Assignment Topic 1: Chrys Ingraham explains two concepts: thinking straight and the heterosexual imaginary. Write a take indicating your understanding of these two concepts. How are they related? How are they different? Provide at least three examples of ways, when you were a 'tween' and/or adolescent, you began to 'think straight' or realized that you didn't. Note: this question is asking you to think about how social practices influenced your developing sense of your own sexuality. How difficult is it, do you think, to imagine a culture in which an institutionalized heterosexuality does not inform so many of the choices that we make and take for granted?
The heterosexual imaginary is the only natural and usual way to be, and everyone is heterosexual unless they prove otherwise. Thinking straight is the belief that heterosexuality is the only correct way to think and that anyone who isn't heterosexual is confused, misguided, or abnormal. The two concepts are related because they both uphold the idea that heterosexuality is the only natural and usual way to be. The two concepts are different because thinking straight supports the idea that heterosexuality is the only correct way to think, while the heterosexual imaginary only upholds the idea that heterosexuality is the only natural and normal way to be. The heterosexual imaginary is based on the belief that heterosexuality is the only natural and normal way to be, in contrast to thinking straight. The difference between the two ideas is that thinking straight is based on the belief that heterosexuality is the only correct way to think. The heterosexual imaginary is dangerous because it reinforces the idea that heterosexuality is the only natural and normal way to be. This can lead to people feeling like they have to prove their heterosexuality, which can be harmful and stressful. Thinking straight is dangerous because it reinforces the idea that heterosexuality is the only correct way to think. This can lead to people feeling like they have to suppress their true thoughts and feelings, which can be harmful and stressful. Both of these concepts are harmful because they reinforce the idea that there is only one correct way to be, and that anyone who isn't heterosexual is abnormal. This can lead to discrimination, exclusion, and violence against people who aren't heterosexual.
Examples of ways you might begin to think straight could include:
- internalizing the belief that only heterosexuality is normal and natural
- thinking that anyone who isn't heterosexual is confused, misguided, or abnormal
- believing that heterosexuality is the only correct way to think
Assignment Topic 2: Choose an example from the comic, Persepolis, that you think illustrates issues of intersectionality. Using the theoretical perspectives from the first half of the module and the module commentaries, analyze your example and explain how it demonstrates the intersections of identity.
"The key" and dividing boys and girls during the war. Marjane Satrapi (2003) states "girls had to make winter hoods for the soldiers, but boys had to prepare to become soldiers". Issues of intersectionality in this example are three-fold; class, gender, and religion.
Class- The lower social class boys are given these 'keys' and told to wear them to war. Satrapi's cousin, Shahab, is in the military service and comes to visit amid these children are being taken to war. Shahab described seeing these children, coming from poor areas, arriving at the base ready to fight. It is assumed that Satrapi's cousin Peyman is of a higher social class. This is because when she calls Peyman to ask if he received one of these keys, she is met with just a question of what she means, and an invite to his party. This intersection relating to class within a gender is a vital dichotomy to understand. It is often only thought of that adults are affected by class, however, children are just as under effect and it then influences everyone. A child being taken from a home to fight and die is not something that every class has had to deal with and understand.
Gender- the armies only target the boys. Girls are meant to stay at the school and make hoods for these boys in their war. Gender is one of the most thought of intersections when understanding intersectionality. A person's gender is a primary way of understanding identity, however, it is also how many are discriminated against. Women are perceived as weaker and less than men, and Persepolis displayed this by describing that girls were not even thought of as an option to fight in the war.
Religion- The boys are told that with the key, "if they went to war and were lucky enough to die, this key would get them to heaven". The boys are told that there is paradise after death. This is how they can get through to the poor boys because they do not view the life they have now as something with as pleasant a future as a paradise with "plenty of food, women, and houses made of gold and diamonds" (Satrapi, 100). A person's religion is a major proponent of their identity as it is a way for the person to always relate to something, as well as find people with similar identities. In the case of Persepolis, this identity is created by telling young boys that there is a paradise and they must wear some keys. The keys then become the identity of these boys as it is essentially a placeholder for their god. It becomes the thing they identify with and constantly remember and think of.
Reply: The heterosexual imagination may affect our development in a variety of ways. For instance, we could learn at school that only heterosexual unions are legitimate or might see only heterosexual couples in the media. This could make us think that there is something wrong with us or that we won't be accepted by society if we are not straight. The way we see ourselves and our bodies may also be influenced by the heterosexual imagination. For instance, if we do not feel sexual attraction toward the other sex, we can think that we are not normal. Similarly, if our bodies do not fit conventional notions of femininity or masculinity, we might think that we are not good enough.
Reply: The idea that heterosexuality is the sole inherent and acceptable sexual orientation is known as thinking straight or the heterosexual imagination. Social institutions that foster the notion that everyone is or should be heterosexual, such as the media, education, and religion, contribute to the perpetuation of this view. The heterosexual imagination perpetuates the notion that heterosexuality is the only acceptable sexual orientation, which is damaging to both heterosexuals and LGBTQIA+ people. This may result in discrimination and violence against LGBTQIA+ people as well as feelings of shame, isolation, and invisibility for those who identify as LGBTQIA+.