After reading the articles and listening to Professor La Fountain Stokes, I gained an understanding of social norms in Latino society and how they compared to American society. It shocked me how Latinos viewed homosexuals in two categories, which determined if they were stigmatized by society or not. This is so different from the ideals of people in the States. Here, people either discriminate against all homosexuals or support all homosexuals. There is no differentiation based on what role they play in the relationship.
Therefore, in Mexico and Central America there is no clear-cut support or criticism of homosexuals in general because some are accepted in society and some are not. It leads me to question then what are their views on gay marriage and gay rights? If the dominant male is not stigmatized while the passive one is, it confuses me how the public can support or go against their rights as a couple. The varying views on homosexuality in the Latino society contrast with American ideals, which open up a wider range of social political differences.
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3 comments:
I find it interesting the idea of these norms for homosexuals in Latin American countries, and it also makes me wonder how these norms came to be. One thing that I really think is missing from these discussions is the presence of the Catholic Church. The majority of the people in these countries are Catholic, and as we all know, the Catholic Church has strict laws against homosexuality (Pope John Paul II actually made an official statement declaring the Church's denouncement of Gay Marriage and homosexual relations not long before his death). So, it's almost a hypocritical notion: To be a good Latino, a man must be a good Catholic, and he can have a homosexual relationship. But, to be a good Catholic, one can't have a homosexual relationship, Think about that.
I further agree with both your reflection and Mark's comments. I was the leader of discussion for Latino sexuality and I read those articles pertaining to Latino sexuality very in depth. I too was very shocked from what I read. However, I do want to second the idea that it was odd to me that the presence of the Catholic Church was missing from all the articles which makes me ponder how legitimate the information in these articles can be. I believe that the Catholic Church would have a great role in this whole talk about Latino sexuality. Because of that, I looked a little closer into this topic and found out that those articles did have biases; as homosexuality is not as accepted in the Latino culture as one may think after reading that article.
Your right, I think that if they are alright with a certain "type" of homosexual then it seems illogical not to accept all of them, seeing as homosexuality is a sexual preference and you either support it or do not. This to me is another example of proving your superiority, thinking that homosexuals are inferior leads them to make judgments as to who is morally acceptable and who is not, when it is not their place. When they start accepting homosexuals as equals they will then realize that the distinction they make for homosexuals is a stupid one.
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