Examination of Sexuality

12 Pages 3118 Words

�real and apparent entity,” rather than describing a behavior, are recent constructs of humans. “Prior to the nineteenth century - or, some will say, the eighteenth - homosexuality in the western world was a practice, not an identity” (Garber, p. 213). The use of the term to describe who a person is, is to attach the negative stigma of an unacceptable behavior to the individual, thereby making the person unacceptable. This is also done as a means to sanction and prohibit the behavior. Who wants to be called a “homo” or “fag?” Being labeled a homosexual is society’s way of determining what type of person you are and how you should be treated. What is also powerfully realized is that definitions of deviance and labels are handed down by those in society who decide “the norm” based on the current trend and philosophy of the time and their culture. This is important for two reasons. First, it affirms the sociological issue of power in constructing deviance. Secondly, it challenges the notion of gender being immutable an...