Final Paper

黃新雅( 961002010, Sophia Huang)
Professor Liang
English Composition 2A
Jan. 8, 2009


Could Gay be Gay?

Homosexuality is a description of those people who tend to love the same gender as they are. Those people are so-called gays or lesbians. Nowadays, due to the fact that homosexuality was once said to be shameful and abnormal, it has become a controversial issue that provokes the public to think whether such sexual orientation is acceptable or not. “ In the closet” is a form to describe such kind of situation that they are in. Since the concept of homosexuality was still not broadly accepted, those people are not allowed to pursue their love directly; thus, they suffer from great pain. However, as time went by, they started to fight for their rights for pursuing and expressing their affection to their love ones; during these campaigns, conflicts could not be avoided. The concept of “ all men are created equal” can be the explanation to the fight. Everyone has his/ her right to live in his/ her own style and pursue happiness. Homosexuality is nature born; therefore, they should not be treated as abnormal people. I was attracted by a website whose topic was “ My son is a gay. What Should I do?” because the topic did express the “ fear” of some parents when finding out that their kids are gays or lesbians. The same website also mentioned that a research was done and pointed out homosexuality happened not only in human world but also in animals’. In China, the public was said to accept this concept in the Han Dynasty. It was not until the discrimination of homosexuality spread into China that the Chinese started to show despise on them. Therefore, we should start to change the stereotype among those people by heart and not be influenced by the hatred, which was not based on equality.


The gay Liberation Movement was said to have drawn much of its inspiration from other revolutionary groups of the 1960s, especially feminism and the Black Liberation Movement. However, there were still differences: women and people of color could not change their appearances but most homosexuals could pass for straight. Some homosexuals disobeyed their wills simply because of the social prejudice against them. Based on Louis Giannetti’s Understanding Movies(1997), the eleventh edition, the ideology of the issue had brought in the thrive in queer cinema.

In Understanding Movies, the author mentioned the psychology of the homosexuals, and the different theories on the issue. The researchers such as Kinsey Masters and Johnson regarded all sexual behavior as learned, not innate. Freud thought that the sexual tendency was influenced by social conventions so everybody must learn what the “ normal” sexes were. On the other hand, other researchers believe that homosexuality is inborn. Recent medical findings proved that the brain structure is the cause of sexual tendency, and such theories were to explain that homosexuals did not choose to be gays/ lesbians themselves. As for them, their sexual tendency is natural. According to the Understanding Movies, 10 percent of the American population is homosexual and as high as 33 percent of people have had at least one homosexual experience; the result of the investigation was not surprising at all because everybody has his/ her masculine and feminine sides as can be seen in our daily lives.


Some people would not tell people the truth if they were homosexuals for fear that they might be discriminated; however, there were still a lot of people willing to accept the fact and tell the public. For example, some actors and actresses told the public that they are homosexuals, and much to their surprise, they were still popular and favored by people. McKellen is a leading gay activist, and also a famous actor.
After announcing that he was a gay, McKellen said that his career had taken off, and he had enough of being a gay icon. From Mckellen’s example, we knew that his career did go smoothly well, and even better after he came out of the closet; people did not treat him as a weirdo.


Some people held the opinion that people decide our sexes according to productive organs but could we not put people into categories according to other physical features? This question in a way showed us why some people disliked the idea of being homosexuality. Human beings had sex for two reasons: firstly, for pleasure, and secondly, for passing on the succeeding races. To consider the latter function of having sex, here comes a question: how could people produce babies if they are in the same gender? There was no such a way to achieve the purpose for sure. But if we focus on the individuals’ rights of pursuing happiness, there should not be obstructions, either. In this aspect, why could a guy not like the same gender as himself/ herself? Of course he/ she could. This is the problem of self- identification. Here comes another problem: Even those homosexuals accept themselves, how can they get rid of the stereotype of the public? The answer was quite simple: Now that the homosexuals have the right to seek for their loved ones, people also have their right to express their own ideas. We could not bother everyone’s thoughts and attitudes toward things. Thus, homosexuals do not need to care about the stereotypes in other people’s mind because all human beings have their choices. As long as homosexuals accept themselves first, they could live in broaden minds. There is still a long way to go to shift the public’s concept but we could still make progress steps by steps.

The nuclei of human cells are consisted of twenty-two autosomes (which are to determine the characteristics of individuals’) and two sex chromosomes (which are to determine the gender of people). In females, the sex chromosomes are the two X chromosomes, while in males’, the sex chromosomes contain one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. The occurrence of the Y chromosome is what causes the differences between males and females. LeVay, Tim had done the examination on the structure within the human brain and the genetic link of male homosexuality, and we could see his theory in Gay Genes, Revisited. Different sides of the scientists pointed out their own perspectives on the topic, homosexuality. Some scientists said that homosexuality had something to do with the brains. While others were arguing whether homosexuality was the cause of chromosome X. The latter thought that the homosexuals might have the sexual tendency by being inherited exclusively from the mothers. However, all these arguments led to disputes. Scientists on both sides questioned the truthfulness of the experiment results of each other.

