This immediately made me think of the bogus concept of "gaydar". Many people seem to believe that this is an actual sort of phenomenon, and that they claim they can tell someone's sexuality just be getting to know them without the person ever telling them. While it is clearly easier to see that some people identify as being gay easier than others, it makes me wonder what criteria is being used to determine this. To my understanding, it's stereotypes. Society has built up and shown how SOME homosexuals act, which is always the polar opposite of the gender they "should" be acting. So by what standards are they using? Is every flamboyant male gay, and every "butch" woman a lesbian? To me, this gaydar only fuels the fire for the gay and lesbian stereotypes. You cannot tell someone their sexuality, because you cannot know what someone is thinking. You can guess, and you can think someone is what they are, but the truth is, if you're "deciding" what sexuality someone is based on the common stereotype, you'll only be disappointed. Not all gays fit the stereotype anymore.
--Cameron
I agree with Cameron in the sense that stereotypes do not fit many people that the actual stereotype is told against. The example of someone being gay is a great example. Being gay is not bad at all in my eyes. It is a choice that one makes which is totally natural. When people see someone do something out of the ordinary, or sees a man do something more femine, that person is automatically classified by the stereotype of being gay.
ReplyDeleteGuessing in my eyes is not the right way to do things when your trying to figure out what someone else is. It is better to know someone and what there made of before assuming something about them or putting them down in the books as something they probably aren't because you believe they are that way based on a stereotype. Society is one of the main reasons why people get put down in many different ways and why stereotypes basically rule out everything in modern society.