Gay As A Deviant Culture Sociology Essay

Gay As A Deviant Culture Sociology Essay Homosexuality is considered as an emerging issue all over the world. Gay people believe that they are not physically different or incapacitated in any way. They believe that they have every right to be offered the same opportunities, just like everyone else. A while ago this issue could not be spoken out aloud in public. It is unethical and uncouth to think that homosexuality is right. In todays Age much of what cultural values entail has changed over time due exposure to a new understanding, inter relation of beliefs, morals, mind-set, connotations, chain of command, religious conviction, concept of time, responsibilities, perceptions of the universe, and material entity s and possessions acquired. Communities and societies have always had their way of doing things. Most people have at one time or another found that they dont fit in the societies known culturally and social norms (Cook, 28). Occasionally this happens due to ones understanding, mind-set, connotations, chain of command, religious conviction, responsibilities, and in every community and society homosexuality has affected the social ethics. A persons sexuality and preference according to psychologists will normally be easily altered at puberty. Adolescent at times find themselves in a dilemma where they do not actually know to what sex they prefer. Some find themselves in the antagonism of the puberty unpredicted effects like same sex attraction. Somehow when looked at a critical view this kind of preference is not actually a persons fault, it is the stage in life. With this in mind gay people believe that it is actually not their fault that they are the way they are. Most people in the society will not actually put this into consideration due to so many factors and consequences that are associated when this fact is accepted. In turn, the gay people in the community feel that the only way they can be heard out is by coming together and creating one voice. This has been seen over the past years. Gay people have organized rallies, peaceful demonstrations in different places all over the world in order to have their voices heard (Phelan, 25). Years down the line this has become one large community with its own cultural standards, values and rights. In every society, there is the agreeable set of rules and norms that guide the people in day to day living. Eighty three to eighty to five percent of people in every other community will always abide to these norms (Burke, 9), but a small percentage becomes deviant to these norms. It is probably a bit difficult to determine whether a deviant person in the community is always wrong, because what determines whether they are wrong or right is what they are deviant to. Homosexuality is not accepted in so many places around the world (Bamforth, 33), and this has made the gay culture deviant (Stephen, 1). The classical justification of this fact is that a deviant culture will always push the moral boundaries of a society giving alternatives and new options to the status quo and promoting change. Most cultures usually may not always agree on what to do with people who push beyond its acceptable ways in doing things. In fact, norms and accepted social ethics violation that gain enough support may at times become acceptable, a good example being the gay people (Sharon, 1). Thus, the gay culture is deviant because in some places it has made the societies, government constitutions to rethink and redefine the moral boundaries in place. The culture as it is going against so many know defined social ethics rules. Religious and social liberals point out that being gay is against written work of most inspired men like John the Baptist from the Christian bible. Islam does not allow these acts of relationships at all so does the Hindu (Bamforth, 13). It is a bit different for the catholic dominion because today gay marriages have been joined catholic churches. The gay culture deviant as it is faced so many threats about its publicity. Gay people have lost jobs, disowned by families and at other times even their lives have been threatened. It is a definite conviction to the gay culture that there is nothing much more significant than any issues that would make any one guilty and endanger their lives or families just because of their opinion, knowledge and preference about their sexual nature. The gay culture attests that the good of humankind is tied up together by the common pursuit through shared experience toward the likelihood of the same gender relationship (Harry, 43). In the past decades talented artists and poets, musicians openly described their sexuality to the public in their writing, art and songs. The gay community associates itself with the past legends and their exceptional work. They have motivated people who have felt demoralized. Gay people are introverts. And psychologists have backed up the fact that hidden desires of se xuality due to their unaccepted nature feed the possibility of sexual lusts which leads to violations of social ethics, desires to fulfill empty cravings. Gay as a deviant culture suffers from the dominant competitive ethos. This leads to the rise of struggle in interests to gain recognition or control (Harry, 31), and defies the recognition of the accepted social ethical norms and interest which all people have in common. So many factors have led to the rise of this deviant culture. Some of this factors when looked in to, are quite justifiable to those who consider respecting human rights. For instance, a factor that leads to the gay culture becoming so publicized