Later in the essay it says the author envisions politics where ones relation to power, and not their homogenized identity, is privileged in determining ones political comrades, but politics is already like that.
In the Republican Party, we have, currently, in a state that I do not remember, a gay mayor. That is proof that it's who you know, ones relation to power, and how you market yourself, which demonstrates your own influential abilities, i.e., your relation to power, which is the most important thing in politics.
You can be gay or black or Asian or whatever, as long as you are good at getting people to like you. As long as you are personable, you will get elected. It is more about the way you look. If you look like a politician, whether you are gay or not, people will vote for you, and back you up. Politics is very much based on your appearance, and not as much on your personal life.
It's all about who you know. The reading continues by stating that the sexuality of queers is fluid, so things change like their partners, and who they desire. This really helped me understand why a lot of my gay friends are marrying guys and starting families with even though they were gay for a long time.
I realized that being gay is complicated and your feelings may change. It also still confused me because I don't understand how these categories make sense if people keep switching from category to category. Our ideas about being gay or straight lead me to believe that my friends were never gay, but I know now, because of this class, that being gay is basically just a name for being different, but not even different.
I don't know how to explain it because it is difficult, but basically there is no straight and gay because we are all people who desire different things at different times and we change our minds constantly because we can, and because things influence us and our feelings change. We all just like people in general, and some of us even like animals.
We are technically also animals, so that is okay too. Right? I don't really know but I feel like one can argue that except for the fact that animals can't give consent, because they don't speak our language, people should be able to have fun with them too. Is that where we draw the line though, consent? Do we have to draw a line? What would our society be like if we accepted everything that people liked doing, and called it normal?
Is that what the argument is against queer people? Anyway, later in the text it uses the phrase "non-stable” behavior when referring to the queer community's willingness to confront normalizing power, but this seemed like an odd phrase to use because it made me think of queerness as a disease like bipolar disorder, because of the negative connotation of “non-stable.“
It just seemed a little out of place because the text is about queerness as a positive thing that should be considered normal. One of the quotes used by the author, said something about the oppression that all women of color face, and that was problematic for me because I have never faced oppression and I probably never will because I just don't think like other people.
I interpret things differently than other people who like to blame everything on everyone else. It's because he/she is racist or sexist or something else when it's actually because you do not have the skills to convince people that you are worthy of respect and admiration.
I feel like most things have to do with self confidence and the way you carry yourself. If people care so much about what other people think of them why don't they make themselves into what everyone likes? If you are attractive everyone will like you no matter how stupid you are or what color you are.
I am black and a republican, and I have met many republicans in my day. They have never been anything but nice to me. If they are guys, they like how I look. I have been paid more than any guy doing the same job as me. My first job was campaigning for this republican guy in Burlingame CA. I got paid $50 an hour to walk precincts when my friend, who is a guy got paid the normal $15 an hour because he said I was a "hard worker" even though I was always partnered with my friend and we did the same work.
I never experienced that salary gap that they always talk about that is in favor of men. I'm not saying I'm attractive but it is an amazing example of how racism and sexism are either avoiding me, in other people’s heads, or I am just amazingly special. Also, I thought that the statement about all women of color being oppressed was a false statement because it's not true at all.
On the same page as the oppression statement, is a statement about "the analysis of ones place in the world,” this whole paragraph confuses me because I don't understand why anyone would analyze their place in the world, see that it's a bad place to be because they are being oppressed, and then stay there and fight for the illumination of oppression. Why wouldn't you just change your "place in the world?” Go to school, get a good job, or get a makeover and find a husband or something like that.
Why do people like to dwell in places they don't want to be? I don't get it. Why would you not try to change if you don't like how people see you, and you care what they think? I don't care what people think of me so I dress crappy and do what I want, but when I want people to respect me and treat me like I matter, I dress nice and look how people think I should look if I want the attention that they can give me.
You have to work hard in life to get what you want. No one should have to give you what you want just because you think you deserve it. You have to earn it. You have to earn the respect of your peers or earn your position at a company. If you don't want to earn things then look like you earned them.
Dress like you have a PHD. Dress like you belong to the golf club. Dress like people in politics dress and you will be welcomed with open arms. If you choose to not earn things and not dress to fit in, then don't complain when you don't fit in, and instead, try to fit in. No one cares if you don't care, and no one is going to trust you just because you exist.
So why do people think they should just be handed a position as CEO or get a raise just because they exist, or not be followed in stores even though they choose to look like a potential thief? I don't get why people don't understand that these issues are not due to race or gender or sexuality but are due to the way you allow people to see you. The way you portray yourself to the outside world.
On the next page of the work the author makes a great point about how white queer rich people don't have it the same as black poor queer people. I think this is a point that helps my argument because you can look rich, be black and straight, and you will not deal with racism because you have other things going for you that make you fit in better.
If you are queer and you still want to be accepted, then you should look like you are rich and you will be accepted. Also, I still have issues with the fact that queers are not accepted in society, because again, I used to skip and hold hands with my friends who happen to be girls, in high school all around campus, and no one ever said anything about us being gay or anything like that and in my experience I have never heard a bad thing about gay people except from the weird church that is evil.
They obviously are not people that should matter in our society and especially not to queers because they are ignorant and intolerant and why would anyone care about those kinds of people? I should end this now because I think I wrote an essay but my main take away point is that people care way too much about what other people think of them and for as much as they care, they don't put enough effort into fitting in when they want to.
I think if you care that much then you should try harder in other areas so the one where you differ isn't as big of an issue. Also, other people don't matter. It's all about what you think of yourself and how you want the world to see you. People are way too obsessed with the opinions of others and they complain too much about people not seeing them how they see themselves, even though other people's opinions don't matter, like I said earlier. Sorry that my response is so long and so radical and so opinionated but the world and the people in it, in my opinion, have really messed up priorities.
