Come Out or Not As Sandra Hughes-Hassell discusses in her article “Multicultural Young Adult Literature as a Form of Counter-Storytelling,” there need to be more stories that illustrate the oppressed young people’s struggles. One of these struggles is with sexuality. In the stories “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere,” by ZZ Packer and “The Alumni Interview”, by David Levithan, both protagonist’s sexuality impacts their love life, their education, and their relationships with the adults they encounter. For instance in both stories, the protagonist’s sexuality affects their love life. In “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere,” the protagonist does not admit she is gay even to herself, and this places a strain on her love life since her best friend is openly gay. In “Drinking Coffee …show more content…
Dina’s love is evident when she thinks, “I began to love Heidi that night in the dish room, but who is to say that I hadn’t begun to love her the first time I met her” (Packer 310)? Even though she feels this way, she refuses to tell Heidi and when Heidi announces that she is proud to be a lesbian at the school’s “Coming Out Day,” Dina withdraws from Heidi and does not spend time with her anymore since she does not want anyone to know she is gay (Packer 311). Eventually, their relationship ends, and Dina never discloses to Heidi that she is a lesbian and loves her. However, in “The Alumni Interview,” the love life is strained because the protagonist is open about his sexuality, but his partner is not. Unlike Dina, in the narrative “The Alumni Interview”, the protagonist Ian is honest about his sexual orientation and admits he is in love with Thom. The fact that Thom is not public concerning his sexual
What is afraid of change is society, which is bitter and conservative. Strong parental figures give children exploring their gender identity much needed hope and support. They also assist with the fight against society’s expectations by giving children the choice to be whoever or whatever they please. Many celebrities are coming out now as LGBTQIA+ because they now have support. This assistance has provided said celebrities with confidence and happiness in their treacherous journey of discovery.
In the book, “Weetzie Bat” by Francesca Lia Block, the fairy tale styled story focuses on Weetzie’s life in Los Angeles, California based on her preferences and decisions. In summary, Weetzie, a bleached-blonde girl, met a boy during high school named Dirk, who she felt connected with. Their relationship was so close that they would do everything together, from going to bars, concerts, and soon live together. Since they were really close friends, Dirk trusted Weetzie enough to come out to her as gay. That was good news to Weetzie because she figured that they can “duck hunt” together.
Society tries to create a “perfect” image on people; leading us to believe that if we are not the specific way that we created, we do not fit in. In reality everybody is supposed to create themself, regardless of what society believes. Does what we label others matter? Who are we to judge how others chose to create themselves? In David Crabb’s memoir Bad Kid, Crabb takes the readers through what it was like discovering that he is gay, and how that changed how kids treated him during school.
Even to this day, shame about one’s sexual orientation remains a prominent topic. Whether one identified themselves as gay, lesbian, and transgender, society viewed them and their actions as a sin, a crime, and a disease, which only increased the amount of shame–a painful feeling of distress or humiliation caused by the consciousness of wrong or fooling behavior–they saw within themselves. Then changes began to occur as a group of gays, lesbians, and transgender people confronted police in an event known as the Stonewall Riots or the Stonewall Uprising, which became a turning point for gay liberation. Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home is a 1980s, family tragicomic-graphic memoir that addresses this perspective turning point through the use of the labyrinth
Steven Seidman’s Revolt Against Sexual Identity provides anecdotes that describe the liberation that comes with rejecting these norms, “...her identities as transgender, female,
The adults in Salem, Oregon in Stephen Karam’s Speech & Debate had good reason to treat the teens as if they were children. If Diwata, Solomon, and Howie were an accurate representation of the other students at the school, it is no wonder that the parents, teachers, and school board sought to exercise an abundance of control and provide too much guidance in their lives. The three teens dealt with “grown-up” issues throughout the play, but they tried to tackle them in characteristically childish ways. In the opening scene of the play, viewers are introduced to Howie, an openly gay 18-year-old.
Degrassi: Next Class, the Canadian TV show became popular for its depiction of teen drama, from cheating to islamophobia, to taking steroids. Degrassi shows real life problems from the perspective of teens. It makes real life problems relative for other teenagers and adults. In this essay I will critically analyze Yael; a character in Degrassi: next class using Queer theory. By using Queer theory I hope to highlight and emphasize the role of traditional gender roles, that are enforced on those in our society.
Anyone who is interested in the digital age, LGBT relationships, and success stories should give Buffering a try. The problematic issues it addresses can be related to any of its readers, which is what gives this book its raw and eye-opening feel. A much different side of Hannah Hart is revealed, and this side shifts the view one may have of Hart today. A bubbly, cute, little lesbian who likes to get drunk and cook is now a strong, resilient, and undefeatable lesbian who likes to get drunk and
In the original story when Heidi first met Dina, she went crying to Dina’s room asking to be let in. While crying and having a conversation with each other Heidi asks if Dina could possibly be a lesbian. Dina responded by saying, “Do I look like one?” (110). Responding by saying a question not only gives us a sense of how she communicates, but it could have also reminded her of something in the past.
The Gay Display In today’s society, people are judged every day by their sexual orientation. David Sedaris, author of the story “I Like Guys,” gives insight into the life of a young gay adolescent. He talks about his struggle with whether or not to identify himself as being gay. As a young teen in a society that was not accepting of his sexual preference, people ridicule Sedaris as a “faggot” (Sedaris 52).
She realizes that if she was given that same option now, she would have done something different. “She remembered how she'd marveled when she'd read it, amazed that anyone would do such a thing; how – in the all-knowing arrogance of youth – she'd been certain that given the same circumstances, she would have done something different.” The loss of innocence is shown because Dina is now aware of her own “Kamikaze mission” and how the viewpoint of others around her have
This observation was done at a local Starbucks. The main impact this had on my observation was that I am familiar with the culture of coffee shops, even if this one was new. I had a good understanding of who I would see and my perceptions of them based on this experience, as well as other cultural norms. For example, I mentioned the couples as likely being romantically involved if heterosexual, and same sex couples to be friends/ acquaintances/ work partners, due to my experience with heteronormativity, as well as the prominence of coffee shop dates and work meetings in my cultural understanding. I also assumed adult and child pairs to be parent and child due to my own experience (as well as the words “mom” or “dad” on occasion) as opposed to any actual knowledge of their relationship.
The space to express their own feelings, thoughts, and needs spends a good deal of time with kid’s parents and peer groups. It shows the difficulties the trans youth face in making themselves understood by those around them, the obstacles closest to them must be defeated to take a big step about their lives. For a child to change their identity isn’t easy nor is it for the parents to accept the change from being ‘he’ to be a ‘she’ or vice or versa. To accept for the child’s happiness families, move to different towns to start a new life so the child can create a new social
Gender is it a concept or is it made apparent by our DNA when you are born or does it change as you grow older? Often gender is something that society defines at birth. According to society certain gender roles are pre established when we are born. The majority of society believes that if you are born to a specific gender you should adhere to the gender roles while other people believe that instead we may be born to a gender but it does not always decide if you are that gender. Science has proven that just because you are born a male or female does not mean that you mentally see yourself as that gender.
Winter was just around the corner. It was my first time in the biggest coffee shop in town. I could see the cheerful and brilliant lighting of the shop as I walked across the vast parking lot. There were tables outside the shop each with a brown vintage style umbrella. This particular coffee shop is not a cafe, it’s a coffee shop literally.