From: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkgACMUOHzs
OUR SHOT DOWN PERCEPTIONS
Ever walk into a grocery store and somone catches your eye, and you keep staring but try not to, and then you say to yourself after, constantly pondering the encounter, "Was that a guy or a girl?" Or ever first meet and listen to 'that guy' explaining to yourself, "Yep, he's a 100% homo," only to find out he's straight and married with kids. Or ever see a female surfer, who's gorgeous, riding the waves, and you get the hots for, then she comes to shore, and on the corner of your eye, you see another female run up to her and kiss her on the lips and walk past by you, holding hands together and you being stunned with "Really?" Well, Gaydar can only go so far, and it cane be thrown WAY off at times, along with our assumptions. It's so easy to judge a person and blurb out to your friends, "Oh, he's gay" or "Oh, she's a lesbian, I just know it," but for most first impression, we don't usually have the full picture, just our perceptions to guide us. But perceptions can be, at times, off the mark, leaving us wondering at the end of the day, "Is he/she really?"
So then what is gay? What does gay mean? Is the word inclining towards being masculine or feminine? Majority would pick the latter, and though the word gay and homosexual can seem synomonous, there can be differences. Do actions or words make a person gay or homosexual? For instance, one can define themselves "gay" or "queer" and not have a homosexual experience, yet on the flip side, one can be homosexual, have homosexual experiences, and/or claim themselves not "gay" or "queer" such as a guy that has sex with guys (vice-versa for girls too) and identifies as 'straight' or hear a guy excuse his "experimental" encounters with the third-legged kind proclaiming, "Man, I was soooo drunk last night." Again, there are some questions that leave us with not so cookie cutter answers when it comes to placing people into social categories.
And yet images, roles, and stereo-types play upon our assumptions and perceptions daily. What fascinates me the most (and what I love to see in people's faces) is when those assumptions are shot down, like an elk in the headlights, by the real truth underneath the mascara and foundatons of our judgements. Roles can be simply that, if in themselves, along with the images and stereo-types. They need people to fill them or else they'd be an empty, meaningless suit collecting dust and outdated. With that, I want to leave you with some images to ponder: The Surfer, The Skater, The Football Player, The Baseball Player, The Cop, The Firefighter, The Lifeguard, The Plumber, The Marine, The Soldier, The Pilot, The Cowboy, The Executive, The Doctor, Miss America, The Teacher, The Sports Illustrated Swim Suit Model. And think what would be your reaction if that image/person did the opposite of what you thought in sexual actions, sexual attractions, and in gender behavior (masculine and feminine). While you do that, I will be doing some research on my own in diving deep into that gray area of sexuality to know more about these unique people that fill these roles and contradict society's assumptions of them. See you on the otherside....
Image from: http://wizbangblog.com/images/2005/10/white_sox_kiss.jpg
