Excerpts from Born This Way by Lady
Gaga:
I'm
beautiful in my way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way
[...]
No
matter gay, straight, or bi,
Lesbian, transgendered life,
I'm on the right track baby,
I was born to survive.
No matter black, white or beige
Chola or orient made,
I'm on the right track baby,
I was born to be brave.
Lesbian, transgendered life,
I'm on the right track baby,
I was born to survive.
No matter black, white or beige
Chola or orient made,
I'm on the right track baby,
I was born to be brave.
As we discussed in
class, the argument "born this way" isn't an accurate argument for
explaining sexuality because every person actively chooses who to have sex
with. Their sexual actions are not predetermined for them. The argument
within this song tries to remove the responsibility of determining sexuality,
arguing that being gay is just like being black or white.
While we have
identified that this argument has major flaws, I do see that this popular
argument has caused a reduction in anti-gay sentiments in our society.
Historically our society has promoted and still does promote heteronormativity,
and has caused many people to suppress those who go against the heterosexual
norms.
The effects of this social suppression have even
caused some to commit suicide because they are bullied, feel ostracized, and believe
that there must be something “wrong” with them. The argument “born this way”
has given many a reason to give their beliefs a double-take and to consider
that their perceptions of “right” and “wrong” in the way of sexuality may in
fact be completely baseless. (Regardless of whether or not this argument is
actually a good one to promote, it has at least caused more people to be
supportive of alternative sexualities—which is a good thing, right?) The
increase of positive and welcoming
sentiments towards alternative sexualities has partially discouraged bullying
on the basis of sexuality, which improves the lives of many non-heterosexuals.
(This type of bullying is still an issue, especially in schools, however. The popularity
of the Born This Way argument has not eradicated it by any means.)
Accepting different sexualities as choices made
by individuals may be hard for society to swallow all at once, and may need to
be implemented in stages unfortunately. While the Born This Way argument doesn’t
cause people’s perspectives to change for the most entirely truthful reasons,
it still has successfully reduced anti-gay sentiments, which is a positive
thing – Don’t you agree? Do you believe that improving the social atmosphere
for those who are not heterosexual is an important goal? Or is the most important
goal simply for society as a whole to realize that sexualities are a choice and
that it shouldn’t matter to a given individual which sexuality a person
chooses - no half-way arguments allowed?
You make a compelling defense for the benefits of the "born this way" argument, and, personally, I believe you are right to believe it is a step in the right direction. The hope -- though perhaps vain -- is that by accepting homosexual relationships into the pre-established structure, members of the LGBTQ community will be accepted in the same way that we accept those who participate in Heteronormative relationships. After all, our conceptions of marriage and what is accepted comes from years of particular traditions aimed toward the preservation of cultures/societies which placed relationships that result in the birth of children in the realm of the sacred or vital. Eventually, one would hope, that the differences between these different kinds of relationships would be recognized and accepted as different with different meanings and characteristics. And I believe that slowly this is, in fact, the case. However, the argument against this "folding-in" of different types of relationships into an older institution which -- though not necessarily heteronormative -- has been characterized and shaped by those promoting heternormativity for centuries is that it will not be fair to those who take part in different types of relationships and that it some how devalues their relationships. Those who believe that we are making a step in the wrong direction often want to see a radical shift in the structure of our society to become openly accepting and understanding of others. This is a noble aim for sure, but, cynically, I believe we are much too set in our ways to have a sustainable and realistic upheaval of the current system without very real hostility -- and perhaps even violence. In other words, like you, I believe the incremental approach is valid.
ReplyDeleteIt's true that "Born this Way" and its accompanying sentiment has caused society to move in the right direction in regards to heteronormativitey. It just isn't necessarily true. People get very defensive about the possibility of them "switching" attractions, but there's really no proof that people are "born that way" at all. There's nature and nurture, but no one has been able to separate the two in regards to sexuality. Similarly, people born into religions might say that their religion was in their nature, but the truth is too muddled to be able to say for certain one way or the other. Because of this ambiguity though, what we can say is that regardless of the truth of the matter, we can still make progress towards a future in which we can see everyone being happy. (/frills)
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