SEXUAL DIVERSITY
Lesson 7
October 4th, 2010
REVIEW OF LAST CLASS
LGBTTQ2
Lesbian - Women with physical/emotional attraction
towards women.
Gay* - Men with physical/emotional attraction
towards men.
Bisexual - Individuals with feelings for men and
women, or any sex.
Transsexual - Individuals who are born one sex with a
paired gender identity and want to become
another.
REVIEW OF LAST CLASS
LGBTTQ2
Transgender - Born of one gendered identity and
chooses to follow another through status,
actions, thoughts and behaviours
Queer* - Often describes any individual who does
not conform to sexual norms.
Two- - Aboriginal term used to describe people
Spirited that embody both the male and female
spirit
REVIEW OF LAST CLASS
LGBTTQ2
Asexual - Individuals with little or no
sexual attraction to others.
Allies - Friends and family of
“queer” individuals who seek
to
REVIEW OF LAST CLASS
LGBTTQ2
Questioning/ - Individuals who question their
Unsure own orientations or are not
satisfied with using a
constricting label
REVIEW OF LAST CLASS
LGBTTQ2
Pansexual - promote awareness of sexual/gender
/ orientations, create safe spaces and
Omnisexu reduce discrimination
al - “Gender-blind” individuals that do
not restrict themselves in attraction
to any specific orientation
Intersex - Individuals born with biological
characteristics of both/neither
male/female sexual identity
WHAT IS A POSITIVE SPACE INITIATIVE?
Initiative to ensure that people are aware of the
range information including language,
terminology, intersections of identities, resources
available
the important role allies, to responding to
circumstances where there is reluctance and
resistance to making spaces more welcoming to
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexaul,
intersex, queer, questioning, and two-spirited
people.
POSITIVE SPACE
Creating a safe place for all people
regardless of their sexual preferences and
identities
Education is central
Make people aware of initiatives
HETEROSEXISM
The socially constructed
belief that
heterosexuality is normative,
natural and thus
superior
SO I HEARD…
Being gay is not natural.
Gay marriage will encourage people
to be gay.
Gay parents will raise gay children.
Children raised in gay families are
noticeably different from other children
HOMO-NEGATIVITY (HOMOPHOBIA)
• Discrimination against individuals who
identify as anything but heterosexual
Occurs in many forms
ex. Graffiti, verbal harassment, violence
ex. “That’s so gay.”
Due to many factors:
family, culture, religious values, political views …
… Homo-negativity can be unlearned.
STEREOTYPES ARE PROBLEMATIC
Pick one.
There cannot be any modifications to these lists.
You are ONE or THE OTHER.
Man Woman
-Male -Female
-He
-She
-Short hair
-Emotionless -Long hair
-Sexual -Too much emotion
-Aggressive -Not sexual
-Powerful/successful -Submissive
-Dominant -Domestic
… i AM NEITHER
Trans bodies
Any person that is in the process of changing
genders or sexual characteristics.
Transgender Transsexual
Any individual in the process of changing is said
to be, “transitioning” & also adopts new
pronouns.
STEREOTYPES ARE PROBLEMATIC
THE GAY MALE
“What a flamer.”
Drag Queens -Male, 22 AIDS
Flamboyant Good Dancer Aerobics/Cardio
YMCA Emotional Fashion forward
“Why are you looking at me
Boy Bands Sensitive
like that? Are you a fag?”
-Male, 20
Promiscuous Flirtatious
Ability to recognize brand names
Feminine
Enthusiastic
Not Sporty High pitched voice
GAY STEREOTYPES
Lisp
Flamboyant/feminine (clothing, feelings
etc.)
―It‘s just a phase‖
More promiscuous
Hate sports
―unmanly‖
Obsessed with fashion
Girlfriends
Gay men families are the last to know
ISSUES
Peers
Family members in school
Family members out of
school
Support groups
“locker room talk”
THE LESBIAN FEMALE
“What kind? The annoying kind, or the other
kind?”
FEMME
“A hot lesbian? There should be
more of them and all they should do
is make out all the time. That would
be cool.”
Hot -Male, 14
Sexual
Boobs
Promiscuous
Tila Tequila- A Shot at Love
Light-skinned
Fantasy; porn star
Threesome; bisexual
Horny
BUTCH
“Are those the chicks that don’t
•Feminist shave their armpits?”
