But I'm A Cheerleader

But I'm a Cheerleader was kind of creepy,with the overboard campiness, though it was probably used to exaggerate or really put out how heterosexist our society really is. I think that camp was used to shed light on issues with sexual orientation we have in our society. The fact that our sexual orientation, depending on what it is, can totally change our social experiences and our relationships with one another.
When Graham says, " You are who you are, the trick is not getting caught!" is kind of schocking in that there's still a lot of truth to it. Though we think we've come really far from the 50's when apparently men were "men" and women were "women", truth is; we have not.
The first few days of Megan's stay at True Directions, was very shocking as she begins to realize parts of her identity. Graham, I feel like, was the only one who was being real, she was the only one who took on the social identity model, that she wasn't the problem, the problem was society and how they were being percieved as freaks who needed fixing. Graham knew they couldn't "be fixed", except I felt like she kind of betrayed her identity towards the end, til she ran away with Megan. This process for Megan was very different, it was liked they moved in opposite directions to meet in the middle, and end up together.
The approach taken to "treat" these young teens was totally outrageous and DOES NOT seperate sexuality and gender what so ever. The image to the right, provided by salon.com, is an example of the "treatment" used to head in the direction of becoming a heterosexual. The process of socialization of gender roles was used to treat these teens, so as if they learned how to be a man or woman, people would percieve them as heterosexual as long as they fit into that extremely small box of standards defining a man or woman based on gender roles and perceptions from other people. The fact that if you're a woman, you should constantly be cleaning your house or changing your kids' diapers are ridiculous definitions used to describe "womanhood" so to speak. Then again, I know that was part of the campiness of the movie, but keep in mind, we still sometimes, unconsciously, believe this.
The boys in the movie were training to chop wood, fix cars, and play football, all things that our society puts under the definition of male. Again, a very small box that society tells us EVERYONE should fit in, if not you are deemed as "the other".
Really, this True Directions camp in the movie, is like our penal system in a way. You go in to get fixed, but you just come out with more issues. These teens didn't need fixing, they come out with more issues, in that they internalize the stereotypes about themselves, and they feel that they absolutely have to assimilate into society or else the people that are supposed to love them won't any longer if they go on being themselves. This just goes back to what Graham says, being who you are is pretty much a social crime or down.
Just when we think we've changed, we really haven't, we haven't come far at all, in terms of all the class concepts we've discussed. The institutional system of oppression still stands, and it affects our lives in and out of our own homes, something that we all must realize so we can make a change, even if it takes longer than our own lifetime to see it enforced.

Ableism, Heterosexism, and Sexism: Sharon and Karen

The story of Sharon Kowalski and Karen Thompson told by Joan L. Griscom from Race, Class, and Gender in the United States, by Paula Rothenberg, was a perfect and clear example of how intersectionality involves our experiences in the institutions set up in the United States. Although we'd like to believe that these institutions are in place to regulate and protect everyone in society, this obviously is not true.
Griscom gives evidence to how the "failure of the medical system was consistently supported by the legal system". Sharon did not recieve the proper care and facilities needed to make the fullest recovery possible, and as this kept happening under the medical system, we must keep in mind that the legal system is in place to regulate it. Kowalski's father obviously didn't have Sharon's best interests in mind, he just wanted Karen to stay away from her, even though Karen was the best thing towards Sharon's recovery process.
This story pretty much just pisses me off. The fact that no matter how much Karen did and proved that she was what Sharon wanted and needed, the institution was not set up in their favor; it was against them.
The three modes of oppression, that Griscom refers to, plays a big role in these women's experiences, but it seems as if this case had to happen for everyone outside of LGBT to realize how much our institutions need some reevaluating. It's important to know how these three modes of oppression worked against the couple. Ableism, Heterosexism, and Sexism, all three seem very invisible in society, but that's only because it was set up that way, in favor of able bodied, heterosexual, men (i.e. Sharon's father). That's why he won guardianship over Sharon, because the institutions were and are designed in his favor. He did everything to slow down Sharon's path to recovery, all to make sure Karen could not see her, why? because these two women, were lesbians in love, and he believed that his daughter was not able to communicate what she truly wanted.
Why, in the state of Minnesota or anywhere else does a women absolutely need a man to be accountable for her? Why does she need a guardian to be a man? If this had been a heterosexual couple, the legal battle of guardianship would not have even happened. Nobody would have said anything in opposition. Why? because as long as a man was there to oversee Sharon, she would've been fine right? WRONG. Sharon knew what she wanted, and she knew how to communicate it, but everyone in opposition just assumed she was incompetent, she no longer held any intelligence.
What can we do to change our institutions and systems? We need to know now, how they affect us in our everyday lives, and we need to make it known. Like Karen in the past Griscom tells us that Karen originally believed that our social institutions are basically fair and that their problems were merely personal problems. What is fair? Does it even really exist in the U.S.?