked the support communities that lesbians enjoyed during the 1980s. Many organizations and colleges did not acknowledge bisexual existence until the late 1970s, when the letter "B" was added to the LGBT+ acronym (Hutchins 244). Evidence of tension between the two groups existed in the 1970s prior to the epidemic, where lesbian groups apparently regarded bisexual women as a political threat (Tucker 43). At the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, lesbian and bisexual women had similar political standings. The literature published during this period was largely focused on men. The heterosexual and gay community was regarded as high risk for transmission, but sex between women was assumed by a majority of the medical community as having a low risk of HIV/AIDS transmission (Richardson 2). National censuses of HIV positive individuals gave homosexual, bisexual and heterosexual men each their own category, but all women were grouped into one large category (Richardson 9). The ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 36. Film And Television : Stereotypes And Implications The usage of the word "bisexual" to define an individual's attraction to both sexes has been around since 1892. Bisexuality itself has been around since the study of world sexuality and in the United States alone, bisexuals make up 55% of the LGBT community (Gates (2011) p. 4). Yet as recently as the early 21st century, psychologists have still tried to argue that "most people are one way, some the other. A very few are truly ambidextrous" (Myers (2003) p.476). Bisexual representation in film and television is largely portrayed through common stereotypes and implications – when it is portrayed at all. In television, bisexuality is dismissed as the transitory stage between heterosexuality and homosexuality. In film, it is minimized to titillation for a male audience or as a trope for sexual promiscuity. This is largely in part due to the negative stereotypes surrounding the sexuality and the dichotomous nature of media framing in terms of sexual orientation in an effort to discourage bisexual visibility. Some of the largest stereotypes surrounding bisexuality aim largely at the person's inability to "pick a side" and the erasure of their orientation when they finally do. According to Sharon Sumpter's "Myths/Realities of Bisexuality," the majority of bisexual stereotypes have to do with the idea that bisexuals are only "experimenting" and either "haven't fully accepted themselves" or are "going through a phase" (Sumpter (1989)). The latter stereotype is perhaps the most ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 37. Effects Of Discrimination And Minority Stress Discrimination and Minority Stress As stated earlier previous studies have reported decreased resilience among LGBA+ populations, however, it is important to note that identifying, as LGBA+ does not inherently cause the distress that is the source of poorer levels of mental health and resilience. Instead, it is a reaction the previously stated statistics representing shocking levels of exposure to discrimination, which also take the form of microaggressions. Micro–aggressions are aimed at minority groups and are a form of assault that can exist in a variety of forms either verbal or nonverbal, as well as be intentional or unintentional on behalf of the perpetrator. Microaggressions have previously been linked to increased mental health difficulties in the form of increased anxiety in African American University Students (Smith, Allen, & Danley, 2007). As individuals worldwide of multiple ethnicities, ages, religiosity, and able–bodiedness may identify as LGBA+, taking into account, this intersectionality and how it impacts on resilience is necessary to our understanding of LGBA+ populations. An individual who identifies both as a sexual minority and as an ethnic minority may have the effects of such discrimination and micro–aggressions compounded resulting in overall poorer resilience as the stressors experienced an increase (Balsam, Molina, Beadnell, Simoni, & Walters, 2011). The Intersectionality between ethnicity and sexual identity also has a clear impact on social ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...
  • 38. Bisexuality Erasure Bisexuality Erasure Saige Brey Aug 15, 2015 – When you hear the term "bisexual", what comes to mind? For some it's what they identify with in the LGBTQIA+, for others it's a confusing and broad term that somewhat covers their sexuality, and for others it just seems like a foreign and strange idea. As a bisexual, I've heard the question, "Well which gender do you prefer more?" several times. My answer to that is usually along the lines of 'neither', which leads to some confused looks or even some of disbelief. To start, bisexuality is not a "Well, you're either straight or gay! Pick one!". Bisexuality is within the LGBTQIA+ and sexuality spectrum, but it is neither a preference of any of the genders. For some, yes they prefer a gender, but ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ... For example, pansexuality is the attraction to all genders (not just male and female), and polysexuality is the attraction to some (not all) genders. A plethora of people identify as all three of these genders, and yes they are real, and some do have preferences, others do not. Basically, bisexuality erasure is a becoming a prevalent problem in the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as the straight community. I've had people tell me that bisexuals are just pretending, and then there's the ever present rumor that bisexual people are just in it for the sex. I'm here to say that's not true. A bisexual person can like two, many, or all genders, and it has literally nothing to do with sex or the amount of sex that person has. However, some people within the LGBTQIA+ community feel like bisexuals are the most privileged of the sexualities, because they can "just identify as straight if they felt like it" (an actual person has said this to me before), and haven't felt the homophobia and hostility faced towards the community. But we have. Bisexuals may not encounter as much homophobia and hostility, but we still get the constant, "Which do you prefer more, boys or girls?" and the "Well you have to like one more than the other, liking two (or more) doesn't make ... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...