Sexual Orientation Task
Michael and I decided to go to the Edinburg outlet mall to complete the hand holding part of the assignment. We chose this location because it was a very public place that was on our way back to Greenwood. We held each other’s hands for maybe 5-8 minutes total as we walked around (this was awkward for both parties involved). We found ourselves concerned with people seeing us holding hands since it is an uncommon sight for some people, so we hesitated earlier on. I was trying to not concern myself with the awkwardness and I glanced at people we passed by to see their reactions. We had few people who stared at us but other than that it was a relatively normal walk holding a friends hand (not my sort of normal walk). It seemed like most people didn’t care all that much. I’m sure some of them probably were surprised but they
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I find the class material to make me think about my relationships with others and it helps me to be better at understanding them. I have come to realize that I have a better chance at understanding people if I look at them as similar and different to myself. This course has also helped me to realize that we all make different meaning out of things and that has helped me to understand that people may not understand information I am communicating to them the way I intended.
How does all this relate to your work as a counselor?
Overall, this task has helped me to understand that it would be hard to be openly gay, even if it’s just for a day. Some people have to live their lives being scrutinized by others just because they are different. This situation has shown me that its difficult to be who you are since others will tear you to pieces if you are different from the social “norms”. It gives me a slightly better understanding (I know I cannot fully understand what gay people go through) of the impact it has on your mind when you are