Bullying, violence, and
sexual and physical assault in the LGBTQ community are not at all
uncommon. In fact, a large percentage of
the community recognizes the existence of such discrimination, but is unable or
unaware of how to cope with it. LGBTQ
studies addresses the hardships and oppression that those in the community face,
but often does not focus on the ways in which they can cope with such
harassment. In this blog post, I will
explore the personal experiences of Barbara Smith and Eli Clare, while also
referencing a Mental Health America article entitled “Bullying: What To Do About It” in order to describe
several key methods to dealing with the discrimination against
homosexuals.
Smith (1993) is a Black
feminist activist and a member of a Boston organization that is actively
committed to struggling against racial, sexual, heterosexual, and class
oppression, which in her opinion, are all linked (Smith). As a member of the LGBTQ community herself,
her take on bullying and violence among this exploited group of people is much
more personal. She writes of instances
in which even law enforcement officials lead attacks on minorities or groups
that are socially viewed as unusual. Those
targeted in the specific event she described were both Black, and they
identified as homosexuals. To make
matters worse, it was not reported in the media because of who the victims were (Smith). Class, sexual preference, and race were all
highly repressed.
Eli Clare took a slightly
different approach in writing about ‘the body.’
This body faces oppression because some members of society have deemed
the LGBTQ body as a disease. There are
many models which she references that suggest ways of ‘curing’ or ‘treating’
the body, and others that declare this disability as a tragedy (Clare). She also writes that “oppression mires us in
body hatred,” whether it begins with name-calling or abuse. Homophobia is all about defining queer bodies
as wrong, perverse, or immoral (Clare).
Seeing this hatred should make people realize that the injustice each
and every one of us faces is outside of our bodies. To end it would mean less pain, physically,
emotionally, and mentally.
This type of
discrimination occurs on a regular basis, although most of society is (or
chooses to be) oblivious to the suffering of the LGBTQ community. And as a result of this lack of awareness and
concern for those in the community, much bullying and violence tends to occur
without consequence. However, there are
several methods for the oppressed to cope with such hatred and
discrimination. And, in addition to
that, there are ways in which those who do not identify as LGBTQ can become
allies, and assist those that do.
The article makes it
clear that the first step is to “recognize it for what it is. Bullying is aggressive behavior” and it
occurs repeatedly over time (Bullying). This
hatred is intentional and stems from a lack of acceptance of
heterosexuality. The attempt to cause
harm to members of the LGBTQ community comes in many forms and there tends to
be “an imbalance of power favoring the bully” (Bullying). What many do not realize is that this
bullying, sexual or physical, is a widespread problem. In children, it causes discomfort and a
feeling of being unsafe in what should be a secure environment, such as a
school or playground.
There are several
different ways to respond to bullying. Parents
can begin to teach their children to speak out against such hatred and be
assertive (Bullying). However, I feel
the most effective approach to gradually ending bullying is education. It is important for authority figures to
outline the proper behavior and policies and admit the proper punishment if
those rules are not followed. It begins
with teaching children which terms are acceptable among the LGBTQ community, as
well as prohibiting the use of derogatory comments that may be damaging to a
child’s self-esteem.
Those who have been
harassed have options as well. Many
institutions have organized student bodies with the goal of providing a safe
environment for those who feel ostracized for whatever reason. As
more people become alert to these signs of discrimination, more options become
possible. Schools can develop clubs
specifically for students of different sexual orientation and preference. This can lead to the community also creating
online support forums so LGBTQ members can release their tensions, stress, and
insecurities anonymously to gain feedback and reassurance. As quickly as people join together in an
effort to end bullying and harassment against the LGBTQ identified community,
everyone can begin to feel safe in their environment.
Link
http://www.nmha.org/index.cfm?objectid=CA866DBF-1372-4D20-C817AE97DDF77E4E
Bibliography
BARBARA SMITH “Homophobia:
Why Bring it Up?” from The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader. Ed Henry Ablelove et al New York &
London: Routledge, 1993.