and famous was that some large corporations and organization simply fired and never employed people with this kind of sexual preference i.e. gay. The authorities left no room for gay people. In the United States of America, gay people have come together from so many states and joined hands in so many ways in order to be heard. The 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution which is a protection clause necessitate states and governments to treat people in an equal manner but the fact that the equal protection clause, in the United States Constitution is not absolute and that a government has gotten the right to treat people differently and discriminate against one group if it sees that as a requirement to the interest of the majority. This fact makes the gay culture even more deviant because if it does not publicize its ways well enough then it is just a period of time and it might be considered wrong (Harry, 11). Living requires that each and everyone makes the right moral choices in order to prevent a culture from dissolving into chaos (Harry, 11). Everyone must have a stand over certain behaviors and attitudes over others. In most communities having a stand that does not violate the accepted norms is quite acceptable. In this context violation means that which goes against. Gay preference will have so many views from different people in a society and because of the huge gap in the point of agreement whether it should be accepted or not it leaves a particularly large room for those directly affected to justify why this topic should be considered acceptable just like any other. Some theories that might try to give more details in this topic have ruled out that sometimes being deviant is not wrong, and sometimes it just happens due to one perspective in regard to what information they are exposed to. When it comes to explaining deviance, there are a couple theories try to explain one of them is Mertons strain theory. He was one of the first sociologists in America and his theory generally assumes that societies give both culturally-valued goals and culturally-valued means (Peter, 21)? Theoretically the gay culture argues that this culturally valued goals and cultural valued means do not at all address issues and matters pertaining to the same gender relationship. These have led to the idea of creating a suitable environment by gay people whereby they will be able to associate with the community without any stigmatization. Gay people share so many things in common, they relate to one another than straight people in an exceedingly significant way. If we consider gay to be a community of people with common social interests and sexual preference and behavior then this becomes a culture. Gay people are considered to be more conservative with refined talent compared to straight people, and while this is just an observation by few psychologists they further explain that because gay people will probably have an associative feminine behavior, they tend to be keener in what they do, like what they dress and the way they talk. A good example would be the comparison of two magnificent artists who have different gender preference i.e. a straight artist and a gay artist; studies have shown that gay artists will want to capture every detail in their work compared to the latter. While this does not suggest that gay people are better than straight people it just gives a stronger base of argument as to why the gay cult ure is deviant. Gay theorists and activists have tried through vigorous efforts, to seek public support community in formal civil rights . The legal status of the gay community largely remains unequal and unprotected. In most governments there are no courts of appeal that look closely into hearing sexual; preference based equal protection claims. High courts have avoided in coming to a decision (Sharon, 1) as to whether this kind of cases should be looked in to in a much closer scrutiny. But due to the deviant nature of this culture it has somehow managed to be heard in some states, and these states have enacted laws prohibiting government and private discrimination on the pedestal of sexual orientation. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the fact that gay people are deviant is not entirely wrong because if they do not stand in what they know and believe in, then they will have no place in the society and as earlier mentioned, gay people are people that are not physically incapacitated due to their sexual orientation. They cannot be considered as criminals due to the fact that they are gay. Arguably the failure or success of the attempts to achieve legal equality for gays will in a tremendous way depend on how activists in this field address this deviant unprotected gay cultures needs (Peter, 55). Gay as a deviant culture is an issue that is being addressed to day all over the world today. Religion and denominations are against gay practices. Activists and scholars will have to address churches and different denominations if at all they want to be heard. Every society and community must accept that we are all equal. Discrimination is immoral and no one should be subjected to it. If s society wants to have a healthy and peaceful living, it must accept everybody regardless of their sexual orientation. It this does not happen, gay people will continue to be deviant. Gay people are said to be deviant but there is nothing wrong in that (Peter, 17). On the other hand gay people should be patient with the society every time they come out publicly to push for their rights; they should not have an ego. The gay culture has been observed to stick