Advice For Teens

Words: 1926
Pages: 8

Adams, M. (1997). Why Can’t I be Normal? Sex Advice for Teens: The Trouble With Normal Postwar Youth and The Making of Heterosexuality. The Journal of Heterosexuality, 22(3) 83-89.

Annotation:

According to Adams, parents and the interaction with their children shape the heterosexual framework that is apparent within society today. In the chapter, Sex Advice for Teens, the author explains how the 1950’s and 1960’s were notoriously known as being the party era, which consisted of many social events for young adults. At these functions, the author suggests that teens participated in coed activities and hence were able to express their sexuality with one another. The author further explains, that it was the parents who encouraged these coed
…show more content…
The author further explains that in today’s hegemonic society, heterosexuality is an important guiding factor in understanding gender that advances normativity. This article examines the language and discourse surrounding homo and heterosexuality. Furthermore, Ingraham (2004) stresses that privilege and power allow for existing stereotypes to influence and control the minds of many individuals surrounding sexuality and gender. This article will be useful for my research, because it unpacks historical and institutional boundaries. In addition, this article also elaborates on the importance of heterosexuality as a guiding factor in understanding gender. The author’s work supports my thesis, since it discusses the prominence of language which fuels society to understanding heterosexuality as the dominant form of sexual expression. In addition, this article will also be useful for my research, since it explains how marginalized individuals face discrimination and social injustice because of the discourse surrounding the types of language appropriate and ‘acceptable’ in today’s …show more content…
Boys have used homophobia to prove their masculinity and distance themselves from homosexuality. Despite these findings over the last three decades, The Declining Significance of Homophobia tells a different story. Drawing on fieldwork and interviews of young men in three British high schools, Dr. Mark McCormack shows how heterosexual male students are inclusive of their gay peers and proud of their pro-gay attitudes. He finds that being gay does not negatively affect a boy's popularity, but being homophobic does. This article elaborates on heterosexual recuperation, a process that many members of society undergo when trying to uphold a heterosexual identity. McCormack (2012) strongly emphasizes that this process can be acknowledged as favorable, since individuals try to refrain from being homophobic, while gay identities are still being marginalized in the process. McCormack examines how decreased homophobia results in the expansion of gendered behaviors available to young men. In the schools he examines, boys are able to develop meaningful and loving friendships across many social groups. They replace toughness and aggression with emotional intimacy and displays of affection for their male friends. Free from the constant threat of social marginalization, boys are able to speak about once feminized activities without censure. The Declining Significance of Homophobia is essential reading