A Spectrum of Possibilities

(Posted by Nick, '11)

Before coming to Vassar my perception of the world was one of general dichotomies.  You were either male or female; white or black; gay or straight.  There were no "in-betweens" allowed.  Of course, I was raised (and still identify as) Catholic, so one could easily see why this was.  Since then, my view of the world has been forever altered.  I no longer take for granted the gender binary perpetuated by heteronormative society.  I recognize that people can identify their gender as truly anything under the sun, and who are we to question it?  We should be more concerned with an individual's comfort in their own skin rather than society's comfort with how they identify.  Just because the majority of the world falls under the male and female labels doesn't mean that we should discriminate against or somehow illegitimize those that identify outside or somewhere in between those labels.  What truly solidified my "new" perception of the world was Dominic's (LGBTQ Center Assistant) presentation last night, "A Place to Call Home."  Topically concerned with being born and living in a state of intersex, it truly opened my eyes to a whole segment of the population (1 in 2000) that did not choose to be intersex, and had no control over how they were born.  How can people be so cruel as to make fun of and discriminate against aspects of a person that they have no control over?  We learned about this in sociology - social "abnormality" no matter if one has control over it, breeds social hatred.  It's an embarrassing truth about humanity - historically, we hate those that are different from us. 

My altered perception of gender also extends to sexuality - I now recognize that one's orientation no longer has to be gay/bisexual/straight.  There's a whole spectrum of sexuality that exists, and for us to discriminate against someone if their sexuality doesn't ascribe to social "norms" goes against the notion that America is the land of the free and the home of the brave.  Committing hate crimes against someone because of their orientation is not a brave act and certainly sends the message that all are not free to express themselves.  Society has a long way to go before universal equality is recognized for all citizens of the United States and the world, but I think if more people come to have a more open mind and see things like gender and sexuality as a spectrum rather than as defined labels, we can take a huge step towards it.