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This American Life Alix Spiegel Analysis

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81 Words: A Reflective Essay

“It’s uncanny when something so small, for a moment, for the length of time that it takes to sign a name, can carry the entire weight of history of a nation.” -- Ira Glass

In the two-hundred and fourth episode of This American Life, radio show host Ira Glass, and NPR journalist Alix Spiegel examine the history of the definition of homosexuality. A deeply provocative and personal narrative, Spiegel illustrates how words come to shape our understanding of oneself and the world we live in. When the definition of homosexuality in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual was re-written in 1973, it forever changed the United States. To some the change was seen as a form of liberation, undermining years of oppression and stigmatism, while to others like Charles Socarides the change was viewed as a desecration to science and morality. Published by the American Psychiatric Association, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders overviews “every variant of paranoia” including homosexuality (until 1987). Labeled as a “pathology”, homosexuals across America were seen as diseased individuals meant to be isolated from society. With the American Psychiatric …show more content…

When asking 10 different psychiatrists who were members of the APA during the time of redefinition about what percentage of the APA believed homosexuality was a pathology, almost all responded over ninety percent. John Fryer, shockingly answered “...99. Even the ones of us who were gay.” A deeply saddening statement, Fryer reveals the sinister depths of homophobia in the APA. For fear of their livelihoods, many gay psychiatrists lived a dual world, only to converge during the GAYPA meetings. Yet, why as gay men did they believe the myth of homosexuality? Was it their training as a psychiatrist? Or was it internalized

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He may have been psychotic and had problems, but he knew exactly what he was doing while he was doing it. Not only was he troubled he was uncomfortable with his sexuality. He seemed to feel like he was in denial that he was a homosexual and couldn’t admit it to himself let alone the

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In The Laramie Project, by Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Company, we read the story of a homosexual hate crime in Laramie, Wyoming told from many different perspectives. Though discriminatory crimes against homosexuals have largely decreased, discriminatory crimes in general do still exist. This includes crimes against certain races, genders, and religions. America has come a long way since the events in The Laramie Project but we still have a long way to go in terms of women’s health and discriminatory crimes. Religious voices play large roles in The Laramie Project.

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I imagine the fear to coming out to this biased professional world, as the podcast described it, their inner homophobia. I believe Mr. Spiegel, and physiatrists alike, feared their credibility if they came out pre 1970s. Listening, I wondered what was going

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Overall, Charles Colson’s essay Gay “Marriage”: Societal Suicide causes the reader to give more thought to the controversial topic that is same-sex marriage. Despite the fact that the essay is ridden with fallacies, Colson’s utilization of statistics, studies, and his personal experiences as a prison minister, all partially contribute to his overall goal; the essay causes the reader to stop and think about their opinion on same-sex marriage as well as consider Colson’s

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Castration, electroshock therapy, and hypnosis were popular medical treatments as “cures” for homosexuality. In an interview with a Stonewall riot veteran, Roy McCarthy, he said, “We were tired of gay people getting locked up in psychiatric hospitals and getting tortured! We had our own Auschwitzes and Dachaus! And we were just pissed off about all of that! And it had to end!”

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When the court examined America’s history, they concluded that American antisodomy laws have not been enforced and did not single out homosexual couples until the 20th century. The court

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When debating the legalization of same sex marriage, religious reasoning and accusations of bigotry often provoke obstinance. Instead of reiterating those arguments, William J. Bennett, a prominent cultural conservative, former secretary of education, and author of The Book of Virtues, focuses on societal effects in his op-ed article, “Against Gay Marriage.” Though Bennett’s piece conveys partiality, it also attempts to discuss this issue scrupulously to ensure readers will consider his argument and perhaps accept his implications. While some of Bennett’s word choices convey tolerance of the gay community, his rhetoric incites readers to accept that preserving society requires marginalizing homosexuals.

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Furthermore doctors and psychologist at the time believed that gays were mentally and or physically sick and needed treatment. Less than a year later the AMA made it so the world would know that their accusations were

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Medical professionals were "trained" to spot homosexuals based on physical characteristics, behavior, and vocabulary. The interview screening process that each man and woman entering the military had to go through took all of three minutes, which ended up with, "Did you ever have any homosexual experiences?” Homosexual was spotted by interviewers. The interviewers mostly looked out for signs that would throw off their

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According to the Phi Delta Kappa article, “Searching for the Irresistible,” written by authors, Hilary Dack and Carol Ann Tomlinson, “Student engagement doesn't just happen. As much as teachers would like it if their own fascination with content were contagious for every student, it doesn't work that way. Engagement must be planned for. A teacher discovers what's engaging in the content and designs curriculum so students discover it too. The authors profile one teacher who searches for the irresistible in his teaching and uses it to entice his students to learn.

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Substitute the word “gay” in any of those cases, and the terms suddenly become far less loaded, so that the ring of disapproval and judgment evaporates. Some gay rights advocates have declared the term off limits. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance against slander, or Glad, has put “homosexual” on its list of offensive terms and in 2006 persuaded The Associated Press, whose stylebook is the widely used by many news organizations, to restrict use of the word. Miss Suhashini a, lecturer of Phycology Department at UTAR who was currently doing research about LGBT has looked at the way the term is used by those who try to portray gays and lesbians as deviant. What is most telling about substituting it for gay or lesbian are the images that homosexual tends to activate in the brain, she said.

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