Back when I
was in my home country, words like ‘queer’, ‘gay’, ‘homosexual’, ‘lesbians’ and etc, these words
sounds very simple and easily defined to me, based on my knowledge about them. However,
little do I know there are people that are actually living under the domain of
these words, which I was only fully aware of it until I came to US. Back in
where I was, I was only in contact with words like ‘heterosexual’ and ‘straight’,
because that is common within the society that I was in. To me, somebody that
has rarely seen such phenomenon or never had close contact with these words, I
was shocked, worried, evasive, angry, distressed. Unlike culture shock, which I
will be able to adapt when given some time, things such as ‘queer’ and
‘homosexual’ is like an alien, and I fear that if I move further in depth to
discover the world behind these words, I will change, and not be able to
integrate back to where I was.
In Sedgwick’s
piece of literature, her book explains that the reason I perceive ‘homosexual’
and ‘queer’ in the weird way is because this perception is being universalized,
that the ‘heterosexual’ is normal and the ‘homosexual’ is abnormal. This ideal
has become the trend and it is common for people to learn and follow it. As a
result, there will be more people like me, thinking that we are normal and they
aren’t. However, by having this kind of thought in mind, I also notice that
there are details that aren’t covered. Just like every good thing, there must
be a shadow, and the shadow can sometimes be overlooked because it’s not in
plain sight. In this case, since most people is following the universal meaning
of the words ‘heterosexual’ and ‘queer’, they have overlooked the fact that
these words are just tools of labels.
In my
opinion, based on what I have perceived of Sedgwick’s piece, people are falling
into the trap of the trend, because people are prone to conform to the
majority, to not be left out alone and to be cast away from benefit. The
creation of the term ‘homosexuality’ and ‘heterosexuality’ has lead people to
choose a platform to stand on, and each platform represents a certain benefit
and meaning. However, the presence of these 2 platforms has created a boundary
between the 2 sides, and the power flows between them through the flow of
trend. If the trend takes the upper hand of one side, then that side possesses
the most power.
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