Women and Sexual Orientation

Adam J. Hayden

ETH/125

January 25, 2013
Lyron Baggerly

Women and Sexual Orientation

For millennia there has existed no single group of individuals more discriminated against, nor marginalized in civil or basic human rights, in politics, economics or domestically, than women. Notwithstanding the Women’s Right Movement, this percentage of the United States populace has continued to be sidelined by the patriarchal notions of the past. Likewise, the consensus views of society concerning Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgendered individuals (GLBT), historically has been that of derision and malice, viewing those individuals of this community as an abomination against all morals and ethics, usually using religious scriptures to back up these claims. Within the last couple decades, headway has been made to provide these two minority groups equal rights as established by Federal and State laws, but let us look at the history of these movements within the United States. The traditional role of women, as maintained by archaic and patriarchal views is that of a housewife. Her duty is to be subordinate to her husband in all things, providing him with offspring, raising them, and generally be a homemaker, supporting him emotionally, but making no decisions without his say so. If she were blessed enough to have a husband who respected her, she might be able to find a part-time job outside of the home, in order to supplement his paycheck. Most employment opportunities, until recently was that of a supporting role, such as a seamstress, schoolhouse teacher, or during World War II as a riveter. Within the first hundred years of the United States as a nation in its own right, women were not allowed to vote. The first State to grant women the ability to vote was Colorado in 1893 (Imbornoni, 2007, p. 2). Eventually, women had enough of this, and while participating in the Equal Rights movement for the African-American people, they found that they were a force to be reckoned with. In fact the majority of individuals whom made a difference for colored persons were women. We remember the story of Rosa Parks, how she stood up against the Establishment. She was not only an African-American, but she was a woman. For Rosa Parks, and many other women, there is what is called the ‘matrix of domination”, and this is the effect of discrimination that stems from more than one source or reason. During the Suffragist Movement, it was thought that if women were granted the right to vote, then it would be possible to achieve other reforms, such as the completely emancipation and de-segregation of the various minorities of the United States. In 1869, the National Woman Suffrage Association was founded by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton with “the primary goal…to achieve voting rights for women by means of a Congressional amendment to the Constitution” (Imbornoni, 2007, p. 1). Finally, in 1919, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was passed, and women had a say in politics. There were many who still opposed this concept, especially those in the South who still held on to their right to own and sell slaves, and those who held interest in liquor sales. During the 1960s, with the antiwar movement and civil rights movement, no one seemed to care or advocate women’s rights. Within the homes, women became increasingly restless. Something was missing from their lives. This is when the gender roles which had prevailed in America since its founding began to be reexamined. The traits of both genders lie within every individual and are disconnected with the individual’s sexual identity. If you are male, you will have feminine traits and characteristics, and if you are female you will have masculine traits as well. Most of these have been stratified by our society and upbringing as appropriate to one’s sex. The common view of the role of women in society has been informed from Holy Scripture, and is disseminated throughout our society on all levels. One scripture states “A man…is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man” (1 Corinthians 11:7). As such “Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church…As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands” (Ephesians 5:22-24). The characteristics of masculinity and femininity are greatly pronounced in our media today, where the personal vanity of women is exploited to sell a product. Many of us have seen the use of the female body to sell or advertise a car or the female musician wearing as little as possible to increase sales. In James Parks book, New Ways of Loving, he states: “The fashion industry reinforces regrettable ‘feminine’ traits: submissive…weak…fragile, artificial…flirtatious…sexually passive…” (Parks, 2007, p. 130). The belief that the ability of a person to perform a task depends on whether they are male or female. The more physical the sport the greater chances that the athlete is male, “sports often reinforce the following regrettable ‘masculine’ traits: tough, combative, belligerent, violent…aggressive…and concerned about muscles and body-image” (Park, 2007, p. 129). These views have slowly been over-turned in part to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which was created to enforce the 1964 Civil Rights Act to prevent sex discrimination in the workplace, and the equality of the sexes has become the social norm, if not the actual practice. Traditionally, the accepted sexual orientation has been of a heterosexual nature, with homosexuality and bisexuality as being contrary to religious and social norms. Socially, GLBT individuals have been ridiculed, bullied, discriminated and reviled. Some even have been murdered. With the growth of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered (GLBT) community, these concepts have been slowly evolving to one of acceptance. Though it is illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation, the majority of homosexuals historically have remained “in the closet” for fear of reprisals and hate. Early psychologists and counselors believed that being homosexual was a mental health disorder and that it could be cured. It is also believed that “homosexuals have been considered non-productive and hence inimical to the well-being and even the survival of the community” (Cameron, 2013, p. 1). Cameron continues on with “In their selfish preoccupation with genital pleasure, they sought to rebel against the natural order of human life itself- the mutual responsibility of one for all that forms the basis of the social contract” (Cameron, 2013, p. 1). It is evident that in many areas of the world, there is a war going on between homophobes and homosexuals that spans social, religious, and political arenas. These individuals have been discriminated in the workplace for fear that their disease would spread or negatively affect the company. In 2009, strides began to be made to allow non-heterosexuals the right to be married on the State level. Currently, there is still no Federal Law on the books legalizing gay marriage, but have pushed the terminology of “civil unions”, which is a term that while granting same-sex partners the same legal distinction of being married, without using the term marriage. United States politics continues to raise the issues of equality for women and for GLBT in its official policies. Reproductive rights such as abortion and contraception for women, the right of GLBT to marry and raise children, and other issues are constantly being brought up.
As we can see, women and homosexuals have both suffered greatly in American history. Both have been subjugated, sidelined, and disenfranchised, yet after much work, both have slowly obtained dignity, honor and respect of not only the general populace of the United States, but also themselves as well.

References
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