•Radical -Male, 18
•Tomboy
•Annoying
•Ugly “OMG WTF. If there were two manly
•Athletic lesbians making out, I wouldn’t be watching
them. They should get a room – sick ugly
•Hairy legs
people.”
•Short hair
-Female, 20
LESBIAN STEREOTYPES
Lesbian Baiting
Intersection of two forms of
oppression
1. Sexism – systematic subordination
of women based on the belief that
men are the superior sex
2. Homophobia – has made
“lesbian” a negative,
discrediting label
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/14/fc/4a.pdf
STEREOTYPES CONT‘D
Women participate in
activities traditionally
viewed as ―masculine‖ =
threaten power
dynamics of sexism
Lesbians – negative
attitudes reinforced
Heterosexuals – sexual
stereotypes reinforced
STEREOTYPES CONT‘D
―Defending‖
Asserting one‘s heterosexuality
Trying to appear more feminine
Combating ―lesbian baiting‖
Eliminating fear of being labeled
lesbian
Working against homophobia and
sexism
ISSUES
Education – how gender roles limit women
Expend energy to deal with baiting
Limit actions to those considered ―feminine‖
Change behaviour to exaggerate femininity
BISEXUAL STEREOTYPES
Promiscuous
Best of both worlds
Are easy
Are swingers
Can‘t commit
BISEXUAL SOCIAL ISSUES
Discrimination from queer community
Social isolation- no belonging for any
community
Sterotypes
TRANS……
STEREOTYPES
• All transsexuals are
easy to spot due to
physical differences.
• Trans-identified people are
accepted in the
homosexual community
• Transgendered or
transsexual people are all
homosexual
PROBLEMS
Washroom?
Employment?
Family?
Relationships?
Choice or genes?
CURRENT NEWS
The University of Toronto and McGill University now
BOTH offer students the option to use gender neutral
washrooms.
These washrooms are available to everyone, regardless
of gender or biological sex.
TWO SPIRITED STEROTYPES
Native communities tend not to classify
the world into the concrete binary
categories
rather into categories that range from
appropriateness to inappropriateness
Not the same as ‗LGTQ‘
INTERSEX STEREOTYPES
Generally people associate intersexuals as someone
who is transgendered, transsexual, or a transvestite.
However the majority of these people are this way
because of genetic conditions
BROWN UNIVERSITY RESEARCH
Total number of people whose bodies differ from
standard male or female – One in 100 births
Total number of people receiving surgery to
―normalize‖ genital appearance – One or two in
1000 births
Not XX and not XY – 1 in 1,666 births
Klinefelter (XXY) – One in 1,000 births
Classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia - One in
13,000 births
Late onset adrenal hyperplasia - One in 66
individuals
ISSUES
Intersexuals‘tend to be rediculed by those
who do not understand or ignore the
genetic background behind their
sexuality.
They are also subject to anxiety when
dealing with gender specific groups
(Anything which is based on gender >
Gender etc.)
QUEER STEREOTYPES
Gay and queers are typically grouped together, and
associated with bondage fetishes.
Questioning also tend to be grouped into the gay/queer
stereotype, or as a typical bisexual
ISSUES
Queer people often feel isolated from society due
to their ―different‖ nature. They are either very
open with their identity, or very secluded due to
this isolation.
Questioning tend to be very secluded regarding
their condition since they are wary of who will
accept them.
CURRENT EVENTS: BANNING GAY
ORGANS?
Asof December 2008, Health Canada has
barred all sexually active gay men from
donating organs—even if they‘re in
monogamous relationships or have been
tested. A spokesperson for the government
organisation cited a risk of HIV and hepatitis
as the rationale for the ban.
UNLEARN
Mindsets can be changed
Use neutral terminology
ex. ―How‘s your partner?‖
Allow others to question your
sexuality
ex. Facebook
PS. LANGUAGE
Language is fluid
ask questions
Be inclusive
• We all make mistakes
“ThaT’s so gay!”
But if you know that you do, fix that!
COMING OUT
A lifelong process of recognizing and accepting an LGBTTQ2
identity.
Individuals may be “out” to certain people, but not to everyone.
If you talk to someone, make sure it is one you can trust (Ex:
Friends, Counselors, Teachers)
What if someone comes out to you?
What should you do?
• There is no perfect response.
• Be informed; educate yourself.
• Respect confidentiality.
• Do not take control; it is a personal decision