Re-Evaluating Stereotypes
As an Aboriginal person, I am no stranger to stereotypes. I’m not going to start this article on how annoying it is to walk through the mall and immediately notice that there are security guards constantly following me; OK, well, maybe I just did. But I walk through the mall decently dressed and I obviously have money, so what, am I going to rob these people blind? When did people begin to assume that all Aboriginal people are thieves and constantly drunk or drugged up? I can’t hide being Native. It’s who I am and people are often accepting of that.
But how about when I tell some person that I’m gay? Well what often happens with most (not all, we’ll get to that later) is this annoying statement: “It’s ok if your gay, as long as you don’t try anything with me.” To this I roll my eyes and try not to say something along the lines of, “Don’t worry you’re not that hot,” or perhaps, “If you have to say that, then maybe you should re-examine your preferences.” But no, instead I just roll my eyes and say some cheap cop out like: “I know you’re not gay, I can tell.”
Truth is, who can honestly tell who is gay? If I were to go about and say that this person is gay just because he wears pink...then, well, Kanye should soon be making his coming out speech the next time he makes a public stink to some other actor or singer. There are all these assumptions that all gay people are good dressers, fashionistas if you will. Yet if that were true, then who on earth reintroduced the poncho as a marketable item?
Ok so there could be an argument that stereotypes can keep us safe. I know there is a little bit of logic behind this, but honestly that logic is absolutely ridiculous and promotes more negativity than positive behaviours. I also find that discrimination caused by stereotypes is a continuous cycle. Basically it goes back to the whole hurt people hurt other people.
I think it is a time that we, as a collective of students, get together and rethink things we take as normal. “That’s so Gay,” is not just a statement, it’s a discriminatory remark that insinuates that being gay makes someone stupid.
Stereotypes are never a good thing, and are never true for all. At the same time I have to laugh at the small minded view of some people.
These stereotypes include that gay men are well groomed, have a great sense of fashion, and speak in high pitched feminine voices. Newsflash: I know straight men who have a way better sense of fashion, a good (gay man) friend of mine has a really sexy low voice, and gay people have those days when they just crawl out of bed and go to work just like the rest of us. Another group of stereotypes is that gay women (lesbians) never shave their legs, they dress like boys, and are fine with making out in public. If that’s what you think about gay women then you will never be able to pick out which of my female friends are gay.
The all time worst homosexual stereotype is the idea that all homosexual people are sex addicts. Recently, I spent a day with straight people and the next day with my gay friends. I heard way more sex jokes and saw more “checking out” with the straight people then I did with the gay people and the straight think that I’m straight. To clarify, they were men.
So the next time you say something like, “That’s so gay!”, consider for moment: do you even know someone who is gay?