Also, when talking of the cultural aspect on Homosexuality in Gay Genes, Revisited, it was said that the cause of the sexual tendency was due to the fact that the relationships between gays and their fathers in the childhood were not as good as those with their mothers. Through the research of the scientists, we could know better about the issue of homosexuality in different perspective not merely from the cultural aspects but also from the scientific perspectives.

Epstein, Robert also mentioned that homosexuality is nature born in his papers: Do Gays Have a Choice? In the other words, Robert held the opinion that homosexuality has something to do with the chromosome. The author pointed out that most people might think that there were deep-rooted stereotypes against gays and lesbians in the public; however, as time passed by, the author thought that sometimes it was the homosexuality that had the “ discrimination” against themselves. They searched for therapies so as to change themselves into so-called “ ordinary people” (straight guys.) Some may succeed eventually, but most could not. Most people have the tendency of being homosexuality; thus, the environment may have effects on them and made them fall in love with the same gender of themselves. Such theory could explain why some people would fall in love with both genders. From the other aspect, some homosexuality could not change their sexual tendency at all if they have strong genetic tendencies.


There was an example of a couple in Do Gays Have a Choice? Matt Avery was once a gay for most of his young adulthood, but afterwards, he married a woman. With this example, some people claim that Matt’s life was based on an illusion and that he could not possibly be a good father and husband. The author said the reason why Matt ran back inside the closet was that he was pressured by the society, which dislikes and shuns guys.


The same article also talked of religious cause. According to the book of Leviticus, homosexuality is what was prohibited in males and could be punished to death. As we know, religions in not only Eastern world but also Western societies have always the strong influence on the public. This served as another example to explain why the root of stereotype over homosexuality was so deep through years. In addition, in previous years, some therapists even held that homosexuality was a psychological disorder. Fortunately, this concept had changed afterwards. It was Gays themselves tired of being viewed as freaks of the society started to assert that they were not sick. By defending themselves, it was a nice change of their thoughts.


The author did not neglect the cause of cultural factors. To talk of the influence of the environment, Matt’s example could also explain it. Matt once said he thought that his whole life was defined by whomever he was with. This could be the support of the viewpoints of social influence.


Some people might think that gays do not have in a traditional sense of raising up a family. On hearing this, gays may defend that they did take care of their own family. All people had the concept of bonds either with their family or with the other people. That was to say, people should not have the misconception among gays and lesbians. Being homosexuals does not mean that they do not want to have babies. Is that being a gay just like committing crimes? Why do people not embrace them friendly but condemning them instead? The homosexuals raised such questions when they were questioned whether or not they feel weird of themselves for not wanting babies; that aroused the struggle and pain in homosexuals’ minds.


In sum, a person should not be measured by the opinions of others; however, it is still difficult for people to neglect the fact that there are still people out there discriminating homosexuals, and then cause the shameful feelings in gays and lesbians’ hearts. There was no doubt that it was a challenge and a struggle for those being the minority. Most people are more respectful to one another nowadays and even though it may take time to change the stereotypes within the society, it is still definitely a top priority for homosexuals to accept themselves first. Homosexuals could only feel relieved and truly accept themselves when they themselves get rid of the stereotype first. Could Gay be Gay? Mostly, it is the homosexuals themselves that cannot fight against the discrimination toward them. They considered much more things than the public. In other words, they care the public thoughts too much. In other words, they think the public might not accept them and such idea cause their fears to accept themselves, but on the other hand, they neglect the fact that nowadays, most people do treat them equally. The above-mentioned can be proved in the video (Could Gay be Gay?). There was a boy who happened to be a gay, showed his panic. There was a guess that instead of being sincere, people may act out that they could accept homosexuals in nowadays society. However, it was not a serious problem because we could never guess what is in people’s minds. Therefore, to accept oneself is what everyone should do but don’t worry about the questions that one cannot manage.











References

Giannetti, L. (1997). Understanding Movies, the eleventh edition. In Ideology- Queer Cinema ( pp.483-p.489). New jersey: Pearson

LeVay, Tim; Hamer.(1994, May) Scientific American. Gay Genes, Revisited. (Vol. 270 Issue 5, pp44) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER] (AN 14327844)

Epstein, Robert. (2006 Feb/Mar) Scientific American Mind. Do Gays Have a Choice? (Vol. 17 Issue 1, pp50)
From:http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=3&hid=3&sid=0ef80f05-7ac0-4011-a81c-1967ab28d5c1%40sessionmgr9

“Gay son.” (2004, September 7)
From: http://www.jamessteed.com/gayson/gayson.htm

“ Could Gay be Gay?”(n.d.).
From: http://www.youtube.com/v/V1iEpBsNIBU&hl=zh_TW&fs=1