Paper Example on Sociological View of LGBT People

Introduction

The rights of minority groups have been an issue since time immemorial. Most of the times, the voices of the minorities are viewed as inappropriate by the majority. In the modern world, the suppression of the rights of minorities can be viewed in terms of sexuality. The rights of Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) people have been in the spotlight for a while now. Most people do not view as if these groups are justified to carry on with their sexualities. Most LGBT people suffer both physically and psychologically just because of their sexuality. Foucault Michel and Edward Said are two theorists who show a direct correlation to the treatment of LGBT people in modern times. Foucault shows that human sexuality has given rise to antagonistic views of sexuality, while Said expresses orientalism as a stereotypical representation. The denial of rights for LGBT people is deeply embedded in the antagonist views of different sexualities and coupled by stereotypic oppression of sexual minorities and can only be ensured when their stereotypic interpretations are deconstructed.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Foucault in a great way dwells in the explanation of sexuality, which is an instrumental subject in sociology. He expresses that the origin of human sexuality is based on a personal view of pleasure. He views that sexual preference is a personal decision and no singular person is forced to follow certain sexuality. In the past, however, most people had been stopped from pursuing their sexuality of choice based on the fact that society had not been used to them. They were repressed and viewed as illegitimate sexualities (Foucault, 1990). Foucault writes about times when people came with sexualities different from the conventional heterosexual sexuality and says, "If was truly necessary to make room for illegitimate sexualities, it was reasoned, let them take their infernal mischief elsewhere." (Foucault, 1990) The ideal that Foucault proposes is that sexuality causes divisive views of life.

The modern society has continuously appreciated the fact that LGBT people are just in need of rights to practice their sexuality just like any other group. Therefore, people have come up with every manner of defense for this group in the recent past. Many believe that LGBT people should be left to practice their sexuality without their rights being infringed on. This group believes that it would be indecent to deny LGBT people their rights to humans. The very sense that LGBT people deserve to be respected as people and given space to carry on with their lives brings a sense of illegitimacy to many. Thus, this is the group that believes that to be respected, LGBT people need to rethink about their sexualities and reconsider the conventional heterosexual relationship.

Foucault believes that the repression of some sexualities in the name of promoting others is destructive. Over centuries, societies have consistently denied the existence of people who do not agree to the conventional sexuality. The societies lead by their traditional moral views believe that people who do not follow conventional sexuality have corrupted minds and are nothing but part of the moral decay. It is based on these repressive views that governments made repressive laws prohibiting homosexuality (Foucault, 1990). These laws that were timidly formed centuries and decades ago implement discourse in personal choices and directed LBGT people to conform to the 'moral' sexuality. This divisive outlook is the reason that LGBT people were not able to express themselves in the past. They could not link up or even have stable relationships because they had already been classified as illegal and immoral.

Though many nations and civilizations across the world have come to accept the inherent existence of the LGBT group as part of their societies, the strife between them and heterosexual people is manifested in different spheres of life. Even when LGBT people have been legally allowed, many are still not accepted by other members of society. They are profiled and are viewed as if they should not exist together with the rest. As Foucault states, the rise of different sexualities gave rise to a divisive push and pull for who is morally right. Therefore, even if LGBT people have been legally allowed by the law in these societies, they are not accepted and taken for whom they are by the members of the societies where they live. Instead, they are taken for a nuisance and viewed as if they will corrupt the rest. Hence, their communication and relationships with other members of society, especially the group that upholds strict heterosexuality are rare.

The understanding of how LGBT people are treated by society is a great way that resembles Said's orientalism theory. In his outspoken theory, Said presents that the social economic and cultural practices of the Arab elites in the precolonial and postcolonial times were assumed as those of the entire Asian population. Orientalists came up with their view of how society should be like and what morals people should live by (Said, 1980). They denied every other person in the society the right to live the way that they would wish. Instead, they created a system stereotype of other cultures and implicitly justified the Arabic style of living. They were led by their colonial ambitions, and imperialist endeavors and hence, the only way that they could rule over the Asian population was to create an oriental culture that was opposed to Arabic and Islamic culture. Therefore, the stereotypical representation of some cultures as Said presents is the reason that some groups of people dupe others as ineffective.

