WST 3015
11/10/2005- Agenda
Announcements
-Kristin is out of town – Dana Berkowitz is facilitating class, thank you Dana (Kristin is wrote these notes)
-Kristin will be back in town for class next Tuesday, she may not have access to email
-Please hold any questions til Kristin returns (or email her)
-Thanks to Zach Clark for coordinating our PRIDE Panel today
-Reading Notebooks units 3-5 are due today, if yours is late, turn it in to Tigert 140
Today
-begin Unit 6: The Differences Among Us: Divisions & Connections
-specifically we will be talking about LGBTQ Relationships
-PRIDE Panel
Review Readings:
"Are You Some Kind of Dyke?" : The Perils of Heterosexism
107."Homophobia and Sexism," Suzanne Pharr
108.Cat, Julie Carter
109.Chicana Lesbians: Fear and Loathing in the Chicano Community, Carla Trujillo
110.Living in a Gay Family, Megan.McGuire
111."I Lost it in the Movies", Jewelle Gomez
79. Revelations, Linda Villarosa
•LGBTQ Relationships
-Issues:
1. Appropriate Terminology
2. “Normalicy”
3. Invisibility & Heterosexism
4. Policy Issues
5. Experiences & Accounts: PRIDE Panel
Notes & Resources on LGBTQ Issues
Defining Terms
LGBTQ =
Lesbian
Gay
Bisexual
Transsexual
•A person whose biological sex does not "match" their gender identity and who, through gender reassignment surgery and hormone treatment, seeks to change their physical body to "match" their gender identity.
-Transsexuals' sexual orientation can be heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual.
Transgender
•A person whose self-identification challenges traditional notions of gender and sexuality.
-Transgender people include transsexuals and others who do not conform to traditional understandings of labels like "male" and "female" or "heterosexual" and "homosexual"
Queer
•originally a derogatory label used to refer to lesbian, gay, or bisexual people to intimidate and offend heterosexuals. More recently this term has been reclaimed by some lesbians, gay men, bisexual individuals, and transgender people as an inclusive and positive way to identify all people targeted by heterosexism and homophobia.
Homophobia vs. Heterosexism
Homophobia
•an aversion to gay or homosexual people or their lifestyle or culture" and "behavior or an act based on this aversion; an irrational
fear of homosexuality.
• has typically been employed to describe individual antigay attitudes and behaviors
Heterosexism
•an ideological system that denies, denigrates, and stigmatizes any non-heterosexual form of behavior, identity, relationship, or community. Like institutional racism and sexism, heterosexism pervades societal customs and institutions. It operates through a dual process of invisibility and attack. Homosexuality usually remains culturally invisible; when people who engage in homosexual behavior or who are identified as homosexual become visible, they are subject to attack by society.
•typically refers to societal-level ideologies and patterns of institutionalized oppression of non-heterosexual (LGBTQ) people.
Policy Issues
Domestic partnership/Civil Union
•refers to the recognition of committed unmarried couples, living together, sharing housing and financial responsibilities by local or provincial jurisdictions, or by non-state entities, including businesses and corporations.
PRIDE PANEL
Discussion Questions:
How are sexism and homophobia linked as forces of oppression?
How is lesbian baiting used to control feminists and other women?
Why should heterosexual people care about homophobia?
Extra Credit Exercise: Heterosexism Challenge
-see the exercise Kristin posted online