together because this allows them to be heard as one voice (Peter, 22). The ruling of this issue of gay as a deviant culture will entirely fall on a host of ideological, political and legal variables and at some time when the request has been fully addressed by law, the society and religion than gay culture will probably change from being deviant to a positive mindset accepted community. Scholarly Articles cited Anderson, Rob. THE WEEKLY STANDARDS ABSURD CASE AGAINST GAY MARRIAGE. The New Republic, (2005). Print Harris, Daniel. The Rise and Fall of Gay Culture. New York: Hyperion, 1997. Print. McCreery, Patrick. Out Front: Lesbians, Gays, and the Struggle for Workplace Rights Beyond Gay: deviant Sex and the Politics of the Enda Workplace. Social Text. 17.4 (1999): 39. Print. Cook, Matt. London and the Culture of Homosexuality, 1885-1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Print. Phelan, Jo. Geneticization of Deviant Behavior and Consequences for Stigma: the Case of Mental Illness17. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 46.4 (2005): 307-322. Print. Bamforth, Nicholas. Sexuality, Morals and Justice: A Theory of Lesbian and Gay Rights Law. London: Cassell, 1997. Internet resource. Peter, Marshall B, and Robert F. Meier. Sociology of Deviant Behavior. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. Print. Peter . Nardi, Beth E. Schneider. Social perspectives in lesbian and gay studies: a reader. 1998. print Shah, Bijal, GAY AMERICAN DEVIANCE: Using International Comparative Analysis to Argue for a Free Speech and Establishment Clause Approach to Furthering Gay Marriage in the United States. (2007). Student Scholarship Papers. Paper 52. http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/student_papers/52 Sharon Hughes. The gay culture. March 9 2004 Web. 10 Nov. 2013 http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/hughes/040309 Joe Kort, Ph.D. Making Gay and Lesbian Relationships and Marriage Simple through Ten Truths 04/09/2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2013 Stephen Milioti. Why I Reject Popular Gay Culture (Or: What to Know Before Setting Me Up With Your Other Gay Friend) 4/8/2002. Web. 10 Nov. 2013 http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cjas/may_reject.html

Mary Oliver’s poem “Singapore” Essay

While analyzing Mary Oliver’s poem â€Å"Singapore† I established her assembling a relationship between nature and a life- learned lesson. The poem is about a woman doing menial, everyday tasks as a cleaning lady at the Singapore airport, but Oliver chooses to idealize her toils and make them seem more beautiful than in, Oliver uses imagery to compare the way she perceives the woman before her versus the real world. The author was disgusted with what she saw, so she brings in visions from nature to ease the discomfort. The configuration of this poem is structured to differentiate from the reality and the fantasy of everyday life. In Oliver’s poem â€Å"Singapore† she speaks of how the woman cleaning the ashtrays in the airport and the toilets can be blissful and nurturing. For example, Oliver writes a â€Å"poem should always have birds in it† (8). Oliver uses her writing to convey the way she hopes life would be; she wishes it was beautiful and as blissful as birds are. Then she states other aspects of nature as a form of peacefulness and happiness. For instance, Oliver states â€Å"rivers are pleasant† (10). Oliver uses the river as a form of serenity because of the flow of the water and the sound of water that soothes us. Furthermore, Oliver demonstrates that poems should always be a gate to happiness by stating, â€Å"A person wants to stand in a happy place† (13). Oliver wants to be in a happy place instead of seeing this woman in front of her in this humiliating situation. In Oliver’s idealistic reality, life is pleasing and should not deal with the ugly, mundane situations in life. Although the woman is seen as a simple worker in reality, Oliver embellishes the happenings with things of beauty from nature like fountains, waterfalls, birds and trees. Then in Oliver’s poem, she goes back and forth between realities through her thoughts, where she is pursuing to envision contentment. For example, Oliver states, â€Å"first we must watch her as she stares down at her labor† (20). She then compares it to nature, â€Å"She does not work slowly, nor quickly, but like a river† (25). Oliver is trying to envision her experience as positive and self-soothing. She is imagining the woman as if she were out in the wild watching an animal trying to live just as the woman is trying to earn a living by working. At the end of the poem, Oliver says â€Å"the light that can shine out of a life† (39) meaning that she sees this lady as if she were a beacon of light in a dismal existence. Although Oliver was at first disgusted with the sight of the woman in her working environment, she portrays it as much a part of life as the trees and the birds. In Mary Oliver’s poem, â€Å"Singapore†, the poet uses images of nature to make the tasks of everyday life seem more pleasing to the eye and to the reader. She conjures up images of nature to relieve the stress and burdens of daily life. She makes the most meaningless or redundant task seem elegant by comparing it to the birds, the trees, and the rivers. If to choose between reality and unreality, would anyone not choose to â€Å"rise up from the crust and the slop and fly down to the river?† (32-33). Work Cited Oliver, Mary. â€Å"Singapore.† Making Literature Matter: An anthology for readers and Writers. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012, 146-147. Print.

