Homosexual Individuals and Gender Norms - 998 Words

â€Å"Beni, I have something to tell you,† my friend Marie said to me one year ago. â€Å"I am a lesbian.† At that moment all my views and beliefs about homosexual individuals were shattered. Marie has been in my life for about 13 years now, and is a very good friend of mine from the church. Growing up, she has been a tomboy that expressed herself in ways that deviated from the female gender norms, or ciswoman (Wood, 2013, p. 26). â€Å"Sex is a designation based on biology,† therefore, Marie’s sex is female (Wood, 2013, p. 19). Gender, on the other hand, is â€Å"socially constructed and expressed† (Wood, 2013, p. 19). Marie’s personal view of her own sex is female, also know as her gender identity, but the way she displays her gender through clothing†¦show more content†¦It is only normal for Males to like females. It is only normal for females to like males. Anyone who strays away from this heternormativity is abnormal (Wood, 201 3, p. 54). Homosexual individuals are just lost human beings who have experienced some kind of mishap during childhood. This is what I believed (or what I was supposed to believe) until, as I mentioned before, Marie shattered these beliefs. Marie also grew up in a Lebanese, Catholic church community with parents not much different than mine. Even though she is a bit of a tomboy, she has to share the same beliefs as me, but she doesn’t. Marie is a lesbian. Now, how can I view someone that I love like a sister as abnormal? Her disclosure of her homosexuality has opened my eyes to look beyond the clear-cut gender roles of male and female, and to accept other forms of sexuality. This experience with Marie reflects the queer performative theory. â€Å"Queer theory is a critique of conventional categories of identity and cultural views of ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal,’ particularly in relation to sexuality. [It also] argues that identities are not fixed, but so mewhat fluid† (Wood, 2013, p. 54). â€Å"Performance theory argues that humans generate identities, including gender, through performance or expression† (Wood, 2013, p. 55). By identifying herself as female but choosing to express and perform herself inShow MoreRelatedGay Marriage Should Be Legal And The Normalization Of Homosexuality1422 Words   |  6 Pagesunderstanding is that individuals are usually aware of their sexual orientation between middle childhood and early adolescence (2008). They are ware of the emotional, romantic, and physical attraction they can recognize their sexual orientation without participating in sexual activity. Alfred Kinsey was the first to conceptualize sexuality as more than just heterosexuality and homosexuality. 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