One idea that I thought was interesting that came up in Sedgwick's How to Bring up Your Kids Gay and Lee’s Joy of the Castrated Boy, was the idea that characteristics of a person can define whether or not they are homosexual. This reminded me of a boy that I used to babysit for, who was effeminate and so people used to joke that he was homosexual. He used to play with his sister’s toys and liked to style her doll’s hair. He was only about 8 years old, but already based on his personality and behavior, people were making judgments about his sexuality. I was surprised that people were comfortable making this assertion about someone who had not even reached puberty yet.
As a society, through the media and other outlets, we are told that there is a certain way that homosexuals, particularly gay men act, but is there really a connection between someone’s mannerisms and their sexuality? How can this be problematic in our society, and what kind of pressures is this putting on these individuals, such as the boy I babysat, as they develop their own identity?
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