Chapter 2

“We can choose to rely on skin color or genital configuration as the primary means by which we make “us-them” distinctions. Or we can choose to downplay these traits and treat them with the same nonchalance that we treat eye color, hair color, or the shape of a nose or chin.” –Newman p. 69

After I first read the chapter about “manufacturing difference” I felt like it just reiterated and confirmed many of the ways that I feel in regards to sexual preference. People who are not straight are unfairly treated differently. Similarly, people who are open with their sexuality are often not accepted. Newman wraps up the chapter saying, ‘we can look at differences to differentiate one person from another, or we can overlook the differences.’ I really like that he states this because it is a way for people who are, in fact, concerned with other’s sexuality or skin color, to see how similar skin color is to eye color.

When I read this piece, I found many new ways to approach the topic of sexuality. I enjoyed the excerpts that were brought in from other authors and people living with related issues. The part about “The Closet” specifically caught my attention. When I was a junior in high school one of my best friends, AJ, FINALLY “came out of the closet.” We all knew, but we let him take his time with the announcement. I remember going to the local ice cream bar and someone throwing something at our car that AJ was driving while they yelled comments about being a “f-ing queer! And God-damned homo.” This day haunts my friend and me too, even to today. These boys who said those things were once friends of AJ’s and turned on him with fear that they too would be called gay. That was upsetting to see, first-hand, the ignorance and cruelty that some people have.

Aj used to crack jokes like “ew… hetero’s” when I would kiss my boyfriend, or if there was a love scene in the movie we were watching. We always just laughed it off. When I read Time Wise’s article, I feel like my eyes were really opened. “Sorry, but it just isn’t the same,” he writes. Though his article is about native Americans making fun of white people, I feel like it can be related here too. AJ always joked, but the jokes were never as harmful as when other jokes about his sexual preference. I never thought about it, but Wise made a good point about how hard it would be to discriminate against a majority such as the white or heterosexual population.