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Comma Splices + Homophobia = Grouchy Butch

6/14/2011

7 Comments

 
Since March, I've been moonlighting as an adjunct community college English professor.  (You'll hear more about this in the next installment of Butch 360.) Today I was grading "argument" papers in which students take a side on the topic of their choosing and write persuasively (one hopes) about it.  One of my students chose, "Should Gay Couples Be Allowed to Adopt Children?"

Aside from being hideously written and citing literally no sources, the essay was full of inflammatory statements.  Highlights include: "If a kid had gay parents, normal people would try to stay away from him," and, "A kid raised by gay parents would grow up with a twisted view of sexual minorities."

As a married, straight-presenting woman teaching college English 6-7 years ago, I sometimes received anti-gay essays.  But I'm puzzled that a kid would hand this essay in to an obviously gay teacher (especially since he had a choice of literally 125 topics).  A few possible explanations spring to mind:
  • In a vibrant bout of internalized homophobia, this kid has simply not come to grips with his own homosexuality. (Unlikely.)
  • He's somehow trying to goad me.  (Very unlikely.  Trust me: he isn't sophisticated enough to goad.)
  • He's correctly discerned that I'm gay, or could be, but my incredible evenhandedness as a teacher emboldens him to speak his mind.  (Unlikely; see aforementioned lack of sophistication.)
  • Despite my obviously masculine attire (e.g., ties), this kid has the gaydar of a rock.  (Moderately likely.)
In any case, this essay had me seeing red--especially because I suspect that he assumes (but how?!) that he's talking to a straight woman.  More than once, I had to put it down, grit my teeth, and sip some coffee for strength.  Giving the paper a grade was tough.  I wanted to be sure I wasn't docking this kid because of his views.  In the end, I think I was fair, but I gave him 10 extra points as a buffer against my own anti-anti-gay bias.  He still got a D.
7 Comments
SC Boy link
6/17/2011 04:15:11 pm

When I was in 8th grade I wrote a paper about being gay is wrong, but we should still accept gay people, because it's an affliction from God. Like a disease or something. I think I made at least a B. The teacher was anti-gay. I was gay but didn't want to admit it. Someone else's paper in the class was about how gay boys should not be allowed in Boy Scouts because they would molest the straight boys. When I got to high school I worried that when i was a famous gay rights activist that the old paper would catch up with me. I think it was a writing prompt that they keep in your files forever and ever, and I was so scared of someone digging up my hate essay from when I was a kid...

Reading this post really reminded me of that....

Reply
Briellen
6/21/2011 10:23:58 am

Perhaps he was just playing devil's advocate?
I'm 'passable' and I've had to deal with a lot of anti-gay statements and comments from individuals. When I volunteered at a preschool there were lesbian moms that sent their daughter there. The teachers seemed to think that it was acceptable to speculate and comment on the welfare of that child (socially and emotionally) based solely on the fact that she had two moms. They failed to respect the fact that the women paid to send their daughter to that school and also failed to realize that you never know who is hearing these comments. I was horrified at the unprofessional manner of these women and I stopped volunteering there after being subjected to the above example and other homophobic comments that seemed to be a consistant topic for these teachers.

SC Boy: I think it's normal to do that. I was way worse I just had this whole attitude about gay people before I came out (it wasn't even based on religious belief). I was afraid to be around gay people because I thought they could see through me, and I didn't know how the people I love would react if I came out to them; I couldn't even admit it to myself.

Reply
Erin
11/26/2011 01:30:32 pm

Between our childhood religious brainwashing and a desire to fit in as children, many gay kids and adolescents have said horrible things about gays and lesbians. The true test of character is once we realize that we're gay. I heard all manner of religious and familial homophobic comments all the way through my teens (and still do). I was terrified that gay people would realize that I was just like them. I hung out with lesbians that I had a crush on whilst still denying my sexuality. It's been a decade now since I accepted the truth about myself. Still, I cringe when anyone brings up homosexuality in conversation. It's like bracing for a plane crash. My upbringing has made me expect the worst of insults anytime that a straight person begins to talk about my community. Sadly, I find that bracing for impact has rarely been a wrong move.

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3/14/2012 02:34:12 pm

Nice post. Thank you for taking the time to publish this information very useful! I've been looking for books of this nature for a way too long. I'm just glad that I found yours. Looking forward for your next post. Thanks :)

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3/20/2012 04:15:09 pm

Nice post. Thank you for taking the time to publish this information very useful! I've been looking for books of this nature for a way too long. I'm just glad that I found yours. Looking forward for your next post. Thanks :)

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3/30/2012 01:32:52 am

Nice effort, very informative, this will help me to complete my task.

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check this out link
8/27/2012 08:53:17 am

Not the first time that's happened, hahaha!

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