Blog #7 – Identity Politics

October 6, 2009 lisamarie123

“What really defines a person?” This is a good question to start with when reading the sections. Why is it whenever someone will try to explain someone else to someone, it seems they will always say things like “Lisa, the short Italian girl?” To me, defining, or identifying, a person takes more than race or gender, but also more detail things, like hair color and eye color, or even personal interests. Many things make up a person and no one should be labeled for something they like or do, or where they come from. Identity should be based on who someone is as their own person because no one is exactly alike and if you were to take two very similar people, there will always be something to identify them as completely separate people.

When reading the assigned material, nothing really caught my eye or grabbed my attention until the section “Making it Perfectly Queer.” It says in one part of this essay, written by Lisa Duggan, how lesbian and gay people, for almost 50 years now, have been trying to claim the liberal rights of privacy and formal equality, and this is something that should take effect if has not already. Why is it that a man should like a woman and a woman should like a man? We all know that is how it works best in certain situations but that doesn’t mean a man can’t be totally in love with another man. He can, and he will. Sometimes, a person will be identified for that, like “Sammy, the gay guy” or “Nancy, the lesbian,” but that is who the person is. Duggan says the word queer is used as a positive and respectful word toward gays. That is not true, at least not in my generation because when someone calls someone else queer, they are being mean and rude and using it against the person to start a fight or make that person mad. Although gay and lesbian people are looked down upon, I have a very good friend who is not afraid for people to know he is gay, because he knows that is who he is and he cannot change that about himself. He would take the word “queer” offensively, just like he would with the word “faggot” offensively. He is someone I actually look up towards because of his pride and confidence. I believe gay and lesbian people are just as equal as everyone else and should be given that equality.

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1 Comment Add your own

• 1. steph484  |  October 6, 2009 at 1:10 am

  I completely agree with your blog, I believe gay and lesbian’s should have equal oppurtunities as headerosexual’s do. I don’t believe someone’s sexuality makes them less or more of a person, their own perosnal achievements and goals is what does define them

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