Jainism vs. Sikhism Essay

Read the assigned chapters for the week and complete the following table. Be as specific as possible when identifying practices, beliefs, rituals, and historical elements. Cite sources in APA formatting. Core Beliefs Jainism Sikhism 1. Jainism, believing that reality and existence are eternal, does not believe in a Creator force or entity (Molloy, 2013). 1. Sikhism believes in a strict Monotheism, and that all names and titles that humans apply to God are limited because God is beyond all human conception (Molloy, 2013). 2. Jainism believes in the existence of Karma and its influence on the cycle of Rebirth. Unlike other religions that share this belief, Jains believe that more than just animals and insects possess a spirit that is subject to karma and rebirth (Molloy, 2013). 2. Sikhs believe in reincarnation, and that karma influences the cycle of rebirth, with the goal being to accumulate enough karma to obtain freedom from the cycle of reincarnation and be absorbed by God (Molloy, 2013). 3. Jainism believes in five ethical positions that are required for monks and nuns (to varying degrees) and recommended to laypersons. The First is Nonviolence, also known as Ahimsa, which requires the believer to bring no harm to any life-form. The second is Nonlying, as the Jains believe the lying or exaggeration may bring harm to the parties involved. The third is Nonstealing, the desire to steal comes from being attached, to the object or the world, and can cause pain to others. The forth is Chastity, among the monks and nuns it is taken as full celibacy, and among the laypeople, as  fidelity to the believers marital partner. Finally, the fifth is nonattachment, that to progress spiritually, the believer must limit their attachment to worldly objects and people, taken to the extreme among some monks to mean detachment from all including family, and clothes (Molloy, 2013). 3. Sikhs believe in the five sacred components of attire by those initiated into the Khalsa. The first is the Kesh, or uncut hair and beard, with a turban worn by the males. The second is the Khanga, or wooden hair comb, to be worn with the hair at all times. The third is the Kach, a pair of special cotton undergarments. The fourth is the Kirpan, a sword or dagger that is worn at all time. And lastly the Kara, a bracelet of steel worn to symbolize strength (Molloy, 2013). 4. The Jains believe that in the current cycle of the universe, 24 people have reached perfection and have escaped the cycle of rebirth, they are known as Tirthankara, and that they should be role-model and emulated, but not worshiped (Molloy, 2013). 4. Sikhs believe that the scriptures, known as Adi Granth, to contain the spirit of all the past Gurus of Sikhism and revere it as the last, and final guru. When faced with difficult and troubling questions, Sikhs believe that consulting the Adi Granth, or Guru Granth Sahib, by opening the book at random will provide answers (Molloy, 2013). 5. The Jains do believe in the presence of gods, but believe they are also subject to the karma and the cycle of rebirth, and that after they use their positive karma as gods, they are reborn as lesser beings again. Also that, while gods, they are not the Creators (Molloy, 2013). 5. Sikhs believe the use of Military Self-defense to protect themselves and the faith is morally correct. Such a position is unusual in the religious environment of India where nonviolence is common. (Molloy, 2013). Part 2 Respond to the following questions in 150 to 200 words: 1. What do you think is the most important similarity and which is the most  important difference? Use specifics to support your answer. The most significant similarity between Jainism and Sikhism is their continued belief in karma and the cycle of rebirth. This similarity shows that while Sikhism may have been influenced by Islamic teachings, that both faiths have retained a non-linear idea of the progression of time that is integral to Hinduism. The most important difference is each of the religion’s views of violence. The Jains believe in ahimsa, a requirement to bring no harm to anything that bear a living soul, monk and nuns going so far as to brush aside insects before walking so they are not stepped on, and the laypersons avoiding farming because plowing may cause harm to small animals and insects. The Sikhs, however, believe in the use of violence to defend them self’s and their faith, possessing within their faith a military order, the