Dr. Harry M. Benshoff
Related: queer - queer theory
Dr. Harry M. Benshoff,
Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of Radio, TV,
and Film
Brief overview of gay, lesbian and queer issues
This brief overview of gay, lesbian and queer issues might begin with the "invention" of the "Homosexual" and the "Heterosexual" a little over 100 years ago by medical and early psychological researchers. This is not to say that all sorts of sexual behaviors (including homosexuality and heterosexuality) had not existed before that time, but rather that with that act of , Western medical science now proclaimed homosexuals and heterosexuals as definite (and potentially opposing) types of people. Once labeled, it is easier to identify and oppress any social group, and the 20'-century history of homosexuality has demonstrated a great deal of persecution at the hands of the legal and medical establishments, various religious groups, and all sorts of other social bodies and individuals. Conversely, it has also been possible for gay men and lesbians to fight for rights and recognition based upon those same identity labels. Members of the medical establishment argued back and forth for decades about what "caused" homosexuality, and some still do. In do doing, researchers assumed that heterosexuality was the norm, and that homosexuality was thus a disease of the norm that could be cured. This assumption that heterosexuality is the only normal sexual orientation , and that it should be celebrated and privileged above all others, is called beterosexism. Heterosexism is pervasive and usually un-remarked upon in our culture, and is somewhat different from the more extreme practice or prejudice of homophobia. --Dr. Harry M. Benshoff, http://www.unt.edu/ally/queerfilm.html [Dec 2004]
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