IDAHO 2009
May. 17th, 2009 11:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
greenie_breizhToday is International Day Against Homophobia, which I really wish was Int'l Day Against Heterosexism but that's probably a little too much to ask for.
Comic is in French but I liked it a lot: Superman contre l'homophobie. Some of the other comics I saw were a little problematic imho, but I like the message in this one.
I also like the style of Djou's original post on the topic and most of the idea behind it (sorry - still in French), I love the thought of getting more people to blog about IDAHO that wouldn't have done it otherwise. But again, I think we should really focus more on how we all play into the heteronormative system than be content with pointing fingers to the ones who show overt hatred. Plus, so what if The Gays are growing in numbers? What if becoming more accepting about homosexuality also makes us question other random moral barriers? I get the normalizing urge, I'm a pretty boring person too, but seeking to be seen as normal, it's ensuring that other people continue to be seen as abnormal. It tends to create the "right" gays and the "wrong" ones and anyone who's been in the gay community knows it's already there.
I find it a little painful sometimes how in the course of speaking up for IDAHO, we end up reinforcing some of the heterosexist mechanisms that make homophobia intelligible in the first place.
So for just a moment I'd like the Day Against Homophobia not to be about how gay people are just like everyone else. It's not about becoming more normal. It's about asking why 'normal' is always exclusive. It's our system that has a problem, not just the "homophobic" individuals in it, so let's think about that instead.
(Sorry - wish I could be more articulate and expand, but my brain has 4% battery remaining).
PS. IDAHO is also supposed to be about transphobia - something we're often not as comfortable talking about - and well, it wouldn't hurt to give biphobia a thought, either.
Comic is in French but I liked it a lot: Superman contre l'homophobie. Some of the other comics I saw were a little problematic imho, but I like the message in this one.
I also like the style of Djou's original post on the topic and most of the idea behind it (sorry - still in French), I love the thought of getting more people to blog about IDAHO that wouldn't have done it otherwise. But again, I think we should really focus more on how we all play into the heteronormative system than be content with pointing fingers to the ones who show overt hatred. Plus, so what if The Gays are growing in numbers? What if becoming more accepting about homosexuality also makes us question other random moral barriers? I get the normalizing urge, I'm a pretty boring person too, but seeking to be seen as normal, it's ensuring that other people continue to be seen as abnormal. It tends to create the "right" gays and the "wrong" ones and anyone who's been in the gay community knows it's already there.
I find it a little painful sometimes how in the course of speaking up for IDAHO, we end up reinforcing some of the heterosexist mechanisms that make homophobia intelligible in the first place.
So for just a moment I'd like the Day Against Homophobia not to be about how gay people are just like everyone else. It's not about becoming more normal. It's about asking why 'normal' is always exclusive. It's our system that has a problem, not just the "homophobic" individuals in it, so let's think about that instead.
(Sorry - wish I could be more articulate and expand, but my brain has 4% battery remaining).
PS. IDAHO is also supposed to be about transphobia - something we're often not as comfortable talking about - and well, it wouldn't hurt to give biphobia a thought, either.
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Date: 2009-05-18 02:32 pm (UTC)I can tell you a LOT about passing! Especially since that's what made it so hard for me to come to terms with my bisexuality in the first place. For me, I'm both physically and emotionally attracted to men, but in general, tend to be more physically than emotionally attracted to women. I'm sure you can imagine how difficult it was for me to come to terms with my sexuality in a heteronormative society - especially when there has been only one woman that I actually wanted to date.
'If I don't really want to date women, does that mean I'm just really straight?' and other similar questions plagued me when I was younger, and reading gay literature - which just told me that it was okay to like the same sex, but nothing about liking both sexes in different ways - did not help at all.
Passing can still make me uncomfortable at times, since most of the time, I don't have to come out to people. And then when I'm put in a situation where I do have to come out, I always wonder how they're going to take it, since most of the time, I talk about liking men. I haven't come out to anyone in my family, mostly because I do have the option to pass and it feels like unnecessarily stirring up a can of worms.
Hmm, I never thought that bisexuality is better, but I did subscribe to the "everyone is bisexual" thinking for a while. I do think the scale - ranging from homosexuality to bisexuality to heterosexuality - is a useful visual tool for some, although it inherently leaves other types of sexualities in the process.