Critical Response #3

Ethan Stewardson-Blackwell

QS 462, Dr. Qwo Li Driskill

Tuesday April 21, 2014

Critical Response #3

When reading the introduction part, Heaven and Earth, I thought it was interesting to see an image that reversed the roles of the dominant group by having the cowboy in the submissive role while the Native American was being the oppressor. When I looked at the image (Heaven and Earth. Courtesy of Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, UK) I thought it was strange because I had never seen an image like that before.  In the Introduction of the GLQ Journal I enjoyed learning about the different ideas of sexuality and the dynamics in the different groups mentioned. I enjoyed hearing each author’s different perspective on the introduction of the journal because it showed how each one of them was different and had a different opinion on the topic. These readings from the journal furthered my understanding that when someone is oppressed it was because one group had a position of power on the other. From the readings I saw that it was difficult to be a Native Two-Spirit/GLBTQ person because the idea of gender and sexuality in the Native culture has been shaped by the colonial impact and the views of the people who took over were imparted onto the oppressed people. It made me think a lot. Whose land am I standing on? Who before me ran across the grass that I’m running on now? I like to think about that every day but to understand that the land had been shaped and molded by power and oppression. It kind of sucks to think of how much hate and violence must have surrounded the places around me. And when reading the papers there is so much hate still around us. I think that if people took the time and got to know and understand everyone better the world would be a better place.

When reading the transcript of the interview with Virgie Tovar I really liked what she talked about and how honest she sounded. I was shocked to hear that for ten years she worked as a phone sex operator. I never would have expected that. Maybe that’s just my bias towards that kind of thing, but good for her. I really liked how Tovar is more for the people and cares about the oppressed people. Her ideas of fatphobia were interesting to me. I never really thought about that kind of oppression, don’t know why, but it opened my eyes to seeing the problems that some people face on a daily basis and how some people have been burdened by the way they are seen by society. Tovar sounded like a very awesome person and I was happy to read what she had to say.