CFT 412 Chapter Notes - Chapter 12: Asexuality, Cisgender, Mastectomy
8 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Class 12: May 9
Mendenhall,
Buchner, &
Plowman
Relationships:
Where Have We
Been? Where Are
We Going? pg.
211-230
Queer Theory
● Originally a derogatory term but now reclaimed
○ A critique of what is considered to be normal
● Queer Theory: there are more ways to be onself than exclusively
hereosexual than to act according to rigid gender norms
○ Focuses on those sexual and gender identities that fall out
of the mainstream media quo
● Use queer instead of LGBT or LGBTTQQAAPKIO
○ More accepting and inclusive terms for the entire
community and support the movement
Alphabet Soup: What do all those letters mean?
● Lesbian: a woman who is sexually or romantically attracted to
other women
● Gay: a man who is sexually/romantically attracted to other men
● Bisexual: a person of any gender who is sexually/romantically
attracted to men and women (equally or not)
● Transgender: umbrella term to encompass variations and
subcategories of identities and behaviors
○ Do not fit norms of traditional male/female gender binary
● Transsexual: a person whose biological sex that they were assigned
at birth does not match sex they know themselves to be
● Two-Spirit: A Native-American term describing a revered person
who has both a feminine and masculine aspect of their identity and
gender performance
● Questioning: a person whom may currently identify as one
sexual/romantic orientation but is exploring others
○ Can include whether or not they are gay, bisexual,
transgender, heterosexual or so on
● Queer: a person who does not identify as a specific gender and/or
sexual/romantic orientation
○ Lives and presents in a manner unique unto themselves
● Androgynous: person whose gender is a unique combination of
masculinity and femininity
● Asexual: a person who does not have any strong sexual/romantic
in any gender
○ Many also do not enjoy self-pleasure or masturbation
● Polyamorous: person who engages in sexual/romantic relationships
with more than one partner, with consent of all
● Pansexual: person who is sexually/romantically attracted to people
without consideration of their gender
○ May also be attracted to persons who present themselves as
genders outside of traditional gender binary
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
● Kink: a person who expresses their sexual/romantic feelings in
unconventional ways, often involving role playing and sex toys
● Intersex: person with sex characteristics, such as genitalia or
secondary sex characteristics of more than one gender
○ Common medical term for Intersex is someone born with
ambiguous genitalia, focuses mostly on genitals
● Other: a term reserved for those that do not choose to identify as
any term above but still elect to participate in greater community
● Cisgender: someone whose gender identity, and way they enact it
and sex at birth are aligned with social expectations
○ Not a queer identity
Coming Out
● Telling one’s family and friends that one identifies as queer
○ The time before can be painful since one is hiding a part of
themselves
● Identity Development Model
○ Stage 1: Identity Confusion: develop awareness
○ Stage 2: Identity Comparison: meet other LGBT
○ Stage 3: Identity Tolerance: more comfortable
○ Stage 4: Identity Acceptance: more positive view
○ Stage 5: Identity Pride: feeling pride of LGBT
○ Stage 6: Identity Synthesis: seeking community
What about the family?
● Average age that youth identity as LGBT is about 13 years old for
males and about 16 for female
○ More likely to be victims of abuse, run away from home,
dropout of school, depression/suicide/other disorders
● Sexual Conversion Therapy: subjecting already depressed and
struggling youth/adults to dangerous often cruel treatments
○ Some even to chemical or electrical torture, and has been
banned in many medical organizations
● Family Planning: either thru in-vitro fertilization or adoption
○ Has costs, risks such as second-parent adoption, difficult
decisions and makes it harder to create larger families
● Parenting: fear that their children will suffer, and figure out how to
bring a child into their family
○ Must cope and respond to challenges of parenting in a
homophobic and heterosexist culture
Same-Sex Couples
● Very similar to different-sex couples, but incur different strengths
and challenges
○ More racial prejudice or previous marriages
● Finding one’s partner: can be risky in rural areas or more
conservative communities
○ In other areas, increased political groups, support groups,
church groups, social events, gay bars and Internet dating
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Originally a derogatory term but now reclaimed. A critique of what is considered to be normal. Queer theory: there are more ways to be onself than exclusively hereosexual than to act according to rigid gender norms. Focuses on those sexual and gender identities that fall out of the mainstream media quo. Use queer instead of lgbt or lgbttqqaapkio. More accepting and inclusive terms for the entire community and support the movement. Lesbian: a woman who is sexually or romantically attracted to other women. Gay: a man who is sexually/romantically attracted to other men. Bisexual: a person of any gender who is sexually/romantically attracted to men and women (equally or not) Transgender: umbrella term to encompass variations and subcategories of identities and behaviors. Do not fit norms of traditional male/female gender binary. Transsexual: a person whose biological sex that they were assigned at birth does not match sex they know themselves to be.