Khalsa, who wear a dagger or sword known as a kirpan at all times. This belief is also evident in the followers of Sikhism to join and participate in the militaries of the country they reside. (Molloy, 2013) 2. Consider the following statement: Sallekhana (â€Å"holy death†) violates the Jain principle of ahimsa because it is an act of violence against oneself. Using examples from Ch. 5 of your text, what points might a follower of Jainism make to argue against this statement? Ahimsa is the prohibition of causing harm. Ahimsa requires that all care must be taken so that one does not bring harm to another living soul, whether it is physical, mental, spiritual or emotional. To remain attached to the material, and the objects of this life will also bring spiritual harm to oneself. Sallekhana is an extension of the practice of fasting. The participant prepares himself for the next life by detaching from the current life, taking in only water and spiritual guidance. This practice is not a violent act against one’s body, but a natural progression at the end of one’s life. This extended fasting is only Sallekhana when willfully taken at the end of a full like as a culmination of one’s detachment from the material and as a sign of one’s virtue. Sallakhana is not an escape from one’s troubles in this life through suicide, but a releasing of this life in order to proceed to the next life in a proper fashion. (Molloy, 2013) References: Molloy, M. V. (2013). Experiencing the world’s religions: Tradition, challenge, and change (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Nill Companies, Inc.

Where The Girl On The Sea Are Short Story - 951 Words

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE I perched myself upon a weathered rock. My footprints left tattoos in the sand. The wind was etherized in the sky. The sun smoldered in silence. Centered in a quiet oasis, the blue beast howled. It stretched out before me like the land was coated in oil paints: cerulean and cyan, electric and Egyptian, teal and turquoise. The moment that I stood before this righteous beast was captured and bottled up in my beloved father’s camera. This flimsy piece of paper is a portal. It is a portal to a girl who left her worries at the shore, on that smooth and cold rock. Who left the marks of her bare feet across the velvety sands. Who embraced the ocean like it was a bed of sapphire, silk sheets. Who let the frigid†¦show more content†¦Under stacks of photographs of my birth, my sisters birth, and my father’s birth, an image of a little girl, perched on a smooth and cold rock, lay. It was out of place among our birth photos and I pulled it out to put it among the vacation pictures. A hazy smile tugged at my lips. I remembered her. A wild girl from the sea, with stormy eyes and seaweed hair. I remembered her untamed rage and her indestructible heart. My insides squirmed at the memory, at the girl whose bones snapped and whose blood boiled and whose skin tore. They squirmed at the thought of who I’d become, a blue light locked under a bell jar. My squirming turned to fidgeting and kicking and screaming and roaring and tearing and red radical rage. I burned with my regret as fuel. I tore up the fragile skin that held me captive. My mother and father have sat me down and told me that I was born to put on latex gloves and operate on the sick, or stand before a judge and make defend the innocent, or swear to protect the citizens of my city with a gold lacquered badge and gun. As I held that photograph in my polished fingers, I realized that my fate was not where I had guessed. That I was not to live a tranquil life among the people who raised me. I realized that I was meant to be before beasts with bare feet and wide eyes. That my place was not in offices and cubicles, nor was it among the stars. My fate was entwined in the vines of the jungle, in the fur of tigers, in the clawsShow MoreRelatedThe Struggle of the People of Haiti in Edwidge Danticats Novel Krik? Krak!1204 Words   |  5 PagesDanticat, born in Haiti, grew up hearing stories about her homelands past. She learned about the hardships and struggles her elders went through in Haiti. Danticat composed nine short stories that reveal the unmasking truth of what it was like in the previous generations to keep the history of her home country alive. Within the characters in these stories, she describes the inequality, cruelty, and pain that the people went through. 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