Sexual Orientation Reflection Paper

1. For this assignment, I’m going to focus on my sexual orientation and my family 's socioeconomic status in relation to how I interact and treat others. I am choosing these three factors because they are the few that have shaped me into the way I act in society. I can say that I am a lot more confident about these factors now than I ever have been before but I believe that to be because of a growing and changing society. People are a lot more accepting and understanding than they ever have been in the past. With that thought about the general population, I feel that I can express myself more than I ever could before. Growing up in a small town of 10,000 is never easy when you are the minority or not of the dominant race, class, or any other factor pertaining to one’s culture. I identify as a white, low-income, non-religious, homosexual male. I grew up in a town where the population was predominantly white, middle-class, Catholic, and heterosexual. What does this mean in relation to how I treat others or how others treat me? Well it seems as though when someone is not of the dominant culture of a population, they tend to be looked down upon, thought differently about, and sometimes even persuaded to change their personality or beliefs to match the dominant population. I for one, felt that I needed to change who I was in order to survive socially up until college. I treated others how I felt they wanted me to treat them and I could tell others treated me