“Bullying: What To Do
About It.” Mental Health America. 8 February 2012.
http://www.nmha.org/index.cfm?objectid=CA866DBF-1372-4D20-C817AE97DDF77E4E
ELI CLARE “Stolen Bodies, Reclaimed Bodies: Disability and Queerness” from Public
Culture. Duke
University Press. 2001.
In response to this well-versed post, I completely agree that a large percentage of the LGBTQ community has great difficulty in coping with the discrimination and harassment they face from the rest of society. Many would agree that there does not seem to be enough resources available for LGBTQ members to confront these struggles; however, as stated in the conclusion of the post, I feel that with the wide-spread use of the internet and social media sites today, a huge support center has opened up for these individuals and supporters to express their feelings and respond to bullying.
ReplyDeleteIn Mary Gray’s “From Websites to Wal-Mart: Youth, Identity Work, and the Queering of Boundary Publics in Small Town, USA”, she points out how the internet can provide both a public and private space for the queer community to convey their emotions. In the case of AJ, a female-to-male transgender teenager, he decided to make his own personal website documenting every aspect of his transformation as he felt that there were not enough internet resources that provided information on reassignment surgery (at least not that were free and fully-accessible). On his site, AJ gives all the details of his extensive surgery including photos, costs, and even mp3 files that record the changes in his voice (cool, right?). AJ’s site has provided not only a private sphere to write about his personal changes, but has also been a great resource for others that are thinking about or have already gone through reassignment surgery as well. All this being said, no, there are definitely not enough resources out there for LGBTQ members, but the internet should be looked at as a place where individuals can turn to for support and reassurance in both the private and public sphere.
Bibliography
Gray, Mary. “From Websites to Wal-Mart: Youth, Identity Work, and the Queering of Boundary Publics in Small Town, USA.” American Studies, Vol. 48, No.2, Homosexuals in Unexpected Places?. 2007. 15 Feb. 2012. Web.
As addressed in the comment above me, I completely agree that coping with the adversity in the LGBTQ community has become a major issue among the women and men that are affected. Though by some considered a “hot topic” in the media, politics, and culture, homophobia in the United States rarely brought up in the ways in which accurately describe the struggles of the LGBTQ community. As stated by Barbara Smith, “homophobia is usually the last oppression to be mentioned…but it is extremely serious, sometimes to the point of being fatal” (99). Homophobia is cast off into the grey areas, where people have their own opinions on the matter, leaving the people who are victims of it with nothing to hold onto. Though bullying of any heterosexual student in school is not tolerated at all, homophobic bullying of a homosexual student is written off and not considered a problem. This leaves the teenagers that are the subject of homophobic actions living in fear. The fear of being harassed or bullied by kids who don’t understand them overrules the desire to share their individual experiences, and physical violence, even suicidal thoughts, can be the consequence of such actions (Smith, 101).
ReplyDeleteAccording to Nan Stien, “a climate that included verbal and physical harassment because of perceived or actual appearance, gender, sexual orientation, [or] gender expression” leaves no place for a safe environment, and the men and women who face these discriminations daily must deal the daily unsafe feelings. No one should have to feel unsafe in their own skin, simply because they identify as something society claims to be “different”. Bullying because of sexual orientation or gender is commonly ignored, but people in society usually have an opinion on the matter when actually pushed. Maybe, if the harmful acts of bullying and fear imposed on the LGBTQ community were accurately exposed to the world, in a light that does not devalue the experiences of those involved, members of the LQBTQ community wouldn’t fear exposing themselves. Or maybe, they might even never feel the “differences” between themselves and the people that are telling them they are different.
Bibliography
Smith, Barbara. "Homophobia: Why Bring It Up?" The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader (1993). ed. Henry Ablelove et al New York&London: Routledge. Print.