Homoerotic Love In Giovanni's Room

And intends to remind the reader of the humanity of sexual minorities. What is most compelling is Epprecht's thoughtfulness towards language. On top of taking time to explain certain LGBT terms, he points specifically to how the term 'homosexuality' was not explicit in all aspects of history and has different sensitivities and meanings based on cultural influence. In fact, the term homophobia only came into existence in 1971 (58). This notion of language is further articulated as Epprecht analyses the history of faith, colonial rule and governmental legislation in African society.

James Baldwin is very explicit in his novel about the conditions of racism in the United States, and where he believes they stem from. Baldwin seems to think it is an internal, and individualized mindset that causes African Americans to fall into their ‘expected’ roles. He tells his nephew, “You can only be destroyed by believing you really are what the white world calls a nigger” (Baldwin 4). Through this quote, Baldwin is appealing to the readers pathos and making them think more deeply about how one finds their own self identity. Is much of modern racism influenced by others opinions on ourselves and on each other?

“Prelude to Love” consists of love letters written between Cleaver and his attorney Beverly Axelrod, which emphasizes the conflict of Cleaver’s views of white women and his actions with his attorney. The section of “White Woman, Black Man” further delves into his views of white women and the role that society has in shaping gender relations between black men and white women and also in influencing masculinity and femininity.

At another level, the Wayanses effectively spoof the history of white America 's myth regarding black men and their alleged obsession with white women. Given that Latrell becomes obsessed with "Tiffany" (whom we know to be Marcus), there is a sense in which the taboo against miscegenation is not threatened. After all, Tiffany is not a real white woman and is thereby not in danger of being sexually "sullied." Nevertheless, the Wayanses creatively exploit Latrell 's interactions with "Tiffany" in ways that effectively delineate various subtle and not-so-subtle racist motifs. There are other moments that Latrell 's relationship with "real" white women speaks to deep fantasies and fears around the bountiful "sexual virility" of the black male body, even to the point of playing on the theme of the black male body 's sexuality as a site of sadism - and the aggressive sexual appetites of white women who actually desire to play in the dark Within the context of the film, white women 's desire for the black male body invokes the theme of masochism and the white man 's greatest fear.

Butterfly, on the other hand, uses gender and racialization in a combative way. When reading Song as male (problematic and will be refuted later), Hwang counters Madame Butterfly’s submissive and feminine stereotype of the East. The final scene is a reversal of this notion, in which the West is killing herself for the male East. However, reading Song as a man and Gallimard as gay deprives Song of her femininity. Though Hwang refers to Song with he/him pronouns in the afterword, modern lenses of gender and sexuality can be used to describe Song as transgender or genderqueer.

Soon it became interpreted also as a song about race relations. Walter Ray Watson, a senior producer for NPR News, called the song “a poetic plea for justice and contemplation within black communities” (Katzif). Whether or not Marvin Gaye intended for the song to bestow the meaning of speaking up for civil rights (specifically because I know that the song was inspired by the Vietnam War), that does not distract from the fact that it still is a song for civil rights as the lyrics ask “Oh, but who are they to judge us, simply because our hair is long,” which is perceived to be a dig at people who don’t accept black people and long

His signifying trait is his racial and cultural difference from other characters in the novel. He is a decentralizing force who challenges Jadine about her education and its value to her as a black woman. Elliot butler Evans claims that Son is ‘a black male whose existence is informed by an ideal and authentic black culture’ (158). Often, he is identified with the feminine and the maternal. However, he cannot really be considered the authentic bearer or healer of culture that he initially appears to be.

Babuscio, in his examination of “camp” from the gay perspective, however, argues that seeing as gays ‘do not conform to socially expected ways of behaving as men and women’, it implies that ‘roles, and in particular, sex roles, are superficial – a matter of style’ (Babuscio, 123). This is especially in light of the gay ‘experience of passing’ which often leads to ‘a heightened awareness and appreciation for disguise…and the distinctions to be made between instinctive and theatrical behaviour’ (Babuscio, 124). As such, while it is undeniable that artificiality is intrinsic to “camp”, there is a clear difference between the two writers in their interpretations of “camp” and its inherent artificiality – Sontag adopts a more theoretical and general approach, while

The theory of double consciousness is the idea that the African American must navigate the voyages of life from within a form of “two-ness” (2), because he is both man, and black. The Bluest Eyes open with an anecdote of Dick and Jane to show how racism destroys the mental stability of black people. It equates whites with success and happiness while blacks with poverty and unhappiness. This traumatises the minds of Blacks and they begin to dislike their own heritage and skin colour in the white world of Dick and Jane.

I was stuck”(91). Through Huck’s eyes, following white societal standards is supposed to be the good moral high ground; however, the justification of slavery confuses him. All through the novel, Huck is constantly questioning his own morals. He feels guilty for wanting to help Jim; however, he eventually acknowledges Jim’s humanity while society deems it wrong. As the audience, we know slavery is wrong.