Analysis Of Chasing Amy Essay Research Paper — страница 2

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because of his loss and is no longer afraid of his feelings of inadequacy. He is now a better person and on a higher level of understanding his sexuality, capable of admitting his shortcomings and uncertainties. Hooper is an interesting mediating character as he is homosexual but acts heterosexual for his public image as a strong Black social figure. The stereotypical view of a homosexual would not be good role model because he would be viewed as weak and perhaps not masculine. Hooper would not be viewed as a true man if he were viewed as a homosexual. It would be better for him to accept his homosexuality and present it to society, but as we have learned, Hooper will not be accepted in our culture and his career will suffer. In Kobena Mercer’s piece, “Black Masculinity and

Sexual Politics of Race,” “Through such collective, historical experiences black men have adopted certain patriarchal values such as physical strength, sexual prowess and being in control as a means survival against the repressive and violent system of subordination to which they were subjected. The incorporation of a code of ‘macho’ behavior is thus intelligible as a means of recuperating some degree of power over the condition of powerlessness and dependency in relation to the white master subject.” In order for Hooper to be regarded in his field he must maintain this front that has accompanied the Black man, and not the “femininity” that is associated with being homosexual. Alyssa is the healthiest sexual being that can be portrayed in my eyes. As a young woman,

unsure of her sexuality, she experimented to find who she was. Just as Jess, from Stone Butch Blues, felt she did not fit into any of society’s categories, Alyssa looked to a deviant lifestyle without fulfilling the normal expectations of the culture. If a societal label is needed, she is a bisexual involved with both men and women in her lifetime but finding the relationships with men unfulfilling she turns to women. She did not simply accept society’s heterosexual lifestyle; she lived her life on her own terms, comfortable and confident in her choices. She is a true feminist who believes in woman’s rights but has not dismissed men as partners. Alyssa does not need a man but did not deny herself happiness because Holden was a man. She knows the difference between love and

sex, “I don’t love her, but I’ll *censored* her.” Alyssa chooses Holden because of their connection, not his sex. Her experiences helped her to be sure of what she wanted in a partner and relationship. She is not a stereotypical heterosexual or “man-hating” lesbian but she is moving and changing on a sexual continuum. As Gayle Rubin tells us in “Thinking Sex,” this spectrum of sexual identity is shaped by community norms and values but Alyssa made her choice of partner based on the whole being not merely on their sex or society’s expectations. The sexual identities of the characters also show us the movie’s position on how women and men are evaluated differently based on sexual behavior. Throughout the movie we see the double standards that are present in our

society and the different pressures and problems they cause. For example, Alyssa is involved in a sexual experience with two other guys. She is labeled a slut and people consider that they used her. The guys are considered studs that both “scored” with the same girl at once, as Peggy R. Sanday shows in “Pulling Train.” “Boys will be boys,” and “the women who satisfy these sexual urges are included as passive actors in the enactment of a sexual discourse where the male, but not the female, sexual instinct is characterized as an insatiable biological instinct and psychological need.” Women, for this reason, are taught to be shameful about their sexuality as we see in Audre Lorde’s “Uses of the Erotic.” Alyssa used experiences like this in order to discover her

sexual identity. Throughout this journey, she was looked down upon by society yet she had no hear of judgment and lived her life according to her own desires. Although both men and women are viewed as emotional and sexual beings, women in the end are viewed as emotionally ruled, as Alyssa finds love with a guy not because of his sex but because of their connection, and men are ruled by sex, whereas Holden ruins his relationship because he is insecure about his masculinity and sexual experience. Alyssa found her moral standards based on her inner self instead of society and she was criticized because of this. Sexuality is rewarded or punished in society because of this. Sexuality is rewarded or punished in society because it exists in a context, as for Alyssa with a loss of