Here I am procrastinating, sitting at home on a Thursday night writing my blog entries, and watching my boyfriend play “Defend Your Castle” on the Wii game system.
In class on Tuesday, my group decided to pick the topic “identity”, and my keyword was “sexuality”. Sexuality can pertain to many different meanings such as: masculinity and femininity, heterosexuality and homosexuality, the quality of being sexual, or physical relations between the sexes.
According to Jeffrey Weeks, sexuality is more a product of history and the mind rather than the body. It is true that history affects the outcome of what the world is like today. Back in the day, young women would wear short skirts, apply excessive makeup, and treat sex in a casual manner. The term “flapper” was coined in the 1920s around the period of liberalism to describe those young women. Although the flapper era ended and didn’t last through the Great Depression, it definitely influenced the sexuality of women in later decades.
Look at the world today… many young girls are dressing and acting promiscuous at such a young age. I know and have heard of girls at the age of twelve and thirteen losing their virginity and being sexually active. It’s extremely shocking to hear those things, and I wonder how it’ll be like ten or twenty years from now. Will people start having sex at the age of ten?!
The concept of heterosexuality and homosexuality is another component of sexuality. Heterosexuality is considered normal while homosexuality is abnormal. But today, people are more open about their homosexuality because people are willing to accept it now. I’m not against homosexuality, and it’s fascinating to see how the world’s sexuality is developing these days.
Masculinity and femininity also plays a role in sexuality because it depicts whether one resembles a male or female. If you saw a man wearing tight pants and makeup you would think he’s feminine and gay. On the other hand, if a woman was wearing baggy shorts and had short/boy cut hair you would think she’s masculine, and maybe even call her a dyke.
Sexuality is a part of one’s identity because it tells a bit of who they are. I’m a heterosexual, which means I’m attracted to men. The way I dress, look, act, and carry myself resembles femininity more than masculinity. All of these components are a part of my identity because they make up who I am.
2 comments:
Thank you for your comment on my post, I believe that in class I was not articulating what I wanted to say well. This is why I corrected my statement so I could articulate it well. I really enjoyed reading your post about identity, it forces one to think about how sexual identity has progressed through the ages. I especially think your example of the idea of flappers in the 1920s to young women's sexual behavior was effective in your argument. What struck me the most was your summation of how you define yourself, which added to point of your post. Your drew on your own identity to prove a point, making it that much stronger.
This sentence risks sounding very vague: "Back in the day, young women would wear short skirts, apply excessive makeup, and treat sex in a casual manner." When (and where) is this? 1995, in Texas? 1919, in New York? Make sure that you situate your claims specifically; and in a narrative, you are best off using your own circumstances as an example—which is how you end your post. Yet even here, I wonder how we can complicate this discussion: how can we see sexuality as *less* clear and distinct, and how might this change (or challenge, at least) the ways we think of 'normal', 'abnormal', and 'acceptance'? When we complicate terms—rather than just accept their seeming coherence—we have to rethink the world and our places in the world. This is the work of keywords, I think.
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