In one of his statements where he recollects about the way that the United States infringes in the Asian way of life, Said wrote that it is a crude way of looking at the cultures of other people. He proposed that the western way of life aimed at creating political intellectualism while creating a psychological affirmation of western identities among the Asian population. Orientalism as Said presents was a discriminative approach that was used against people from other cultures by the Europeans. While Said does not seem to be much influenced to make the representation based on some political view, his approach correlates that popular cultures seek to demean people from the cultures that they do not view as popular (Said, 1980). Therefore, the way that LGBT people are treated by society has something about a waging struggle between them and their heterosexual counterparts.

Stereotypical representations of LGBT people also arise from the fact that they are a minority. Said's representation of orientalism shows that when the majority do not agree with certain principles of a group of people, they tend to force them to behave just like them. The process of changing people to follow others is, however not simple. It includes scores of reservations and forced behaviors (Said, 1980). It may include threats and discriminations. All these efforts are directed towards ensuring that the concerned people do nor have any other option but to conform to the principles and practices of the majority. Therefore, a takeaway from Said's theory is that LGBT people being a minority group, they are treated in a discriminative manner by the majority who are not heterosexual to make them conform to heterosexuality. The practice is a vivid denial of their rights, just like the Arabic and Islamic cultures were denied room for growth by orientalism as Said showcases.

The discriminative approach that is directed by the majority towards cultural minorities can be seen in different aspects. In his research with a specific concentration in India, Badgett (2014) observes that being an LGBT person in India comes with a cost. The cost of LGBT stigma in India is instrumental such that it is not just psychological and physical but also economic (Badgett, 2014). The report was established on the bases of three major precepts. One is that there is clear evidence for stigma and exclusion directed against LGBT people openly. For instance, 41% of people in India stated they did not want to have a homosexual neighbor. The other basis of this judgment is that being LGBT in India is likely to deny someone employment chances, and hence the group is unlikely to have economic power compared to their heterosexual counterparts. Lastly, Badgett's research showed that research on LGBT people in India is almost revoked and hence, there is little light shed concerning their plight. Therefore, just like Foucault fronts, the struggle between the heterosexual and LGBT groups in India have seen an increased denial of basic rights for the group.

Additionally, understanding the plight of LGBT people across the world can be understood in view of Said's orientalism view. The conditions faced by LGBT people are not just localized to someplace like in India, but they are universal. Though many societies make the external expression that everyone is entitled to their sexuality, the inherent stereotypical behavior against LGBT people is spread globally. Research on the way LGBT people are treated in Europe by Takacs shows that despite Europe taking strides in civilization, LGBT people are invisibly denied networks, harassed, and even denied some basic rights. Another research which concentrated on youths and school-going youth proved that LGBT youth are underachievers in most cases (Takacs, 2006). The reason that they are underachievers is not that their sexuality reprimands their academic performance, but it is because of the over denial of basic privileges and rights in almost all spheres of life. Therefore, as Said presents, LGBT people are mistreated by the vast part of society which fakes their acceptance. The stereotypical representation of LGBT people happens in such a hidden way that leaves them suffering in silence.

While there have not been reports of LGBT people being a menace in societies, the understanding of why they are mistreated and denied the chance to express themselves sexually is hard to comprehend. The reason they are denied their rights is not that they are destructive. However, in most cases, they do not even have direct contacts with those who discriminate them other than sharing basic amenities such as offices, classrooms or even means of transport. Foucault states that people view their choices as so solemn that unknowingly, they want to make others follow them. The discrimination directed towards LGBT people is based on the fact that their choices are different from those of the greater population which is heterosexual (Scourfield & McDermott, 2008). The treatment directed towards them from a sociological perspective is thus a negative reaction, seemingly like a kind of punishment. The repression of sexual expression for LGBT people is meant to make them believe that life would be easier if they accepted the heterosexual way of life. Facing off the denial of rights for LGBT people should be, therefore, viewed as a way that the majority of sexuality uses to make them view their sexuality as wrong.

To change the situation and ensure that LGBT people are accorded proper treatment and are not discriminated, it is necessary to enhance legal protection as the first step. Legal protection is necessary as an immediate reaction. Although it may not change the underlying beliefs and ideologies concerning LGBT people, it can greatly influence the views of others concerning them. It is also a good mechanism that can introduce the thoughts of cultural coexistence and appreciation of diversity. It is true that lack of appreciation of other cultures, believes, and practices of other people can lead one to discriminate them (Russell & Fish, 2016). Therefore, creating an appreciation of LGBT people as individuals who have a di...