The topic for today's reading is one that can lead people to their own conclusions on right and wrong. It deals with the sensitive subject matter of correct nomenclature for certain racial groups and sexual orientations. It also deals with the type of outlook people have in this subject matter, the two types being essentialist and constructionist. All of these things have a very significant part in how we determine ethnicity's and other types of class, sex, and so on.
One of the paragraphs talk about the reaction of an African American man to the question "which do you prefer to be called, black or African American"? His response was one of anger, mainly because of the ignorance of the person asking it. In the black man's eyes, he feels he should be treated as a person not a color or race. For the white interviewer, his outlook is that there are different races and colors, and you fall into that classification. This can easily be conveyed in the context of essentialism and constructionism. The white man is an essentialist, who believes there is clear cut answer to the question he asked. He believes that the master statuses determine who we are. On the other hand, the black man can be viewed as a constructionist. He believes that there are different views that can be taken about who he is besides his color or race. He believes that he is a person, just the same as if he were Indian, Hispanic or white. These two people obviously differ greatly on their outlook on life.
Another aspect is the way we as a society view certain lifestyle choices. In the case of homosexuals, people believe that there are two different ways a person can become homosexual. The first is that it is a choice by the individual to become "gay", where in the reading a person is condemned by his family and almost sent to castration to make him straight again. The other choice is that the person is born homosexual and cannot help the fact that he or she is that way. Many studies conducted recently show this to be possible. In the case of the same person in the reading, the parents ask for forgiveness when they learn it was possible for him to be born gay.
In conclusion, there are many ways that people can be viewed by others. By race, sexual orientation, class, gender and so on, we tend to separate ourselves from each other in an attempt to make ourselves look better. There are different types of people; essentialist and constructionist that believe two totally different things, neither being the right point of view. In the end, it is a persons right to view people as they see fit to be viewed.
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I really liked your response and agree with the ideas you presented. I also put in my response the concept of perspective, which you touched on with the black and white person being interviwed. The certain groups that have been created make it harder for everyone to relate to everyone else, yet at the same time seem to more categorize the individual groups. It is all about us being viewed and how we view others, wether correct or incorrect. I believe that without our judgemental views there would be basically equality.
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